New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-28
ALL Use OF WINE CONDEMNED
MARY H. HUNT REPLIES TO "A TEMPER
ANCE WOMAN. BUT NOT A TEE
TOTAIER"
To the Editor OF The Tribune.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir. writer who STYLES herself "A temperance
woman but not a teeto;aler" recently filed two
thirds OF a column the woman's Page in The
New-York Tribune with suggestions as TO the
kinds 81 wine and the manner OF serving the same
Growing enthusiastic with her subject she ara
besqued It with the sparkle OF gilt and cut glass
Bohemian and Roman. and cast about II spell Of
aroma and bouquet until the reader is reminded
OF descriptions OF bacchanalan feasts in the his
tory OF the dead nations
Her advice is decidedly belated; It does not Mt
the intelligence of our times Chemistry shows
that the one wine. red or white" which this
writer says should be used straight through
home dinner contains varying percentages OF
alcohol. Whether there be In this vino much or
lttle alcohol the character OF that alcohol Is tho
same. 1t is an irrtant narcotic poison Its best
friends cannot deny that It has the power. when
taken in small quantities. 10 create progress
sive. uncomfortable and destructive appetite Tor
more. This appetite grows stealthily upon mo
drinker The ability 10 resist II varies with the
individual and is dependent upon physical condl-
lions in which heredty is a powerful factor. John
4. Cough said MY father could be moderate
drinker but / can be only total abstainer or
gutter drunkard"
The qualification OF this appetite ends in drunk
enness. crime poverty, misery and madness
Therefore. the family individual who is drinking
the red white wine which this so-called temper
ance woman recommends for the daily home DIN
ner is trying very dangerous experiment.
Eightyfour per cent OF our criminals 20 per eent
OF our paupers 81 per cent OF the inmates or our
insane asylums began their careers with such So
called moderate drinking No human DsihS car
fOresee wien he begins where such tipping VII
land him Hc is dealing In futures. with no KNOW
OF his chances beyond tho fact that mo uIlhh
he f. mbibing mas enucing power for desFuc-
ton but this fac. he generally Ignores
wine this writer would have served Win a more
formal course dinner the same sort OF liquors
differing only in favor and the amount OF a1onol
they contain. Providing for guests iOuV olucIchl
kinds OF poisonous drinks which have the power lOr
harm that alcohol has is 10 say tne least, a Dtr-
harlan sort OF hospitality, relic or the days thht
had not the light OF modern science.
. through It's action the nerves and braln a.
cohol OF all agents Is the most powerful Tor me
acter that make people capable or seh-SoNeII
,nent Il is therefore the most dangerous OF al
foes TO our free institutions which rest upon 'he
copacitv OF our peODle Cor sef-cOVernment
To follow this wine-bibbing advice Is an INVITA-
ton TO disaster thBt which we hold most dear
liberty under law. The capacity Tor government
% the American people Will stand the. strain OF
The colonial expansion which Providence mas
thrust upon US Il alcohol IS abolished from our
Flick professor OF physiology in WurtZburg Uni
versity Germany, IN public lecture SAID
There IL good reason for asserting mat the
Lnglo-Saxon race q; very distant day VIII free
Itself from the yoke OF alcohol. Whether II VIII
thcn be possible for those races stu submitting 10
IL use 10 compete with the Anglo-Saxon In their
economical pursuits is q question 70 De th0ught-
fully considered" MARY p IL ~
No 2 Trull-st.. Boston Mass, Jan p 1893