The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-03-18

towel Kiss lMi, JUST as Il docs
today. Ane> laws governing the
7" saylors, : who we're wont to buy drinks
on credit and ~straightway sail away for
chimes unknown, leaving their counts
unsettled, and others relating to workmen,
who were forbidden to take wine in pay
ment for their labor because it was q
create nursery or preparation to drunken
ness and unlawful tippling.p
But the most interesting bit of legisla-
ton, perhaps, in the whole history of the
state was the specific definition of drunk
enness which the great and general court
attempted in 1916, as a result of which the
following was spread upon the records:
"By drunkenness is understood a pson
that either lisps or faulters in his speech
by reason of oyermuoh drink, or hat stag
gers in his goinge, or that vomitts by rea-
son of excessive drinking, or cannot fol-
low hisca1ling."
Little material change has been made in
the spirit of the old law passed away back
in 1916, even through successive stages of
amendment and reamendment. A little
alteration in the amount of the fine i'm
posed, some change in the exact methods
of personal detention of drunkards and a
gradual disappearance of the old agencies
of corporal punishment-these things tell
the story of Massachusetts legislation rela-
tive to the common drunk.
OF the last named method-viz, bodily
Observation-Disclosures not unnaturally
centers around the old days when the tip
pier was hustled from his cups out into the
full glare of public scrutiny and subjected
to some one of the many humiliating and
r,irfr,l popo1tiac tho0 in vour1a
We read that in 1889 Edward Palmer
made for Boston a pair of stocks, with
splanks and woodworke, F." and the next
day was put into them for charging too
much for his labor. They met with such
bilboes were sold for old iron. The third
offender to occupy the stocks of Boston
was a Waterman of the town, "for drink
ing several times of strong waters"
Plymouth had her stocks set up early.
for in 1888 we learn that John Holmes
was censured for drunkenness, to slit in
the stock and amerced in 90 shillings
fine And in 1888 ssMathew Souther-
land, being proved to be drunken upon
the oath of William Vincent, was sett in
the stocks" A poor unfortunate, by name
William James, was sentenced to be set
in the stocks both at Salem and Boston
for a single drunk" No doubt this
cured him, for his name does not appear
again among the offenders.
Aludicrous mode of punishment, but a
Intellectual one, was the use of the drunk
ards cloak" or the barrel shirt" which,
though not in use in Massachusetts,, was
yet the invention of q Massachusetts, Off
Ger, who put it into execution during the
civil war. He thus described its use in a
letterto his family:
1--WE have had some drunkenness, but
not so much as when we were in other
places. Two of my company were drunk,
and the next day 1 had a hole cut in the
head of a barrel and put a placard on each
side, 4 Am Wearing This For Getting
Drunk and with this they marched
through the streets of the regiment four
hours each. 1 don't believe they will get
drunk again very soon."
Later the officer above quoted wrote:
"This punishment was not original with
me, as / had read of it's being done in the
Army of the Potomac, and I asked per-
mission of the colonel to try it, the taking
away of a soldiers pay by court martial
having little effect. In those cases one of
the men quit drinking and years after
ward thanked me for having cured him of
the habit, saying he had never drunk a
drop Of liquor since he wore the barrel
shirt"
Another officer tells Of thus Furnishing
a man who stole liquor. His barrel was
ornamented with bottles on either side
Stimulating epaulets and was labeled, II
Stole Whisky" While men have often
boosted of getting outside of a barrel, !"
this strange corollary of an old proposition
in tippling has the merit of novelty.
Among the military topers punishment
was melted out in many strange ways.
Riding the wooden horse, = or, as it was
sometimes called, "the timber mare" was
one of these. The horse in question was
made up of narrow edged board mount