The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-05-07
THE STRONG APPETITE.
CURIOUS EXPERIENCE OF A TOPPER.
What Confirmed Drinker Must Expeot to
Undergo When He Attempts TO Re-
form-A Constant ana Unin-
termitted Fight.
[Rochester Domocrat.l


viewed by young man who had taken
some advanced steps In the matter Of inc
briefly. He was not q promising subject,
such for instance as would be selected by
temperance organization as a hopeful
case. The scribe looked him over at that
time and diagnosed the case with the gen.
eral conclusion that he was total and COM
plete wreck. He had some suggestions,
which on second thought seemed almost
unkind. They had the merit of being Wig
orous and truthful, however, and the
young man, who had called with perhaps
a vague hope Of sympathy, went away
sorrowful, for habit had evidently assumed
mastership. That he had by some means
thrown off the habit and apparently be-
come himself, was also evident when the
scribe met the young man a short time
since.
VI am little curious" said the scribe,
ITO know something Of your experience
during the months since your talk with
me last summer; and tell you in advance
that want it for publication. l published
your interview with me; now would like
to publish its sequel"
"To be plain" said the young man, ~
do not like to talk much about my expert
ence. must quo.eyou as advising quiet
fight without much talk about tho subject.
am not delivering temperance lectures
either"
"Ihaps all right" said the reporter.
what l want is your experience in'win-
ninr. a G,rbt IN, ,,sLi,L I ,,ro,,hogiod ,,o,,r 10
feat with a good deal of conf lence. Ifany
one can extract bit of moral from that
experience, neither you nor l will be
blamed for 1t. Give me your story; will
print it,"
"For some time after my talk in your Of.
fee, and you'll remember It wasn'I very
pleasant talk Tor me TO listen to-, / thought
a good deal about stopping, and thought,
after that talk, that IL was no use. tried
to brace up little, but it wasn'5 any use;
in few days | was as bad as ever. read
over your account Of our talk, and although
as say, IL wasn't pleasant reading to me,
finally made up my mind that would
undertake the fight. want to tell you,
right here, that If / had known what |
know now about this business should not
have undertaken It. No one who hasn't
gone through with my experience can know
what n power this habit has"
show did you finally get your starterr
81 determined to go without anything to
drink the first day, and let the next day
take care of itself. Well, found that II
gave me business enough TO take care OF
that day, without borrowing any Of the
next days trouble. 1t seemed as II my
will had lost its power, but held TO 1t that
day and the next. l wanted q drink the
next morning. My brain was in condl.
tion bordering on paralysis, and l com.
menced the hardest days work of my life,
but got through it some way, 1 don't
know how, and passed the night without
sleep. The first week of my experiment
was simply terrible, but at the end of that
time, while the desire for liquor was,
think, stronger than It had ever been with
me, the habit Of fighting it also seemed to
grow little stronger"
"You did find u fight on your hands,
thenw
ayes, and 1t was fight every minute,
awake or asleep. Once in a while would
wake up with the flavor Of whisky on my
lips, and start in for another days fight.
didn't try to do any work; was salts.
fed with the business had on hand. But
you don't want the details of my expert.
ence during these few terrible weeks"
"You found yourself grow stronger,
suppose"
ayes; but It was a good while before ]
could discover any perceptible diminution
in the constant thirst. The only difference
could note was a gradually increasing
power of withstanding it. After time II
became habit to refuse myself drink. II
must have been two months or more before
was in condition where could In the
least trust myself. didn't talk with any.
body about It, and didn't have any help.
By that time had reached a point where
could cot well and sleep, and from that
time since II has been comparatively easy.
As soon as got little nerve, looked
up job and tried to do little work at
my trade, and have continued IL ever
SINCE"
"Does the appetite for liquor bother you
muchW
"only occasionally now. Once in n while
II comes to me with strength and force /
never experienced while | was drinking.
Sometimes it seems as II, even now, must
20 and take square drink. IL passes of
In an hour or two, but can tell you 1t is
bitter fight between my will and desire
for alcohol. think, however, its force Is
gradually becoming weaker and my will
stronger"
"Just one moro question. Do you con-
slider yourself safe from tho danger Of
relapse into the habit you have been fight
ingp
Iwant to tell you, and you can print II
II you want to, that l never expect the
time TO come when can consider myself
safe. have not taken drop OF any kind
of slimulant since decided TO com.
mence the fight; am well, prosperous,
aud doing better at. my trade than !
have ever done in my life, yet l would
not bet ten dollars against $1,000 that ]
will not yet give the fight up. Iwould not
dare, to-day, to drink glass Of light ale,
and / do not expect to live long enough &c
be able 10 take the risk. l am going to
try and keep up the fight, however, from
day to day. BY tho way, why don't
you have talk with some Of these boys
who are just fairly getting into the bust.
ness. They think they'are drinking mod.
erately, lat l guess some of them would