Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-05-02
RATTLERS AND RUM
STRIKING SERMON IN A NEW YORK
AMERICAN EDITORIAL.

H"6nSkNN 6UI OHIAl.
rThe Use OF Whisky ~ an Antidote
For q Ratt1esnake's Bite Found to
Convey some Highly Instructive
Lessons.
The New York American editorially
says:
Those who Imagine themselves to be
friends of whisky are very fond OF
quoting the fact that whisky is used as
an antidote to the bite of rattlesnake
Perhaps it is often the best accessible
remedy. The most effective remedy in
the case of an overdose of morphine is
a violent beating. Yet that does not
make violent beating attractive in
the eyes Of sane man.
Certainly crude whisky is very ap~
proprlate remedy for the bite of rat
tlesnake. The two go very we'll to-
gether. Both are venomous and dead.
~. But for the rattlesnake it may at
least be said that he gives his victims
fair warning. He sounds his rattles,
exhibits his fangs and makes no secret
Of the fact that he strikes to kill. Whis-
ky works In a sly, lying way. 1t lies
SO successfully that its victim is often
deceived to the very last, and, believ-
ing himself perfectly safe, takes no
precautions to save himself, while ev-
erybody else knows that he is done for.
The man bitten by a RATHER has no
false ideas about the probable result.
He knows that he is in danger Of his
life. 1t is too bad that the man bitten
by the whisky bottle could not get as
prompt and clear an idea of his actual
condition.
If man jokingly praises whisky as
benet1cent agent because it over
comes the effect of a snakes bite, tell
him why the whisky offsets the rat.
tiers poison.
The bite Of rattlesnake injects into
the blood poison which deadens the
hearts action and which under certain
conditions so interferes with the heart
and the circulation as to destroy life.
Whisky is good for rattlesnake bite
because whisky lashes the heart to
desperate activity.
cannot secure the help of doctor or
some sensible heart stimulant, by all
means fill yourself with whisky, using
one enemy to kill off another tempo
rarily more dangerous.
But don't you see that the action
which makes the whisky useful in
combination with a rattlesnake's poi
ic IN
brain under normal conditions? II
you were pursued by ferocious ami
NAL. you would lash your horse to it's
highest speed. regardless of conse-
quences. But what would become of
your horse? How long would it last
if dashed and goaded to high speed ev-
cry day of it's life?
The man who habitually drinks whis-
ky or who drinks occasionally to excess
Is flashing his own heart, exhausting
his own vitality and drawing on his
own future.
The American suffers especially from
this whisky habit, because he takes
his whisky crude, practically undilut-
ed in cocktails or otherwise and very
often on an empty stomach, thus send
ing the alcohol directly into the heart
and brain.
Let the whisky drinker take mouth
full of raw whisky and see how long he
can hold it in his mouth. Let him look
at the second hand Of his watch and
see if he can hold a mouthful of whis-
ky even for one minute.
Before the minute is up his mouth
will burn, and he will swallow the
whisky Ito get rid of it," Much better
spit it out and end the whisky drink
ing then and there.
The nerves of taste and smell are so
adjusted as to protect our stomachs
against dangerous food and drink, but
the whisky drinker losses down his
throat fiery connection that would
burn his mouth if he held it there for
a minute, and as he losses back his
head and swallows the poison he GUS
tomarily remarks:
Heres luck!' or Happy daysv'
Among all sayings Of men none is as
preposterously and pathetically untrue
as those which accompany the drink
ing Of crude whisky. Many a poor
crea ture takes his drink with a SILVER
and mutters his "Happy days" while
his wife and his children are suffering
at home and while everybody knows
that, luckily for them and him, his mis-
cradle days are drawing to a close.
lawyers Wineless Banquet.
The eleventh annual banquet Of the