Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1873-03-21

alihS VA hhtoe oha ocey s6eSs tAS oae
very which is imposed upon them. Du-
ring what is called the absinthe hours"
in Paris, say from two to FIVE in the af-
ternoon, all varieties of transient pleas.
ures, followed by fearful depressions, va
ried by terrible spasmodic excitement,
are presented to the frightened and dis
gusted observer, while the philosopher
finds ample food for reflection, the cynic
abundant material for ridicule, and the
moralist the broadest possible field for
condemnation if not for pity.
Can it be that Americans are ordained
to become nation of absinthe drinkers
Heaven and our common sense forbid.
Several New Workers have recently
fallen victims to absinthe. One was a
lawyer of great promise, formerly resid-
ing in West Twenty-eighth street. This
gentleman recently died in agony in
private lunatic asylum, to which he was
consigned by his friends, after long con-
tinued efforts to break him from the
spell of absinthe. He was in the habit
of drinking seven or eight glasses per
day of the undiluted poison, and was
soon reduced to mental and physical
wreck.
Another victim was married lady of
high social position, formerly resident
Of Park avenue. She had visited Paris
several times, and there contracted a
taste for absinthe. Spite of her better
judgment, this taste grew upon her until
she became its slave. In vain her hus-
band tried to reclaim her; in vain her
brother, New York street broker, for
bade any person to serve her with alb
sinthe. She obtained her pet poison
some way or other; at one time through
the agency of her butler, whom she
bribed, and who was beaten half to death
by the indignant brother when his treach-
cry was discovered. She would call for
absinthe at a fashionable party, and de-
spite all disclaimers, would MAKE q
scene," until she was furnished with her
destruction. She neglected her family.
once nearly poisoned her child by giving
ling it absinthe in mistake, and finally
died in an absinthe stupor.
There are other cases known of abb
sinthe madness among our native popu-
lation. A young clerk in wholesale
dry goods house on Broadway, and a
man of considerable business ability, is
now the mere wreck of his former self,
and is almost an idiot. Soon he will be
complete driveler. He has stood un-
der six or seven glasses of absinthe daily
for the last year or so, but he can't stand
it much longer, and will soon miserably
perish.
A very sad case has recently come to
light. A little girl scarcely ten years of
age is a complete slave to her passion
for absinthe, and is now hopelessly idiot
| ic. She is the child of French father
and of New England mother, and ac-
quired the taste for absinthe by occa-
sionally slipping it from her fathers glass
before dinner. Then she found her way
to the absinthe bottle by stealth, and f.
nally her ruin was complete. Though
an exceedingly bright child at seven, she
is now a pitiable spectacle.
Nor are these isolated instances. The
fact is, that there is vast amount of alb
sinthe drank in New York and Philadel-
pbia, by native Americans as well as
foreigners. AT one barup town, in New
York, the attendant says that there are
calls for over FIVE bottles of absinthe
daily. Another bar-keeper rates his ab-
sinthe drinking patronage at S15 day
and over $40 ON Sunday, while third
estimates the number of American Gus
toners who partake regularly of absinthe
at about eighty. These figures, which
are approximately correct, are social
signs of our times and future troubles.