The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-09-14
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE.
The Tendency Toward Temperance "A
Remarkable Editorial From the New
York Sun-Restraint-of Appetite Under
rho Tpfpapco of Con,l Cunuo

The Tendency Toward Temperance A
Remarkable Editorial FroIn the New
York Sun-Restraintof Appetite Under
the Influence OF Good Sense.
1t seems that a large English wine i'm
no' ting company reports a notable DIM.
Hution in its sales Of wine during the last
year. more particularly champagne and
elaret. This reduction is attributed to va
rious causes: 1t is said to be due to 'tae
shortness Of money, especially in the up
per middle classes to the present fashion
OF drinking whisky and soda at dinners
rather than champagne, and to the decline
Of claret in favor.
These causes may haze contributed to
the result. but the main and most potent
cause IS less drinking In The classes from
which especially comes the demand for ex-
pensive wines. Dinners of the more e!ab-
crate sort, which used TO last for several
hours, with a long list OF wines on the bill
Cf fare, have now been cat down to about
an hour only, and the quantity of wines
consumed is reduced greatly. This change
Of custom has taken place both in England
and this country, and its effects on the
wine trade must have been very consider
able.
1t is a temperance movement Of which
SOou SelSe idtleI tudu dHy Hioiai SonNiS'
ton is the impulse. 1t is a restraint of ap-
petite under the influence of enlighten-
ment, and of a better understanding Of the
evil effects of gorging, either with food or
with drink. Dinner tables are no longer
overloaded with food, and the guests are
treated as reasonable beings VINO do not
want to be surfeited. ~:
A like disposition to keep within the re-
~straints of temperance extends to all self
respecting men throughout society. Clubs
can no longer rely on profits from their
bars and wine rooms to.pay a large part OF
their expenses. An immoderate drinker
has become a marked man in a club.
Drunkenness is disreputable.
Wall Street has the name of being a spe-
cial seat Of demand for cocktails. Actu-
ally it is a very temperate quarter. A bro
ker needs to keep his wits about him. He
cannot afford to fiddle his head with al
cohol. And so it is in business generally.
The strain of modern competition compels
sobriety in those who would stand up
against It. A reputation for sobriety Is
necessary capital for every man who has
his living to make in any industry. Intern
perance is more than ever a"bar to, getting
and keeping employment, and there 10 less
tolerance for it.
1t is true that the report of the Police
Department of New York for last year
shows that about thirty per cent. of the
arrests were for intoxication; but the prob
able explanation is that the offence is
more sharply dealt with than formerly; it
stands out more conspicuously. In New
York it is rare to encounter a drunken
person in the streets-a sight so frequent
in English cities. Neither do we see here
the rags and tatters which bear witness to
the prevalence OF sodden drunkenness in
those towns.
The present tendency is toward temper
ance; and the preachers who have brought
it to pass are not the professional temper
ance reformers, but good sense and the
better and more extensive recognition by
the people of the fact that men must keep
sober to preserve the decent reputation
which is necessary to their getting along
in hfe.-New York Sun.