The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-12-24
WHY SOBRIETY Is BEST.
EMPLOYEES ARE LEARNING THAT IT
PAYS TO BE TEMPERATE.

uflnklng now as tnere ever
was. but that men do not
drink in the same way as Of
old; and that public drunkenness Is
now comparatively rare. Occasionally
We see men upon the streets who are
under the influence of liquor; but one
might so from one end of Memphis TO
the other and not find drunken man
in days journey. Indeed, so rare
has such a sight become in this city
that IL excites universal attention. The
| drunken man used TO be familiar
parsonage. Now he Is an object of Gu
riosity
OF course there are plenty OF men
who take their daily allowance Of
! liquor, but they do net hire a brass
| band or fire off few bombs TO adver-
/ tise the fact. Men whose business per-
mits Of n certain amount or leisure
are apt to be convivial: but 1t is well
regulated. 1t is the rare exception
when they cross the bounds.
The methods of modern business
have much to do with the spread of
temperance. Even II the head of an
establishment is temperate himself he
! does not surround himself with inebri-
ates. He knows that the details of
his business require cool heads and
| steady hands: and ne will insist that
his employees shall be sober men. Some
times he candidly declares that he will
do the drinking for the entire con-
| cern. When the head of a business is
| himself a teetotaler he will probably
| insist still more stringently upon his
subordinates averting their faces from
the flowing bowl. He may tell them
| that he has no control over private
habits, and that they are at liberty to
/ drink as much as they please, but that
If they do drink they shall not work
for him. Modern business is entirely
without sentiment 1t objects to the
drinking man, not on moral. but on
| practical grounds. The Judgment of
the drinking man is not apt to be awry
at times. Liquor will make a fool of a
sage under certain circumstances; and
a trusted employe might fail his en-
ployer at the critical time If he were
addicted to drink.
Employees are learning everywhere
that it pays to be sober. The steady
fellow who can always be found. and
when found is sober. is the man who
wins out. There are any number of
vocations which can be filled only by
sober men. No railroad in the world
would think of intrusting a train to a
| drunken engineer D;unkards would
not be tolerated on a police force, in
the postal service, or, indeed, in any
| business affecting the lives of people
or requiring exceptional judgment and
care. OF course there are successful
men who drink; but, as a rule, 1t will
be found that they drink discreetly
and never overstep the bounds of mod
| Grafton. Where they drink to excess,
they are but the exceptions TO provo
the rule. The millionaire, however, is
master of his time, and If he chooses
to spend a part of it in riotous living.
he can affo.d whatever loss such a
course entails. He is in such a posi-
tion that his business does not nee
essarily suffer when he bots out a few
hours from the course of time.
The employe who begins by practic-
ing sobrlety during Office hours is apt
to continue it after Office hours. The
after-dark jag is not conducive to
easy labor the next day. Furthermore,
the young man soon finds out that the
pleasures of alcoholism are not up to
the advertisements. Seen in the green
light of the next day they have a Gu
rlously unreal and fantastic effect. The
humors of the cup are very much like
the magnificent visions which one has
in dreams. They can't be remembered
the next day. PERHAPS to the general
sense Of disappointment are added a
headache and positive conviction that
one has swallowed a mule by mistake
Everything, therefore, conduces to
sobriety in our day. The number of
creasing. The men who drink know
how to carry their liquor like gentle
men, and they drink line or beer or
whiskey very much as they drink their
coffee or tea. 1t is not a drink" to
them in the ordinary sense of the
word; but part of their daily allot-
ment of meat and liquid
One reason why alcoholism is de-
creasing is the explosion of several
misconceptions regarding the use of
liquor Formerly 1t was thought that
wine frightened the intellect; and
that genius often lay dormant until
set agolng by the sherry or the cham
payne. Possibly wine will unlock the
lips of the taciturn man, and make
him garrulous; but 1t is absurd to say
that the wine has created the wit and
produced the thought. II has simply
beaten down the mans customary re-
serve and made him willing to speak
what was in his mind. The capacity
to say bright things must have existed
and the right things must have been
there. The wine has merely opened
the door. Many mythical stories have
been told about men of genius writing