The Brookhaven leader., 1885-09-10
USE OF ABSINTHE.
GROWING POPULARITY OF THE
DEADLY BEVERAGE.
The Kind of People Who Call for It-Ob,
servations of Physician-HOwt the
seductive Liquor Is
Prepared.
Wheeling RegiSter.l


wearing a haggard. care worn look on his
rather handsome countenance. walked
into popular Market street sample room
Ec bore the indescribable air of man
who had put in the night, and exhib
tied Il restless impatienoe in waiting on
the pleas irc Of the bar tender His order
when given was almost whispered ac-
cOmuanied by signi cant nod The bar.
tender took an ordinary sized flask from
the shelf behind him and picking up
thy spiral glass holding about dram.
carefully filled it. This glass was in turn
cmplicd into an ordinary wine glass filled
with wafer. ON the top of the compound
greensh sediment accumulated.
which was carefully reno ed with
81 Oon The beverage was then handed
to the Gust mer. who eagerly gulped il
down. and aging the charges left the
room. In answer 10 u question from
reporter. the bar tender said the drink was
absinthc french liquor, which ie
rapidly growing into popularity in this
country.
In answer to a query, rs to the amount
swCrcd that the calls for either that par
ticuIar beverage, or any other fancy drin'.
Of kindred nature. were comI arative'y
few; straight drinks having tenacious
grip on the appetites of the greater
portion of our Wheeling people.
ave ill an occasional order for
absinthc for theatrical people and
fast women. the eXalting quality of the
strong S imulant making it excessively
popular among all reckless classes of so,
ciety. | know of number of ladies In
Wheeling who daily make use of the
stimulani, and who. in order 10 deceive
outsiders drink alternately at several
sample-rooms There is a strong fascina
tion about the drink. and when a person
gets into the habit of drinking 1t daily
be rarely breaks of. The gentleman who
just left the room is cwelry drummer
from New York. and for the past few days
has paid me two or three visits day,
always drinking the same beverage.
lie told mo he had first begun TO use the
drug eighteen months ago, having it pre-
scribed by physician for dyspepsia, but.
forming the habit from daily use of the
stimuant. he had gradually increased the
amount till he had become slave to the
ractce lie said he had attempted on
sc eral occasions to break OFF from the
habit, but lad been forced back by
CcsSive nervousness giddiness, loss of ap
petite and sleep. He added that he knew
the drug would cause his death in time.
hut that he could not refrain from its use
Later in the day the reporter met o
prominent young physician, and finding
him at leisure se' ured the following iu
formation in reference to the origin of
the liquor: Absinthe is prepared bv
pounding the leaves and towering tops Of
various species OF wormwood along with
angelica root, sweet tag-root and star
anise fruit, and macerating therein al
cohol. After soaking ior eight days the
compound is distilled. vie ding an emer
aid color liquor, to which a quantity of
anise oil is added. The liquor thus
formed constitutes the genuine French
aDsinthe
An inferior quality of absinthe
is made with other herbs and es
sential oils. while the adutera-
tions practiced are numerous and de.
leterious. In the adulterated liquor the
green color is usually produced by III
merle and indigo but blue vitriol is often
commonly used. The arietieS especially
noted in commerce are divided into two
classes, the common and the swiss, the
latter being genuine The chief seat of
its manufacture is In the canton Neuf
chatel in Switzerland. The liquor is
chiefly consumed in france, but there is
also large Quantities exported to this
country. In addition to the large quan
titles manufactured in France for home
consumption the amount imported from
Switzerland averages 100000 gallons
yearly.
The drinking of absinthe was intro
duced into France during the Algerian
war, 1S44-47. The so diers were advised
to mix absinthe with their wine as a
febrifuge. Un their return they brought
with them the habit of drinking 1t. which
is now so widely disseminated in French
society, and with such disastrous conse.
quences that the custom is justly consid
cred great national evil The appetite
is often formed by prescriptions given by
physicians, as the drug is often given rs 4
tonic for atulent dyspepsia; but in my
opinion there is as little danger of II man
forming the habit. if he is possessed OF
ordinary self control. as that if pre-
scripton of brandy should cause him To
become an habitual drunkard. The
powerful nature of the stimuiant is such
that excessive drinking will prove far
more dcleterious than the use of brandy
or strong whiskies.