Litchfield enquirer., 1874-02-19

cr0ached on the alcohol Tn It's hard old age as to sour even on the best seasoned stomach. This was point not easily reached with the red eyed old topper who could "swig" his gallons of the most re- pulsive acids for the sake of the gills of alcohol they diluted. But there were a few months in year where the old time New Englander drank more water than he liked, until the cider distillery came to his assistance and helped to enliven the late summer and early autumn with the stim- ulus he supposed necessary to his eficien- cy as laborer. and to the proper enj joy- ment of life.
 Then came the grand old temperance reform. The orchards were neglected, the distilleries deserted, and there was a | generation that knew not Cider. Now, the reaction occasioned by the failure of Pro- hibition and the decay of total abstinence is laying the beginnings of a revival of the practice of cider drinking among the grandsons of the old farmers to whose ex- amples we must turn for the matured eff fects of the habit. To be sure the grand son can only digest two or three barrels where his grandfather thought nothing of ten times that amount. Still the mod ern family shows fewer sons, as we'll as few barrels of cider, and the revival of the art of cider drinking is still in it's infancy, so that the old proficiency may once more be reached provided the New England practice is one in which he can safely in- dulge.
 The congregations of temperance profes- sionals, " as we may not improperly term those who make temperance advocacy business, seem only to hasten the revival of the practice we deprecate. The farm CT who begins imbibing the juice of his own apples, cautiously at first, and finds that he is not "poisoned," nor, so far as he can discover, even partially intoxica- ted, is apt to set down the whole tenn perance argument as of piece with its indefensible congregations. He estimates the effects of cider drinking, not from what they used to be when it was the matured habit of our whole people, but from what they are now, in the renewed infancy of the habit. The breach of the rule of ab- stinence is so slight, and it's effects so nearly imperceptible, that the evil princi- pie under what seems an innocent in- diligence is not understood, nor it's dan gers appreciated.
 We shall not claim that the use of only partially fermented cider, such is now more often used, is as dangerous as the indulgence in the use of distilled liquors. Nevertheless the person who is predispos- ed to intemperance can no doubt have the demon reused within him by the use even of so light stimulant as this And no one can tell in advance who has that most unfortunate predisposition. Cider is also peculiarly adapted to develop love of alcoholic stimulus from it's varying strength as a stimulant. It begins with the scarce ly preceptible alcohol of it's early ''work- ing" gradually rises to the full strength of the common "beer," and contains often ten per cent of alcohol. The person who commences it's use is thus gradually train ed, by degrees. to the liking of the alco- holic stimulus. So that the liquor which women and children love in the beginning gradually grows into sufficient strength to satisfy the taste of the drunkard. All our older readers no doubt have seen the lingering remnant of the old breed of ''cider topers'' who used to haunt the ru- ral districts of New England and swill down "hard" cider, as the German topper swills his lager, by the gallon. We doubt whether there was even a meaner, more disgusting class of drunkards than this old product of the habit of cider drinking.
 No one who has seen the evil results of New England cider drinking as it was once practiced will be easily deceived by the''light win" theories which are so generally prevalent in our day. We doubt whether Germans and Englishmen are not much the worse for the inordinate quality of beer they guzzle, but proba- ply they are not not injured to anything like the extent the New Englander would be who should copy their habits. We are already almost as much stimulated by our climate as the German is by his beer. The least additional alcoholic stimulus sends us reeling by the thousand. What would be comparatively innoxious in- diligence in the damp climate of Old Eng land, would make New Englanders race of drunkards.
 The direct evils of cider drinking, how ever. do not compare with the indirect. Were it possible to confne our popula- tion to the use of cider and fermented liquors, there would no doubt be fewer drunkards there we now have; but {. it must be remembered that the general use of liquors containing one-tenth alcohol kills the principle of abstinence, and leaves no ground for any moral or legal restraint of the use of other alcoholic stimulants. Not only does cider start the appetite in the individual, thus educating the most dangerous taste the New Englander can indulge. but by breaking down habits of abstinence otherwise general, it throws the once solid ranks of the Temperance army into utter confusion. While, there fore, many most excellent and temperate people indulge in the use of cider only, and abstain on principle from other, stim- ulants, we cannot help thinking that their example is one that it will not be best for the people of New England to follow. The principle of total abstinence is the princi- pie on which our fathers effected the great