, 1885-09-05
FIGURES ABOUT lNTeMPaaAvcz


Die OF D~runLeanes%
Isl Louis Globe D5aiocr a. g
brother sam Jones, in speaking OF the
sin Of intemperance, said: -,
ooh. the sin OF intemperance' Look
al that tramp. tramp, tramp, the boys
are marching. 10000 every year into
| drunkard's graves. And as the 10, 900
this year ga down into drunkard's
graves, the recruiting officers Of hell are
recruiting this army from u Toys.
That boy OF yours, that boy OF ours, Is
marching into the ran to fill them up.
and in less than ten years from to-day
yonr boy will step down and out yonder
to n grave and ill a drunkard $ grave
and a drunkard's helI.,i
Now, If this means anything more
than a more piece OF pointless horta
ton, it IS a grave assertion that 80, 900
men annually die Of drunkenness in the
United States. Let US see how such q
statement will look when placed in jux-
Imposition with the actual vital sta
tIstics Of the country, a. exhibited in
the last decennial census. The total
population on Juno |, 1890, was 3d.
1855. ,oJ, and the total deaths for the
year. ending that day were 75i, 1913, or
an average OF | 90 per i,000 living. OF
this large number who died-large in
fact though small in percentage-there
died under 8 years of age 80! 624, too
young, we presume to be classed as
drunkards, while the total Of deaths I'M
der 20 years were 30s, 900 Q actly. De.
duct these latter figures from the aggre-
gate OF all ages, and the remainder, con
stituting nearly all those OF what
may be callel OF ~drunkable age, is only
-, s12, of whom more than half were
females. and many thousands protested
temperance people. but say, for sim
| plicity Of calculation, andA setting oil
the temperance people aga INST the
the drunken women that $50, 900 OF
these were men. I would then appear,
taking Brother Jones statement as true,
that one out Of every three men buried
annually In the United States fills a
\ drunkard's grave
; nj this is not all there remains
still another point to be considered. II
Is fair TO presume that II a man lives to
be. say, 20 years old. that he has passed
the period Of greatest danger that, in
oihor words. incurable and fatal drunk
m develops aud Stays somewhere
between the ages OF 30 and so. An oc-
thotOha hAN' hog ONShh ftAON VI W.
You'd these limits, but common sense
will support the view in genera. Now,
how many deaths of people over 80
years old occurred IN the year
mentioned Exactly $50, 10. sup
pose these all deducted from the
grand. total, and we have precisely
1 ,736 deaths between the ages of 20
and 80, and half these being consi Tered
as men, on the same principle OF of
setting unfortunate women against
temperance men, there remain only
.A66 deaths for the year, out of
which 10 people the 10000 drunkards
raves. -ItI
The figures look absurd, as they are.
when put To the test Of accurate knowl-
edge, There is no doubt q lamentable
amofnt OF drunkenness in the country,
and thousands OF promising lives are
annually wrecked Nay, more: many
hundreds OF deaths ensue directly. and
Others indirectly, from the excessive use
OF alcoholic drinks. The actual number
Of deaths directlv resulting from this
cause In the year referred 10 we're.
males :, ~ females &5l. These rgures
are frightful enouH, in all conscience.
and they need 10 establishment, no
rhetoric tropes or loose exaggerations
to intensity their horror, particularly as
they may, perhaps, 10 fairly doubled in
allowing for the deaths that whisky
caused indirectly. Let Brother Jones
picture in his fervid language an entir,
congregation as large as that which lid
ened to tho sermon quoted going down
annually into this pit Of destruction and
he VIII need no stronger argument but
exsggeration is always weakness.