The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-04-29

, went on boylsh frollcs. AS ne grew
, older he weakened his power of resis-
, lance by thoughtlessly giving away to the
, slight craving he at times had for liquor.
, At last, when he was thoroughly alarm
ed for his safety, he found that the de-
sire for alcohol was almost irresistible.
Again and again he yielded to the crav-
. ing, each time saying that this would
be the last time. Then he would "swear
off," Soon he would look kindly on
beer or ale or wine then he would take
"iust one glass;" and before he realized
it whiskey would be drank like water.
Recovering from that spree, he would
soon believe it was lnishap, purely
accidental, and would try it again, al
ways with the same resule. It was not
beer or wine or whiskey he craved !;
it was alcohol, and of this drug the least
quantity famed the smoldering ferceness
of his desire into imperative demand that
he could not resist. He could give up
the use of alcohol for few weeks, some
times for months; then be would feel the
spell, the glamour the alcohol cast be.
fore it, coming on gradually, taking pos.
session of, and haunting him day and
night, Turing him to his destruction.
Daily he argued with himself, fighting
stubbornly over each point. and daily
the alcoholic portion of his brain out
argued the non.alcoholic. The desire
for alcohol grew more intense, and the
craving for the poison invariably culmi-
mated in an attack that he had no more
power to resist than he would have to
resist q malaria chill.
We had caught some fish, and ceas-
ing padding ne sat idly in the canoe,
drifting before light wind. Zalmack
talked very despondently of his future,
dwelling with great bitterness on the
notification lie had endured, of the
sense of degradation he suffered under:
Sitting motionless in the canoe, he tried
to see his future, talking The while as
his imagination pictured painful scenes
! in the life he had before him. I cheered
him as bestI could. 1t twasacas of hered.
itary disease that did not believe there
was any relief for. During the war l
had an army friend, a captain of artil-
lery, who was afflicted with this dis.
ease. Worn out with repeated defeats,
he, feeling the glamour of alcohol COM
| ing on, and having determined not to
again endure the deep modification re-
sultant from disgraceful spree, went into
his quarters at Fort Henry and blew
his brains out. Zalmack's case l thought
was similar.
Thenext morning We parted. I agreed
to be in Missoula on a certain day If
possible, and together we were to travel
up the Lou Lou Fork Of the Bitter
Root River. My work would be fin
ished, and we had planned a chicken and
deer hunt
One bright October day i rode out of
the Jocko country. Passing through
the Coriacan Defle, I descended into
the valley of the Missoula. Great focks
of grouse took wing from the grass
before me. Fool hens sat stupidity in
spruce trees and looked at me. IN the
distance threshing machine was loudly
humming. I could see the small verti-
cal column of dust rising high above the
separator. Farm houses and barns nes-
tied at the base of the hills. Clear, cool
water flowed sluggishly in the irrigating
bitches. 1t was the first glimpse of civ
| ization I had seen for some months, and
rode along the old Indian trail elated.
The frosty air, the rustic of the dry her
bage, the leahess trees, and the dark, pine
clad mountains of the Bitter Root Range
in the distance all stimulated my light
heartedness. Cantering briskly over the
dusty trail [ was soon in Missoula. Put
ting my horse in stable walked to the
hotel and inquired for my friend. He had
been in town a week; had been on a
spree, and was then up stairs suffering
with the damnable disease of distilla-
tion-delirium tremens.
Sorrowfully I mounted the rickety
stairs. In meanly furnished room that
was foul-smelling and iil-ventilated, Zal-
mack lay on hard bed, tossing, moan
ing, and cravenly begging, by US unseen
spectators, be merciful. He was nursed
by two sympathetic miners. Zalmack
lay and mourned, or in terae language
described the phantoms that haunted
him. The corpse of a friend he had buried
few weeks previously foated in the air
before him, and beckoned him with black,
swollen hands, to descend to hell; or,
thrusting the rotten ragged tongue from
out of its foul mouth, the bursted eye
balls turned to him and the epgorged
lids slowly and repeatedly winked at him.
His description ofthe grating Of the bones
of the neck and jaws, of the actions of
this naked mass of corruption, rs the spec
ire nodded aud grinned at him, or heav
lily danced around his bed, was horrible.
With a great cry of terror, Zalmack sat
up shouting that the head of the corpse
had fallen off and rolled under the bed,
while serpents, lizards, and poisonous
toads swarmed out of the neck Of the
headless trunk. He screamed to US to
keep them off of him. The rough
nurses laughed heartily, and said it was
"a rum CO." Knowing the sensitive,
nervous organization of the man, l was
deeply distressed. / srr ke to him. He
started, seemed to rel1gnize my voice,
then lost me. With mighty effort he
5: endeavored to grasp his intellect. 1
could see him strive to get control of it.
The diseased mind could not clear itself
of the wreck produced by the alcohol.
The delicate organ was disordered. 1t
was as if an iron wedge had been thrown
into mass of cog-wheels of delicate
machine. destroying the balance, causing
some wheels to madly whirl around,
others to stand still. So with this fine
brain. The alcohol had clogged all Of it
except the fervent Imagination, which
was reeling off a panorama of horrible
pictures. Speaking to the nurses, ! said
I would watch him that night. Smil--
ingly they replied, "You can not stand
it alone" 1 would try. They could
sleep in the next room, and if | found l
could not endure the awful pictures he
painted I would call to them. At 10
o'clock l entered the room. The miners
left. I heard them throw themselves
wearily on their hard bed. Soon they
, snored. Opening the window for fresh
air, I sat looking out smoking the while.
The doctor came gave Zalmack some drug,