The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-03-26
WHAT PEOPLE DRINK.
From the Ohio Statesman.

Boi W bhNm m"J NV PiN'N Nh
teresting:
The New York World, some time
since, sents agents 10 the different
drinking places throughout the city
TO obtain samples Of the different
kind of liquors retailed. These
agents procured samples from every
kind Of place, from the highest to
the lowest. They obtained from
the murkey dens where thieves, bog.
gars, murdorers and abandoned
women held their daily aud nights
ly orgies from the bars OF houses
Of prostitution from apparently
hali-respectabIe places, where the
mechanic or day laborer obtained
his daily drink, and on--up or
down-to the magnificent palaces,
glittering in gold aud tinselry,
where the millionaire, the mer~
chant prince and olhor creme Ia creme
of fashionable society, both mascu
line and feminine, paid thoir fifty
cents d glass for brandy, whis
ky. gin, &c, warranted OF pro-
eminent purity and great age
They went even TO the drug stores
and 10 wholesale establishments,
whore ~ had almost become mat
ter OF history, that tho oldest and
pureSt Of liquors were only kept; and
from all these obtained samples OF
their best qualities and took them
to tho labratory Of a celebrated
chemist, employed by tho proprie-
tors of the paper, to mako a ehemi-
cal analysis Of oil the different
kinds. The chemist faithfully per.
formed the work assigned him, aud
the result of his examinations have
been such as to startlo the whole
country.
In every instance il was found
that small given quantity Of tho
liquor contained enough poison.
When separated, 10 Kill, absolutely
kal, a strong man. Taken with the
liquor, its action was more slow
but mono the less certain. Fusel
oil, described IN the medical works
as ian dctire, irritdnt poison" as Ger.
tainly destructive Us the deadly
night shade, WAS found in as great
quantities IN what was denominated
the best brands, as in the hurrld
stuff that thieves, murderers and
prostitutes poured down their
.hroats " craze their brains and
nerve their bodies up to tho COM
mission Of their daily and rightly
crimes and infAmios. Other active
polsons were found IN the almost
universally adultcrated liquors, and
their necessary effects were stated
to be the destruction ofthe coatlngs
and t!ssues of the stomach, gradu-
ally eating their way through as
aqua JortiS burns and shrivels up the
flesh to which 1t is applied.
These disclosures necessarily
created great excitement and in.
quiry. The general question was :
When is a man that drinks liquor
safe The reasoning was--and this
was confirmed by the report o! the
chemist-that n glass Of liquor by
natural processes, as in the situa-
ton or amount left in the barrel or
bottle, might throw into a single
glass OF the liquor, whether Of the
best or poorest, so-called, enough OF
the poison, and sufficiently concen
trated, to produce death almost i'm
medlately.
This fact-thus semi officially
statod--led To further inquiry, and
the records of the police courts, and
the evidence taken at the lnquests
OF the coroner, were examined, to
soc whether facts could be gather.
cd which would provo or dIsprove
this bl Dad statement. This inquiry
led 10 the most abundant proof oi
the correctness OF the statement
1t was found that of the numerous
sudden deaths the proofskowed that
the deceased had uery recently drunk
liquor, in very large proportion OF
cases. If tho deceased was n veal
thy, or in any manner called re.
spectacle, the verdict of coronor's
jury was "apoplexy," or "sun
stroke" or "heart disease" Let
the reader rofer for u moment to
the number Of verdicts Of THIS kind
throughout the country, and more
especially within the last few years.
The police records showed u lurga
number of instances whore drunk
ards aud criminals wore arrested
and taken TO the station houses, and
died from the effec:R of the poison
GUS liquor they had drank before
morning. And this is not all. Still
further and more minute inquiry,
by confidential communication with
physicians Of large practice, show
ed tha: an immense proportion of
the great mortality Of tha city was
caused Immediately by poiSon-poi
son imbibed at the saloons and
drinking HOUSES Of the city with the
liquor :hat was publicly and motor
lously sold as q beverage.
So far we have merely stated facts.
Let every man make his own do.
ductions. 1he liquors OF the day
are absolute poison. No drinker Is
safe. No man who takes a glass of
liquor knows hut that sufficient
amount Of poison is concentrated
in that glass to kill hin, within i've
minutes. Think of Pour a pound
OF arsenic into a bucket full Of wa
tor, and then undertake TO drink it
in ANAL ,tttantiftaa damn 40 a.