The Delawarean., 1901-02-06
DAINTY HANDS
LIFT W|NE-CUP.
Tour of New York Reveals
Ninety-Five per cent. of
SOCIETY WOMEN DRINKING RUM.
Mrs. Ella A. Bowie, President of the
New York w. C. T. u, Made the
Tour in Company With a Re-
porter of the Sunday World.

" oSVS S6'Mereu aurlng a itOlIr of tha
principal hotels and restaurants fire.
qusnted by fashionable women INV
Mrs. Ella A. Boole, President of tbe
New York w. G. T. u, accompanied
by an artist and reporter for the Sum-
day World.)
For many years past the charge has
been GHade with increasing freouencv
thalt drinking is becoming a vice
among the society women of New
York.
Clergymen have denounced from
their pulpits what they believed ito be
the cures of American civilization.
Reformers and writers upon social
topics have either plainly or by i'm
sinuaidion condemned the women of
fashionable New York for establishing
"a custom to be followed by millions of
American wmen ito the everlasting
detrlment of the race.
Even from the leading foreign cities
There hlaVe come startling comments
on the increase of the drinking habit
among American women.
Not many days ago the challenge
was squarely flung down by Bishop
Leighton Coleman, of Delaware, who.
in am address delivered at the Squirrel
lnn declared that inlsmuch as the fu-
ture of the world depends ON uhe motIh-
ers Of yo-day the fashion that en-
couragss women ineIbria6ss among
New York socie.y women presents a
deplorable outlook for the future.
The Bishops direct charge has
aroused viol5nt discussion
It's truth has been hotly debated
There were, however, no statistics at
hand, either to support or rsfute it.
In order, therefore, to prove or dis
prove eiIscbullly these repeated ac-
cusations dhe Sunday World undertook
a thorough investigation.
This investigation was conducted by
Mrs. Ella A. Boole, President of the
New York State w. G. T. III.
Although Mrs. Boole, from her oppo-
siUlon TO drinking in any form, was,
in one sense, a prejudiced observer, yet
her study of the conditions was made
with all possible fairness Mrs. Boole
particularly wished 10 avoid The re-
pro5ch of having chosen exceptional
circums, ,ances for her search The
test was therefore rigidly fair. Out-of-
the-way restaurants, unusual hours,
were avoided
The series of dintng-ro1inls which
Mrs. Boole visited in the company of
reporter for the Sunday World in
cludes the principal accustomed resorts
of The fashionable women OF New
York. No one single hour was chosen
for the visits. The test was made to
cover all those hours of the day at
which women are to be found in res
taurants-that is to say, from noon to
midnight.
The results of the investigation,
which Mrs. Booles has summarized in
her ARTICLE, were definite and startling.
There can no longer 'be any doubt as
to the nature of The conditions which
have aroused so much speculative com
ment Persons who may hereafter
wish for amy reason to determine, for
instance, the vogue of the cocktail
among The wives and mothers of the
most exclusive society in America will
do we'll TO study the exact and care
fully prepared statements which fol
low.
American women of social position
are habitual drinkers. Their range
of tipples lis identical with THAT of men,
and include the cocktails, the Scotch
highIball," the sherry ccbbler, alb
sinthe and lqueurs.
They drink AIT luncheon, ait dinner, at
supper, and frequently between times.
They drink at public restaurants
and cafes, at hotel table d'hotes, in the
lobby of the opera house, in the ladies
waiting rooms of the large shops, at
their own tables and those of their
| friends, and finally, in their own bed
rooms.
THESE women are of all ages from
eighteen to seventy.
They drink i'm the company of men.
or of other women, or alone.
The first step taken in the investi-
gation was a visit to the Waldorf
Astoria ait luncheon time.
Ut is ON Mondays, as THE fashionable
world is we'll aware, THAT MIR. Morris