The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-02-29

day.
"When young was owned by man of the
sea,
Who, wherever he went was sure to take me
No matter what port we CHANGED to be in,
| / always was filled with the best of old gin.
~ was always in fear, for wherever he went
My master made strife and on mischief was
bent.
At last he fell overboard-I stayed behind,
And met with master much more to my
mind.
'sNo longer quake in fear for my life,
! For find my new master no lover OF strife.
The reason is plain; you may guess II you
Or VII tell you-1'm owned by temperance
| man."
-Jenay L. Eno in Temperance Banner.
The Custom of Treating" and What
1t Leads to.
The following facts with reference to the
''treatng" habit are furnished the Voice by
a we'll known newspaper man of Brooklyn.
| whose business and social relations have
given him clear insight into the relations OF
| this perncious social custom to the wide
prevalence of inebriety:
One must know the facts about the 'treat-
ingn habit in order to know what an import
anu eleUleQU IL Is Iii LIlo VI ehCcoolfS
drinking Let us go to the famous Hoffman
House bar. We will sit at table and drink
bottle Of lemon soda as an excuse for being
there. In one hour we have seen fifty men
drink at the bar; four of them drank alone
Thirty were accompanied by from one to
three friends. Each man treated. Sixteen
came in parties Of two or three, and each
member Of the party treated. Down town.
at Nash & Crooks, we see few men come in
singly. In half an hour, while sitting at the
lunch counter, we have seen fifteen parties
ranging from two to five persons each, stand
up at the bar. In most cases each man has
treated and in nine cases out OF ten these
men have been joined by other men, some
Ole of whom has been acquainted with some
one in the party, and introductions and re-
ciprocal drinks have taken place all round.
You may say this doesn't prove much, and
that it only happened so. But | claim that
the treating habit is responsible for most
of the excessive drinking. This is not pet
theory, but is based on personal acquaintance
ship with large number Of men who haye
suffered from the drink habit-men whom
have met while holding official position in
both the State and National Government
and in wide acquaintance with men gener-
ally, from a very early age.
Let us take report Of 900 cases Of inebrie-
ETY. in the Kings County On. " Inebriate
Asylum Of these 600 cases, 45S became ine-
briates from association, 1. e., from going
with drinking men and indulging in the hab-
it Of treating. Among other causes given are
melancholia, injury, business disease, trouble,
being in the army (meaning, probably, the
fatigues and exposure of military life, and
heredity. As to heredity the specialist in dip
somania does not believe that because mans
father or grandfather was drunkard he
must Of necessity be one. What he says is
that man so situated as to relationship will
have standing tendency toward the e1ces-
sive use Of liquor, and that he should not use
it at all. The specialist says that there are
very few men who really like the taste OF al
coholic drink, but there are many men, in
our present state Of civilization, the condi-
tion of whose nervous system is such that
they cannot escape becoming inebriates If
they drink at all.
Many an inebriate morally speaking, would
like to stop the habit but he drinks from
what he believes to be'a a physical necessity.
Hence it is that man who has once been
committed to the inebriate asylum can never
drink with safety on his release.
A distinguished artist was lately found
dead in liquor saloon. Three years ago he
told me of the great excesses in which he was
indulging, and asked me how he could stop.
told him the first thing to be done was, as
Falstaff says. forswear "rillainons good
company" No man could ever break the
uuOlU dS lOlS do SOlHPohiOhcI ouA AAS
social hours, we're men as badly off as him
self. A year ago two Of his quondam com
panions died from excessive drinking. Soon
after this the artist voluntarily went to an
inebriate asylum, was cured, and for time
did we'll. The doctor Of the institution met
him, and his former patient said he drank
beer at his dinner. "You must stop that"
said the physician; ''you can drink absolutely
nothing intoxicating The artist failed to
heed the order; sure enough, he relapsed into
his old habits and died.
The methods Of carrying on business re-
sorted to by some firms in the mercantile
world lead many men to become excessive
drinkers More than one-half of the drum
mers" or commercial travellers, In the United
States make it matter Of business to treat
their customers to liquor and cigars. 1t is
not absolutely necessary to pursue this
custom in order to get trade, and men who
are thoroughly businesslike refuse to use any
outside inducements But the more ordinary
class of "drummers" do large amount OF
creating" as they believe it helps along
trade.
The expense Of ''treating" goes on their
expense account and is rarely questioned
Some travellers make gross charge for their
expenses; others, in the smaller houses, have
an itemized expense book, with the various
items of expense printed and blank space
to put in the amount. When they treat"
the expense is put down to that account.
At certain times Of the year the country
merchant comes to New York to make pur-
chases and to see the styles. The drummer
meets him at the store and treats him while
he is in the city to dinners and plenty OF
LIQUID refreshment In former times some
houses were in the habit of employing spe-
cial man, whose duty it was to meet the
merchants to take them out and show them
the city.
Some years ago there was country ped
dler who In his travels, had made the ac-
quaintance of large number OF business
men. He came to New York and was em.
ployed by a big mercantile house, though he
knew nothing about the business carried on
in the establishment. His duty was to in
duce his friends to patronize the establish
ment Whenever they came to the city he
would meet them and "entertain" them roy
ally at the expense of his employers.
With such methods prevailing in certain
portions of the mercantile world it is not
surprising that many business men CONTRACT
the drinking habit and sooner or later, be.
come excessive drinkers. OF the six hundred
inebriates in the Kings County Asylum
above spoken about, nearly two hundred
were merchants. clerks. and statesmen.
Alcoholism in France.
Even a paper like the Paris Figaro, which
| has never been accused OF taking TOO somore
a view of life, has reused to the increasing
seriousness Of the effects Of alcoholism on ma
| tional life. In long and able article on
salcobol and Mad1nen," it is shown that at
the beginning of the present century the
French were very temperate people: drink,
ing but little, and that little pure WINE OF
| but trifing alcoholic strength. 1t was IN
1900 that the practice began OF dlstllllng
brandy from Wines corn and potatoes, ana
| -. 1,xI sfc 1nN IN