Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-01-13
Condition Of the Working Glasses IN
Great Britain

many modern ball suppers cham
payne flows like water and the at
tontive observer will soon perceive
that it is not the men, by any means
who do the larger part of the con
s sumption. These same young ladies
who have 50 freely partaken OF cham
payne overnight will Dext day at
lunch take plenty Of bottled beer, or a
couple OF glasses Of sherry. Dinner
comes round, and again either cham
payne or hook or port or sherry is
drunk, not less than couple OF
glasses being taken. And then the
evening very If en- brings party of
some kind With the inevitable chamr
payne or sherry We are speaking Of
things which t0e haze seen when we
say that many girls who live among
rich especially noaueau riche) and
gay society are in the habit, during
six months oat of twelve, of taking
Gin the shape Of wine, &C., q daily
average OF two, two and half, or
three ounces of absolate alcohol a
quantity which, if Expressed in cheap
beer, would be equal to six or seven
pints.
Referring to the drinking habits Of
the working classes the United States
consul at Manchester informed the
author that
The working classes consume an
enormous quantity Of Intoxicating
liquors, principally beer, though very
many partake largely of spirits and
of the cheaper wines. lntemperance
seems TO be on theincrease especially
among the women, not only Of the
working-classes, but also Of the middle
and upper middle classes.
General Fairchild, United Stated
consul at Liverpool, under date OF
November, 1873 writes :
The increase Of drunkenness, and
all designations which follow idle
hours, is alarming.
The Westminster Reuje,0 of January,
1874, says:
LIVERPOOL has the unenviabIe no
torlety Of being the most drunken
town in tbs United Kin5 dom.
Dr.. Trench, the able aud well H.
formed medical officer of the health
department Of Liverpool, remarks {:
The working -ciasses OF Liverpool
are extremely Incorporate, even
when compared with similar sections
of the community in other large
towns of Great Britain.
His able official report for pre-
vlous wear contains the following on
the came subject:
The amount which is spent IN
drink is astonishing. One or two
instances of the worst kind, occurring
in the same street may be cited.
a man earns 27S, regularly, and
spends as regularly 21S. in drink !;
his four children are in rags. In
another instance the wages are 3Os.
week regularly the father and
mother are both drunken, and three
children are half starved and IN rags.
In another house is q copper ore
worker, earning Us. a week. all Of
which is spent in drink by himself
and his wife. The children arc in
rags and fl.h and look idiotic. In
the same street there are sober men,
earning only 20s. and 23s. week,
who are living in comfort.
The landlord OF a small public
house, who had lived oryears in the
district, and knew Intimately the
habits of the people said, For one
man Who did not drink there were
fifty who would take their share :
they starve their wives and children,
and must beg if they want bit.
Mr.. Jenkinson, the consul OF the
United States at Glasgow, in refer
ence 70 The increase Of intemper-
ance, wrote ne follows:
That Drunkenness prevails to an
alarming extent among the working
ella sses cannot be denied that it has
increased as the wages have been
increased is also true. Many have,
no doubt, been benefited by such in
crease of wages but most, it seems,
outspend their extra earnings in ex-
ira quantities of whisky.
DR.. Webster, United States consul
atSheffield, thus writes, January p
1874:
From inquiry and my own obser,
walton, | believe that far the larger
part of the loss Of time and the reck-
less waste Of money is the result OF
the drinking habits which prevail SO
generally. 1t is painful to see how
the weekly wages are squandered by
the thousands who throng the drink
ing places or Saturday, Sunday, at
certain hours, Monday and Thursday
aud, indeed, on all the days of the
week.
There are n Sheffield 400 public
houses, licensed places for the sale OF
beer and spirits. At each OF tuese,
at low estimate, an average
amount Of CLOS spent weekly, max
ing an aggregate of Ed 600 of
weekly expenditure for a population
Of 240 600
Mr.. Consul Jones, of New Castle.
upon-Tyne, in his report on the NOR
al and social condition of tue work
ing classes. says
Many of them are very IMPROVE
dent and fond of drink, feast OF
food and stimnlents in the early
part Of the week, at the expense OF
an insufficient supply at the end,
is very frequently the case among
the sons OF the Tyne. Excessive
drinking has undoubtedly increased
in this district since the short hours
and advanced wages have prevailed.
Ii was said boastingly by English
statesmen that the nation had drunk
itself out Of the alabama claims 6y
the increased income from the tar on
Intoxicating drinks during the past
gear.
From these statements the con-
dition of the working classes may
be pretty clearly contemplated.
Drinking is the bane of English
society and the destruction of the
working-classes. In our own country
L