The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1899-10-13
w. C. u. COLUMN,
CONDUCTED BY MRS. NJ. L. HOBBS.
Danger OF Tippling.

Recently a man wrote to The
Banner of Gold, stating that he
rea he'd tn age of 60 years and Tor
a per cd Of at least 40 yeals had
been in the hobit of taking from five
to ten drinks Of whisky eaS h day
without neglecting his business or
noticing any ill effects on his health
from his indulgence, and asking DR..
Kelley if he t. ought IT was advis-
able to stop habit apparently
harmless. DR.. Kee.ey replied As
follows:
sLost certainly he should sto
drinking. He s poisoning himself
Just as certainly as though he were
taking any other poison, sue as
lie d., into his system. These cases
show a great resisting power, but
the resistance will finally be over
come, and if the man lives and con-
tinues to use alcohol he will event
ually either fill an acknoa ledged
drunkard' grave or die f.om the
effects OF alcohol, although tn" ply
sician may kindly write the cer'ifi-
cate of heart failure, cirrhosis OF the
liver, Bright's di-ease Of the kid
neys, etc.
| have known men who we're
nod rate, temperate drinkers Tor as
long a period as 30 years who final
" became the most in"eterate OF
drunkards. No man who uses al
coholic liquors, | care not how
moderately, is safe from the
encroachment of the demon, or can
determine until the last minute Of
life whether or not it is going to
prove stronger than his resisting
power. Many so termed modelat
irin kels will pass along through lie
without being regarded by thelI
families or the community or en-
ployer- as using spirits to excess.
And they are not using them To ex-
cess in the common accel tation o1
the term, yet without a moment
warming or any symptoms that coulc
be determined beforehand positive
breakdown may occur.
The individuals mental percep'
tons and faculties may be suddenly
perverted and great confusion or &C
lcident result, as in this case related
in a recent journal: An engineer
old, tried and ca )able, in CONNER
cial language, but who used spirits
regularly in small quantities every
Law, failed to see danger signal
md TO slow up his train at a dan
serous point. As result-an ac-
ident, ten lives lost, many wound
ed, the engineer killed. lie was
called a temperate man, no one had
seen him under the influence of
spirits, and vet unaccountably he
had run by a danger signal at high
speed into train anead, which he
ordinarily would have seen in time
to prevent an accident. He was an
Inebriate, and his mind failed him
1t an unexpected moment.
A captain Of an ocean steamer
with helm in hand ran into a ship
and sank in midocean without max
ing an effort to save himself or his
passengers. He seemed to become
an i1becile at once, and lost all
reason ani judgement. He was a
moderate drinker, and for years had
been consid red capable, wise AID
efficient. No one ever suspected he
mad drank to his injury.
in the civil war general ordered
a charge which was fatally repu sed, /,
and followed this with an imbecile
order to retreat, which by accident
,nly was saved from becoming a
disastrous rout. He was replaced,
and this act explained as being due
to other cause than the real cause.
He was a moderate drinker, never
intoxicated, though using spirits
ialy. He was man Of experience
and ability, but died a few years
after an acknowledged inebriate.
| think this statement canaot be
successfully controverted-viz, no
mode ate drinker is perfectly sound
in both mind and body, and all
moderate drinkers are liable at any
time to develope conditions Of men
tai alteration that will be source
Of danger either to themselves or
others. There is no safety in the
use of alcoholic liquors in any man
ner, shape or form.