Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1884-01-26
HORRORS OF DRUNKENNESS

HORRORS Or URUNkENNEOH
SOME OF THE PHENOMENA OF ALCOHOL
lied BRAINS
We were four. We sat talking IN the
lobby OF a Denver hotel. 1t was ii p.
m. The talk was languishing, when the
wide doors opening to the street were
thrown apart violently, and a tall, heav-
Nv built man walked in. His soft hat
49, tilted backward on his head. His
step was uncertain. BE was drunk.
We recognized him as Dalton, a miner
from the Snowy Range. Seeing the
Rroup sitting around a table, he came
toward us, and with a drunken smile,
said, "Howda, boys" Then, before we
could greet him, he turned away, saying
careIessly, 1T is cat night for me. !
NAV as well 60 see the creature En-.
tering the elevator. he disappeared.
Wondering what Dalton meant by
"cat night" 1 asked one of my com
panions the meaning OF the phrase. he
replied. "A phantom cat comes to Dal-
ton during the night following his third
day Of hard drinking. 1t is a warning
to him to put on the brakes"
"Tell me of it," I said.
Complying, he said "Dalton sprees.
He drinks at long intervals, and never
in moderation. When the wild desire
for alcohol assails him, resistance is
seemingly impossible. He turns his
mines over to his foreman and comes to
Denver. He drinks excessively the first
day, still more the second, and he turns
himself loose on the third. He is a
heavy and very powerful man, and can
drink an 0 quantity of whiskey
before succumbing to it. l have known
him to drink forty glasses of liquor in
one day, six of them before breakfast.
BY the end of the third day Dalton is
very nervous. Soon after he falls into
his first drunken sleep On the third night
he always dreams that he comes into
his room that q noise, as though some
thing scratching on the carpet under his
bed, attracts his attention that looking
under the bed, he sees a large yellow
tomcat, with a bristling tail as big as q
rolling pin. The cat is tearing the car.
pet with it's sharp claws. Indifferent te
cats, or dogs, or any animal that walks
on earth, he undresses and getsinto bed
Instantly he is smitten with paralysis
He cannot move. His brain works
without friction and il wonderfully clear
His vision is penetrative. He On II
through the bed, and sees the cat on tn
floor in the corner. His clear sigh
pierces through the disguise.o OF tie pres
ture and he realizes that tits an eye-de
stroying, Aesh-eatinG devil. he know
that the fend viii come out from unde
the bed and jump upon the footboard
Standing there with arched back All
swelling tail. the creature will ute
frightful cries preparatory to leaping, wit,
distended claws, on his face and tearin
out his eyes. Dalton becomes afraid c
the cat. He tries to call for help. II
strives ia move. His efforts are vaiI
The cat leaps to the footboard, an
glares at him with distended fiery eyes
Again he struggles to throw off the pa,
alysis. He cannot move. The ca,
with a horrid cry. springs on his uE
turned face. Under the spur Of this 81
preme horror he ralies. and, with a
exhaustive effort he awakens. Heisu r
nerved. BE trembles like atimid wonar
His heart beats quickly. II take
three or four days. of perfect rest an
solitude to restore his nervous system
He drinks no moro for months"
Does he know. while suffering frol
this alcoholic nightmare that it is
nightmare ?"
Yes" my companion answered., 'h
knows it. But he also knows that il /
ioes not awaken, and so prevent the We
low tomcat from getting in his work th
at will kill him. He il in deadly fea
Of this cat, though Inc knows it is but a
alcoholic phantom. And underneat
his dread Of the cat lies The fear
death resulting from alcoholism. III
cat Is only q faint shadow cast by tt
approaching jimjams, that stalk spectre
like in the vestibule Of his brain"
The warnings some drinking men n
ceive are very strange" said the olde.
Of our party. 'T know several nen VII
are spreer, who have warnings, gene
ally visions q or less horrible, but il
varlably the same. when they appToae
the wall behind which the iimjaras lurl
Probably the most striking case is til,
Of a gentleman who Inherited his di
eased craving fer alcohol he will NJ
drink, it may be, for . year. Then b
will put his business into such . ehar
that he can leave it for . few days an
deliberately get drunk. For two d,
he devotes his energGs.to getting drum
and staying drunk He Is not OF Il
least trouble 10 any one wheu he
drinking. He shets himself up IN b
room, and drinks alone. In two dayS b
Ill I-s-l Ill., Il IL -