Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-11
TlPPLING IN MEXICO
A Great Opportunity for a Crusade
Against Liquor.
RUNNING THE YOUNGER GENERATION
Most of the Stuff That is Sold
is Badly Aduiterated.
TALK WITH A PHYSICIAN

City of Mexico Letter in Boston Herald
The growing vice of intemperance in Mex
lean cities attracts the attention OF states
men and physicians. And the opponents OF
things American attribute the increase Of
the alcohol habit to the Yankee bar room"
but they are partial observers and unjust
judges, 4or the cantinas OF the Spanish
grocery keepers are on every corner even
in the middle OF almost every block. Mex
leo needs a big-hearted, untiring apostle Of
temperance like henry Faxon, some
wealthy man who Will give time to con-
Quoting crusade against strong liquors
Absolute teetotalism will not be favorably
received here, where much light wine is
drunk, and where beer is growing in popu-
lar1ty since the establishment of native
breweries, which are making their owners
rlcn' But there is ample room for a hight
against the Cocktail Americana and the
lnsldlous gin itZzes, toddI,s etc. brought in
by the aforesaid Yankee bar rooms !"
winch have made tipping fashionable
among people who We're formereiy never
seen an cantina or bar room.
Horrihi- stun.
And the sort of str hat is drunk in this
city is something awful to contemplate.
Passing a shop window filled with a great
array of Handsomely labeled bottles tie
other day, took note of the bargain Of
fered by the wine merchant A Legitimate
bordeaux for 30 cents. All that elegance
OF label and neatness of get up for - cents
IN SILVER. or about % cents gold, Impossi-
bie! The stun never saw ti.e peasant land
OF France and no sunshine of the Gallo
land ever rpened the grapes from which
the wine pretended 10 come
L mink IL not too difficult to guess whence
came that wiEe. Labels and corks from
France or Spain; bottles from Pittsburg.
and wine from a neighboring manufac-
tory of liquors and brandies, etc for here
in this privileged lard we have our own
cognac prepared from the juice OF the sugar
cane, and, properly favored and sold as
genuine, within the means of everybody
OF such is the democracy OF classification.
Cheap Substitutes.
Campeche is near at hand, and its fam
GUS !ogwood is a good basis for the color
of our cheap, homemade clarets such as
have noted. One day down at Vera Cruz
the custom house place of deposit for
merchandise was heaped with logwood
sticks, and resident German merchant.
pointing TO the heap. said, lace Nically hut
significantly: Your ciaret in t.e city of
Mexico"
As for brandy, the homemade stuff is
put up very handsomely and with as MANY
stars on the label as you may decide.
Not paying duty, il allows the retail dealer
10 make a big profit. Brandy drinking is
very common here. People demand their
'cCplta de coglac" after their coffee at din
ner. They take ii, poor, deludpd beings TO
cure heartburn and clean out the stom-
ach, having an idea that brandy is a
SPECIFIC for indigestion. etc. A delicate
young fellow said to me. on nv noting his
extraordinary pallor: oh / lost nv sleeD
with heartburn, and was taking brandy
ard carbonate of soda all niglnr'
The Spanish groceries almost invariably
nave cantina attached and the bar seems
alW avs to have customers. A boy bin coli
lector on his rounds drops into several of
them and tSkes a brandy or q liorIeur I'm
each; Thus begins the habit of drinking,
ahc mere is The commencement of the alb
sceSsed iiYers so common here
The liquors sold in these cheap and nasty
cantlnas carrot be pure stuff The prices
90 not admit of the legitimate article. and
Yet the mass Of men, who are uurefeetipe
take the word of the bartender. who points
with pride to the label asserting the ..prn-
cetiencia' of the stuff to France Spain or
Germany, as the case may be. These coun-
tres are about five miles away in a se-
cluded factory of intoxicants.
Perfect limitations.
Chartreuse and other liqueurs in demand
are turned cut here in large Quantities
stimulating very well the real goods The
bottles are perfect limitations, and the
seals, labels and corks for all these goods
are such as to deceive the very elect among
would-be connCisseurs.
The result If this tippling is seen in the
feeble and degenerate youth who will never
be able 10 compete with young and temper-
ate foreigners: ii is seen in the rfckety chill
uren OF such fathers, who are the DESPAIR
OF our physicians. In fact il is from The
doctors, all MeXicans, that l have derived
M. IN information regarding the sinister
effects on MexicOs rising male generation
OF the tipping habit They declare unani
mouSly mat the nipper. the appetizer tha
cocktail etc, are making decadeuts Of
city-bred youth.
This IS how one famous doctor summed
IL all up: Il wish your American bar rooms
were IN the bottom Of the Gulf of Mexico.
1hey are curse. for they have made
drinking fashionable among our youth
Formerly people took tcquila and aguar-
diente and the cantinas were not attractive
10 young men. But, nowadays your fancy
drinks are playing The mischief with our
young men. They are of feeble digestive
power, their stomachS being irritated with
alcohol; they have weak hearts from alco-
holic eXcitaton and they are, consequently,
'raquiticos' feeble and prematurely senlle).
Curse of the Country.
II am, as you know, fond of the Amer
lean nation; have travelled in your coun-
try and admire your progress in so many
things, but wish the devil had your fancy
drinks and those who compound them, All
that saves US now is that in our country
regions the youth of the land is not de-
cadeut. The boys are much on horseback
in the open air and have vigorous diges-
tons and sound heads and their hearts are
not giving out at twenty-five years of age!
Another evil which is a curse in our
cities is the eternal cigarette. Mark my
wordsi a youth who smokes cigarettes and
tipples will be a WORKOUT man at thirty
and wreck at forty, possibly paretic L
sometimes smoke, but only light cigars,
and but three of those a day--and under
one condition, that / am in the country on
my farm and in the open air taking exer-
else. In the city one needs nothing of the
kind, and tobacco is never necessary, but
the minimum of harm is done when il is
smoked out Of doors by a vigorously exer-
cising man.
Detestable Cigarettes.
Cigarettes are detestabie, principally be-
cause they are smoked by men who inhale
their fumes ane bring the poison into
contact with the blood as il passes through
the lungs We can't accuse the Americans
of this vice-that is, of bringing it here.
II is indigenous. But your damnable drinks
do assert to be a potent cause of the
physical Gegeneracy of our city young
men,.