The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-05-27

| PAID and some otNSf tnIHSS
The price might prove a deterrent if the
| cheaper substitutes, almost as good. were
not SO numerous Unfortunately, there
are a dozen insinuating drinks that ap-
peal to the soldiers who have the alco-
hoIic craving, which in the lonliness OF
| life on a detached post in some Malay
| jungle or some lonely shore very often
| gets the better of man physically debili-
tated and mentally depressed. even though
he has no previous alcoholic history. And
these substitutes. unfortunately. are
cheaper, not fguratively, but actually
i cheaper, than water.
To begin with. there are those abomina-
bic vegetable and plant poisons with vari-
Gus local names. but generically Vino OF
this stuff you can. if you viii. for few
cents purchase enough TO put. as the
''odugh boy has it, whole regiment out
| of business. Many OF our best officers
have displayed the greatest energy in at
tempts to suppress its manufacture. These
| efforts have. however. been Intellectual,
and perhaps viii always remain so. For
every native hut may be- and probably is,
"quet' still, and every Tagal man or
woman slouehing along the road retails
/ it. pouring ous the deadly stream from the
plugged bamboo stick he or she carries
| under the arm. and our forces of land
| and of sea are not large enough to in
/ vestigate each and every suspected
shack. or TO find out which OF the walk
| ing sticks are really preambulating bars
For those who do not Ike vino, mcst
sweet and nauseating of beverages, which
/ the Tagal takes as 4 cordial in little
| bird nips, but which the unfortunate
among our men who have become addicted
to it gulp down in goblets until they die
/ or go mad, there's always an alterra-
tive; in fact several of them.
There is John Chinaman. with his seduc-
tive smile and his sam-shoo, terrible
formed of chained Tightening. as those
who went 20 Pelzin on the relief expedi-
ton can tell, and there is another alter
native which the alert AMI obsequious
| japanese trader presents. By diligently
avoiding the payment of all duties
whether imposed by the DinSley tariff or
| otherwise, he can afford to and does re-
| tail his rum for about thirty cents a gal |
Ion everywhere throughout the archi- |
pelago.
The effects of these destructive bever- |
ages are terrible and swift, and on this |
| account they fournish Instructive object |
lessons to illustrate the ADJUST Of alcohol. |
The most frequent result IS insau ity, Of |
ten an outburst of homcidaI mania OF |
the most violent description many and |
many CT these poor fellows | have seen |
/ in straightjackets and raving like the |
maniacs they were in the prison ward |
of the hospital. Many never recover at |
all Some die while the paroXysm is up |
on them; others when it vearsoff are |
left incurable idiots, and few, if any. of |
the men so attacked ever recover their |
normal health.
Not infrequently in the first access of |
mania they succeed in killing themselves |
some Of their comrades, or some inOf- !
fensve inhabitant of the pueblo in which |
they are stationed. But when this is all |
said and done due credit has been given |
to alcoholism, and as YET two-thirds of |
the cases of insanity and seif-destruc- |
ton which the statistics reveal remain |
unexplained.
By far the greater number OF these are |
caused by climatic conditions and tro- |
forms of malady are these. which. with |
the mental and physical wrecks now |
strewn all across the country from New |
York to Manila. our doctors are begin |
ming to zealously study and some day |
may understand
Army and civilian doctors and all in |
terested in the welfare of our forces in |
the Philippines. which should numbsr /
every man. woman and child in the Unit |
ed States. are inquiring what is the mo-
tive causation of the sudden insanity |
this linger ing melancholia. for the trou-
BILE appears in both the acute and grad |
of our most promising officers and best |
soldiers have fallen victims.
Undoubtedly many cases of meIancholia |
are due to the Understandable isolation Of |
some Of the small army posts in the |
archipelago Happily, owing to the re-
cent concentra ton orders, bringing the |
army back into the larger stations of |
each province. this phase of the Philip !
pine occupation is ever. at least for the |
present.
But last year. when l travelled through |
the islands. the army occupied between |
five hundred and six hundred posts. A
very great number OF them were one |
company posts numbering. say. one to |
three officers and from forty to eighty |
men Not infrequently there was only |
one officer at the post. The Ionliness of |
Napoleon at ST HaIena was nothing to
the isolation of noe of our army officers |
placed in circumstances such as these
Social intercourse between the officers /
and the enlisted men under any circum- |
ctances. even such as these. is destructive |
OF discipline and has to be frowned upon.
In the majority of the very few towns
where the inhabitants show any educa-
cation and culture the United States Of
fcer was under a social boycott Never
were men thrown more on their resources. ]
| The result was in many cases acute
mania. az which the outside world and
unfortunate families at home know no
thing. except where the consequences !
were permanent and tragic
All alienists agree that cheerful sur
roundings have 4 wonderful effect upon
! those mentally infrm. The percentage
Of insane among those who dwell on the !
lonely sheep runs Of Australia is greater |
than be found in any other occupation /
the world over
Then years from now when the stats
tician adds Up the figures. We win know 1
what IS the exact tale Of the losses that /
are indicated day ~ DAY BY the scrappr /
and often unpublished cableg-ams from /
Manila Perhaps IL viii then appear-aus I
| from what I saw rith nv own eyes
an IN clined 70 hazard the prophecy that 1
| il will-that the houicidsi mania called 4
running amuck'' by the English Is rot /