Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1904-12-02
POWER or NATION
Slapped 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.

Too Much Time and Money
Drinking Their Liquors.
Pane Landay in Chicago Tribune:
every Monday nowadays French POI
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 n in the
face, yet tuberculosis is killing Off the
unskilled laborer Of Paris at a more
rapid rate than ever. and If the pace
continues for ten years no one Will be
left to remove to an early grave. All
who visited the City Of Light n the
lusty 'travailIeuf," a colossal figure--
for France-head attached TO a stocky
neck, proudly thrown back; Cyclopean
hands, resting or swaying hips; the
blue blouse and oyerwide grayish
brown veIyetine trousers, blown out
I balloon shape-the descendant of sans
culottes. who played ninepins with the
heads of Kings and aristocrats, delights
in using five times as much stuff for
his rouser (culotteS) as the ordinary
run of men.
The unskilled laborer OF Paris is q
mixture Of French Italian, French
German (Atsatian), or Erench-Belgian
blood. Muscles are his strong point,
and since Zola's "GerminaI' made him
famous he is no small factor in poll
tics. He votes socialistic, but is an
evolutionist rather han a revolution
ist. Socialism has 10 come" he says;
1--WE can wait"
No socialistic meeting is without a
travailleur of two decorating the plat
form, and a hundred or thousand in
the audience, but as to legislation on its
behalf, he despises it, May the factory
hand, the journeynlan carpenter, mason,
smith, bricklayer, and artisan in gener-
al enjoy the eight hour day, the heavy
worked hard to obtain it for 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 un-
restrained enjoyment, or what he calls
enjoyment.
Falls Before Green Fairy.
The heavy" seldom reports later
than 8 a. M. Then follows three hours
of steady work at so many centimes,
for the travailleur is paid by the hour.
At 9 sharp, first breakfast-the dish
- nutCi vi ~ liz 1ldA db ilOlIiC III
not count. This meal is invariably
taken at a liquor dealers or cafe and
consists Of an omelette, cheese and
bread, coffee with cognac, and a few
green fairies lovingly called mo
minette."
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
the manhood and -womahhood of old
England, would appear to be harmless
in comparison. True, Paris taphouse
keepers do not invite the public ito
get drunk for q penny" they do not say
on their s~ignboards "for 2 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 c~reosote; the heavy
knows 1t, yet Swears that 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 the foreman, who may have political
aspirations and besides is as much adj
dicted to the poison as his men, in
clines to shut his eyes.
Drunken Sleep at Noon.
The second aus is at IL. 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 kin to
his place of employment Is ridicuIed
and Stunned as a sneak The aver
age heavy" spends the moor hour at
the alcoholic restaurant, sitting on the
sidewalk il the weather is fine, at other
times IN the nq-tior-pregnant basement
or cellar. The good natured braggart
squats at one of the low tables, maxi
ing as much noise as a hall full of
American socialists. Boisterous talk
and laughter. singing, fellow workmen
railing at each other, joking with the
waitresses-no harm in that. The
menu Is good and cheap, Offering a
great variety and plenty OF everything.
but the quart OF wine that goes with
the meal. added to the cognac and two
or three absinthes of the morning, SUIT
lces to unfit u 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.
In New York or Chicago, Berlin or
London, Madrid or Liverpool, the /
o'clock whistle is the signal for taking
up work. No 50 with the heavy OF
Paris. He knows that the foreman
will credit him for sixty minutes after
noon, and experience a fiendish delight
In prolonging his siesta. why not, see
Ing that the overseer does the same?
Work seldom begins before 1:25 or
1875, and at 8 o'clock the heavy IL
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
g heavy consume during a days
work. | asked q number OF foremen
six to eight, likewise considerable cog
nae, besides a liter or two of wine,
from sunrise to SHUTDOWN was the an
swer.
THAT sends him home drunk, Of
coursey"
"oh. he goes home drunk all right.
never fear replied the Knowing ones
not from what he consumes during
working hours. Remember. the aver
age heavy a accommodate ten mo-
minettes' and wv liters OF wine com
fortably, but when he takes more ii Is
liable TO go TO his head. Among d
hundred unskilled laborers. In Paris,
sixty at least, Indulge in more every
day In the year, the heavy drawing The
largest wage. 5 francs. thinks nothing
OF drinking fifteen mominettes' and
three quarts before he turns In
Kills Slowly, If Surely.
4 asked n chemical expert how much
pure alcohol was contained III fhc