Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-04-02
The Causes OF Intemperance.
ny DIR. ALBERT DAY.

ly predisposing cause of iutemperance,
No one doubts that the constitutional tenn.
permanent of some men stands as a wall of
adamant between them and excess They
are constitutionally moderate men. They
are the men who always want Joke ex-
planned to them before they can appreci-
ate 1t. They seem unconscious of the
place where the laugh comes in. Such
men are compared by distinguished ad-
vocate of temperance to a "lot of tunes
bo, 4 up in barrelorgan. On turning
the handle you will get the Same tunes,
without a variation, ioE twenty years"
| Such men seldom become the victims of
| intoxicating drinks, But show me man
| OF lively and eXcitable disposition, Wig
orous imagination, generous impulses
one fond of society, and fashionable amuse-
ment, the life OF the social eircle-one
who can tell good story and raise the
laugh at will,by his gayeties and gravities,
and will show you man who, with all
his manliness and pride of character and
Of culture, is most liable to fall into the
snare of intemperance.
| D. A corresponding readiness toward the
acquisition of habits of intemperance is
! known to exist among all men of high
nervous sensibility You will not under
stand me as referring now to that excita-
bility of the nervous system which is a
uniform consequent of occasional or
habitual hard drinking. We refer to an
original and constitutional nervous excita-
| hility rs cause of intemperance which
predominates in some persons-aud which
may have descended to them by inheri.
tance from parent to child. The ope.
ration of this cause was everywhere
apparent during the late civil war, and it
IS becoming every year more and more ov-
ident. The constant excitement in which
the whole country was for five or six years
by the recruiting of men for the army
and navy, and the hard services which
they were called to perform on land and
on sea, the fatigues and exposures and sac
rifces which they endured in summers
heat and winters cold, the thrilling scenes
of the camp and the battle field, the break
ing up of families, the scattering of house
holds, the disruption of business relations
all these and more that we style "the
varied fortunes of war" created demand
and developed propensity for stimulants,
the physical effects of which, to say moth
ing of the moral effects, will not be eradi-
Gated when five generations of our de-
scendants shall have passed from among
the living and ceased to exist on the face
of the earth. There is very close con-
nection between general excitement in
community for any cause, and craving
for intoxicants of every description, as
may be seen every day during the sojourn
of u company of circus riders, the arrival
of n nagerie, the visit Of strolling play
ers, election days, the Fourth of July,
Christmas, New Years and hhanksgiv-
ing, and other days which custom has
sanctioned as fit seasons for the gathering
OF crowds of idlers and pleasure-seekers
for purposes of hilarity and sport. In
hundreds and thousands of instances the
first glass of intoxicating drink has been
swallowed on these occasions of public
festivity and conviviality by those who al.
terward acquired the habit of intemper-
ance, and transmitted the elements of
similar degradation and destruction to
their children.
3, 1t is also fact well known to those
who have studied this subject, that there
is tendency in some occupations of hui
man life more than others to awaken that
desire for stimulsnts, which, when in
dulged, leads to habits of intoxication. l
shall not here be understood to refer to
that class which we denominate the man
ufacturers of liquid poison, nor to those
who buy and sell 1t by wholesale or retail.
Our reference is not to brewers, distillers
and hotel keepers, nor to the proprietors
of saloons, sample rooms and dance houses.
! We do not refer even to the managers of
theaters circuses and their employees. II
is matter of public notoriety, that the
instances are rare in which men employed
in any of the occupations named are not
shamefully addicted to the practice of
intoxication, and with scarcely an eXcep-
tion fall victims sooner or later to their ex-
cesses allude to an altogether different
class of men, viz; Tailors, printers,
Nh I'D al alrn..
BAKERS, and to all those whose occupations
are what we term sedentary, and which,
when pursued under the most favorable
circumstances, exert from the necessary
confinement which they require, very
depressing effect on the nervous system
generally. When these avocations are
pursued in close and badly ventilated
rooms or shops, and when numbers are
crowded together, the debilitating and de-
pressing influence of such occupation is
past description, aud men so employed
naturally have recourse to stimulants in
temperance is, therefore, unfortunately
very prevalent among them. The fact is
undisputed and indisputable, that employ
ment in an impure atmosphere, for several
hours in succession, leaves those 80 en-
ployed susceptible Of no stimulus but that
OF ardent spirit, or of excited and reckless
passion.
A. 1t is clear that cold and damp are in
centives to intoxicahon. The stomach is
a short-sghted guide. When the atmos-
phere is wet and chill, it issues orders for
carbon, of which, ,fermented liquors afford
the largest supply. II does not reflect
that though the demand may be proper at
the outset, indulgence will rapidly turn it
into a mere craving for stimulus. This,
however, seems to be a chief cause OF
the greater comparative drunkenness Of
those residing in northern attitudes. This
principle may be seen illustrated every
day. Cold aud exposure are sending their
victims to the rum shops The omnibus
driver, or the driver of the city car, yearns
for his glass of bourbon more than the
clerk at the counter, and more in a cold,
stormy day than when July sun is shining
on him. 1t is a well authenticated fact
that trade in beer falls off more than hall
in cold ana sharp weather, which might
seem to point another way (; but the rea-
son has been ascertained to be, that the
drinking classes betake themselves to dis
titled liquors at such times, in preference
to those drinks which contain less car
bon.
5. Excessive fatigue of body or Of mind,
or Of both united creates desiref for stim-
ulants This exhaustion is often produced
!. by exciting and vicious amusements-by
being several hours in oYer-crowded
rooms, by late hours, either at convivial
parties or at the festive boaTd-traYeling
all night in badly ventilated cars and
steamboats-lat suppers and consequent
digestion-remalning TOO long in hot
baths-al these produce a debility which
calls for stimulants.
G. There are unphysiological habits,
/ | uyhich ~ uura in npantiUaa M iutamnarannp
Overworking of the brain studying at
unreasonable hours and without proper
exercise a failure in muscular energy
irregular meals, unpalatable food, and
good food badly cooked a resort TO quack
remedies, cordials and unctures for real or
iancled ailments. Te these indictments