The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-05-18
DUTCH GIN DRINKERS
The Inhabitants Imbibe the De-
moralIzinR Liquid from the
Cradle to the Grave
Forty Drinks q Day.

ing Journal, writing from Schiedam,s says
A muddy canal lined with bulky boats
with tattered sails and painted I'm the most
glaring colors, red, blue and orange, q
group Of windmills, poised like strange
birds above the red-tiled roofs of the town,
a blot Of black smoke dimming the sky
~above-such are the first impressions a
stranger receives Of the great gin-produc-
ing center of The Notwithstanding.
Viewed at a distance the battered, dirty
houses, with grotesque gables and rocked
doorways that line the zig-zag streets, are
not without picturesque interest TO the
traveller and artist, but the Dutch them
selves. for all their fondness for the pro-
duct of its distilleries, have dubbed Schie-
dam ''the hell of Holland" and its natives
''Dutch DEVILS"
These uncomplimentary appellations
nave beer justly earned by the inhabi-
tants Of this dingy town, who spend their
W miserable lives in manufacturing
liquid misery for all parts of the globe,
and the degrading effects of gin on the
human system is illustrated here i'm all its
phases.
A visit to Schiedam is more effective
and convincing than all the temperance
lectures one could listen to i'm a lifetime.
and il would be a good move on the part
OF the American champions OF total absti-
hence WeFt tlcy 10 lnDOrI u Iatl1lly OF
..Dutch devils'' as horrible examples to
lend a realism TO their discourses.
New York shelters some very diligent
and systematic drunkards. Chatham
square on Sunday morning displays high
ly interesting specimens of human
wrecks, but they are mere tyros compared
with the sots Of Schiedam.
From the cradle to the grave the .Dutch
devil" hardly ever draws n sober breath.
He imbibes gin with his mothers milk.
and is apparently born with an inherited
thirst for the pellucid fiuid that killed his
forefathers, and will some day kill him.
As o rs he can walk he begins to
smoke cigars, and il is not infrequent i'm
the streets of Schiedam to see children of
5 or 6 years OF age sucking contentedly
on huge cigars as they play about the gut
tiers. have seen a group of little girls
singing in a circle on the highway, and
each miss had a small bottle of gin or
beer in her hand which she furtively
slipped at intervals with evident relish.
Beer is rather a luxury here, however,
because IT coSts 2 cents a glass and is too
weak to PROMOTE hilarity, while a large
bottle of gin can he purchased contain
ing several admirable drinks for IL cents.
The hedges and cutters in the suburbs
of town display astonishing collections of
empty brown stone bottles deposited by
inebriatcs who have wandered there 10
enjoy themselves i'm "A quiet way.
The average "Dutch devil" prefers TODD
his drinking alone, without any amiable
friend to help him. His idea of pleasure
is to buy a bottle of gin, wander out into
the country and quietly drink himself into
a state OF somnolen imbecility by the
roadside.
Weddings in Schiedam are infrequent
occurrences, and are generally considered
as rather unnecessary i'm the community.
When n does take place the bride n
groom and guests can be seen arm i'm arm
| Sfrefrha1 In, IN stnnla linn nrn tho Ssrant
stumbling along in n delighted state of in
capacity and singing at the top of their
voices.
When the Schiedam boy has become
properly ,pernleated with gin, he goes TO
work in tho distilleries where his favorite
beverage is produced. There are at pres
ent 2U manufactures of thisp popular in
toxicant. and the workmen are allowed
by their employers 40 drinks a day. An
attempt was made to curtail his allow
ance, but the men rebelled, and refused
To work without this daily stimulus, and
ever since their demand has been graft
fled. A drink of gin there means about
AS much as could be contained in al aver
age champagne glass, SO you can imagine
the amount each workman consumes
daily i'm these 100 odd distilleries.
As Schiedam gin is almost pure alcohol,
II Is no wonder that the town Is so filled
with horrible specimens of humanity,
ghostly creatures that hobble about the
winding streets, shivering as with a palsy
or waving their shrnnken arms and NUT
tering hoarse cries like wounded animals.
The 40 drinks n day form only a part OF
the liquor consumed by the 'Dutch devil; !"
that is merely his allowance which he
takes regularly as he does his meals.
After work is over he spends his evenings
i'm further soaking his system in alcohol,
often assisted i'm the performance by his
wife n the entire family. The accunu-
lation of liquor during the day, however,
soon begins to take effect and he falls
asleep in the roadside, IN the gutter and
sometimes In the canal, just where he
happens to be Mt the time.
Frequently he does not rake up from
his comatose state, and thus gives his
family another excuse TO resort To the
brown stone bottle TO drown their sorrow.
Ii might be thought that, working con-
tinually in thes ickening atmosphere of a
gin distillcry, the laborcrs would acquire a
disgust for this unsavory fluid, but on the
contrary their thirst becomes Unsuitable
from the moment they enter the employ
Of n gin mill. And II is n thirst. that no
other liquor seems 20 quench, each drink
creating a desire for another until the un-
fortunate is willing TO sell the clothes on
his back 20 keep up the supply.
The effect OF Geneva or Schiedam on
the system differs from any other liquor.
Even the vodka of Russia, that fire fiuid
that corrodes the throat like %sulphuric
acid, is not SO rapid in rousing the devil i'm
"a man or woman.
A confirmed Holland gin drunkard up
to a certain point does not stagger at all.
He is quiet and will talk to YOU nationally,
though his very blood Is alcohol. Then
suddenly he will be taken with a frenzy
and rave and scream and fight with any
one who falls i'm his way. In n few
moments he is all quiet and subdued, his
brain apparently clear, aud he goes about
his business as IL nothing had happened.
All this time he has not staggered or given
any signs of intoxication except this mo-
mentary III of madness.
had an illustration of this one morning
while slipping some cabbage soup in a tiny
tavern. The proprietor was a little man
with mild eyes and n soft voice who en-
tertained me very intelligently with "A
description of the town and It's inhabitants.