The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-02-20

one by one constant drinker loses his
business, his friends, his sensibilties,
all--but they are fully replaced by the
love Of his beer.
Thou glorious brew of pearly, liquid
brown, mirth inspiring beerl How the
blood bounds through the veins with each
draught of thee, at that time when the
exhilaration Of drink, the artificial, goes
hand in hand with natures throhs.
This youths dclirium is no vulgar intoxi-
cation. II is simply the exultation OF a
mans own vitality. Drinking is an IN
diyidual matter. There arc strong
men that may safely taste the delight
Of beer throughout all their days. THIS
is intoxication, cxhilaration; it is not
the disease of the liver, the softening OF
the brain which reminds him Of his nights
Of glory, and clear lunged shouts OF JOY.
incidentally, some reference may DC
made at this point, and modestly to the
disadvantage of getting drunk. There
arc doubtless many individuals who ex-
press their independence of Law, society,
order. and their own constitutions by an
occasional indulgence in the cred liquor;
and others. like Mr.. Dick Swiveler, be-
cause they were fore ordained to go to the
bad In the first instance there is man
Hesitation Of indiscrcet pluck; in the other
the result makes no very great difference.
A shoemaker or two, or an idle and worth
less gentleman or so, less in the world, to
saw the least Of it, does not destroy the
harmony of nature.
The disadvantages of becr-drinking
proceed from the habit that grows on one.
We're it possible for man to subordinate
habit of occasional drink to his other
habits of study, Of mind, of life. of de-
cencv, or of all that goes TO make clean
man. it would be we'll and man could
enjoy all the advantages of being saint.
with the occasional raptures of sinner.
But this desirable compromise is always
| frustrated either by the excellence Of the
beer or the innate deprayty Of the man.
The habit of drink once formed, the in
visible devil once lodged in YOU, IA tenant
at its own will, in possession Of your
liver as its stronghold, and of the usual
internal machinery which the average
man is supposed to possess, change
comes about Not even the bock-beer
can bring back the cid delights. The
brain no longer responds to the quick
lightning of thought. Beer is then the
master and not the servant. 1t is not in
toxication one feels ii is the protest of the
the liver, crying out in scrvitnde. Health
has left every function. The sense or
smell does not awaken TO the odors of
spring time the taste does not minister
to the appetite; merry thoughts troop no
| longer in the brain; one thinks never q
fresh thought: nature incapacties him
generally; lie may not even embrace
worthily one he loves. Incapable of friend
ship, powcrlcss of a pure emotion.
After some years Of royal fun, the young
man will wake up and find that he has
mislaid his brains somewhere, and can't
| End them when his time for real wor, is
at hand. He is robbed Of his chief glory,
that invisible essence Of the mind, that
hy ointment that made it precious, that
which gave him the assurance of power,
the talisnan that gained him love from
others, that distinguished him from men
of lower ordcr-bankrupt-all that was
valuable in him converted into the prom
Uses of the worthless dynasty of beer:
To live then on the drcSs Of your mind.
to feed only on the scraps Of Your old
fancics, the provocative power of the
mind, which once so nobiy ruled over tho
soul, gone-:lis is a terrible result.
But in truth, it is Il fact that prohihi-
ton has never carried in 4 town where
the bars afforded book beer and an oyster.
Name one. 1t sometimes knocks out red
liquor, but the line is drawn at book beer.
The issue here is therefore doubtful. The
battle is simply Il conflict between pro-
hbition and red liquor. Bock-beer would
keep the town wet; but to make assurance
doubly sure, the liquor men had better
throw in the oyster. That rould settle it.