Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-04-10

+h;ng worthy of attention. Due ofS
.hose mar their best efforts by mlngllhg
WITH them the empty assumptions anu
exapperations of the alcohonc svyie'
Sv,oaIers who are in the habit OF drink
inc generally keep on hand LOT inseah
noe strings of verbiage consisting Q.
words sonorous and lofty, but usually Oh
1;++1o meaning. With these they begnile
themselves and others into the peiicA
that something of extraordinary slghin-
canoe is being said. Expressions apous
E7ternitu. Everlasting, the Almighty, ana
the like. are apt to pour in mighty
stream from drunken lips. Drinking
60 tore seem to be on terms OF great
familiarity with the Deity Ihey
sneak of the Almighty" in manner
half patronizing and halfcontemptuous'
like a small boy when he alludes 10 nis
father as 1.-THE old man" Not a scih.liia
of rational sense can be discovered IN
drunken fustian of this sort NO inore
definite idea or mental picture can Dc
drawn from it than from the hidden re-
oesses of an impenetrable fog-bank; yet
there are persons who admire Win pateu
breath and wonder what 1T all means.
Nothing is more deceptive than alcohoi
in the role of oratorv. 1t is, however,
universal liar. To search the eloquence
and poetry of nation, to carefully con-
slider It's literature and Legislation ana
mark the blemishes that have been
placed upon them all by the audacity,
the brapgadocio and the falsihcations OF
alcohol. would be a curious and in
structive labor.
The folly and danger into which the
treachery of alcohol may lead its yotaries
are very clearly manifested in another
direction. Illusions, Authorizations and
delusive convictions will beset the
soundest mind when the sense OF feel
ing is impaired. Common sensation IS
continually 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.
Ard when il is remembered that in the
drunken man the whole range OF sensi-
bility is deficient as we'll as distorted,
the misapprehensions under which his
mind must labor will be evident.
Into the mind of man who is intoxi-
Gated there often comes a singular idea
consequent upon the absence OF the
sense OF feelingZthe 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 LA
Bile TO be carried to the highest pitch Of
audacity and extravaganza. This arises
from his erroneous convictions respect
ing his personal safety as well as Of his
bodily prowess. A man in this state OF
drunken frenzy is truly pot valiant" a
condition well known all over the world.
Tragedies in abundance owe their
origin to the presumptuous arrogance Of
drunkenness; yet comical epistdes are
not unusual. When the inevitable time
comes the alcoholic indulgenFs is no
| longer possible-wben some RESI- 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 social
scale, is ready to admit that he is no
better than his neighbors. There is a
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 1t is
known, in common but emphatic Lam
gnage, as the process of crawling out
of the small end of the horn. From an
article by I. S. Wright, NJ. d., in Jour
nal of Inebriety.