Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-10-15
MNODERATE DRINKING.
SOME LOCAL EXAMPLES OF HUMAN
"TANKS"
Nsn IN. Wheeling Who Can Drink Keg Of Eeer or
Gallon Of Whisky in a Single Day
and Sill Survive.

lions which are often olscuSseu, III
these fin du steele days, in and out of
bibulous circles, but the mooted points
have never been settled in an entirely
satisfactory manner.
The trouble with telling when man
Is drunk arises mainly from the fact that
scarcely any two mems notions Of what
constitutes Drunkenness are the same.
Some will contend that as soon as
man takes a drink Of beer or liquor OF
any sort, he is zone drink drunk"
while others, at the other extreme,
strenuously hold to the opinion that as
long as a man can walk, pronounce his
rame, tell what town be lives in, or can
insert a latch-key into key-hole, he Is
sober enough to pass muster
It's very much the same with the
question Of capacity. Most men who
drink at all, cannot be sweryed from
the firm belief that two or three beers
or as many drinks Of liquor Ia day are
enough for any man Of respeeta6ility,
while many others think dozen or If
teen drinks OF whisky, or twenty-five or
thirty glasses of beer every day will
hurt no one," and can be INDUCED In
with entire propriety.
A REGISTER reporter CHANGED TO hear
discussion Of those points, few days
ago, between number Of gentlemen OF
somewhat convivial tastes, and the In
formation ELECTED may strike many
readers as remarkable and worthy VI
publication.
The discussion was started by
casual statement from one Of the party
that he and FIVE companions, sojourn-
ing at d fishing camp, had drank
five gallon keg OF whisky In one day.
Some one disputed 1t, as improbable,
and the matter was referred to South
Side gentleman, who said, after some
little thought, that he saw nothing i'm
probable in the story, Us he had person
ally known a man to drink gallon OF
whisky in day, on more than one oc-
casion. This attracted the attention OF
several others, not at first In the party,
sort OF general experience meeting
was organized, and the stories began.
II know q man." said one present,
"who had quite fondness for beer, land
as it drained the family purse a good
deal to crafty II. In the usual way, he
hit upon the plan Of getting half keg,
Saturday evenings, for his personal use
during Sunday. He usually got up
about nine o'clock Sunday morning,
would dress, eat some breakfast, and
then go down in the cellar and tap the
half keg, and generally by noon it was
empty. Then he got to buying a key,
and l have actually known him to drink
a full keg Of beer by Sunday evening,
and then rush the growler Sunday
nightw
THAT reminds me OF friend Of
mine" said another gentleman, who
was called in q murder trial not far
from Wheeling, where the case largely
turned upon whether or not the defend
ant was drunk, at the time OF the com
mission OF the crime. My friend
was cross examined, and was
asked, among other things, what
he considered moderate drinking,
and he said be didn't know; 1t was
hard thing TO determine. WELL said
the counsel, how many drinks OF
whisky do you think you could drink
in day, and still remain capable OF at
tending N business? Remember, now,
you're on oath Ny friend studied a
| little, and then said: We'll, think l
could take a hundredr"
Il know q man right in Wheeling to-
day who takes a hundred drinks OF
whisky day." said another, "snd l
can't say that l ever saw him drunk.
They're not large drinks, of course, but
| I'm sure he takes that many"
"And l know another rather promi-
nent man who drank half gallon Of
brandy, in a single day, and 1t didn't
seem to hurt him." chlmed in bar
keeper, who proceeded to assure those
present that be was telling the truth
and gave the mans name. Many other
stories OF immoderate drinking were
told, most OF them about people we all
know, and some Of them were surpris-
| ing.
Many men about breweries drink
! sixty to eighty glasses of beer day,
especially In the summer, and men who
| drink quart OF whisky day, and who
can double that dose upon occasions,
are not infrequent. And, strange as IL
may seem to some, the men who drink
| the most are not the men one sees
about the streets and saloons under the
influence of liquor, Your thirsty indiyid-
ual who drinks "a little whisky" every
half or three.quGrters OF an hour, isn't
the man who gets drunk, and makes a
spectacle of himself. He knows himself
| better than that. Aud IT'S the same
way with the man who thinks forty or
fifty glasses OF beer day is ''enough
for anv gentleman" Ten to one these
people drink their forty or fifty glasses
ans show little outward signs OF 1t.
These folks are copper-lined, picked
and alcohol proof, in large measure,
| from years Of toying with the flowing
bowl, and are not so easily effected, al
| though as a rule the time comes when
they collapse suddenly. The folks who
get drunk, as rule, are those who
don't drink at all for week, and then
20 to pieces early Saturday night,
under the influence Of few glasses Of
| something stronger than water. But
then, as vas stated at the outset,
opinions differ widely as TO when man
| is drunk.
4 jolly Good Time.
Last Friday night there was joyous
assemblage at Dailer's barber shop, In
honor Of Jacob Schaffer and William