Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-06-19
LIQUOR AND THE SYSTEM.
Why Alcohol Kills Some Men and
Others Thrive on 1t.

Why Alcohol htllS some wen anu
Others Thrive on 1t.
Washington Star.
"There have been scores Of chapters
written in the medical books as to
why alcoholic liquors undermine and
ultimately destroy a mans system, or,
in other words, drink killed him. but
the precise reason why they kill one
man and not another Is not satisfac-
torily explained" said a prominent
specialist.
IT noticed a dispatch recently of the
death Of a centenarian who had been
steady drinker all his life. I have
had patients who were moderate drink
ers succumb in from five to ten years.
The mystery lies in this: Two men OF
apparently equal physical strength, for
a mans soundness cannot always be
determined. with each drink an equal
quantity Of liquor daily, say half mint
to a pint Of whiskey, or from five to
twenty average sized drinks distribu-
ted through the day and evening until
the might cap just before retiring.
Tens of thousands Of men average this
quantity daily.
Zone of the steady drinkers will die
inside of ten years, perhaps five, and
the other will live to be eighty. The
death of the first can be traced by
medical man directly to the use OF IL
auor, that is but for the effect Of the
steady doses Of alcoholic poison upon
the heart, stomach or kindneys the
man would not have died Of the dis
ease given in the death certificate. 1t
NAV truthfully be said, then, that he
died Of drink. though the immediate
cause of death was heart disease, apo
plexy or any other Of the sudden or
lingering diseases. The other man
may die an accidental death at ripe
old age.
1.-THE general effect Of alcohol upon
the organs of the human system Is too
we'll known to be recited. but 1t Is the
opposite way 1t affects the systems OF
different men that constitutes the In
teresting point. My theory Of alcohol
ic death, as it were, is the deadly ef-
feet of the poison upon the excretory
organs, especially the skin, which 1t
clogs and destroys, both its life and
that of the muscles and the organs 1t
encases. In fact, its continued erect
is to practically decay the human sys-
tenn, and the bodies of the old soaks. ,
or men who have died Of alcoholism in
the great cities, and which have after
ward been cut up in the dissecting
rooms Of the medical colleges, are prac-
tically a mass of putrid organism.
When. therefore, alcohol attacks a GER
tain weak organ of the body, that or
gan succumbs to the attacks, as does
also the patient. to put it in untechnl-
cal terms, and he passes.
"Since men will continue to drink
to the end of time, I'd say this to the
steady drinker: Let up entirely at stat
ed occasions Go for two weeks, or
longer, without a drop, to give the
system a 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 constant drink
ers are conscious of their ultimate self
destruction, but are powerless to resist
the temptation. They make 1T prac-
tice to let up as they say, and when
they begin again the system has been
rested and strengthened, and reneWs
the battle Of counteraction and retrac-
tion and recovery with added vigor,