The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-04-30
a Scientific View.

Heretofore. in its attempts to show the
people the evils nj the drink habit, this
newspaner has dwelt largely upon the
moral phases Of the subject
Ruf to-day we intend TO confnc ourselves
strictlv to the physical and scientific side
Of the question.
1t l. q very common thing to meet man
who talks about like this;
II am a regular but moderate drinker.
No one ever saw me drunk, and yet ]
drink every day. And what's the harm OF
it? Car, you see anything the matter
with me?"
The man would seem to have the advan.
tage OF YOU You cannot see anything
wrong with him. SO far as the outward
appearances go the case is squarclv against
you. The man appears to be all right.
But is he? The effects of drink upon the
system do not show themselves to the ex.
tent OF attracting very marked attention,
ut least. until the conditions are fairly ripe.
In tho man who comes out onto the
street after a nrotracted dehauch the eff.
iects OF the whisky he has been pouring
down his throat are so visible that even
the litt.e children notice them.
He may not be drunk. 1t may have
been hours since he touched a drop, hut
any one can sec that his physical system
has received severe shock and is in a
very dilapidated condition.
In the moderate drinl5er these signs are
not visible but the alcohol which he daily
imbibes is doing its work. and slowly but
surely his constitution is being under
mined
Now and then we run across some old
man who is hale and hearty, notwithstand.
ing the fact that he has been a moderate
drinlicr all his life
But no one will think Of denying the
fact that this old man is an exccption-a
verv rare exception
Many old men who notwithstanding the
fact that they are old, should be hale and
hearty. are suffering from the ailments
born of the drink habit to which, in their
earlier davs. they were enslaved.
In the "rheum. the dry serpigo and the
gout" which rack their frames. make their
homes ache and render miserable and
thanklcss the evening davs which should
be so full of neaco and beauty. they are
reaping the fruits OF their harmless" mod.
crate drinking.
Two or three weeks ago we made refer.
ence to the report by NJ. Mesureur, Drec.
tor of the Department of Charities, Paris,
upon the results OF alcoholism in France.
That renort was no sooner made public
than the French liquor dealers were IN in
arms against ii. Indignation meetings
were held. The mails were flooded with
all sorts OF protests against the truth OF
Mesureurs claim that alcoholism was slow.
~ hut surely destroying the French people
The discussion at last became heated
that the Government took it upon itself
to subject the offensive rerort to careful
scrutinv. with the result that it was con
tirmed in every particular.
We quote from noster, issued by the
'Investoation Council for Promoting the
Public Welfare" and now displayed all
over France:
alcoholism is the chronic poisoning re.
sulting from the constant use of alcohol,
even il this does not produce drunkenness.
1T is an error to say that alcohol is q
necessity 10 the man who has to do hard
work. or that ii restores strength.
"The artificial stimulation which it pro.
duces soon gives way to exhaustion and
nervous depression Alcohol is good for
nobody. but works harm to everybody.
Alcoholism produces the most varied
and fatal diseases OF the stomach and liver.
paralysis. droDsy and madness. II is one
of the most frequent causes OF tuberculo.
sis,
LASTLY, it aggravateS and enhances all
acute diseases, typhus, pneumonia, erysip'
elias.
"These diseases only attack a sober man
in mild degree. while they quickly do
away with the man who drinks alcohol:
The sins of the parents against the laws
Of health visit their offspring, VI the chill.
dren survive the first months OF their lives
they are threatened with imbecility or epi-
lepsy, or death carries them awav little
later Nv such diseases as meningitis or con
sumpton.
alcoholism is one of the most terrible
plaques to the individual health the exist.
ence OF the home and the prosperity OF the
nation"
The document from which the above
quotations are talren is signed bv the Pres.
ident Of the Medical Faculty OF Paris; by
the, Chairman Of the, Institute Of France,