The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-08-24
EUROPEAN LETTER.

From Our Regular Correspondent
BRUSSELS, Aug. 'ih' J


There I, Il belief in our own country u"'
ghers is scarcely any drunkenness IL Ho'oPr'
and that this plague is peculiar to America. =
have frequently read ms much in American pa,
,,,rs ann in Letters of tourists and have near"
Americans on this side assert thai they nave
never seen drunken man N Europe '"''
only say tina, those Americans VINO nave "''
.oet,o oreot deal of inebricty here have "eeh
,Imos, miraculously preserved froll Il S"u 'L''
Disgusting hut very common spectacle. lheIeI
nay~not be as many persons iouhdue"u VI uL"'
As the saving is, here as IN Amerna; Du' a.
nnch llrger proportion OF the people are al
gc7vs in q state of standardization or, tm''y
N. said never quite sober But 1t Is hard 20
understand how any one can have i've" III
Europe. for even short time, and not nave
seen men dead drunk | have seen them IN
Paris too drunk TO keep their feet, ana Wili!eI
in Frankfort on the Main, last week, saw IN
,ha SINCE Of five minutes, two men carried toI
line lookup so hcplessly intoxicated that theyI
-,ould not lift a hand, The manifestation OF
drunkenness, in the European and The Ameri:I
csnis different, and the intrequencro OF crimes
arising from intoXicatiOn here is think, one
reason why it is so generally believed that
thnrc is less OF the vice on this than on the otll-
er side of the Atlantic. SO thoroughly nave
aces of oppression and rigid subsection TO au-
floritv trained the European nature that IN
moments of cxhileratiOn and even OF maddest|
excitement ne never torgets the terror OF law.
This. think is not inconsistent with the fact
that large proportion of our criminal popu-I
,ation is Of foreign birth. The sudden transit
non to a new country and an entirely new life,
lhe elevation to citizenship and peership so
utterly conrounds his imported ideas of polti-
cai and social relations that he runs amuckI
and the reCci OF ages of despotlsm falls, As it
we're upon the liberation.
Il has been frequently said in favor Of Eu-
ropean institutions and habits that they have
no bars. that they have not The vile practice OF
salking up like Americans and swallowing a
drink at q har. but here, instead, gardens and
saloons, where they 60 with their families and
sit down and drink at leisure. |, is difficult
20 see wherein the superior virtue OF the Euro
ocau custom, now largely introduced in Amcri-
ea. consists, fla man must drink 1t would
seem that the sooner he swallows it down and
goes about his business the better
believe {. there could he compiled accur
ate statistics. not of the men punished for
crime, Of drunkenness, but through some i'm
possible u'oNicomcter that would precisely
rula Che amount of incbriauon, be its mani
lcstatiol In individuals extreme or mild; 1t
syalrd be found that there is 4 much higher
average according to population in Europe
lhan in America. The usual manifestation Of
intoylca,iou In European countries is loud eX-
citing talking and gesticuatIon, and casual
Observers. ignorant of the Ian guagc, are dis
puscd Ia attribute this to national habit, yvaci-
" and good humor. But those acquainted
with the demon discern other SlTns, such signs
- would cause q lawyer or physician to lose
some practice IN America, or make what Isl
called g. marrying man" less eligible in the
eyes Of prudent parents,
Wine bibbiug and beer bbbing is auniycrsal
habit in France, Germany, Switzerland and
Belgium Men. women and children all drink,
and some Of them drink nearly all the time. /
10 not think that the great teen ut Heidelberg
Tould last some families great while, In
France wine J., the beverage OF the rich and
HE poor. and | do not think that it i, an cX-
aggcratiou 20 say that the French drink more
AnpripnDE a nluttpY what
nay havo been their prejudice, and pledges,
u.s. - usual thing, take to wine and beer drink
iGg as soon "a, they have been month in Eu
rope Il is said that the water OF many Euro
peon c;tic,, and especially of Paris snot good
and our couuuymen and countrywomcn give
this MS an excuse for their fall from abstinence
But DO no, think there is anything tie mat
ler with ,ha watcr except lack Of ice The
water in Paris f. perfectly clear, sweet and not
very wagm even in the hottest weather
C. =