Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-04-27

y,,k who was Woht ~ say '''"t thc
49,, great causes for the downfall of
,ap we're whisky and women. writes
I'm w. Keller. president OF the de-
r,ment of charities and correction.
Wv York. This was the Bellevue
lint of view. For, mind you. Belle
,,,,. is situated east of First avenue
ora rms full 10 the river front. Here.
a,oSe 10 the swirling waters of the
ras, river. are the pavilion for the in
mo the alcoholic ward and the
.orgue Here is the end of the pace
.ha, Kills. Sometimes it is the shrick-
,ng maniac in the pavilion for the in
sane. sometimes the frenZied drunk
ard in the alcoholic ward. and some
,;,,ss the bloated face and the swollen
hoav of the unknown dead floating
,r;,b the tide But always the long
ana narrow compartment under the
,.ulted dome of the morgue. the citys
s,aat safe deposit of the dead.
over in Fifth avenue they say it is
.,,ro and women. But in First avenue
!, 10 whisky and women. Some of
.so victims have gone both courses.
r,sv have had their wine and women
- Eyf,h avenue and their whisky and
noman in First avenue. By no possi-
hu;,v however. did any man going the
,,acs that kills take the First avenue
course and follow it with the Fifth
avenue course. The descent is always
oasv and often quick, but there is no
ascent in the pace that kills.
ono day went into the alcoholic
~,ord in bellevue hospital and saw
,hsre a woman whom | had known
whom men courted her as an ac-
tnowledsed belle in the highest so
fistv and whom the world had subse-
,pantIv accepted as an actress of
,slent on the metropolitan stage. She
was suffering from an aggravated case
of what First avenue calls the jim
mics" From sparkling wine at
diplomatic dinners in the nations capi-
,al 10 late suppers in Broadway in
New York city. To habitual drunken
ness. to consequent immoral reckless
ness. 10 opium, to n place in the alco-
colic ward. charge upon the city's
charity. were the successive evolu
tons Of her pace that killed.
There she lay shattered wreck;
her beauty gone. her keen intellectu-
alitv eclipsed. and all the charms that
had brought men to her feet vanished.
Just the ugly hull of a woman whose
mind was besotted and whose soul was
dead Every effort was made to help
her. and she finally recovered sufll-
GENTLY to go out OF the hospital. But
il was only TO come back again.
drunker. if possible. more depraved
and more hopeless than ever. She had
gone the pace that kills. She had
fallen at the end. borne down by the
inevitable result.
There is always somebody in Fifth
avenue attracting the attention of the
town by exploits in fast living. There
ia money galore and feasting and frolic
and the high-headed self-pride in the
halucination that the pace can be gone
without the killing. But Bellevue
waits in silence. 1t knows nothing Of
what is doing on Fifth avenue or
Broadway. 1t hears nothing of the
feasts. the frolics or the fDllies. 1t
cares nothing for the wine or the wo-
men or the song. 1t just waits, GER
tain that in the end it wilLget 3swhat
is left after Fifth avenue al an the
intermediate steps between that
aristocratic thoroughfare and First
avenue have been gone over by ihe
victim of the pace that kills. Ana
there is usually nothing left but 4
dead body or a dead mind in n diseased
body.
The pace that kills, however. does
not always begin on Fifth avenue. 1t
sometimes starts on the Bowcry ana
never reaches higher uptown than
TwentysiXth street and the t1asc
river. II sometimes starts on the 1aG
cast side or the far west side. and the
police patrol wagon or the Bellevue
ambulance comes after its victim be
fore he or she has ever reached the
great backbone of the city.
Nor does the pace always begin with
wine. 1t sometimes starts with
whisky, and there is a tradition in
Bellevue that First avenue whisky IS
Tar quicker and more deadly in It's
action than Fifth avenue wine. But
Wherever it may start. and with what
ever 1t may start. whisky and woman
appear somewhere in the course. And
whisky Outlasts everything else
among the death dealing agencies
mat produce mental moral and physl-
cal disintegration.
The weaknesses of human nature are
'ohflned to no class of men. WEALTH
Is not necessary for the pace that kills
ana poverty is no bar to it. KnoWl-
edge is not preventive and ignorance
only an acceleration. Health some
u'nes prompts it and disease is Otter
ts excuse. Gentle birth and careful
training only stimulate it in some in
stances, while common origin an'
coarse breeding are accepted by it a.
welcome variation. In the parlance o
.Ile race track-it plays no favorites.
ihe race is open to all comerS, and ~
question is raised as to pedigree. ag
VI previous performance. The nom m
.of can make his own regulations. II
can go the long course or the shOr
| course. over the fat or the hurdles. q
he chooses. The only condition i'm
posed is that he shall keep at it. and i
'he end the prize shall be his. For t
very one that goes the pace that kill
ahu Keeps at it there is priZc-th
prize of shame, disgrace. demoraliza
ton, death.
mere is no need of preaching abou
IT, For centuries good men have ir
eshed against it from the pulpit an
u'e rostrum. Learned scientists HAY
nn''ten endless books against i