New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-13

dangerous Its victim Is apt not TO know how
sruch lie takes.
There remains claret the most delightful and,
in moderation the safest Of all wines. modera<
ton meaning half a bottle a day Of a fairly
good brand. or if it is swallowed only with food
not after dinner, mind-possiby q lit tie more.
That is the allowance which was suggested somo
years ago by the committee of experienced
physicians whose report was published in The
Nineteenth Century" magazine and reproduced
In our pages. With the exception of port re-
stricted as aforesaid clarct is probably the only
wine which is positively beneficial to the sedent-
ary-that Is, which quickens the blood serves
as tone to the nerves. and acts as a FLIP TO
faded muscles without producing any dangerous
or even pcrceptible reaction.
or course. the better the ,arct the safer:
lut unless the wine is rot Claret at ALL but grape
juice ard water fortified with some Spanish
stun. even cheap clarct is not injurious. All
writers on wine abuse Gladstone clarct" partly
from afectation. partly because they prefer
something stronger. and partly from good taste:
but the experience Of millions is against them.
The sober majority Of France and Italy drink
claret. or yin ordinairc akin TO it, every day
through their whole lives. and suffer much less
from 1t than Eavarians 90 from beer sober
hehridIans from whiskey 1t may not be nice
stun to drink but tina. it produces injurious
erect on health is the testimony even of those
WHO abominate every form Of alcohol and at
tribute to its consumption mschofs which are
Que only to its consumption in excess. In ex-
cess claret. like every other liquor Is bad for
everybody, ard especially bad for the sedenary.
shattering the nerves. it does as certainly
and fatally as whiskey or inferior brandy. 1t Is
one OF the advantages Of claret that il takes a
good deal to do serious mischief but there are
plenty of men whose lives have been wrecked
by Passing. almost unconscously, the thin limo
which separates drinking" from moderation.
IDIOSYNCRASIES OF WINE DRINKERS.
Has anybody ever discovered. as to be able
to state accurately, the strangely obscure causes
which in the matter Of wine differentatc one
constitution from another? We have written as
If the main distinction were between sedcntary
lives and lives in the open air. and il is the main
one; but there must he many others. 1t is quito
certain that there upon whom wine.
even in very large dos y makes pcrccptible
impression. and men who are not 'themselves'
when they have taken one glass. besides the
men. known to every who has visited the
tropics, who. having taken glass cannot
stop. but crave suddenly and irresstbly for the
happiness of Inconsistencies. 1t was,
firmly persuaded. a conviction derived from
periencc that this the usual or universal
procvty Of Asiatics which induced the carly
HindoD lawgivers. and after them the Mussul-
man lawgivcr. To prohibit the drinking of wine
absolutely and finally as morally crime Their
belief is not true Of Europe. where the most VIC.
lent differences, alike If taste and of capacity
for drinking. have always existed. The writer
though he fears not to be believed, had personal
knowledge Of a man who was sobered by a bottle
of port after drinking eighteen wineglasses Of
whiskey: and every doctor knows Of cases where
one glass Of spirits means a disordered head
IL Is by no means certain. however. that these
inequalities will always last.
1t Is greatly to be feared that the increase Of
temperance in this country. which is most de-
cidcd is not wholly the outcome Of increased
self-control, but is the result # an instructive
nc coil, produced by 4 sense that the man cannot
carry liquor All old men admit this. and most
or the young. who almost dsbeeve the facts
which they find in literature not yet sixty years
old. The powers Of men in regard to drinking
have changed as well their habits and we
see no proof that the change is due in any large
degree to the bibuiOus ways Of our immediate
ancestors. We should rather believe that a
stiutional change going on like that which
has affected teeth. and which may last at all
events. 70" many generations. If that is the
case-and the change has been observed In
France and America well Engand-the
desire to prohibit the use Of alcohol altogether
n ay one day become as strong in Europe as II
must have become in Hindostan and Arabia and
nay lead to experiments in laWmakng Of which
We at present never dream. Nothing short OF
total prohibition Of the manufacture. well
the sale. will ever be Of the slightest effect. and
no such prohibition will ever he enforced with
out Il radical change in moral opinion. Such
Change seems at present dreami'y impossible:
but If mon. as we believe To be the case are
grC wing with every generation more conscious
that They must for safety's sake leave liluor
aiouc. the charge may be nearer than i'm
agin" y hundred years is a short period in the
life of nation; and a hundred years hence the
majority NAV positively dread even wine. not,
at present. for others but for themselves.