South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-06-09
The Habit of Taking a mNin.,,

present day would certainly be a good deal
startled, and we fear ~scandalized, by
various changes which could not fail to
attract his attention. Admiration would
mlngle with his establishment at the vast
scale OF modern transactions, the daring
and versatile ingenuity with which plans
are conceived, and the rapidity with which
they are executed. But there would be
another side of the picture. He would be
painfully struck by a certain feverish ex.
clternent observable in city life, and a
growing tendency to disregard the line
which separates legitimate business from
sheer gambling. He would find that the
disastrous consequences of reckless trad.
ing, which in his day would have brought
disgrace, are now reckoned among the
ordinary and natural risks of commercial
enterprise. And. looking a little more
closely into the private habits of those
who had succeeded him, he would observe
n or two things which, according to his
old fashioned notions, would sufficiently
account for any irregularities of trade or
looseness of mercantile morals. Even IN
walking siong the streets the number of
drinking bars of all kinds would strike
his Eye, some Haunting in gold and rain
Dow hues, and disclosing through the large
plate-glass windows and wid~ely-opened
doors the glittering counters and dash
ing Hebes behind it; others, prim
and shy, with close wire-blinds to
the street, and secluded compart-
ments opening on the bar; others, again,
more unabashed and shameless dram
shops. Many of the old chop houses re-
main, but the tendency of development is
evidently in the direction of the gaudy
refreshment bar, with fittings in the high
est style of Partisan ornament, stucco
mouldings, panels of white and gold,
howery a~rabesques, mirrors flashing on
the walls, and rejecting the CLEAN of
crystals, colored glasses and bottles, bou-
quets of artificial flowers, and lavish show
of electro-plate O the long marble count
er. In some cases the transformation has
been accomplished; in others the old and
new may be seen in %grotesque combina-
tion-a quaint oyster shop of other days
with low roofand squat broad window,
throwing out an anneXe of Alhambra
splendor, or some famous old tavern
breaking out into gliding and looking
glasses in a corner of its dingy yard But
rel in the traditional chophouse, with its
wooden boxes. sanded floor, gridiron his
sing and suffering in a corner of the
room, and metal plates TO keep the chops
warm, although externally the old aspect
the place remains the same, a change may
be noticed from the uniform simplicity of
the chop or steak and glass of beer. Or
ders for sherry and spirits are frequently
heard, while men may be seen coming /
just for a glass, and leaving as o as
they have tossed it off, to return probably
in an hour or so for another. The Ameri-
can bar system, which in New
York and elsewhere has been carried
to a height at which, through be-
ing SC flagrantly scandalous and intolera-
bic, it has almost begun to cure itself, has
unfortunately taken root in London and
others of our chief cities. The habit of
taking irregular "nips," "pegs," "pick-
me-ups," or "eye-openers," as the Yam
KEGS call them, is established among US,
and seems to be rapidly gaining ground.
The forenoon glass is in especial request,
and men who shrink from going to public
bars have no scruples about fitting up a
neat mahogany cellar in their own office,
where they can help themselves to a glass
whenever they want it. Under these cir
cumstances the drinking at a bar or in any
public manner is clearly the less of the
two evils, for the same reason that the
open blaze of the CRATE is less dangerous
hal a smouldering beam under the carpet.
Once a man would have been disgraced
had he been seen drinking in a public
house during business hours, but apparent
ly no discredit now attaches to visiting
the luncheon-bar for frequent drains, pro-
Vided the liquor be sherry, and that it is
consumed at a gulp standing, not slipped
sitting, and with a brief interval between
each glass. Still, slight as the restraint of
the opinion may be, it does operate to
some extent as a check on drinking in
public. Secret drinking is free and u
controlled. The bottle in the private
room is the most alarming phase of mer-
camille alcoholism; for the tippler helps
himself as often as he likes, the tempta-
ton is eve present, and wine is apt to be
supplanted by gin or brandy.
Ii is beyond question that the rotations
of city men are terribly on the increase.
"Oh, everybody does it" is the excuse;
and cant get on without it" after a time,
is the confession. The old rule of self-de-
NAL and abstinence during the sacred
business hours" is set at nought, and the
consequences are of kind which it is a
duty TO expose. The evil effects of this
pernicious habit are not confined to ruined
health and shattered constitution; they
may be traced in the general course of
business, in the wild projects of gain fos-
tered by an excited brain, the relaxation Of
prudence, and the weakening of moral
resolution and self command, of which we
have had in recent years such painful evil
dence in the records of the bankruptcy
and criminal courts. The pressure of
business is nowadays Intensified by the
operation of two conflicting circumstances
the one hand, an increase Of the
amount of work, and on the other, a con
slant tendency to reduce the hours within
which the work was to be performed. A
series of important transactions which
would have occupied u grandfathers
weeks, perhaps months, is now dis
posed of in as many days. The facilities
for communication, the wide range of COM
mercial enterprise and diversities of spec
provide incessant employ
With the telegraph and
In accelerated postal service at
command, there is no interval during
which a man of business can ~leisurely
Mediate on his affairs and mature his cal
culations while waiting for the mail to
convey his letters or to bring the replies.
.dvices which arrive in the morning have
to be answered within an hour or
'Wo, II not on the instant; and one matter
S no sooner settled than another presses
or decision. And thus the tide of affairs
lows OF swiftly and without intermission
rom weeks end to weeks end. If a tran
action is profitable, the profits bring fresh
and trouble, for they have to be in
rested without delay. If there is a loss it
must be repaired with similar speed. Nor
it merely that the number Of transac-
ions is multiplied a thousandfold, but the
ums staked on them have also risen in a
till greater ratio. The safe but com
,aratively petty gains of the old school of
raiders are despised as too insignificant for
up. "Big things" are the order
f the day, and the risks of loss are neces-
arily in proportion to the chances of gain.
The effect of all this is obviously to pro-
-uce a restless anxiety, a perpetual strain
the nerves, the danger of which lies
lot merely in the exhaustion which at
ends it, but in the tendency which it is
pit to engender to seek some artificial
timulus for jaded powers, and at the
anne time a sedatiVe for the feYered ex-
itement of high-pressure work.
The amount of mischief which is pro- |
uced among all ranks of mercantile men
y tne growing custom Of drinking fire.
mont olaccaS of Uina on6 acpanioIlv cbo- '