Smyrna times., 1890-12-31
WRETCHED CREATURES.
MEN AND WOMEN WHO sUBSlsY
ON THE VlLEST OF LIQUOR.

A%0N
setting Weakness is a Love of Drink
Every Town has Its DlssOlute Charac-
ters-The Keg Drainers and their Beats.
Ordinary slum life, has been written
about so often that q repetition of its
more commonplace features has almost
become nauseating, but as long as large
cities exist, there will be miserable tene-
ments inhabited by men and women suf-
fering from hunger and thirst, and as
long as human nature is susceptible to
evil influences these miserable novels
will be full of victims. Vice in its most
hideous form is most prevalent where
wealth Is greatest; consequently all
cities have quarters dedicated to the vO-
taries OF everything that is unhOly and
unclean. Institutions of this kind may
be conducted openly or under cover, but
they are nevertheless the same where
ever we may and them; and not even
the eloquenc- Of Talmage added one iOta
to their horror or subtracted a single
atom from the degradation of their
thousands of victims.
Peculiar phases Of vice. however, which
depict the gradual degradation of per-
sons addicted to soul and life de-
strOying habits, are proper subjects for
newsr aper discussion. Every town, no
matter how small, has its dissolute
characters, but in a cosmopolitan city,
wrecks and Outcasts from all parts OF
the world meet and teach others their
miserable tricks and subterfuges. Scores
OF these unfortunate men and won en-
are honest so far as the distinction be-
tween meum and tuum is concerned, but
they will resort to the lowest articles to
satisfy depraved appetite.
Notable among this class of outcasts
Is the fellow who drains the stale beer
from kegs back of downtown saloons.
Armed with battered tin can which in
its halcyOn days contained perhaps a
tOOthsOme mess OF tomatoes or Califor-
MIA peaches, he will all evening and far
into the night walk his beat and keen
a sharp lookout for kegs deposited in
the alley by the busy bar-keeper. Each
OF these kegs contains from a quart to
half galloOn O. stale and odorOus fluid
which Is greedily consumed by the
trembling fiend.
Several years ago these might tap
pers, as they are called, were not very
numerous, but now they constitute a
respectable little army as far as num-
bers are concerned. and the profitable
territory has been divided among them
according to the theories Of the most
advanced communists. Each tapper's
district is known among the initiated
as beat" and an infringement Of
territory so allotted is considered q mis-
demeanor and punished severely. The
experienced Taper can tell how much
beer is left in keg by simply lifting
it. He knows the exact weight Of the
keg, and II a trial convinces him that
the salOon-keeper has nearly drained its
contents he does not go to the trouble Of
filing his can. He knows that by going
to the next saloon on his beat he will
probably find a keg containing half a
gallon Of stuff" and as nothing less
than that quantity will suffice to "whet
his whistle, he considers it infra dig.
to waste his time over quart remnant.
The alleys are the thOroughfares pat
rOniZed by this class of night providers.
! When 1t bect mes necessary to cross a
street, the taper sneaks along until he
Is assured of the absence of police OH
GERS. A bold dash across the street lands
him in the alley back Of another saloon,
| and thus he spends the hours from seven
in the evening until one the next morn
| ing, when he lies down in some secluded
nook to sleep off the effects of the poison
with which he has filed his system.
That men should fall so low as to
greedily pour down swill which no self
respecting hog would swallow Is deDlor-
| al le; but that women, mothers Of fam
lies. should stoOp to initiate the prac-
tices OF the night Taper seems terrible.
To the shame of the sex it must be
stated, however that Chicago has no less
than dozen female tappers, who not
only pursue the nefarious occupation
themselves. but compel their children to
assist them.
One gaunt female, clad in rags and
| with an infant in her arms, can be seen
nightly lowering around the alleys Of a
downtown district.
! In one arm she holds q sickly-l0okinl
child, in the right hand she carries tin
can which she fills and empties perhaps
. dozen times night before seeking rest
] In police station or her own miserable
| quarters in tumble-down frame struc-
ture on South State street. This same
woman, according to the best authority
was once the wife of prosperous bust
ness man whom she ruined by her ex
travagaRce and love for liquor. AdivorcC
ended the domestic drama as far as the
man was concerned. He went West anC
acquired handsome fortune. The
woman sank lower and lower and fnally
married thief who is now serving a sen
tence at Joliet All she has left Is an un
cOntrollable appetite for alcohol, and
siekly child to which she clings with I
devotion which proves that not all the
better feelings have been stified In hei
bosom.
Another woman is In the habit Of hang
ing around the streets near the alleys
She does not tip the beer keg herself
but compels her ten-year-old boy to al
her can.
Scarcely less degraded than the tap
per is the alcohol topper. This fiend Il
human form Is satisfied with nOthinI
but alcohol in all its original strength
Perhaps 1t would be better to call him
suicide than topper, as no one addictet
to the alcohol habit can live any lengtl
of time. The victims Of the Woe knoV
this, and yet they can not be persuade
to give up the vile stuff. The action O
alcohol on the stomach has a tendenc
to burn up that organ. and even the con
surners Of good whisky suffer from de
rangement Of the digestive organs. Tn
alcohol topper accomplishes In six month
or, II exceptionally strong, year wha
the heavy drinker OF refined liquor
does in lifetime. The process in bot
cases is the same and considering th
matter from, a strictly economics
standpoint, the alcohol flend Is a NOR
. sensible fellow than the ordinary topel
Both are worthless and the sooner the
are removed from the mundane sphere
the better for the community at large.
: The Owl and the Locomotive Headligh