Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-11

"
Then he pretended TO
be In . hurry and rushed down toward the
corner Of the street. but this method Of locomo-
ton was also failure, because he bumped into
people without any cause, and finally careened
up against Q tree box with a force that very
nearly laid him low He then stopped short
and gazed at the crowd. but he found il i'm
possible to remain in a stationary position.
So he gave it up and went staggering toward
his hotel like man who is no. oniy drunk. but
Is aware that there is no use in irving
to hid it. 1t wss Q strange study Here
was q man as drunk "a the traditional
lord, whose legs could not carry him correctly.
who would IL you had addressed him have
answered with an utterance thick and indis-
tinct AZ London fog, yet his brain clear
enough FOR him TO know be was drunk and to
try and hide il. The chances are thai he
reached his hotel safely, crept a. quietly as
possible into his room and locking the door
| went TO bed in misery of heart and woke up
with . headache and a horrible attack OF
remorse tho next morning Observing the
poor wretch the writer had the curiosity TO ask
several men who may be said 10 have large
and varied experence-in some casesa personal
| whether a man who is not in a
| stupor from drink ever actually loses his mental
| balance TO such degree that be docs not know
| where he Is or what he is doing.
USUALLY KNOWS WHAT HE is ABOUT
They seemed to ell agree that the drunken
man nearly always does know what he is doing
provided OF course. that he is not mad with
drink or suffering from delirium tremeus. Let
| n man who is raising row in his CUPS sud
denly be met with a strong rebuke and the
probability II that he will become quiet at
once These remarks apply to the generality
OF drinkers. There are occasional men who in
dulge in the genuine alcoholic trance-that is
thew talk and act with mn 20
| foolishness. as the case may be. and when they
| are sober remember nothing whatever about il.
They are in q sort Of hypnotic state and NAV
say or do things which they would never think
OF saving or doing il a normal condition. These
are the most unfortunate drinkers Of all. for
they must take the responsibility OF the actions
that they never intended to commit
Are you happy when you are drunk" was
asked Of a man whose drinking spells arc not
frequent but quite pronounced when they
happen.
"No." he said. "never, and for the simple
reason that know / am getting drunk. know
am injuring myself. know / an making some
people have q contempt for me and others
laugh at mo and know that when il is over I
will punish myself most severely"
"Thon why do you ever get drunk"
"Ah. WELL that's hard to tell, but I never do
| 1t with reconciliation. Sometimes I am feol-
Ing tired, or perhaps worried. and l take
that cup that ought TO cheer, but in reality
merely postpones worriment and finally adds to
II. From one glass go on to two and more and
then the jig is up and the jag is on"
scME MEN DRIVEN TO DRINK
1t may be. and not unfrequently is, some un-
happiness that drives men todrink, Just as pain
starts the morphine habit. father loses his
child and becomes n drunkard; a man is Tilted
by the woman he loves and browns his grief
| and his strength OF character at the same time
| or he may fail in business and take up the bust
ness OF drinking in consequence. In this last
named case people will probably attribute his
failure to the drink, whereas the failure caused
the drinking. There is another cause Of the
habit of drinking. When a married man thinks
that marriage is a failure he sometimes makes
| it a failure in good earnest by adding drinking
to its horrors. 1t is painful, but it is true that
there are more married men than single men in
the lnebriate asylums.
But suppose a rlan never does get drunk vet
drinks sufficiently to feel the effects and '.haye
good tine, lie he happy? He may b. say the
drinkers, to moderate degree but if he does il
often he will be haunted by the consciousness
that he Is doing what he ought not TO do 1t
WAS the great and treme ndous Dr. johnson
who, on two occasions. declared that no maa 10
ever happy except when he is drunk. but he
must have referred to q very transitory hsppi-
ness and should anyhow have modified bis state
msnt so a. to say that some men are. perhaps,
momentarily happy whom thcy arc getting
drunk. Nobody can ever have observed man
who was really drunk without noticing how ut
terly and hopesssly miserable he is It would
be a. reasonable to suppose such q man really
happy as to believe that q poor sailor is COM
fortsbls when his ship il rolling and pitching In
. storm at sea. The misery of the poor sailor il
the less OF the two, for the one 10 suffering
through no fault OF his own whereas the other
has self-condemnaton added to the burden be il
| supporting.
DRUNK OVER SIX THOUSAND TINES
1t was once the fortune Of the writer to live
for few months in one Of the most booming
towns Of the far west, and while there he had a
good opportunity to observe the mayor Of the
city. He was . handsome, forid fellow. at least
six feet high, with pleasant smile and dig
nifty Of carriage that would have done credit TO
any drum major but he was good natured and
genial, and drum majors seldom are Now, this
mayor had his weaknesses. ss all of us have,
but his was the weakness Of drinking Every
morning before breakfast the mayor took a
drink OF whisky, and this was necessary to
him - the breakfast that followed it. Then he
went to his ofice and the number of drinks be
| took during the balance O; the day depended
upon the number Of drinking men who came to
his Office. II these were few-there woe always
some-ihe mayor was simply In q pleasant con-
dition all day; if they were numerous-snd
| they generally were-thc mayor was drunk by
O'Clock in The afternoon, not boisterously or
L
| simply good naturedly and unmistakably drunk
He was a verv goyd mayor. too, and performed
| all duties that came before him satisfactorily
Occasionally he was in such a condition that
the public business had TO be postponed till the
next day, but this happened very rarely and
the public business did not puFer II vas a
| tendcrfoot just come to town who met the
mayor and in the innocence Of his heart asked
him whether he had ever been drunk
"Over G, coo times" answered tie mayor, and
he seened proud Of it
He was about fifty years Of age. He had
been hard drinksr since he was twenty-five
years OF age. According to his calculation he
had averaged being drunk about three times a
week. No doubt he had skipped several
months. whom be was sober on a "swear off,"
but these were more than counterbalanced by
the frequent occasions when he had been drunk
day after day. and the other occasions when he
lad been drunk two or three times In the same
day.
Just stop and think Of 1t! Here was q man
with family, mayor of his town. friend Of
many men. making money and he had been |
drunk 6,000 times. OF course his constitu- |
ton was exceptional and il may DO remarked |
In passing tina. he soon aftervard died sud |
donly Of a rupture OF q blood vessel, and most |
men would 60 to pieces very soon under such 4
persistent course Of drinking.
a Runaway Match.