The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-04-03
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
WHISKY AND BEER.

! LlMl IINl1lvJE NlllE0.
WHISKY AND BEER.
Csaclusivs Dsnonstratiea Of The Error 81
Popular Notlon.
The Scientific American, paper de-
voted entirely to scientific subjects and
eschewing politics, in recent number
discusses the growing tendency in al
parts Of the country, to abandon the us6
Of whisky and all distilled forms Of rum,
using beer in their stead. The change
10 one that has frequently been spoken
OF IS step in the direction Of the stem
perats use" OF rum, and some have even
zone 30 far - to hsil it Is an indication
OF an improvement Of tho drinking hab-
Its Of our people. This view is evident
~ founded on tho idea that beer acts Is
food-an opinion that il utterly
wrong; for all the nutriment there il in
an eightcgallon key Of beer does noa
equal that contained in . spoonful q
wheat -four.
Those who hail . change from
whisky.drinking to eer-drinking a. an
improvement also fall into the error Of
assuming that bee is not so harmful IS
are spirituous liquors. This mistake is
clearly demonstrated by tho paper
referred to. It is to be remembered
that after all possible excuses have
been made for. men who drink 1T all.
the naked fact can not be concealed
that they drink simply from the
stimulus there is in rum; that this
stimulating principle resides in tho
alcohol which all its forms contain,
and without which they would be
simply disgusting slops, which nobody
would taste; that there are other sub
stances in each form Of rum. peculiar to
that form, which gave it its distinctive
flavor, aside from the dominating fiery
one of alcohol, and which substances
are Of themselves harmful, as we'll as is
the alcohol.
AS men drink for the exhilaration pro-
duced by tho alcohol that any particu-
lar form of tipple they prefer may con-
tain, 1t follows, as is shown by the OK
perience of every one, that beer-drink-
ers imbibe beer in immense quantities..
An ordinary glass of beer contains six
or eight times as much liquid as a glass
of whisky, and men drink great mary
more of these large glasses of beer
than they would of the much smaller
glasses of whisky. As beer contains a
much smaller per cent of alcohol than
does spirits, they are obliged to swill 1t
in bulky doses in order to attain the
same degree of excitement and stimu-
lus. They thus get, along with the al
cohol, very large quantity of the other
chemical compounds which beer con-
tains, and which of themselves are del
eterious to the human organisms; and
tho alcohol in the beer facilitates their
absorption into the circulation. As to
their effects upon the system, the jour-
nal above quoted says:
1.-THE use OF beer is found to produce q
species OF degeneration Of oil the organs; pro-
found and deceptive fatty deposits, diminished
circulation, conditions Of congestion and per-
version OF functional activities, local inflamma-
ttons of both the liver and kidneys are con-
stantly present.
In appearance the beer drfnker may be the
picture OF health, but in reality he is least cap
able Of resisting disease slight injury. q
severe cold or shock to the body or mind will
probably provoke acute disease, ending fatally
O1neroDt
kinds OF alcohol, he Is more incurable and more
generally diseased. Tho constant use of beer
every day gives the system no recuperatioh
but steadily lowers the vital forces
1T is our observation that beer drinking in
this country produces the very lowest kind Of
tnebriety, closely allied to criminal INSANITY
The most dangerous class Of HUMANS in our
largo cities are beer-drinkers. Recourse to
beer as substitute for other forms Of alcohol
merely increases the danger and fatality"
The last paragraph quoted above con-
tains grave fact too often overlooked
by the general public. The most brutal
and revolving crimes and offenses are
those committed by beer-drunkards. It
is truth known to all men that the list
Of crimes and brutalities given in the
daily press is largely due to rum.
A few weeks ago man in Canada
killed his whole family, including two
little children, with an axe, literally
chopping them to pieces. The news
story read: HE was drunk when he did
it." On almost tho same day another
man in Brooklyn nearly murdered his
wife and daughter with huge knife,
mangling the daughter frightfully. And
again the story ran: HE was drunk
when he did it." 1t would tell q start
ling tale OF the dangers of beer-intox-
ication to follow up the lists of wife,
beatings, cruelty to little children, out
RACES upon helpless females, and MUIR
ders in our cities, committed under the
influence of the demon rum, and ascer-
tain in each case what the drink was
that moved the human brute to his dia-
bolical work. 1t would undoubtedly be
found that those who committed the
most revolving and brutal of these Of
lenses are beer-drinkers.
There can be no distinction made in
favor Of beer as against other forms of
rum. In point of fact the diseased con.
ditions of body and mind which are the
self-imposed fate of the beer-drunkard
are worse, If that is possible, than those
which make the penalty of the whisky
drinker. Certainly the effects upon the
mind and the moral nature arc worse.
for the mental facilities arc blunted.
while the moral side is hopelessly per
verted. 1t will not do to say that onlv
men who are brutal by nature become
the victims of beer; the brutality and
stupidity of the chronic beer-drunkard
must be duo to the beer itself. Tho
friends of Temperance can make no
greater mistake than to favor beer as
an alternative for other kinds Of rum
dPinking.-Toledo Blade.
A WISE PROVISION.
Horace Greeley's First Temperance Meet
ing and What Came Of 1t.
Nearly three-fourths of century ago
. quiet village in Northern Vermont
was startled BY seeing posted I'M 1T dit