The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-06-19
Liquors Effects.

"Therc have been scores of chap
ters written in the medical books as
to why alcoholic liquors undermine
and ultimately destroy mans sys-
tenn, or, in other words, drink killed
him, but the precise reason why they
kill one man and not another is not
satisfactorily explained said PROM
inent specialist.
Il noticed dispatch recently of
the death Of centenarian who had
been steady drinkcr ell his life.
have had patients who were moderate
drinkers succumb in from FIVE to ten
years. The mystery lies in this: Two
men of apparently equal physical
strength, for man soundness can
not always be determined, will each
drink an equal quantity Of liquor
daily, say half pint to pint Of
whiskey, or from FIVE to twenty aver
aged.siz drinks distributed through
:sc day sad o-ol;1g anti. TIC nigh.
cap, just before retiring. Tens of
thousands Of men average this guam
tity daily.
"One Of these steady drinkers will
die inside Of ten years: perhaps five.
and the other will live to be 80. The
death of the first can be traced by
medical man directly to the use of
the steady doses Of alcoholic poison
upon the heart, stomach or kidneys;
the man would not have died of the
disease given in the death certificate.
1t may truthfully be said, then, that
he dried &C drink, though .he imme-
diate cause of death was heart disease,
appoplexy or any other of the sudden
or lingering diseases. The other man
may die an accidental death at ripe
old age.
"The general effect of alcohol upon
the organs of the human system is too
well known to be recited, but it is the
opposite way it affects the systems of
different men that constitutes the in
teresting point. My theory of alco-
holio death, as it we're, is the deadly
effect of the poison upon the excre-
tory organs, especially the skin, which
it clogs and destroys, both its life and
that Of the muscles and the organs it |
encases. In fact its continued effect |
is to practically decay the human sys-
TEN, and the bodies of the old soaks,'
or men who have died Of alcoholism
in the great cities, and which have
afterward been cut up in the dissect-
ing rooms Of the medical colleges, are
practically mass of putrid organism.
When, therefore, alcohol attacks a |
certain weak organ of the body, that
organ succumbs to the attacks, as does
also the patient, to put it in untech-
nical terms, and he passes.
"Since men will continne to drink |
to the end of time, I'd say this to the |
steady drinker: "Let up entirely at
stated occasions. Go for two weeks,
or longer, without drop, to give the
system chance to rest. 1t becomes
tired Of oft-repeated defensive efforts
to overcome, counteract and fight
against the assaults of the stimulant
and the corresponding strain. Many
men who are hard and steady drink
ers are conscious Of their ultimate
self elfdestruction, but are powerless to
resist the temptation. They make it
practice to let up, as they say, and
vhen they begin again the system has
been rested and strengthened, and
renews the battle of counteraction and
recovery with added vigor. and the
man g life is prolonged. just so long
as the vital organs can fight against
and overcome the destructive efeots
of alcohol a man will live. When
they cease struggling in their desper-
ate efforts to maintain their normal
condition, the death certificate may as
we'll read heart failure as any other
cause.
1T doesn't make any difference.
- A woman does es she pleases dur
snc oorreob,vo oDJ oc.x. lo.