The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-12-03
rFrom the sew York mines. !


peace Of households that doctors, as
a rule, set guard upon their tongues,
and that it is deemed a breach of
professional etiqustte to disclose the
secrets they learn In the course Of
their practice. Sometimes, however,
a habit becomes 50 common that it is
no longer possible to keep silence
respecting it. 1t saps the vigor of
thousands, causes unspeakable anxi-
ETY. and misery, sOws dlssension In
innUmerable households, and finally
hurries the unhappy victims into a
premature grave. Unless the evil
dence of medical men is to be rejected,
such habit is now running its course
among US. The indications Of it
cannes be misunderstood by the pro-
fessional eye. Every doctor has had
cases produced by it within the range
of his experience. And it is scarcely
possible that his skill can be exercised
upon more insidlous or hopeless
malady. We refer, Of course, to the
custom Of dram drinking in private,
under pretense of taxing a whole
some tonic, as restorative for the
system. The tonic, no matter under
what false name it is sold, is generally
a mischievous alcoholic stimulant,
which, by the spirit Of evil let loose
from a bottle by the traveller In the
Arabian Nights, proves the bane of
young and old, the curse of every
household into which it enters, and
the ruin Of every woman who is fool
ish enough to place herself beneath
its spell.
The mysterious maladies which
alarm the heads Of households are
frequently to be traced to the dele
ferrous compounds sold as bitters,"
and warranted by the maker to cure
halt the diseases flesh is heir to. The
basis of these mixtures is nothing but
whisky, favored and disguised to
give some excuse for the pretex un-
= der which it is sold. Analysis will
show that what is represented as a
glass of healthy biiters, is always the
Uircean cup, destined to acquire an
increasing influence over the unhappy
dupe who drains it, until at last she
becomes hopelessly degraded. The
victims are chiefly women, for when
men want to drink they can find
plenty of opportunities for doing it
openly. They can ask for whisky
over counter without exciting any
scandal. But woman cannot walk
into a bar-room and call for Bour-
bon E" or rye" It is for her, there
fore, that preparations of bitters
under all sorts of fantastic names are
scattered broadcast over the land
She is innocent of any i'll intention
in taking them. She is not aware
that she is really running her consti-
tuition by imbibing her daily dose OF
alcohol. But In the course of time
her husband notices that her health
is failing. Her nervous system Ii
deranged, her appetite disappears
she rises in the morning tired anC
feyerish, her head is always aching
her hand shakes, and she is subjec
to constant depression of spirits. ThI
husband looks on at these symptoms
with pain and grief, but he Is at
loss to account tor them, because h.
does not suspect the demon which
turks In the apparently harmless
bottle of bitters slowed away IL
the cupboard. He tries change 0
air. but it does no good, and no Won
der-the fatal bottle goes with hi
wife, in her trunk. At last the doc
tor is called in, and he at once detects
in the unfortunate woman all tn
disastrous effects of hard drinking
VS. have heard on good authorit
that the patieRt is sometimes dlscov
cred to be on the very verge OF deli
rum tremens. The horror of tn
husband when this fact comes to hi
knowledge, may be imagined; bu
though his wife may be temporar
cured, the evil ascendency too ofte
return. and the flower of her life
cruelty poisoned.
Any medical man in large practiC
would youch for it that we do nc
exaggerate the deplorabls wreck c
mind and body procuced By this kin
of dram drinking. 1t Is extendln
everywhere, although not under ideI
tically the same DISCUSSES. La Franc
the connection may be called
a. water" in England spirits of OF
ange- flower" but everywhere it is tt
same baleful compound-alcohol
present beneath ali the articles tn
may be employed, and when once
woman has sold herself to the ey
spirit, her freedom, her happiness ar
her health are alike sacrificed. 81
may not know what she Is dom
She feels that her strength is failin
and she finds that the habit of ST
ping at the black bottle infuses in h
for time new animation. She m
sincerely believe that the fatal draug
is really composed, as its make
assert. of some lite giving herb
plant. She ascribes her declini
health to any and every cause b
the right one. Consequently s.
goes on tipping until it Is too late
undo the mischief which has be
wrought. The bottle of Eitters "
often replenished, and each dose
hicts a new blow upon her constlt
ton. But the taste for it increas
rapidly, until in the end it becom
unconquerable, and the wretch,
slave to the bottle has remorse
her companion until the last hou
IL is a melancholy picture, but
would startle all Of US if We knt
how often the physician is compel
TO gaze upon it. The secret POTATO
of the drawing room are not Il
disastrous In their consequent
than the more vulgar carousals OF
drinking saloon or the bar-roo
Tobacco and whisky are now dol
harm enough in almost every CO
munity, without women abandonI
themselves to the same malign INT
ences. Beware Of the bottle, no On
ter under what shape it may Sc
admission into the household! l
only safe tonics are to be found
regular hours, good exercise, sim
fare, and needful proportion OF sic
The truth is as old as the hills,
it is not superAuous to enforce it or
more, when city life and quackt
combined are destroying the enel
and viyacity Of youth. and bring
down gray heads in sorrow to
gr~.e.
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