The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-12
Woes OF a Hospital Patient.

TITS a great thing to have a lot of
friends, but durn their suspicious" said
weIl-known young Washington man, ac-
cording 10 the Post, as he sat up in bed
in his cheerful hospital room Sunday aft
ernoon and pointed 10 an array Of no less
than thirty-one quart bottles of whisky
of all brands, brews and blends, arranged
IN order on a table in a corner OF the
room.
See those bottles, don't your" he went
on well, every one OF EN- represents
a suspicious friend. got into this hospl-
tai about five days ago I felt so bloom
ing miserable When I came here that
didn't let any one know where l was, but
after a couple ofsdays = wrote for one of
my pals to come and see me. He came,
and, after he had sat here for a While,
he dug into his overcoat pocket and
brought up No. 1 quart Of whisky.
" Say he said, know how these hos
pitfalls are, old man. They won't give you
half enough to drink when you're getting
over it-just feed you tantalizing drink
once every three or four hours, not
enough to kill old r. E. Morse. So 1
thought I'd just slip this bunch of the wet
in while they weren't looking
=" Say I said to him, what do you
think I'm here for, the d. Us? Does
this room look anything like an alcoholic
ward to you, you duffer?
- Never mind, old chap, don't disturb
yourself that reprobate answered me.
Know how it is myself. Nothing to be
ashamed of particularly, at that Just
getting over your Christmas bat, that's
all. Good place for it, too. this is. We've
all been up against this game, so don't
look cheap about it. You'll feel like
four-time winner in few days
=" But, look here, you IDIOT 1 said, and
l was madder'n hornet, We mean to tell
me that you think I'm doing time in this
shack for alcoholism
g Sh-sh-shv he Kissed. What's the use
of bothering over 1t? You won't take such
a dark view of life in the course of few
days Natural, of course, for you to suffer
from depression now. Inevitable after-ef-
feet depression World'l look as rosy to
you as peach blossoms when you get out
of this. Well SO long. Be good and be-
fore l had chance to get in a word he
was gone.
We'll he went down town and slipped
the word around to the fellows that 1 was
up here and that very same night they
began tosturn up, and each of EN- with a
quart stuck away in his overcoat pocket.
g They're so stingy with their bracing-
up stuff in these hospitals my friend No.
2 said, as he pulled out his bottle. that
1 thought I'd turn trick on 'em and
fetch you in this piece of S-year-old on the
quiet. Better keep it under the mattress.
I'll take the cork out, and whenever you
feel the need of one you can just reach
under and swipe it. and they'll be none
the wiser here. know how it is myself
to be seeing those purple zebras crossing
pink bridges, and all that sort of thing.
Bad game. Well, by-by,' and he got out,
too, before could throw anything at him.
II couldn't say anything, for I was
speechlessly. hot under the collar. Well
they've been coming with quart bottles
ever since, and I've got thirty-one of them
over there on that table now. They all
look or pretend to look, as if they
wouldn't believe me under oath when
| tell EN- I'm not here for rye-osis, or else
they pretend to believe that my mind is
wandering, the COMPOUNDED cutthroats! III
| bet there'll be a corner on liquor in this
town before they stop fetching the stuff
up here to me-and 1 havn't had a drink
OF the hard stuff for nearly two months!
THE dickens of it is, I'm here for the
| govt, and to make 1t brutality ironical
govt developed on beer and pretzelsl II
it was from hot birds and cold bottles,
wouldn't have such a kick coming, ant
I'd say to myself. Look at the fur
you've had? But govt from beer anC
pretzels-oh, go away and leave me to my
misery.