Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1878-02-07
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the origin and uses OF alcohol. We
have no distinct account of alcohol
until the time Of Arnold De Villa, Of
Ireland, who hourshed in tbs tnir-
teentn century and for many years it
was used in the arts as universal
solvent, and not until some time in
the fourteenth Century was it used as
a medicine. In IIolingsheads history
we find an advertisement of an apoth-
ocarry giving the properties and uses
Of alcohol says: 1T sIoweth age, it
strengthens youth, it cutteth phlegm,
it quickeneth the split, and it keep.
eth the head from vhirIing," with
many other properties &c. What
striking coincidence compared with
some Of our nostrums Of the present
day which are all composed of bad
whiskoy, three drops Of which would
kill a rat. According to Sir William
Douglas, alcohol Was not in general
use as a beverage until the middle of
the fifteenth century and introduced
into England by Henry II, AMI was
called 'uSque, from which is devised
the term wn5kay. Mr.. Dunlap says
that in the fourteenth year Of the
reign Of Charles |, public houses were
filled with drunken people who were
reacted on by pretty women. We
are happy to say that in the United
States, almost all of our pretty
women are strong and inaexible
friends Of temperance In proof of
the shameful practice of drinking ar
dent spirits aud its consequences, in
Smollet's history of England we find
a transcript Of an advertisement taken
from the Gentlemen's Magazine and
also on various drinking houses
"Drun!i for a Penny, Dead Drunk
for Two Pence, Clean Straw to lie on
for Nothing"
The same old writer, Holingshead,
speaking Of the drinking hotels of the
Clergy, says, The strongest liquors
were used by them and called Theo-
IogIcnm, because it was most agree
able to the paates Of the Clergy
Having briefly and imperfectly
.IetcAei the dongs Of alcohol in Eu-
rope it now remains to give a
short account Of its progress in the
United States. The first colony in
the United States WAS Virginia in the
year 1907, New York in l6l4, Massa-
cEusetts in 1920 and Connecticut in
1888. In that early oer,ol ardent
spirits were OF course almost Unknown
but very soon alter the settlement of
Connecticut a ship arrived having on
board a cargo of rum, but TIE town
officers would not permit the Captain
to land it. Ia 1850 n heavy duty
Was laid on all imported liquor and
an excise upon home nanuEactured.-
At the same time q law was enacted
llaposln3 fine upon any person con-
vlcted OF lntoXieation, tor the first Of
.anso 5 shilling: and 10 shiIlings for
the next. The statute also defined
what constituted drunkenness. The
statute says, "Bv drunkenness it is
understood when person lisps or fall
ters in bis speech by reason of drink,
or stagsors in bis walk, or that vom-
its or cannot follow his calling" In
l7l1 the State Of New York lad an
excise on all ardent spirits: ANY
person who retailed less than 5 gall
! l9H', neither more or less, should pay
a fine OF 10 shlIings for each ofense.'
About the same time the legislature
also enacted law imposing fine of
) sAilINgs for each otfenss on every
christian nho should be convicted Of
drunkenness, cursing or swearlng,a and
a number of stripes at the discretion
Of the Justice.
In l75G Pennsylvania passed an ex-
else law. y heavy duty was laid on
imported liquors The other colonies
nearly all passed similar laws which
gave strong proof that their earliest
Inhabitants were opposed to the IN.
trodnctlon Of intoxicating liquors and
we tiud that intemperance was kept
in reasonable bounds until the war of
1872 with Great Britain. The en-
barge stopped the importation Of IL
Quors and the number Of distllleries
from 1915 to 1880 was fearful. Mr..
Marsh estimated that between forty
and fifty thousands Of dlstilleries were
in active and lncessant operation IN
the u S Dr.. Chapman, who visited
the iajIs ana almshouses in the State
Of n. y, found that more than three
tourths of pauperism was occasioned
by intemperance, and that five out of
every six criminal We're subjects of
intemperance. In Oneida county, n.
York, out Of two hundred and fifty.
three p4upers, two hundred We're
made 50 by intemperance. In Baltl.
more county, Md, in a few yeara
there We're one thous md and htty
paupers and criminals, nine hundred
Of whom were from intemperance. In
Massachusetts, there were at one time
three thousand of panpers, twen-
nine hundred of whom were brought
! 4, NIh,p un