Arkansas weekly mansion., 1883-12-15
DON'T BEGIN THE HABIT.
A Plain Talk with Young Men.


A Young man. who had just lost an
| excellent situation by two-dayS
"sprcc' came into my study lately and
| said to me: Doctor. | can not under
| stand how it is that | should have made
| such a foo! of mvSelt and thrown away
my chance for a living. This Is almost
| killing nv little wife. l replied TO
| him: There is no mystery about your
| case. You have been tampering with
| drink a long while, tryn" TO Jump half
way down Niagara. You ought to have
stopped before YOU began. 1t would
not have cost you ore hundrcd,h part as
| much effort to hav;. signed Il total alb
| stincucc pledge several years ago as 1t
| will now to break loose from this terri
| be habit | cntreated nv friend TO
| mraprlc II s weakness to God strrn"th
| he signed Il pledge Of entire abstinence.
| and went away with the desperate look
OF Il man who is pulling for life in the
| rapids. in full sight of The cataract
| That young man is Il fair representa-
! tive of a sadly numerous class who
| ..lock the stable door after the horse IS
| stolcn.' He may possibly be saved,
! but 50 as bv fire NV plain talk to-day
is with those who have not yet flung
| themselves into the rapids. | wish to
| give half dozen common-senSe reasons
! for letting every Intoxicating drink
| (whatevcr its namc) entirely alone. He
| who never touches drop Will assured
| " never become a drunkard. frcVen-
| ton is easy. iS safe. is sure: rctorma-
ton is difficult, and with some persons
| is wcll-niwh impossible. The Jews were
| commanded To build batti"mcntS around
| the tlat roofs of their dwellings in order
to prevent the children from falling
over into the street. TO put up the
parapct COS, but little; but the want of
! it might cost broken bones; and alas!
what human power could recall dead
| darling to life? | am always thankful
| that [ took Il pledge of entire abstinence
| in early bovhood- But for that battle
mcnt I might have been ruined by the
| drinkinw-llsagcs which We're dcplOrably
| prevalent in my college. ''Stick to the
| tcctotal'' said a shrcwd old kinsman to
ne when | started for college; and now
| after forty years | wish to commend the
| bridge that carried me safely over.
U.( The first argument, my young
friend. for total abstinence is that
no healthy person needs an alcoholic
beverage; and even invalids had
! better be careful how they
| tamper with it as a medicine. Sir Hen
| rv Thompson and several other di~tin-
| cuished British physicians have delib-
| cratclv declared that ''alcoholic bevcr
AGES can not, in any sense, he con nSdcrcd
| necessary for the maintenance OF healthy
| life that it is not a food in any true
sense Of that term, and that the >tradi
| est and best wOr> Is hest done without
| it," Livingstone, the hcro.c explorer of
| Central Africa. was 10th Il physician
and a tcctntaler. Hi testimony was:
Il find that | can stand every hardship
best b. using water, and water only
| | cntreat YOU not to fall into the dclu
| sion that YOU can do any honest work
the better by firing up your nerves with
! alcohol. If you 60 YOU will have to in
crease the fuel constantly in order to
| produ G the effect Solid food and sound
| Sleep are all You require Even as 4
tonic medicine wine ani Bourbon may
cover up great deal; they c"rc but
a-c,,y Htfir. Several friends have known
to be dccoycd by them into drunkenness
and disgrace.
CO. Therein lies a second reason for
avoiding all intoxicantS. They are de
ccitiul. Not only the sting of the ser
| pcnt but the subtlcty of the serpent is
in them. The deception lies in the fact
that the hndH OF drinking will become
confirmed before You suspect it. That
>oun@ man who came into my study so
rturcd with the aidcr's bite. never
dreamed at the outset that he was play
inc with a rattlesnakc. Every alcoholic
satisfies. but awakcnS Il const;n! desire
for mere. \ small gias, creates a
thirst for Il larger: one drau~ht only
whcts the appetite for :: second. This
is not the case with any wholesome food
or beverage. Bread and beef do not
breed excess: one glass of milk docs not
arouse Il morbid thirst for two the ne Nt
time. But this horsc-leech quality in
alcoholic liquors, which cries ''gi i've.
= tl,,,x
thing that makes them so dangerous
This it is which makes il so difficult to
drink wine or brandy moderately and
50 easy to fall into drunkenness. a
hcalthful beverage satisfies appctite; Il
hurtiul one. like wine or brandy, stim-
mates appetite until it becomes an un-
controilable FRENZY. This | regard as
the Creators law against airohol; and
when You take your first social glass
YOU begin to play with a deadly SER
| pcnt.
| drinks liquors does not become a sOt. "
Very true but every sot drinks liquors:
and not one in 4 million ever expected
to become Il Sot when he began with his
| champauuc or his '.ShcrrS cObbier.
VIII YOU run the risk? l would not.
The two reasons "hy am teetotaler
are that | dare not trust myself and !
dare not tempt others by my example
The most deplOrable wrecks are those
of men or women who at the
outset considered them selves per-
fectly strong and invnlnerable'
Nothing from the pen of Dick
ems can surpa>s a heartrcnding letter
which 1 received from cultured gen
tleman Nhcn in an alms-hou>e) who de
clared that he traced all the misery OF
his if,, directly to the ''firSt glass he
ever drank at the N House, in the
capitol of Ohio" With whatever
odds in your favor. will you run the
fearful hazard? Then stop before you
\ third reason why alcoholic drinks
are dangerous is that:it is the peculiar
property of alcohol to strike directly to
the brain Some drugs have an affinity
for the heart; others for the spine. The
glass of brandy aims for the brain, as a
hound makes for hare. In striking
the brain it overt4rns the throne OF tpe