The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-10-21

Jamaica Ginger as q SOiace for Topers-Itl
Effect on the Human System.

Jamaica Ginger as = SoIace for Topers-Its
Effect on the Human System.
Atlanta journal.
A little girl, shabbily dressed, walked boldly
up to the clerk in one of our largest drug stores
and handed him q four-ounce phisl, . phial in
which was q time stained cork, and on which
was q label. dirty and greasy, 80 that the in
~scription written thereon was entirely ~illsgible.
Without saying a word, the clerk filled the
bottle from . large jar on the shelf, handed it
back to the child, received the money in pay
ment, and went back to his work, while the
child, who was chewing gum. stopped in the
doorway long enough to pull up her ragged
stocking and then skipped off up the street,
holding the ereasy-looklng phial in her hand.
Poor child!
No wonder she was ragged aud dirty. no won
der that her curly hair was unkempt and that
she looked q veritable gutter rat!
Her mother Is q ginger drunkard!
A portion of the little money she receives
each day is spent for Jamaica ginger, for which
she Graves as only a drunkard can crave for
that which will satisfy his unnatural appetite.
The silent but seemingly well-understood
customer attracted my attention.
.'What did You sell that little girl" asked.
''Ginger," was the druggists reply.
"What sort of einger2'
Jamaica ginger"
s'You seemed to know what she wanted"
ayes, / ought to, since she's been a regular
customer for the last twelve months. She
| comes into the store every day and buys a four
| ounce vial full of Jamaica ginger for her mother,
who is q confirmed ginger-drinker, only one
amoLg many In Atlanta"
What do they drink it forf'
ITO take the place OF whisky"
IA man can't get drunk on ginger, can hel"
swell, if you could sec some of my regular
| ginger drunkards at times you would think so.
Ginger is made from alcohol and ginger root.
The root is ground and put into one of these
funnel-shaped percolaters, after which the al
cohol is poured upon it and soaks through it,
dropping into the jar. in the mouth Of which IS
fixed the funnel. This ~tincture is, as you know,
if you've ever tasted it, as hot as liquid FIRE, and
q tesspoonful is a big dose for an ordinary man.
Zone pound Of ginger will make two quarts
Of ~tincture, and many prefer it to whisky"
"How much does . confirmed ginger-drinker
| take at . dosel"
There are one or two men who arc regular
ginger-drinkers who take A. much as four ounces
at q time. or. TO show you the difference. thirty
two teaspoonfuls. IL you or i, or any other
man unaccustomed to drinking ginger, should
take that much at once it would kill as. We
would be apt to have commissions at frat. fol-
lowed by a comatose condition.. in which state
death would come"
"How. much will it require to make a man
drunk"
81 have seen one man get drunk on four
ounces, and then again I've seen q man who
drank the same quantity have a sort of epileptic
fit, lasting for several minutes"
what effect will the drinking OF ginger pro-
duce in the loLg runf"
ut is far more injurious than whisky. and
will kill a man who drinks it regularly in from
two to three years time. If you should hold a
tablespoonful OF ginger in your mouth a minute
it would blister the inside coating of the mouth.
and you can easily imagine what the effect on
the stomach would be graphing with two or
three iablespoonsfuls Of ginger everyday"
Gan you tell a ginger-drinker from an Or
binary man; or. in other words. will the drink
ing of ginger affect the personal appearance of q
man as whisky does"
Observation-Disclosures rnoJaa n roapss fa.A rod
Ginger-drinking makes it pale, as the ginger
draws the blood away from the surface to the
center of the body. I've watched these ginger
drinkers closely. and I've studied them q good
deal. I've learned that an habitual ginger-drinker.
like a morphine-eater looses all regard for the
truth, and would rather lie than tell the truth.
They also become hypochondriacs. and imagine
they are affected with every disease under the
sun. One day they'll come in with q long face
declaring the've got cramp collie, and must have
ginger. Another day they'll have heart disease,
and will surely die unless they can get ginger.
The next time they have dyspepsia or rheuma-
tism. But no matter what they have they seem
to think ginger the sovereign remedy. and moth
ing else will DO them. The trouble with them is
the ginger drinking. for it ruins the digestion,
infames the stomach, and throws the whole sys-
tenn into disorder
lis there any advantage in buying eingerl"
"Ginger costs 81 q pint, while whisky
sells at from 80 cents up. The people who
drink IL, and they are numerous, both men and
WOmouy Z vi tuo DtOet part uloro puyoicdi
wrecks who were confirmed drunkards when
prohibition came upon us. and their unnatural
sppetites must DO satisfied, SO they bought GIN
ger ss the nexs best substitute for whisky.
We ship ginger by the barrel to prohibition
towns, as tho old topers think il is the best sub
stitute for whisky, and once they get accustomed
to it they perfsr it to whisky. It 10 astonishing
to what depths OF depravity . man can fall.
l have another customer who eats q drachm
Of morphine every day. There are sixty grains
TO a drAchm, and one-fcurth of a grain is an or
binary dose. A man not accustomed to eating
morphine could not eat q drachm Of morphine a
day and keep awake to save his life. but this
man seems to feel no special Inconvenience from
eating the whole sixty grains"
Have you many ginger customers among
heightened ~peoplei"
Very few. There are one or two who have
seen better days; ono old man who was wealthy
at one time, but be lost HE wealth by drinking
whisky before he took to drinking ginger. Some
must always be governed by them"