Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-01
What Shall We Drink ?---Eminent
Physicians Answer the
Question.
What Alcoholic Beverage is the Least
Injurious Oliver Wendell Holmes,
d. Hayes Agnew,
Samuel D. Gross, Austin Flint, John Moore
s. Weir Mitchell-Wiliiam A. Hammond,
N. S. Davis and Other Famous Doctors.

copyrighted and all rights reserved, by Geof-
frey Winston Christine.
For the Gazette.
To prominent and well-known physician, I
am indebted for the following letters from Amer
ica's most eminent medical men. written to him
expressly for one of his forthcoming works in re-
spouse to his question, (which of the alcoholic
liquors is, in your opinion the least injurious as
beverage for man who must drink or thinks
he must?'' GEoFFREY WILLIsToN CHRISTINE.
DR.. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES SUGGESTS RUM.
Br. Oliver Wendell Holmes of Boston, the
noted literateur and physician, who may not in
aptly be styled everybody friend, or at least
the friend of every American who reads either
poetry or prose- thinks favorably of rum, that
old-fashioned New England beverage distilled
from molasses, which cheered the hearts of our
Puritan forefathers, and was the ''fre-water''
of the ''big Inguns'' of the Naragansets, the
Wampanoags, and other Indian tribes of Puri-
tan colonial days. The letter Of the genial
stAutocrat of the Breakfast Table, in answer
to the above mentioned query, runs thus:
BosroN, Mass, Jan. 20.-I have had too little
experience with alcoholic liquors to be any
authority on the subject. 1t is years since L
have practiced medicine and, except coca
sional glass of champagne, have hardly used
alcoholic fluids for these twenty or thirty years.
Dr. Smith Il think his christian name was Ed
WarQ), an EngllSn OF twenty or thirty
years ago. has presented some favorable testi-
mony with reference to the peculiar advantages
of rum, compared with other alcoholic drinks,
taken with milk.
Some other evidence has given favorable
impression with regard to rum. but 1 have no
positive proof of its superiority TO gin, whisky,
etc. Yours very truly.
Oliver WENDELL HOLMES.
DIR, AGNEw FAvoRs CLARET.
DR.. D. Hayes Agnew of Philadelphia, consult
ing surgeon to the late President Garfield, pro-
fessor of surgery in the university of Pennsyl-
vania, member of the American surgical asso-
favors claret, as will be seen from the following
letter:
n. W. Coz. SIXTEENTH AND WALNUT STs.,
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, Jan. 10, 1889.
A man who feels that he must drink had better
not drink ct all. Such one, more than any
debasing habit of intemperance. ANY alcoholic
liquor habitually imbibed can scarcely fail to be
injurious The evil effects produced on the
liver and stomach by habitual whisky drinking
especially are wen known to the medical path
oIogist. Perhaps the least harmful of all alco-
holic drinks is a light claret. Yours truly,
d. HAYES AGNEw.
VOICE FROM THE GRAVE.
The late Dr. Samuel D. Gross, A NJ, II. D.,
L. D., D. c. L., Oxon., of Philadelphia, pro-
fessor of surgery in Jefferson medical college
and author of Gross System of Surgery, .
enjoyed wider reputation, possibly, than
ever produced. His fame was worldwide
and he could probably write after his name
many capital letters, indicative Of honorary de-
grees that had been conferred upon him by
learned universities in every quarter OF the civ
ilizsd globe any other man that ever lived. II