The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-03-13

Illusions, Authorizations and
delustve convictions will beset the
soundest mind when the sense of feel
ing Is impaired. Common sensation IL
appealed to by all men in
order to confirm or deny the correctness
OF information afforded by the special
senses. In truth, there must be thor
ough cooperation of the several senses
In the determination of facts. or the |
mind will surely be deceived. 1t is easy
to see, therefore, how misleading must
be the knowledge Of person whose
sense OF feeling is materially blunted. -,
And when it is remembered that in the !
drunken man the whole range of sensi- !
biltty Is deficient as we'll as distorted, !
the misapprehensions under which his
mind must labor will be evident.
Into the mind of q man who is intoxi-
Gated there often comes singular idea
upon the absence of the
sense OF feeling-the idea that he is
somehow physically invulnerable. His
imagination seems to clothe his person
in an impenetrable suit of mail. In
this belief he is fortified by conscious
ness that he is insensible to physical
pain. All this is the result of illusions
growing out of poisoned and depraved
state OF the nervous energies. The
sense of feeling is obtunded, and for
that very reason the mind is misled; is,
in fact, deluded.
But the fancies are likely to lead to
disastrous consequences. A drunken
person is often filled with an indomita-
BILE and reckless courage, courage liza
BILE TO be carried to the highest pitch of
audacity and extravaganza. This arises
from his erroneous convictions respect
ing his personal safety as we'll as of his
bodily prowess. A man in this state OF
drunken frenzy is truly pot valiant"
condition we'll known all over the world.
Tragedies in abundance owe their
origin to the presumptuous arrogance OF
drunkenness; yet comical episodes are
not unusual. When the inevitable time
comes the alcoholic indulgence is no
longer possible-when some rest and re.
pose from the delirium of liquor is de-
manded by the outraged physical organ.
ism, the awakening from the drunken
imaginings and fancies is attended with
much nervous perturbation and mental
misgivings. With returning sobriety,
the notion of bodily immunity from dan.
ger begins to dissolve and melt away.
Very likely there is total forgetfulness
as to many of the scenes and events OF
the drunken experience. A notification
is perhaps received of insults rendered
or outrages perpetrated or shameful in.
decencies committed, and apologies are
demanded.
Explanations and abasements are now
in order. The period is come when it is
necessary for the drinker to skurry
around and find out his various freaks
of meanuess. At length the humbled
man, however high in the ''socia]
scale" is ready to admit that he is nc
better than his neighbors. There is q
special performance that is commonly
in order at the end of an alcoholic storm.
Very few drinkers escape it. The fit
ness of things imperatively demands it,
and the requirement must be met. It is
known, in common but emphatic Ian.
guage, as the process of ''crawling out
of the small end of the horn.''-From an
article by T. S. Wright, NJ. D., in Jour
nal of Inebriety.
THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST.
Culture and Refinement In Themselves No
Protection Against tho Alcohol Fiend.
A recent number Of the Contem porary
Review contains an article entitled
"Ethics of the Drink Question:" from
which the following is taken: 1T is nc
use talking to me about culture and re.
inement and learning and serious pur
suits saving man from the devouring
fiend; for it happens that the fiend nearly
always clutches the best and brightest
and most promising. Intellect alone is
not worth any thing as defensive
means against alcohol, and l can con.
vince anybody of that if he will &C
with me to common clearinghouse
which we can choose at random. Yes,
it is the bright and powerful intellects
that catch the rot first in too many
cases, and that is why I smile at the no.
ton of mere book learning making US
any better. If were to make out list
of the scholars whom have met starv.
ing and in rags should make people
cape. once shared a pot of four-penny
ale with man who used to earn 81, OO(
a year by coaching at Oxford. He was
in low house near the Waterloo road,
and he died of cold and hunger there.
He had been the friend and counselor OF
statesmen, but the vice from which
statesmen squeeze revenue had him by
the throat before he knew where he
was, and he drifted toward death in a
kind of constant dream from which nc
one ever saw him wake.
"They swarm in the houses of poverty,
| do these once bright and splendid INTEL
lectual beings; if you pick up with a
peculiarly degraded one you may al
ways be sure that he was one of the best
very rich quality of his intelligence had
enabled corruption to rankle through
him so much the more quickly. l have
seen tramp on the road-a queer, long
nosed, short-sighted animal-who would
read Greek with the book upside down.
He was very fine Latin scholar, and
we tried him with Virgil; he could 60
off at score when he had single line
given him. and he scarcely made slip,
shared pennyworth of sausage with
the brother of a Chief-Justice, and l
have played piccelo while an ex-in-
cumbent performed dance which he
described, I think, as Pyrrhic. He fell
in the fire and used hideous language in
Latin and French, but I do not know
whether that was Pyrrhic also. Drink
is the dainty harvester-no puny ears
for him, no faint and bending stalks
| he reaps the rathe corn, and there is
only the choicest of the choice in his
sheaves. That is what want to fix on
the minds of young people-and others;
the more sense of power you have, the
more pride of strength you have, the
more you are likely to be marked and
shorn down by the grim reaper; and
there is little hope for you when the
reaper once approaches, because the
very friends who followed the National