The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-08-28
In A. Inespssse Asylum-Aseedetc
anA Iaeiaenta.

$50 Iaetaeats.
The September number OF "Lipplncotps
Magazine" contains q pleasant article by
Malcolm Maceuen, entitled "a Week In an
Aquarium" which gives an account Of DR..
Parrish's Home for Inebriates, In Philadel-
phia. We copy one or two passages, In
which lively anecdotes are told:
"To cxcmpllfy the pleasant cordially ex-
listing between the young men and the doc
tor, should like TO relate one or two occur
rcnces that came under my own observation.
On one occasion an exlnebriate felt some.
what disposed 10 Indulge In his appetite for
stlmulants. II would have been no hard
matter for him TO have gone of quietly and
found q place where he could crafty his de-
sire; this, must In candor admit, had been
sometimes done, but very rarcly-so rarely
az TO afford an additional argument In favor
OF the lenlent system pursued at the SAM.
tarium. During my short stay there /
saw or knew Of no attempt at any such ma
nwuvre.
"The young man went to the doctor and
told him that he would like to have drink,
Just as he would have gone 10 any other
friend. Now, what did the doctor dot Or,
rather, what did he not dot He did not
want TO refuse the young mans request, and
yet did not deem Il advisable TO grant Il. To
have followed the old example Of many
people, and taken advantage Of the oppor-
tunity TO deliver ng-drnwn lecture on the
glory OF total abstinence and the abomina-
tlou Of lntoxicatlon, wonld have been, under
the circumstances, equally stupid and mex
pcdicnt, the young man would probably
have gone OF, irritated, TO tho nearest grog-
shop be could nud, to poison himself with
the 'klll-me-qulck' generally dispensed at
such places. The doctoR with that tact
which cmincntly fits him for the position he
holds, made he vouag Dp1a refuse hbnself and
deliver 10 himself his own moral lecture.
Drawing the key Of the liquor closet from
his pocket, he put 1t on the table before the
young man.
"'There,' said he, is the key; you may
take il and get drink II you wish TO; but
before you do so, as I am granting you a
favor, grant me one 10 return. ask you to
let that key remain on the table where II Is
for ffteen minutes. If, at the end OF that
time, after sober consideration, you think II
would be beneficial to you to take drink,
go and get onc.'
"Thc young man thought moment aud
went away without taking the drink, while
the doctor returned the key TO his pocket,
having not only gained his polnt, but, what
y ung man's confidence and friendship"
at should be borne In mind
that In dealing with his guests, he had often
not only TO divert their desire to drink, thus
inscnsibly, by cultivating fondness for some
harmless occupation, but that he was obliged
In very many instances to contend with the
pernicious effects Of Ignorance aud maltreat-
ment on the part Of others. Young men
came to him not sick, often not intoxicated
nor even particularly DESTROYS to become so
when they found that no harsh measures
80 mi lavaH n than lint al m M %
with their hearts frozen by the mlsjudged
cruelty with which they had been treated
elsewhere. All! how soon they thawed and
warmed beneath sunshine! II were asked
10 what the wonderful treatment at the San
itarium consisted, might answer that 1t
consisted as much In the absence OF NAL
treatment as In anything else. The young
men were treated as sensible, intellectual
beings, not rs social outcasts.
"Oncc q week, at the Santa
rum, there was a sort Of Informal meeting
held 10 the evening In the billiard room.
Tho doctor would read or deliver extempore
some remarks that he thought would In
tercst his boys and then We could all ex-
press our own opinions. The conversatlo 1
often turned, naturally, on the vice Of In
temperance, and the experience Of every
man In that room-the matter being dis
cussed without any mawkish hesitation
would be different, showing that each case
required q treatment particularly adapted to
1t. may not here divulge much ! heard
that might interest the reader, for must
cautiously avoid saying anything to betray
those companions who made my stay at the
Sanitarium so pleasant. Much disgust was
excited on one occasion, know, by the ar
rival Of q box or package directed to 'Dr.
Parrish's Institution for Drunken Inc
briates;' and again BY some individual going
TO the door Of q hall where Ethiopian min
strels were 10 full blast, and inquiring II
any Of DR.. Parrish's bloats were In there"