The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-06-18
FRUITFUL CAUSE OF INeBRIETY.
The:RelatIon of Drinking to Pure, Whole
some Water Supply.


some Water supply.
Next to air, water is the most i'm
portant of all the substances taken
into the system. When we consider
that four-fifths of the entire body is
composed of water, and that upon this
more than anything else, depends the
healthy action of many, if not all, the
organs, especially those engaged in the
circulation of the blood, the secretion
of fluids and the eNcretion of waste
material, it is only natural to conclude
that the system will have water from
some source. Especially does one en-
gagged in hard physical labor require
a large amount of fluid to carry off the
broken-down material which is con-
tinEally being thrown into the blood
by every movement of the muscles.
But if the water is not good, few will
take as much into the system as ma
ture requires; and as a result the
wheels of the living machine are
clogged, and their inharmonious action
is misunderstood as a call for stimu-
lants and tonics. Many a drunkard has
received his first taste of strong drink
in a dose of some simple tonic, which
was followed by a life of misery not
only for himself but for those around
him-and all because of poor water.
With all the efforts put forth by tenn
perance people to curtail the use Of
alcoholic liquors, and notwithstanding
the many good results which have come
from these efforts, one thing seems
often to be overlooked, and that is, the
difficulty with which drink of good
cool water is obtained upon the streets
of most of our cities and villages.
O,why such a famine for water to drink?
And why must the youth who now stand
on the brink
OF manhood and honor and fortune and
fame
Be led down to ruin and mis'ry and shame?
o, simply because the good people forgot
That when it is dusty and sultry and hot.
A man or a boy who has worked hard all
day
Needs water, pure water, his thirst to
allay.
But there is one man who has not
forgotten the needs of the weary toll
ers as they drag their feet along the
street in the evening of summer day.
Like the beast of prey which lies in
ambush by the spring where the tom
bling deer and antelope come to drink,
so the rumseller stands in the shadow
of his den and watches for the mex
perienced and thirsty youth. He greets
him kindly as friend, and-well, we
all know the rest.
Many poor, tired boy would never
enter saloon for the first time if he
could get a drink of good cool water at
any corner on the business streets
True, many of our cities furnish an
abundance of water, such as it is, at GER
tain places on the streets; but who
wishes to drink it? AS the man
who is convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion STILL"
So he who drinks against his will
Is not refreshed. but thirsty still.
Many in our large cities have never
known what it is to have drink of the
sparkling, bubbling waters of hill
side spring, nor of the cool, fresh, pure
water from deep well in the country.
1T is no wonder then, that pure cold
water" does not have the meaning to
them that it does to the author of the
temperance song. Neither is it strange
that many prefer tea, coffee or wine to
the impure water of the city, and that
we so often hear it said: 'Inever drink
water"
The man who is doing hard manual
labor must have something to drink;
and if he cannot get good water, he il
likely to drink beer. The young man
who works beside him is perhaps from
the country and is used to drinking
from the 'old oaken bucket" He would
not think of taking beer, but this luke
warm, germ-tainted city water does not
Quench his thirst; he longs for a cool
draft from his fathers we'll at home;
the cool, foaming goblet tempts him;
he is ruined. So in every city we see
those who are led into intemperance be-
cause of bad drinking water; and this
among the rich as we'll as the poor.
Let all who wish to help in saving
their fellow men from ruin, unite in an
effort to improve the water supply, both
in the homes and the public places OF
our cities and villages. Much good may
thus be accomplished, and many a
youth snatched from life of shame and
a hopeless death.--Wm. a. George, N.
D., in Good Health.