Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1871-03-25
Independent in all things.



severally attained the age Of tweDty.one. |
Dyspepsia soon adds is horrors in the
case Of multitudes and at thirty a
formidable minority, il not a majority,
are on the dowuhill Of life, victims Of
their own ignorance aud excesses. Bad
cookery, generally y excessive in the case
of mcats,) food swamped and stewed in
grease, meats, vegetables and beverages
swallowed when too hot, (it were better
that we took nothing when more than
blood.warm J tumble Of acids and
sweets-pickles and honey--these corrode |
our teeth, taint our breath, boneycomb
our bones and deprave all the muscles
and cartilages whereof our bodies are
composed. Of our couutrymen and wo-
men above forty years old, q mojority
are invalids or daily sufferers because of
their early violations of the laws Of life,
not TO mention the larger number whom
these violations have already consigned
to untimely graves. We eat too much
we eat too fast we eat at irregular in
tervals we eat too many things essen
TALLY and inevitably hurtful we eat as
though the stomach were an iron mill,
bound to grind out whatever grists were
poured into the hopper. We pay for
months of thoughtless indulgence and
ignorant transgreFsiou, by years OF in
efficiency and suffering. Those who will
inquire, and read, and consider, need not
thus dstroy themselves. We are vic
tins of our own thoughtless sensuality,
but not, therefore, innocent victims. 1t
is our simple duty to take care of the
lives and faculties which have been en-.
trusted to our stewardship and any in
! fidelity to this high trust is sin. If
cleanliness be akin TO godliness, due
regard for health may be justly account
ed moral duty. Let each seek out the
right and pursue it, as well with regard
TO himself es his neighbors.
EscuEw STRONG DRINK.--Alcohol is
a poison as essentially and demonstraoly
as arsenic is, and, like arsenic and most
! otler poisons, may sometimes be ftly
used to kill disease and save the life Of
it's victim. Never fancy little alcohol
can do no harm, though much alcohol
nav; for the alcohol diffused through a
gallon of beer or cider, is just as poison
Gus as though it were condensed into
bottle of whisky or flask of brandy.
No liquor stimulates except as the natu-
raj effect of the alcohol it contains or
conceals; and men have died of alcohol
ic poisoning whose only stimulant was
cider. The number hurried TO their
graves bv lager beer is very great,
though those generally finish their ca
reer on some kinds of distilled spirits.
In my Judgment, whisky, honestly dis
titled from grain, is the least deadly
poison of the alcohol stimulants, though
a quart of it will poison more than a
quart of beer or cider, because, and only
because it contains much larger pro-
portion of alcohol. But in fact, there il
no honestly distilled liquor-or next to
none because it has been ascertained
that ar acceptable beverage-whether
malt or spiritOus-can be produced far
cheaper by adding other poisons than
by relying on alcohol alone. 81 know
said recently, an ex.distiller, "that there
is no honest whisky now made. Do you
ask hou l know ii? Because | know
that adding strychnine to the mash en-
sures a production of twenty per cent.
more liquor than could otherwise be OBJ
tanned and there is not twenty pei
cent. margin for profit on the business.
Now, men do not make whisky tor phi
, lanthropy's sake; they make it for prot
it, and stop making it when profit Is
denied them. So whisky making has
fallen necessarily and exclusively into
the hands of those who do not scruple
to use strychnine; and there it must re-
main" Every observing old person will
tell you that deLirium trenens, palsy, ap-
plexv, epilepsy, &c, as results of drink
ing, are far more common now than they
were half a century ago; aud the reason
is not that alcohol is more deadly, but
that other poisons have been added To 1t
: that equally sap the citadel of lite.
Young men as you love your God,
your country, your families and your
selves, be entreated neither to make OF
sell, diffuse nor imbibe, any kind OF al
coholic beverage.
6. BE Coon CITIZEN. There arc
some who seem to fancy it sanity, oI
aristocratic. or something other than un'
T patriotic and patry, to leave public at
fairs unheeded to go as they may, but he
cannot be n thoroughly good man who
ignores or habitually neglects those pub
lie responsibilities which flow directly
, from citizenship in free State or coun
, try. In every such country, there vii
be some who seek personal aggrandize
ment through the control ofpolilical ma
chincry and every citizen who neglectS
his public duties, renders himself the ac
complce OF these selt-seekers. 1T nc
! one attended primary meeting, or vo
ted at an election, but those who sought
r to subserve private and selfish ends
2 thereby, a republic must soon become
: the most corrupt and oppressive OF des
t potism. However good or bad in then
, practical influences our institutions may
, be, they must surely be made worse by
each habitual abstention from the per
= formance OF political duties. lie wht
sells his vote to the highest bidder Is
t lust twice as bad as his neighbor who
r does not vote at all. | question the Il
/, deity to his trust of the man who feels
! at liberty to disregard his obligations tt
I do whatever be honestly may, towarC
, placing political power IN capable and
! worthy hands. And the pretense tha'
| n haaVu Snaritirp Ot TINT