The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-05-15
Terms, by Mail, in Advance
DAILY REGISTER.
The Poor and the Liquor.

The poor workman who has accus-
toned his stomach to perform diges-
ton only through the excitement OF a
preyious stimulant, cannot, even If he
knows the miserable condition he is in,
abandon this bad habit without almost
superhuman effort.
Working makes man hungry, but
his stomach not being able to digest
solid food, eating becomes disagrees-
Die to him. His relaxing strength
however, demands support. His vital
activity is suppressed; he must have a
fresh supply of strength to be able to
work and earn his living. To accom-
plish this, he knows no other means
than liquor again For, unfortunately,
experience mas taught him that spirits
not only stimulate him for the moment
and increase his vital activity, but that
they can also be to him kind of sub
|
stitute for food.
| 1t was not until recently that science
told us how and in what manner the
J use Of spirits may actually promote the
working power OF the starving. tbs OF
the utmost importance to obtain cor
rect idea of this.
Work promotes evaporation and res
piration. Evaporation, however, that
Is perspiration proper, is nothing but a
part of the food we have taken, and
which i thus secreted from the body.
Precisely the same holds good with the
breath we inhale; it consists OF carbonlc
acid which is likewise formed from the
tool we have taken. A man in state
Of rest does not per-pire and breathe so
much IA the man at work; there
fore he needs less food. II, on
the other hand person works with
out taking food, the persplratlon
and ctrhonic acid of the breath are
formed from the muscles Of his body
for which reason he must greatly de-
crease both in strength anil volume
We must bear in mind, however, that
il is one Of the qualities Of spirits TO be
iecomposed in the body very easily into
water and carbonic acid the water l.
then -ecreted in the form OF presplra-
tIon: the carbolic acid, by exhalatlon.
Thus, il = man works without food, he
becomes reduced Immediately, because
preparation and breath are formed
from the liquor itself Instead Of his
BODY, which thus, partly AT least, re-
mains intact.
This is the solution Of the great
problem, viz: How can drunkards
live long time on nothing hut spirits,
and, moreover, how can they work.
We know it now; liquor furnishes
them the material for perspiration and
| breath; and their BODY i not nearly so
much taxed as would be the case il
they were 10 take no spirits at all
Since then. the drunkard cannot eat,
and even if he could, would not be
nourished, because food passes through
him undigested, he must needs continue
taking spirits even ii he works but
LITTLE. Spirits help him at his work,
AID saves his body from being con-
sumed.
That spirits are not articles Of food,
has been known long; but it was not
known until recently why spirits can be
substitute for food, or more correctly,
a kind oil Sd1itg Of f0GG
Unfortunately, liquor ia as deplora
Die a. Substitute as it is fatal as Il
means Of saving. 1t is calculated to
entirely destroy the doomed man that
uses it.
"Now. is it not more judicious to IN
derstand the reason why the drunkard
cannot abstain from spirits, than to
endeavor to reform hun merely by
praver' and stories about the devil
in tue alcohol p And is it not OF the
highest importance to all that the friends
of humanity should take care that the
workman has good and healthy food,
and that he he always able to earn
enough, so as not to be obliged to re-
place bad food by liquor?
The workman who has nothing but
notatoes to eat, is bound to become a
lrunkard. This food is insufficient to
afford him a proper quantity OF csrhonlc
ac.d Tor the purpose of breathing; he
must therefore draw for this from his
body. and, since he must needs work
for hi living, he taxes to spirits to save
his BODY from being consumed. Many
an Apostle Of Temperance would in
SINH ar situation. act no better. For
this reason let Us all provide healthy
food for the working class; intemper-
ance will then greatly diminish
| RtrnStcin.