The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-01-11
A Kerltuckyan's Will Power.

VI have been steady drlnker OF Ken
lucky whiskey for forty five years." said
ruddy checked, gray haired man of IS
to two companions Hho were sitting at a
table in the Hoffman house cafe one
night last week, says the New York Sun.
81 was born and reared in Louisville,
and my experience as consumer of the
native liquor is worth something. I re.
member we'll my fathers fear that I
would become addicted to the stuff.
What suppose he meant by the phrase
addicted to it was that | might let it get
the mastery of me and become drunk
ard. His words made profound i'm.
preston upon rne, although when mere
boy I had a high opinion of my will
power and secuted the idea that any
habit could get the control. Just to
prove it to myself I used occasionally to
quit chewing or smoking, or both, for a
spell, long or short, and begin again with
feeling of triumph, just because I knew
that could stop when pleased.
GAS to the whiskey habit, 1 felt per.
fectly safe. knew the taste Of whiskey
when 15 OF 16 years old, and before I
was 20 I had made up my mind about
the conditions under which man could
drink without enaangering his future. I
resolved that under no conditions would
1 ever take drink until after supper. /
firmly believed that this rule would be
my salvation, ard that if adhered to it
I could never fill g drunkard's grave. I
did stick to it for several years, and then
modified it slightly.
"After the modification I felt that any
man was safe who resolved not to
drink during business hours and adhered
to bis resolution. Some time later / ex-
tended the limit, and for years could not
be persuaded to drink before 4 o'clock In
the afternoon. felt apprehensive for
my companions, who took drink right
after dinner. I believe three or four
years passed before 1 concluded that !
might safely push the limit back to 2
o'clock, and 1 held that this was the ear
liest hour that a business man could
indulge in liquor without endangering
his prospects. 1t was not more than
year before 1 added another hour to my
time fop indulgence, and the following
year found me taking an appetizer be-
fore my MONDAY meal.
"It took eleven years to bring the
limit down to 10 o'clock in the morning,
when, with other men in the tobacco
warehouse, ! stepped across the street
every day to get little hot lunch. Then
1 felicitated myself with the tdea that
there was no danger of becoming topper
if man abstained from drinking until
after his breakfast bad digested. Sew
eral years passed, and I had arrived at
the conclusion that one drink of whis-
key right after breakfast as starter for
the day was correct thug and could not
harm any able bodied man. I had by
that tile convinced myself that the
danger lay in taking nip before break
fast, and that those who did 80 we're
bound to end as drunkards I don't
think 1 took drink before breakfast for
fifteen or twenty years, but during that
time I always felt that it was necessary
to have one to fortify myself against the
open air, especially in winter"
"How is it Dow?" asked one of his
companions.
"Now," said the old gentleman, "I am
copgratulating myself that l don't have
to get up 10 the middle of the night to
take nip"