The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-01-24

APPETITE FOR ALCOHOL INDICATES
DEGENERATION.

Denotes n Condition of Mental and
Physical Disease That Is Rarely
Realised by the Victim Until IL is
Too Lntc.
The delusive theory that the appetite
for alcohol is rational and should be
gratified within certain limits dates
back to the old Grecian philosophers,
says ID. T. Crothers, NJ. d. Its fallacy
has been shown over and over again,
and its restatement and defense Mt this
time by Judge Woodbridge Strong of
New Brunswick, N. j., In his ruling on
protests recently made before him
against the issuance of saloon licenses
indicates sad belation and want OF
knowledge regarding the conclusions
of science and has the faroff sound of
one who is lost in the march of events.
Upon Issuing the licenses asked for
Judge Strong announced It as his con-
viction that the appetite for alcoholic
LIQUOR is as natural as that for food
and that this appetite should be salts
fed as a God given desire. claiming
that its existence in all races of men,
ancient and modern, proves 1t as such.
That the appetite for alcohol Is never
natural, but always unnatural and alb
normal, Is evidenced beyond dispute. 1t
Is certain sign of defects of both
brain and nervous system. 1t Is also
an expression of physical and psychic
al distress, of imperfect and deranged
q L.. ,Aa,,s I sNnI
forces, and it may be literally called a
cry for relief and rest. Alcohol, when
taken, opens up n new world of feel
Ing, covering up the old sense of I'M
rest. discomfort and pain. This is done
by temporary palsy of the sensory CEN
ters. followed by delusive feeling Of
comfort. This palsy is temporary and
reacts in a certain intensilcation Of ev-
cry condition which has created the de-
sire for its use.
To both the savage and civilized man
the use Of alcohol reveals new feelings
new experiences. TO the degenerate
and the exhausted brain and body and
the faulty nervous energies IL covers
up n consciousness of their presence
and brings new sense of change and
rest. In all this the alcoholic appetite
is disease, degeneration and death. al
ways masked and rarely realized by
the victim until recovery is impossible
The alcoholic appetite is literally disso-
luton and short. lurld march to old
age and death. 1t is the opposite OF ev-
olution and can never he natural, God
given or trained In certain limits.
The presence of alcohol in almost ev-
cry cline and race and the facility Of
procuring it. together with its delusive
action. are not the products of nature
for the evolution of the race. but the
means for dissolution and destruction
If the poppy could be grown In all
parts of the world, opium would very
largely take the place of alcohol. and
the same appetite which finds relief
from alcohol would turn to this drug
The alcoholic appetite is inherited or
acquired and may be actually grown
and cultivated like plant, coming
from soils of exhaustion. starvation.
self poisoning, and Increased by brain
and body flaws and perversions of cell
and nerve activity. The favoring con-
ditions may all be present when n sin
gle glass of spirits will fertllize and
cause them to spring into activity. The
alcoholic appetite is n signal flag of dis.
tress pointing out injuries which have
come down from the past or grown up
in the present. Its control means re-
moval of the causes and favorable con-
ditions for its growth and restoring the
lost vigor and energy which it signal
lies. The alcoholic appetite leads to
mental and physical suicide. Science
indicates the possibility of its final ex.
tinction and the literal breaking up of
all use of alcohol as a beverage.