The Monitor-register., 1897-11-26
WOMEN WHO Triple.
FAVOR THE lNsIDIoUs, PAREsIs-PRo-
DuclNG DEcocTloNs.

It is Said that the Number of Those Who
Take Their Grog ia Increasing-Tims
: Was When Women wouldn't Drink in
Public.
Have you noticed at any of the local
gardens that many women well known
in st. Louis society sip and apparently
enjoy decoctions that femininity is
popularity supposed to decline and abb
hor? A prominent st. Louis physi-
clan Is authority for the statement
that the tippling practice among So
ciety women is assuming proportions
that are alarming and dangerous. His
name canno be given, because his eli
entele is largely of the fashionable
folk, and he knows too well whereof
he speaks. Plain plebeian beer or good
old rye whiskey does not seem to find
favor with the fair imbibers, but
rather they turn to the more insidi-
GUS paresis-produoing decoctions of the
French. Cordials, liQueurs and mix
lures seem to lead. and with a wo-
mans idea of the eternal fitness of
things she chooses her drinks much
as she does her dresses, with the
weather eye to the color effect. The
prismatic colors of the French liqueurs
are so pretty and attractive that she
dallies with them until she discovers
the penalty that is being exacted from
her physical system, and then she
quits II she can; If not, she goes to
a physician.
You would be surprised to see the
number of dipsomania cases that are
on my visiting list" says the Repub-
lies medical informant, and then he
goes on to say:
The habit of tippling Is undoubt-
eddy fastening upon st. Louis society
women There can be no doubt of it,
even to the outsider who looks at So
ciety longingly from a place afar off.
Did you ever notice that many of the
fashionable patrons of the different
gardens frequently order drinks that
have heretofore been regarded as
distinctly masculine? The reason is
not far to seek. The variety of soft
drinks is in reality not large. They
are nearly all based on c%arbonated
water, and they soon become INSULT
Gent and unsatisfying. So milady re-
bells; she feels that she is hampered
too much by unjust conventionalities,
and she argues with herself her pet
theory of a single standard of propri-
ETY. for men and o1ne Then some
night at some amusement resort she
asks her escort if there would be any
particular harm Ii she had, ahem-
we'll, for instance, one of those drinks
The chances are 10 to 1 that unless he
is a relative of her fiancee he will en-
courage her curiosity and presto! the
beginning is made. After hat prog
ress is easy, and the ultimate result
depends entirely upon the woman. If
she be of good, healthy stock, and with
a balance wheel of good common sense,
she will indulge her newly acquired
taste in moderation, and no one will
be the wiser.
But, Of the other hand, take a case
that l have now under treatment. The
father of the woman was a noted
drinker, and his sons followed in his
footsteps. The mothers adherence
for drink was as strong as her hus-
bands craving, and while she could
not control the boys, she did bring up
the girls on the most strict temper
ance lines. Until she reached her
t~wenty-fifth year the woman whom l
am treating knew nothing of liquor ex-
cept that it had decreased materially
the happiness Of her girlhood home.
She was at a garden one night and
took her first drink. It wal an ordi-
nary plain mint julep, innocent-look-
ing enough, but it was quite sufficient
to awaken a craving that before had
lain dormant. From that time on she
gratifled her desire until it was nee
essary to call in a physician. Will she
recover? Oh, my boy, that's a ques-
ton. How many men with inherited
craving for liquor do recover? You
know as well as I that they are few,
and a woman's will power is less than
that of a man.
"The remedy? Bless you, there is
non except to stay away from it. Ten
years ago a woman would not dare
drink an alcoholic beverage in pub
lie, but times have changed, and the
vices of this degenerate age are the
physicians excuse for the accumula-
ton of wealth."-St. Louis Republic.