The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1904-12-02
'PGGEHHTEE:R OF NATION
SApPED BY DRINK
France Suffering From Con-
sumption Brought On by
Over indulgence.
EFFORT TO SAVE PEOPLE

Wives of Most Artisans Have to Work
Because Their Husbands Spend
Too Much Time and Money
Drinking Their Liquors.
Every Monday nowadays French po-
lice and boards of health renew the
cards OF warning telling in big letters
that 81 per Cent. of all consumptives
acquire the disease through misuse of
alcohol, and from every street corner
the CHASTITY legend stares one in the
race, Yet tuberculosis is killing OFT the
unskilled laborer OF Paris at a more
rapid rate than ever, and if the pace
continues for ten years no u will be
left to remoNe 10 an early grave. All
who visited the City of Light know the
lusty "traVailleul," i colossal figure
for F'rance-head attached TO a stocky
neck, proudly thrown back: Cyclopean
hands, resting on swaying hips: the
blue blouse and override grayish
brown velvetine trousers, blown out
balloon shape-the descendant of sans
culottes. who played ninepins with the
heads of kings and arlstocrats, delights
~ usiiiS IiNt t!iiltS III liltitIl STUN "
his trousers tculottes) as the ordinary
run of mon.
The unskilled laborer of Paris is a
mixture of l'rencl-Italian French
German (Alsatian). or fIench-Belgian
blood. Muscles are his strong point.
and since Zola's ~"Gerninal" made him
famous he is no small factor in poll
tics. He votes socialistic, but is an
evolutionist rather than a revolution
list. Socialism has to come" he says;
I'VE can watt
No socialistic meeting is without a
travailleur of two decorating the plat
form. and q hundred or thousand in
the audience, but as TO legislation on its
behalf. he despises it. May the factory
hand the journeyman carpenter. mason.
smith. bricklayer. and artisan in gener-
al enjoy the eight hour day. the heavy"
worked hard to obtain it tor him, but
as for his own sweet self he must be
free to labor as he pleases. He rises
with the first cocks crow and rides to
the street, building in course of con-
struction. or shop which has been lucky
enough to secure the services of his
mighty muscles. When it gets dark
down goes spade or hammer, and the
heavy" enters upon his career of UNI
restrained enjoyment. or what he calls
enjoyment.
Falls Before Green Fairy.
II lcdNS SeiuplD reports later
than 6 a. m. Then follows three hours
of steady work at so many confines,
for the travailleur is paid by the hour.
AT 8 sharp, first breakfast-the dish
water and rolls" he had at home do
not count. This meal Is invariably
taken at a liquor dealers or cafe and
consists OF ar omelette. cheese and
bread. coffee with cognac, and a few
green fairies" lovingly called mo-
The green fairy" is undoubtedly the
worst poison ever sold without a pre-
scription; the gin that fifty years after
Its discovery Gin 164S) nearly wrecked
England. would appear to be harmless
In comparison. True, Paris taphouse
keepers do not invite the public Ito
get drunk for 4 penny" they do not say
on their sisnboards "for 9 pence you
may get dead drunk. no charge for
straw" but the quality of absinthe
sold to the poorer classes is pregnant
with alcohol and creosote; the heavy"
knows 1T, yet swears nat he cannot
find his equilibrium until he has at
least two or three glasses on board.
He returns to work at $3.50 or 9:45, but
usually only half an hour is deducted,
as he foreman. who ma have political
aspirations and besides is as much ad-
dicted to the poison as his men, in
clines to shut his eyes.
Drunken Sleep at Noon.
The second pause is at 10. Paris
knows not the professions OF women
and children bringing father his din
ner; the dinner pail itself is unknown
here, and the workman who carries
sandwiches with a bottle of wine to
his place of employment is ridiculed
and stunned as a sneak" The aver
age heavy" spends the noon hour at
the alcoholic restaurant, sitting on the
sidewalk If the weather is fine, at other
times in thu liquor-pregnant basement
or cellar. The good natured braggart
squats at one of the low tables. max
American socialists. Bolsterous talk
and laughter. singing. fellow workmen
railing at Zach other, joking with the
waitresses-no harm in that. The
menu is good and cheap. Offering a
great variety and plenty Of everything,
the meal. added to the cognac and two
or three absinthes of the morning. suf-
fees to unfit our giant for work. He
must needs throw himself on a stoop
or sand hill for half an hour or more
to sleep off the effects Of the liquor.
i New York or Chicago, Berlin or
London, Madrid or Liverpool, the
o'clock whistle is the signal for taking
up work. Not 30 with the heavy of
Paris. He knows that the foreman
will credit him for sixty minutes after
noon, and experience a fiendish delight
In %prolongtng his siesta. Why not, see
ing that the overseer does the same?
Work seldom begins before 1925 or
1875. and at 8 o'clock the heavy is
so %fatigued again that he must have
another drink-absinthe or cognac, or
both. After that more or less steady
work until shutdown.
Always Reaches Home Drunk.
How many absinthes does the aver
age heavy consume during a days
work" [ asked a number Of foremen.
six to eight. likewise considerable cog
nae. besides a liter or two of wine.
from sunrise to sundown,' was the an
awer.
THAT sends him home drunk. of
course?"
ooh, he goes home drunk all right,
never fear" replied the knowing ones"
not from hi he consumes during
working hours. Remember, the aver
age heavy can accommodate ten mo-
minettes' and two liters of wine COM
fortably, but when he takes more it is