The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-09-07
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF lNTEMPgRANcE.
Our Drink Bill il st.i51 ,633,3fO Only
For One Year, or soc For Each Drink
er-Large increase in Consumption ri
Alcoholic Eeyaragpa

Our Drink Bill il St,t5f ,G33,3fO Only
For One Year, or SOC For Each Drink-
er-Large increase in Consumption of
Alcoholic Beverages.
One.fourth Of all the naople in the Uni.
ted States drink alcoholic beverages The
amount OF mnnev sneot in this wav during
1879 was sl.ijl 693 40. or an average ex.
nendture for each drirker Of s62 l6. All
this is. according to the American Gro.
GERS annual estimate Of the nations drink
bill based upon official United States re.
ports and carefully COMPLIED statistics. and
rot anro rounced in the interests of the w
C.. 7. T.. or intended for anything but
cold. actual Information, for the nation to
fao' and ponder upon.
These statistics show. also. that every
man in the United States who drinks at
all drinks twice as much as his forefath'
rr7 did-or as he himself did il he was
drinking twentv.three years ago. For in
1850 the consumntion Of alcoholic drinks
ncr capita was 1880 gallons. To-day it is
1898 gallons. All of which goes to prove
that prosperity leads to an increased use
Of stimulants; that "a the American people
grow bigger and richer they drink harder,
o- else, ~ thew drink harder they grow
richer. But this is rejected by the White
Ribbon workers
At any rate, the fact remains that in the
last twenty years the desire for strong
drink-but particularly for beer-has in
creased as steadily as the years have
passed, and more steadily and far more
rapidly than even the increase in popula'
tion has justified.
The use of spirits is now more general
than ever before and according to the re-
port II there was not tax of 81 10 per
gallon on whisky the nation would have
been dehauched with cheap qualities Of the
LIQUOR wears ago. There have been 1928
Illicit distileries seized during the past
year and 66,444 gallons OF moonshine
i whisky reported for seizure. While. were
beer as cheap as its rivals. coffee and tea
| il is further determined it would be
placed at once as the king OF American
bevera yes.
As IT is however. coffee stil leads the
| list. The United States drinks more OF 1t
than any other nation. using approximate.
| ly 1000 900 pounds of raw coffee every
year. at a cost OF about $3.50 100000. which
renresents about .566 ,902 GA gallons.
Then comes beer. a strong second, with
| i.449 s199j2 gallons in 1903, or an aver.
age for each father, mother and child OF
| about 1904 gallons annually. OF this
| amount only 1000 .0Oh gallons are of the
| imported quality The total expense to
| the nation for its beer alone last year was
| S727 .042 PAS
There Is more tea drinking, too. since
|
| third on the list as far as the quantity
consumed is concerned, 10000, 900 pounds
being imported in 1909. or about one-hali
the amount OF coffee 100000 900 gallons).
at a cost of about one-tenth And last in
1uantity. hut with thump comes the fiery
| liquors and spirits that make up the insid.
| ious cocktail ard iridescent and potent
| after.dinner cordials.
The wears consumption here is notable
for an increase OF one-tenth OF one gallon
per capita. the largest increase for one
year since Columbus discovered America.
| Summed up, the total represents l20,'
oD0.OOO gallons. less than one-tenth the
! amount of beer. but the money value is
many times as much, the revenue OF i'm
ported snirits alone amounting TO nearly
sl26 100000. This shows in a relative es.
tinate that the average cost Of coffee. tea
ard cocoa per capita every year is s26l,
while for spirits and liquors it is Sl5.d,
or about seven times as much.
The report shows further that we are
drinking more imported wine and less do
mestc than we were two years ago, the
ratio being about 3O.00O0O0 gallons to
| 6OO0,0OO, while beer is turning just the
other wav, the United States exporting
any gallons annually.