Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-06-14

| HSoAo pSlep iCCOiy OhO hOl
for want of their accustomed support
and the system sinks, often irrecovera
bly,, into state of general prostration
and if reaction may be had under judic
ious treatment, or abstinence from tn,
use Of alcohol, the system may possibl,
find its way back to health through
determined series of painful infamma
tions. 1t is this absorption of the fuid
by the action of alcohol which induce.
such intense thirst so commonly noticed
on the part Of individuals after thei
drunken orgies.
Let me here say, that it is by fa
safer, and less injurious to health, fo
one to occasionally get fully intoxicated
and then allow the system to recover
from the shock it has sustained, than t(
become moderate drinker, since, in thu
one case the strain upon the nervous
system is of short duration and the
nerves may be allowed to recover thei1
normal condition; while the strain upor
them is incessant in the case of the
moderate drinker, who uses spirituous
| liquors as common beverage.
No alcoholic stimulants can be taker
into the system, especially when the
system is in a good normal condition
without injurious results, for if the
tone be elevated, which may, in most
cases, be detected by the acceleratior
produced, there will be proportionate
falling of the vital forces beneath nat
ural level, and as the borrowed forces
diminish in power, the demand for q
greater supply of alcoholic fuel becomes
readily apparent, until there is per
sistent craving of the appetite for alco
holic stimulants.
Now, if these phenomenal results con
tinue, there can be but sure and GER
tain destruction Of all the vital forces
at last; and the end, a loathsome, and
| might add, an irrational death To IL
lustrate, | will cite one case that | at
tended, in which were depicted untold
horrors and countless miseries.
A gentleman of good family, who, fol
some years, was moderate drinker
could not be induced to forego the in
toxicating cup, Notwithstanding he was
aware of the increasing danger attending
it's use, still thought himself capable OF
resistance when too much danger should
threaten. When | first saw him profes-
sionally, he lay in a burning fever
brought on by undue exposure while
under the influence of liquor; recover
ing after weeks of suffering, he returned
to his accustomed drinks. The habit all
the time fastening itself more firmly up
on him, drew him rapidly toward the
closing scenes of a drunkard's life
When l visited him again he was in the
midst of loved ones, suffering all the
horrors of delirium tremens Again, af-
ter protracted illness, in which at one
time his life was nearly despaired of, he
recovered, and gave promise OF a full
restoration to health. Once more he
made the effort to subdue the terrible
power of a rum appetite, that had fas-
tened itself upon him like an incubus
1t was fearful struggle between the
rum demon and blighted manhood
never did two armies oppose each other
with more determined vigor for the
mastery. | saw him once when the per-
spiration literally ran off him, with
his hands clenched, and heard him de-
clare by a most solemn vow, that he
would die sooner than touch another
drop of liquor, and he kept to his deter
mination and never drank more A few
weeks after, on a bright and beautiful
morning, when all nature was clothed in
the splendors of autumn, he kissed an
aged mother and an idolized sister, and
with promise to each that he would
still remain firm to the pledge he had
given them while life remained, he left
them, and in one short hour after, the
sad tidings was whispered to those two
devoted ones, Jonathan is dead! Fol-
days they did not learn the fact that
their dear boy died by his own hand-a
suicide! Rum the cause! Oh, what q
sad sight A more beautiful specimen
of the physical man could not be found
in any State, and one endowed with
more natural and lofty capacities of the
intellect were hard to find, the benefit
of which the world enjoys to-day, and is
indebted to for several useful inven-
tions, the results of his genius.
What fearful results when the appe.
tite for rum becomes a disease, which it
certainly does; and how terrible the
conflict when it has once fastened its
poisonous fangs upon the vital forces OF
the system. No wonder Cassie was
made to eXclaim, after night of drunk
on frolic: wine, oh, wine thou de-
mon! thou art a devil! l have no other
name for thee
The above illustrates not only the
power of an acquired appetite, but also
some of the physical effects of alcoholic
drinks in the system to disposl-
ton to melancholy and suicide. NJ
merous suicides have been found to
be but the closing acts in the drama of
an Incorporate life. And let me here
say, that there are thousands of suicides
every year which firmly believe to be
the indirect, as well as the direct, re,
suits of the use of alcoholic drinks as q
beverage, that are not chronicled as
such. The young man who contracts
disease in consequence of undue expos
ure while intoxicated, and dies in conse-
quence, has committed suicide. How
often is chronicled in our newspapers
under the head of "a sad accident,
run over by the cars while in state OF
intoxication," &c, which is little less
than another suicide, without the knowl-
edge of intention. And so of whole
catalogue of accidents which might be
mentioned.
Aside from the direct suicidal results
from intoxication, multitudes of human
beings every year are sacrificed, and
thousands of lives jeopardized, through
a careless neglect of duty on the part Of
those entrusted with the various modes
of transportation, under the head of
ocean disasters and railroad collisions
&c Many of them, upon investigation
discover the primary cause to be the i'm
moderate use of alcoholic beverages.
Having, as you see, been led along by
train of thought out of the physical
effects, into cause and effect, arising out
of physical results from the use of alco
hol, in order to make the subject as
comprehensive as possible, | will again
return to a brief investigation of it's fur
ther and more minute effects upon tho
system.
1st. The stomach, into which al
food as also liquids are deposited, is q
membraneous muscular sack, that in
shape resembles a Scotch bagpipe. Il
has three coats denominated peritaneal
muscular and mucus or villous, which
contain numerous absorbing and exhal
ing muscles, for the purpose of secret
ing the fluids to aid in digestion. 1t is
the great center of sympathy ,and all mat
ter, whether of noxious or Affirmative