, 1885-04-22
NICOTINE AND ALCOHOL


tions-An Era OF False E~xcitcment-
fJoe nowari in Boston HERALD
This is an era of false excitement.
Everybody drinks, and the large circle
of women who indulge in excitants OF
various kinds, from that which they
take by %hypodermic injections through
the various grades OF morphia, TO literal
indulgence in wine, and thence to
spirits, is very great, and constantly on
the increase. With the exception of a
few church temperance societies, there
is very little organized endeavor here to
check the growth and rapid progress of
this drinking habit, which fastens itself
upon the cigarette smokers of tender
years, and is part and parcel of the
daily routine of thousands Of respectable
men and fathers of respectable families.
/ don't know that there is any marked
undertoning Of general morality in con
sequence Of this. / have noticed with n
great deal OF apprehensiye interest the
prevalence of the drinking habit. Mes
senger boys not only smoke, but drink.
Young clerks smoke and drink. SO do
their employers. All the great whirl
and twist OF what is called the swim of
society drinks and smokes. Sit in a
tox with me in any irst-class, second
class, third class theatre. The curtain
falls at the end Of an act. Is it an ex-
aggeration to say that four-ffths of the
men get up, walk outl Leave the box;
follow the crowd. They go into the
neighboring bar-rooms, into the drug
stores on the corner, into the hotel
cafes. Nearly all of them smoke. All
of hem drink. How queer IL would
seem IL the women did the same, and
yet why not Is ii irksome, tiresome,
lonesome for 4 man to sit three or four
hours in a theatre. Do his muscles
need relaxingl Must his nerves be
braced up How about the womeni
Are they not as fragile, ms nervous, as
sensitive TO impure airi
Dealers In drinks tell me a marked in
CREASE has been noticed during the past
year or two in the sale of cordials and
liquors, and they attribute this 10 a
habit that many women have of keep
ing these cordials, not necessarily for
their private tipping, but with which to
cheer and entertain their callers during
the day. Many ladies have handsomely
decorated baskets, in which are q SGT
Of cordial bottles. Others keep them
upon the sidcboard in the dining room,
others have them under lock and key,
but very many have them somewhere,
and a glass or two Of cordial here,
and another glass or two there, during
the course Of afternoon calling, must
necessarily produce some effect upon
ever the female physique.
The bartenders don't drink. The pro-
prietor Of the place doesn't drink. Why
not Have you ever thought Of that
OF all the bartenders in Cambridge, in
Boston, you can't name one who drinks.
Why mott Did it ever occur to you rs
a singular fact, a clear fact in the prob
lem Of usage. There probably never
wa n habit known to mankind so po-
tent as this cursed habit Of drink which
dominates the race, NOT alone the poo
pie Of New York and Boston, but the
people OF the world-morc conspicu-
ously, however, ! think, the people OF
the United States. II isn't that We are
n nation of drnnkards, but that we nre
drinkers and smokers, and unless all
our p%reconceived notions Of physical
law are erroneous, the mex generation
will show, in n very marked degree, the
effects of this senseless custom by the
present race of men and women
without the faintcst desire to preach,
or sermonize. | record the simple fact,
which must be patent TO any careful
observer Of society, in It's various
phases, for this isn't confined to the
poor, or the ignorant, mort to the wealthy
or the well informed, 1t is n slice off
the loaf Of existence, from the sugar
crust to the soggy bottom. They are
all bitten with the same bite. Tho
same pernioious habit has fastened
upon them all. The race is given over
TO palate tickling, and sense indulgence,
manifested more especially in its devo
tion to nicotine and alcohol. Rich men
drink because they like sensation. Poor
men drink because they then forget their
troubles. We abound in poor men and
they are all in trouble, and they all
drink.