Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-09-26
The Drinking Habit.

Is SOCIETY TO-DAY ANY MORE TEMPERATE THAN
IN FORMER DAYS.
From the Louisville Courier-Journal Sent IL
In any comparison between the present gen.
Grafton and our grandfathers or preat-prand.
fathers 1t Is usually assumed that we are supe-
rlor to them in our temperate use of intoxi.
catng liquors. Gentlemen no longer come
reeiing into the drawing room after q debauch
AT the dinner table, Five-bottle men have gone
the way of the world and the days of prolonged
PoIatlons are at an end. At a dinner party
neaVy drinking Is regarded as a disgraceful
ahachronism, and a man who gets drunk
excludes himself from good society. All this is
very true, out 1t does not prove the assertion
Inat we are more sober people than our grand
fathers; 1t only proves that we do not get drunk
In the same way as they did.
1t is quite possible to drink a great deal NJ
lquor even of strong liquor, without Welding
10 that absolute fntoxication which reveals it.
ments or senseless stupor A good deal tlepends
on whether the liquor is consumed at a sitting
or IN Grams taken at intervals during the day
Violent or helpless intoxication is but one
among many phases of drunkenness 1t NAV
De said that few men now allow themselves to
be seen in this condition Some of these are
confirmed sots and are always tippling: but as
rule, when men of this class get drunk IL is
not by means OF habitual drains, but as the nat
they have engaged with a distinct expectation.
If not expressly for the sake, of this result
Ihere is big drunk recurring with more or
perhaps as sober as judges. This was once the
way in which gentlemen settled down to their
cups la put the fashion has been gradually de-
But this is only one kind Of drunkenness and
not in all respects the most dangerous and
violent external indications which accompanV
ii supply to some extent q warming IL not a
corrective. 1t is a rock on which no vessel can
split unawares. There is a sharp, unmistaka-
BILE penalty for each carouse, which suggests
renectlon and encourages reform. III man
goes 70 the dogs In this manner he goes with his
Ixyc ,1l.;~
has happened, and can put together cause and
effect and draw the necessary moral II ia the
saTSng b s' ri of the stream above the
until 1t is too late to struggle against it. which
is most to be dreaded.
1t is possible for a man to be very much the
worse for drink las the phrase is both in a moral
and physical sense, without showing II in his
gait or speech, and to be all but a confirmed
drunkard without himself being more than
family aware of the peril in which he stands.
Hence the serious and alarming aspect of the
prevalent In society, even in quarters were it
has hitherto been little suspected; drunkenness
which, stopping short of absolute intoxication
ing for alcoholic excitements, for nips and
drains, for odd glasses of whisky straight
and tipples Of brandy at irregular hours. AS
a mere matter OF hygiene, it would prob.
ably be better for a man to get fairly
drunk once or twice every few weeks
sire which, when once INDUCED, establishes its
dominion by preying on the stomach and de-
stroying the appetite of its wretched victim
and thus compelling him to depend on stimu.
lants for sustenance. 1t is possible for time 70
make alcohol q substitute for food but Of
course, 1t can only be for time, and the end is
certain, and often swift in coming. There is of
course, constant tendency to increase the
dose, and the uppler's condition is always be-
coming more pitiable and helpless; but his de-
scent is smooth and not interrupted by the
shocks which pull up the more violent drunk.
ard in his desperate career, and almost compel
him. in spite of himself. to reflect on the misery
and degradation which he is accommodating for
himself AoA