The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1891-03-26

| CdSC MS lOul BOOleL away.
! When my guardian angel embraced me
! And she'd on my life new ray.
| Michael McGovern, In National Labor
Tribune.
A NEW KIND OF DRUNKENNESS
Alarming Prevalence of Ginger Tipping
in the Good Old Quaker City.
The ginger habit has supplemented
the liquor habit. It has become a kind
of fad in some classes of society, and
its dangerous inroads upon health are
forcing it upon the attention of physi-
clans, while as an outgrowth of high
license legislation it is at the same
time recommending itself to the atten-
ton of lawmakers. The ginger habit
is worse than the ordinary liquor habit,
because it is more rapid in its effects
and means earlier ruin to the health of
the individual. 1t has only recently
come to the attention of physicians and
druggists that in thousands of families
the peppery dose that has borne the
| popular appearance of innocence and
responsibility has become an agent of
debauchery.
The tincture of ginger, or Jamaica
ginger as it is popularly known, is the
strongest and most irritating alcoholic
solution known, ranking next to alco-
hol absolute, which is undrinkable
and standing equal to commercial alco-
hol, which is never used as a beverage
The Jamaica ginger is sold by drug
| gists and grocerS in four-ounce walls,
and the unbottled tincture is retailed
at one ounce and upward. During the
last few months the demand for the
article. which has been steadily grow
ing for number of years, has become
unprecedented. and some druggists are
already beginning to flag" habitual
| inquirers
The greatest demand is in those Sec
| tions that are at distance from the
| principal business centers of the city,
| although the Chestnut and Market
street druggists themselves have expe-
| rienced and noted the rapid growth of
| the traffic. The most alarming phase
of the habit is it's prevalence among
women.
DIR. w. e. MacConneu said recently:
1.-The tincture of ginger can be bought
for about five cents an ounce. 1t con-
tains fully IS per cent. of alcohol, so
| that in an ounce of ginger there is
more than two ounces of whisky. The
way it is now being used is amazing. I
know a physician, a man prominent in
his profession, who died only short
time ago from the effects of ginger
drinking. You would think a physi-
clan would know better, and he did,
but in spite of the warning and protest.
atoms of his friends in the profession he
would use it daily as beverage, dilut-
| ing it one third.
Il was in a drug store only few days
ago when a young girl came in twice.
buying each time two onunces of gin
| ger. The druggist said she'd been in
twelve times that day. lie knew that
her mother and her sisters drank it.,
| but it had never occurred to him that
he should refuse to sell them the arti-
Gle. I was called not long ago to at
tend a woman who admitted to me that
she was in the habit of drinking six
teen ounces day. Think what dose
that is! 1t would have the strength of
It would surprise you to know how many
patients afflicted with the ginger habit
the physicians of this city are now strug-
| Cling with.
1.-The majority of them are women,
who until few years past were accus-
toned to sending to the neighboring
saloon for beer or whisky whenever
| they wanted it, night or morning or
Sunday. One woman told me she began
to drink it when she couldn't run into a
handy saloon with her pitcher but found
that she could buy all the ginger she
wanted at the druggists or at the gro
Gerry store, and that it went further and
| had more effect than anything else
Old drinkers at the bar are familiar
with the effects of ginger, and l sup
pose the growth of the present habit
has it's origin with them. 1t is en-
croaching upon the very best society,"
and many an exclusive morning and
afternoon gathering of ladies about the
tables of some elegant hostess INDUCES
in the ginger tipple. It is passed around
diluted in water, and it seems harmless
enough. But the habit once acquired
is almost hopeless. 1t is worse than
the liquor habit. The ginger, through
which the alcohol percolates in it's man
nfacture, is an irritant of the worst
kind when taken in excess, and the al
cohol is in almost its absolute state
Its effects, too, are distinctive. The
ginger drinker invariably becomes sim
pie. These are not the varieties of ordi-
nary intoxication. You will find all
the smaller drug stores outside of
the very center of the city do
ing an enormous business in
ginger, and the same with the grocery
stores. There ought to be legislation
against its indiscriminate sale, the same
as there is against the in1iscriminate
sale of O Their alcoholic drinks"
A prominent druggist, whose business
includes wholesale and retail, said the
growing demand for ginger had been
noticed and commented upon in his es-
Enlistment and in others which he had
visited. ''In our store,'' he said, 1--WE
have adopted the rule of refusing to sell
ginger to any person who appears to
have been drinking, but we haven't
gone so far yet as to refuse to fill the
orders that are sent in to us from fam
lilies or that are brought in by children.
/. There ought to be some restriction,
must admi t, but what and how? Most
If the ginger. drinking is done down
sown, should judge, by the quantities