The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-02-20
Why q State Is Taxed Heavily.

Massachusetts, according 10 Cne IecCub
annual report of the State Board OF Lunacy
and Charity, has $50 city and town aims
houses, and nearly 5000 paupers residing in
these anGl State institutions OF the inmates
of the reformatory establishments Of the
State the proportion Of those who are chill
dren Of foreign parentage is stated as fully
90 per cent. The poverty, insanity and
crime, for which the property OF the Com
monwealth is so heavily taxed, owes It's
social drinking usages and to the liquor
traffic. The State could well afford, as
matter Of dollars and cents to close all the
drinking places, and support, instead OF their
pauperized victims, the saloon-keepers,
brewers and distillers, from the public
treasury.-Nationat Advocate.
Depotism or the Poison-vice.
All poison-habits avenge themselves by
their tyranny over the will-power OF their
victims For weeks, often indeed for years,
the monitions Of instinct resist the wiles Of
to swallow spoonful OF rum every day, and
yet abhor its taste at the end Of q month as
plainly as on the day Of the first attempt;
Nature protests against the incipiencs OF q!
life endangering vice, and is apt to enforce!
her veto by such arguments as nausea and
sick k.headache; but il those warnings are
disregarded too often, the sinner is at lassI
abandoned to his fate, and his will becomes
a slave to an unnatural passion for the same
poison which at tirst formed tho object OF a.
violent aversion. There is an exception To-;
that rule. Chemistry knows no poison,
botany no deadliest weed, which by persist
ent obtrusion into tho reluctant organism
cannot be made the object Of q passionate
craving Millions Of men have become des-'
opium; the natives Of Kamrschatka fuddlei
with an infusion Of poisonous mushrooms;i
the Indians of eastern Yucatan with clcuta,
or water .hemlock; the Syrians with hash
eesh, the Tartara with fermented mares
milk, the miners of the Peruvian sierras1
with antimoay and sugar Of lead, the Malaysl
with the acrid leaves OF the betel plant. ::
It would be mere sophlstry to OBJECT tnae
"a man may contract penchant for any ar
ticle OF diet" The prediction for harmless
or nutritive substances will never assume
the form of q Misunderstanding and exclusive
passion. A person may become very fond
OF ripe grapes without being tempted to slay
his mother for bunch Of blue Catawbas
He will not risk his life In . midnight rald
to plunder the vineyards on Kelley's Island.
His green .grocers will not be knocked down
for a crate of Concords; he will not board
freight train and fall like furnished wolf
upon the contents Of the grape car. II grapes
should be out Of season he will not suffer the
tortures Of Hades till the object OF his mania
can be- imported from distant clmes. In de.
fault OF grapes, ripe bananas or quart or
red raspberries will suit his purpose just rs
woli
The passion Of the poison slave will accept
no such compromise. In the absence OF his
wonted tpple The grief Of laudanum
,lrinker refuses 10 he comforted by all the
dainties of l'arisian restaurant. hnSil'
eeslI eater Won Il tnrn away i'll disgust from
nil the tree fruits nr Paradise. Now the al
,ou inbli is characterized by an exactly
analogous, influence upon the passions or It's
victims. Confirmed topers loathe whole.
some food and drink while the unsatlstied
rage of the poison-hunger is gnawing at their
vitals. In pursuit OF its qualification that
hankering can rise 10 u passion overpower-
ing every better instinct the instinct OF self
preservation harily excepted. | have known
rum to cause soldiers to leave their post ana
make rush for the dramshop across the
border, with the full knowledge OF running
the risk Of being shot for desertion. Baff1ed
topers will not hesitate to cheat their neigh
bors aud friends they will deceive their
beuefactors by the meanPst tricks; they
will not shrink from hlching the pennies
of a sleeping child DR.. Isaac Jennings
quotes the case of tippler who was set
to work in a Massachusetts, alnishouss:
wv ithin few days he had devised various
expedients to procure rum, but failed. AT
full He went into the woodward Of the eS-
tablishlnent, placed one hand upon a block,
and with an axe in the other struck it OH alta
single blow. With the stump raised and
streaming, lie ran into the house, crying:
Get socie ruml get some rum! my hand Is
Off In the confusion and hustle Of the oc.
casion a bowl Of rum was brought, into
which hs plunged the bleeding member OF
his body, then raising the bowl to his mouth,
drank freely, and e1ultingly exclaimed:
Now am satisfied" Yet there is no doubt
that the hero OF the above exploit might have
gratitied his craving for various other artl-
cles Of food or drink without sacrifice or
BLOND A soldier with crust of bread i'll his
pocket would not dream OF risking his life
for the pleasure Of buttering that breaIl The
experience of daily life would furnish an
abundance of similar cases to illustrate the
fact that 10 natural appetite is characterized
by the exclusvensss Of the alcohol passion
Dr. OSWALD, in the Voice.