New-York tribune., 1897-08-04
TEMPERANCE AND CHEMISTRY.

It Is a good old Scriptural maxim that the
way Of the transgressOr Is hard; but expert
ence shows that the way Of the righteous per-
son Is also often hard. Here, for instance, Is
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union Of
st. Louis, whose most prasewOrthy efforts to
pulverize the rum power and promote temper
ance have just been frustrated by one Of the
laws of chemistry. The good women would not
have been mt all surprised had they met with
opposition from men, especially from those who
are interested In the selling Of liquor. They
have had that sort Of opposition right along, and
expect to have 1t until every huplan being be-
comes Il total abstainer. But they did not ex-
pect the laws Of chemistry to come out on the
side of the demon rum; and yet, II the st. Louis
papers are to be believed, that Is just what one
Of the laws Of chemistry, at least, has done.
1t seems that the members Of the Union some
little time ago decided that good way to
lessen the consumption Of alcoholic drinks
would be to encourage the consumption Of non
alcoholic or soft" drinks. 1t cannot be said
that this discovery was wholly original with
them During the last few years the idea has
been successfully carried out in many cities
in some cases so successfully. indeed, that even
the saloons have been compelled to keep stock
OF soft" drinks including that nutritious and
primitive drink, milk. But even II the idea was
not new the st. Louis women deserve nothing
but praise for the prompt and energetic man.
ner In which they carried 1t out. though. as the
result shows. little more familiarity with the
laws Of chemistry would have saved them from
an unfortunate mistake in their method. And
right here we would suggest that all persons
who set out to teach people what they should
Jrtn tn ottrHy oho T,ov
would not only find 1t exceedingly interesting in
itself but 1t would help them very much in
their work as reformers. 1t Is a well-known
fact that no two dietary reformers agree as to
the value Of any particular article Of food.
While one reformer tells you it will prolong
your days. another declares that 1t Is a slow but
sure poison. We suspect that this wide d.
versity of opinion Is due to a defective knOwl-
edge as to the chemical nature Of foods
But to return to st. Louis. The Union estab-
shed a number OF penny in the slot" ma
chimes, from which was dispensed what was
described as delicious, purely medicinal.
"healthful non-alcoholic beverage, guaranteed
harmless to the smallest child" the drug store
name of which was cherry phosphate. The
drink NJ once became popular, and the women
were rejoicing over the fact that they were
KlNlUr tue SdlVDhS u DldCh eye WllcH up TOSe Il
cold -blooded scientific expert. DR.. Felix W. Gar
cla, who. after having made chemical anal
ysis OF the new drink, declared that when It
was taken into the stomach the starch Of the
sugar and other ingredients was converted into
pure alcohol.
We sympathize deeply with the good women.
Their idea is all right, and when they have
learned to avoid the pitfalls Of chemistry they
will doubtless bring 1t to a triumphant success.
But the incident will suggest to all friends Of
temperance new possible danger against which
they must be on their guard. What II a great
many harmless and nutritious things that we
eat and drink turn themselves into pure alco-
hol? Must that deleterious substance be recOg-
nzed a. necessary evil? Or will a more care
full study OF chemistry enable our temperance
friends to invent foods that will never under any
circumstances turn into alcohol?