Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-17
CONFESSION OF An ABsINTHENE.
The Delights, Horrors and Final Effects o
the Liquor.
CWritten for the Dlspatcll)

CWritten for the Dispatch)
] am an absenthene. The bare acknowl-
edgcment of that fact should make you
lodthe me one minute and pity me the
next. But YOU Americans DO not under
stand the real meaning OF the word alb
sinthe. Some OF you probably never
heard it until now. The French know
what it means! Whisper "absinthe,"
quietly. mysteriously into a Frenchmans
ear and await the result. The answer he
VIII give you will be either u bright smile
and a twitching OF the lips, or a CHASTITY
look Of horror, loathing and pity. That
Will be according 10 whether he has tasted
absintho or not. / know what abSlntne
means.
Madness and death!
Absinthe Is a liquid OF pale. silky,
ereeny nue-a poison! \ magicians po-
toni Ten times more terrible in its ef-
fects than brandy or any poison used by
Caesar Borgia. 1 I'm a drinker OF alb
sinthc. an habitual drinker, a
you must pardon me if l ramble in my
narrative, for my brain is tottering under
the tentative influence Of the drink. 1t
seems 70 rest on a pivot. and rises and
falls periodically. And they Will be
right. 1t is a poison. y pleasant
poison. \ fearful poison. 1t does all
that they assist! First it befriends,
then wrecks you. and lastly, Kills
you-it viii XIII me by and by-and drags
you TO the rivers edge. and In you drop.
VIC have been friends. absinthe and /;
now we are enemies. But IL has conquer
ed my VIII. nave no will. Absinthe
stole it-took it in exchange for the pleas
ure It gave me when we first became
friends. IT is Il wretched. horrible liquid.
II is a traitor.
/ said absinthe was n medicine. This is
what it cures: Sorrow, despondehcy,
~unhappiness. and misery! What Doctors
stun can cure those?
4 physician will give you a tonic to
brace up the nerves. but he cannot drag
YOU from the depths OF despair. Alb
sinthe can.
WHY did | become an absinthian? When
did L first taste it? Never mind why
that is my business. | took my irst glass
I'm n Partisan Cafe-how often have ]
regretted that hour with useless regret
and now i drink IL In a dirty little bar
on a side street In this great metropolis
OF America. Why do j drink IL? Because
am powerless to help myself, but i
can tell others OF its horrors. l live NY
for absinthe-presently / shall die Tor H.
one minute my spirit Is raised high In
the heaven. the next it is plunged deep
into despair. Time Is when l sit ana
wiring my hands in despair, ana tears
Iow: for what am /? l was one or Gods
noblcst c~reations-a man-but | am de-
graded 10 the level OF an animal, ana
the cause CT my fall has been absinthe.
But l must not brood over the past L
am a man still, as good a man as any
thanks 10 absinthe.
This Is how absinthe makes you think
makes you contradict yourself. You
curse II and praise It alternately.
Absinthe in taste Is slightly bitter; how
49,. gF Thar. IL no drink IN
the world that can be called It's equai;
no msliclne that can cure Ills as THIS
cures. IL has its enemies, OF course.
The world IS full OF cynics and pesslnlsts
Who Rrowl and sneer and war with every
thing. They Will tell you that absinthe Is
p~oison-deadly poison: hat II Is a a
net. a will-o'-the-wisp that draws you
on and on until IL draws you 70 your
dastructlon. They will liken It to your
Samous mermaid. who. claiming your
sailor with her wiles. leads MN 10 NIB
death. Ga 18th.
creen' Green as grass or emeralds, dane
ing I'm the gas-Iight like a heap OF setuhs
gcmsi You mix water with abslnthe' hot
as YOU do with whiskey. You let IL drop
slowly. gently. into the glass ana thus
Il thoroughly mixes, as the iqulo Pa1e
lyrst I sipped Il curi0usly, hair atraiu'
then 4 OfaHh htNPNt
IT'S GRAND EFFECTS.
7 took more than one glass that night,
a,d when | started for homo i felt that
I must shout and sing. must run. must
fy or lump. Jump / could have sprung
over the moon, shining 50 quietly peace
fully In the sky, for my legs were SO hght
sud hnovant-not loose and weak, as
though / was intoxicated WIN VIM.
What sights / saw that night as l lay
in my bed. Dreams, you can theni.
Fright palaces, beautiful angels anu s"ses
voicesl Bitter wailing and deao men
saw the dead sitting upright IN uneii
graves, angling and chatting, each SoipSe
yIth a glass OF absinthe TO Its hpsl
nut 1 want none Of your pity Canous'
onE an indescribable Joy, and great CON
,enpt. I know that they were but dreams
nspduct,ons OF a~bsinthe-and harmless
harmless. did ! sayY That Is a nis.anv,
See their effects-ths enect OF apo, n
drinking in me! But forget pes. ~.
hooking strange n bioated, am ,he
same as other men-it 10 my bfa,n' aou
cannot see that. Oh, IL you couio' NO"
you would pity me: couo,sv
nut ! want none OF your pity Caiousv
No. Resigned. l am waiiing LOT '"e
end. n
AS ] said before, IL you could see my
brain and know my tbouBhts-wei, you
would Div me, you could do no more
But II * this horrible phantom dread.
4 know MOI what shape Il will take. DIT
IL viii be something hideous. This fear
fsl brain.pieturs always prseesds ts
grand finale,