The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-11-01
w. CT. U. COLUMN
CONDUCTED BY MRS. N. L. HOBBS.


now Drink hurts Us.
When DR.. Rush lit his torch O
Temperance truth and held it alof
early in the nineteenth century, q
brilliant was the light that people
were startled as if awakening out o
deep sleep. In his famous ESSAY
on Spirits" he says: "Were i
possible for me 10 speak with /,
voice 50 loud as to be heard from
the river st. Croix to the utmos
shores Of the Mississippi, which
bound the territory of the United
States, would say, friends and fel
low citizens, avoio the habitual USE
of those seductive liquors. W.
smile as we read the expression
"the remotest shores OF the Miss.
issippi," thinking Of our ever wild,
ening possessions, but while ouI
knowledge Of geography has under.
gone great changes our ideas Of the
farreaching value OF total absti.
nence have, il possible, still more
Expanded, says a writer in the
Union Signal.
While DR.. Rush was far in ad.
vance of his time, his most daring
claims as to the harmful effect oil
strong drink upon the mental and
moral nature OF man have not only
been sustained, but vastly intensi-
fled, with the increase OF light and
progress.
Consider the motives for total alb
|stinence from the standpoint oi
physical well being. When the
pioneers of our cause first pointed
out the evil effects of strong drink
upon the body, they had in mind
the rough and ready yeoman, home
opun, slow moving, hardy, not
overnice in person or high strung in
mind, upon whom a debauch would
leave comparatively few visible
traces. But after a century oi
schools and books, wealth and cul.
ture, how vast has been the change
for the better in neatness of dress,
good taste and personal refinement
on the part of the average citizen
The popular demand for a decorous
appearance, clean linen and neat
apparel is proving a powerful mo-
tive to keep the man inside the
clothes sober.
Even more convincing a motive
for total abstinence in our day is
the imperative demand for a clear
brain and steady nerves. As the
express surpasses the OK
team as q mode Of transportation,
so has life become more intense,
exacting and complicated since the
days of DR.. Rush. If Napole IN
the Great, could lose one Of his
greatest battles, as historians
claim, by fit Of indigestion, cer-
tain it is that the hard pressed busi-
ness man has every reason to guard
against q single debauch, lest he
wake up next morning and find his
business ruined. And not only is
il seen that alcohol stands straight
in the way Of financial success, but
educators are now coming forward
and showing that in the home v where
strong drink and tobacco have a
place the children run great rick of
falling behind in their studies, not
being able to cope in mental power
and physical endurance with class
mates from temperance homes.
And highest Of all in the cumu-
lative motives for total abstinence
stands the latter day demand for
consistency Of manhood. In GER
lain elements Of character our gen.
sration may not surpass, nor even
equal, the best men and women the
past has produced, but our sense Of
consistency is certainly keener. We
now see that neither pomp Of sta
ion nor the sanction OF custom can
atone for drunkenness and weak
,elf indulgence. Our sense of true
and womanhood has be.
,ome more balanced and ideal. As
never before men are beginning to
zee that anything which harms
,ody, mind or soul is utterly incon-
'istent with true dignity and worth.
While therefore we are not blind to-
he fact that both ssductiveness OF
he drink evil and the means for
ratification have greatly increased
Turing the past century, the mo-
ives for total abstinence have not
,nly kept place with the foe, but
ar outstripped him. The twentieth
century man, TO be logically con-
istent, must needs be . total ab-
lfainar \