The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-06-26
A POISON.

hLhuo VI POoClO Will cSdIu W Ino I'll
fects of all kinds of alcoholic liquors.
People do not understand that they
are poisons, and that they produce
evil effects, even when used in mod
Grafton. There is especially lack of
knowledge concerning the true nature
of beer and other malt liquors. There
are many honest people who really be-
lieve that beer is nourishing-thati it
really is a food; that it exerts bene-
fetal effect upon the system, and that
it may be used as regular drink
OF men who think it virtue that they
"don't touch whisky, but take glass
of beer when thirsty"
Such mistaken beliefs on the part of
the masses are industriously promul-
gated by the minions of the rum
power, because they aid in forming
that bulwark of ignorance concerning
the real effect of rum in the human
system. which is one of the means of
perpetuating the reign of the rum
power. Now, with the consumption
of beer increasing so rapidly, it is of
importance that all interested should
know its true nature. We speak now
of "pure" beer, made of barley and
hops. 1t mas been proved, time and
again, that some brewers use such
drugs as quassia. aloes and nuX
vomica, with numerous other SUBJ
stances, for the purposes of adultera-
ton. These are poisons-but beer
is poison also, and the difference is
that these drugs will kill quicker than
pure beer will.
Prof. Liebig' researches proved that
there is nutriment in beer-but how
much? He showed that twenty-three
barrels of beer contained as much real
food as three pounds of meat or five
pounds of bread! But the twenty
three barrels of beer, if bought over
the counter at five cents a glass, would
cost over one hundred dollars. Is not
that high price to pay for meat and
bread? What if your butcher should
charge you thlrty-three dollars per
pound for beefsteak? Then comes the
advocate of beer and triumphantly
points to the bloated, puffy bodies and
faces of confirmed drinkers with the
cry: ''See how fat these men get on
beern' But it is not healthy fat.
Beer-fatness is of the nature of dis
ease, as any honest physician will tell
you.
1t matters not what excuses men may
give for drinking beer, the real reason
is that it produces a feeling of eXhila-
ration, like that felt in the first stages
of intoXication. when drank in moder-
ate quantity. Guzzled in large amounts,
it produces drunkenness, Just as GER
talnly as whisky. The only difference
is, a man has to drink a greater bulk
of beer to become intoxicated. Men
drink beer for the alcohol it contains,
and for no other real reason.
Now the alcohol in any liquor, any
form of rum, is the thing which causes
all the mischief. The man who drinks
beer in moderation, who takes it as
a beverage but does not get wholly in
toxicated, never going beyond the
point ofintoXication, is killing himself
just as surely as the man who goes to
bed bowling drunk every night. He is
doing it more slowly, that is all. The
peril of alcohol is not alone in getting
drunk. This moderate, steady drink
ing keeps alcohol in the system all the
time, and alcohol is poison. No
sooner is it taken into the stomach
| than it is absorbed and goes at once
into the blood, thus being carried
| within few minutes to every portion
of the body. Every eXcretory organ
at once sets to work to get rid of it
| to throw the poison out of the body.
The liver and kidneys stop their regu-
lar duties, in a degree proportional to
the amount of alcohol taken into the
system, and begin the work of
eliminating it; the skin does the same
thing, and so do the lungs, as may be
tested by the sense of smell-for the
expired breath of the drinker is loaded
with vile alcoholic fumes.
Now, all these organs have enough
to do, in healthy man, to eliminate
the worn-out and poisonous particles
from the circulation, which was the
work they were designed to do. To
compel them to take up the additional
burden of throwing off the alcohol is
merely to overtax them. 1t is the same
as asking laboring man, who has a
full days work to perform, to turn in
and do another three hours work in
addition. What is the result to him?
He is overworked, and if the additional
labor is exacted each day, sooner or
later he will sink under the strain
and meanwhile his regular days work
will be imperfectly done.
This is exactly what happens to the
lungs, the liver, the kidneys, etc. While
they are working to clear the body of
alcohol, they can not well perform
their special functions, and much effete
| and poisonous matter is left in the
body which otherwise would be
promptly excreted. They are over
taxed; they have too much work to do,
and after awhile they become diseased.
Cirrhosis of the liver - "hobnailed
liver" or whisky liver''-follows in
that organ, while the kidneys
are afflicted with many forms of
disease, including the mcurable
| Eyes, incurable, no matter what
quack doctors may say Bright's dis
ease. The lungs suffer in the same
way; the entire digestive tract is weak
ened and poisoned, and any one of a
long list of diseases may be the result.
Your moderate drinker" is sure, un-