The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-22

least of these is the wholly unjustifiable amount which the workingman spends on drink. If you were to take the figures Of the amount spent per week in the or dfnary London middle1class household on alcoholic drinks you would find 1t scarcely appreciable beside the amount spent by the working classes.
 If, then, you can only introduce the pledge among the poor, and get them to keep 1t, the amount of misery and pow erty will be lessened to an incalculable amount. But the pledge must be strictly adhered to-"
 Sir Francis Jeune. the President of the Divorce Court, smiled when the matter was submitted to him. T cannot say" he said, that I have very much expe- rience but certainly the idea of this pledge seems to be excellent-better, h. deed. than total abstinence, for, If you eliminate the drinking between meals you have done all that is really necessary. II Is the man who goes from public house to public house who IS the real danger and nuisance to society.
 Speaking, ho gever, from what expe- rience have had of drunkenness in the cases which have come before me, espe. cially in regard to women, the chief evi arose from the taking of ether, eau dc Cologne, and things of hat sort"
 A Great Srgeon's Opinion.
 Sir Frederick Treves said he thought the pledge was an excellent idea For" he remarked, "it will undoubtedly be accept able to number of people who are now repelled by the intemperance of temper ance advocates. And this intemperate at- utude has done more to inJure the cause of temperance than anything else It ie 1lSt the in ha of Jr1e If only people would be moderate far more would be done.
 This is moderate pledge, and 1t strikes where 1t should-at the time when the great majority of what may be called the accidental drunkards' are made; the drinking between meals. It deals, in fact, with what is the initial stage of drunken ness in large proportion of cases.
 "Of course some drinking habits are due to actual disease, and that is an- other matter altogether.
 I may say that in my experience the many incorporate statements as to drink ing in the West End, especially in the case of ladies. are grossly exaggerated. There Is nothing to support the suggestion that most of the ladies of the West End drink champagne all the morning and have llqueurs with their tea This is, of course, simply nonsense. There are nat urally cases of women who drink among the upper classes just as there are among the lower classes; but they are very dis tinctly the exception.
 An Eminent Brain Specialist.
 pr. Forbes Winslow, the eminent brain specialist, has sent us a most interesting letter. In which he gives striking testi- mony to the benefit of semi-teetotalism even in dealing with drunkenness.
 He mentions that many years before the passing of the inebriates act he opened a home for the care and treatment of chronic alcoholism, the patients entering the institution of their own accord.
 During the time I was there," he says, T found out by experience that if you quite deprived an alcoholic of all stimulants at meals he was bound to get 1t on the sly when out of bounds. If on the other hand. he knew that he would be supplied with some at meal time this craving for drink between meals was SUD- pressed. As result of considerable ex- perience l am of opinion that 1t is not the drink taken at regular meal times which is injurious, but the tippling be- tween.
 The chronic alcoholic Is, however" he adds, "an incurable person. One case at my institution was a schoolmaster at one Of our principal schools, who was much respected. He came with his wife. having broken down while at the school concert, and fearing that his friends had realized his true complaint. He remained during the holidays under care When the time arrived for him to meet his schoolboys at Charing Cross Station had to place two attendants on the platform to watch him to prevent him obtaining stimulants. He explained his feelings to me as being like serpent gnawing his inside