The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-04
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF INTeMPERANcE.


OF Alcoholic Liquors on the Part OF
English Women in Both Upper and
Lower Glasses OF SocIety.
Carefn! observers of social conditions
in both the upper and the lower classes
of society cannot fail to have noted OF
late decided increase in the addiction
to alcoholic liquors on the part of wom-
en-. Published statistics relating to the
number and ages Of women convicted
Of drunkenness give one no real idea
of the extent of the evil, for only a
very small fraction of the intemperate
fall into the hands of the police. More
over, though woman does not become
drunk unless she has been intemper-
ate, she may easily be highly intemper-
ate without becoming drunk. It is no.
torious that a drunken woman is re-
claimed only with the greatest diff.
|. Guilty, for she knows that she has un-
sexed herself. The inebriated woman
injuries her reputation; the Incorporate
woman her health.
There is no one cause in particular
which will account for this increased
and increasing intemperance among
women. The causes are many, and
vary with the various conditions OF
life in which the women find them
selves. The rich woman drinks to re-
feye the inevitable ennui of wealth.
while her poor sister drinks TO be rid
Of the mental and physical depression
engeRdered by poverty; the former be-
come Incorporate for lack Of occupa-
ton, and the latter for want Of recrea-
ton. The moderately well-to-do wom-
an takes stimulants to relieve the dull
monotony of her life, or with the idea
of casing the mental strain inseparable
from the cares Of young family.
Many women take to secret drinking
the bane Of womanhood-by reason
of the lonely lives they live, to soften
the sorrow which is the lot Of so many
women, or to deaden that anxiety
about the future which is so harasSing
to the timid minds of so many of the
weaker sex. 1t is surely an evil sign
of the times when the very factory
girls, who think lightly Of the present,
and still less Of the future. form what
are called spirit clubs" into which the
girls make small payments to accumu-
Idle uulll OullollHuS cfCJ aAo lhSh ~
be spent in spirits, wine and cakes.
Since, however, tile factory girps
principal diet during all the workdays
IF the year consists of picked cabbage
and tea, the craving of her system for
an occasional stimulant is small mat
ter for wonder. And, indeed, through
out large section of feminine society
1t is an ill-balanced OF insufficient diet
ary that is at the bottom Of the craving
for stimulants. Even when the diet is
correct, the lonely woman diner may
be driven by the dyspepsia OF solitude
to stimulate the digestive functions
with brandy and water, and finding
benefit from that, may be tempted to
continue the remedy Indefinitely, IN
gradually increasing doses.
Increased facilities for drinking are
10 be numbered among the causes or
the increasing intemperance among
women. Women travel alone to FAR
greater extent than was formerly the
case; women's clubs afford every op-
2ortunity to those who wish 10 indulge
IN potent liquors; sOmeOf the dig stores
and mammoth Grapery establishments
nave licensed refreshnent rooms; res
taurants and railway buffets continue
10 multiply; while the pastry cook with
a wine license is very much IN evidence
In every residential district A woman
n q good position in life may be intem-
,erate to a degree without ever having
recourse to the ordinary public house.
It is not pretended that all the
Dlaces enumerated above have spirit
licenses, but intemperance in port or
sherry, or even In bottle ale, IS alnosI
equally destructive to health.
Intemperance among women is ~
eompatible with the welfare OF tine
children, who, even If they are unaI-
fected By a bad heredity, must be al
fected by evil parental example. 1t is
because of this that the drunken MOTH
er is regarded as curse to her family
and q menace to the State. Even the
most unprejudiced and tolerant or mod-
crate drinkers on the male side look
upon q drunken woman with horror
and loathing that are almost instinct
i've.
Although medical men as a body are
largely, if indirectly, responsive 1or
the present enormous consumption Of
whisky by the laity they having ao-
yised it as being safer than adultef-
oted wines and doubtful beers), they
can with assurance declare themselves
in no way responsible for the increased
consumption of spirits by women. FOE
the favorite "pick-me-up" OF the Well
to-do woman is q brandy and soda'
while in the case Of the washerwoman
II is q drop of gin. Medical men,
whatever their shortcomings, never
have recommended the general con-
sumption of brandy or gin as beVer-
age. Women who can afford cholce
take to brandy with fatal facihty; or
if they prefer wine, to port-they sell
dom become confirmed whisky drink
ers. =
Hone for the future of our woman
kInd lies in the fact that all women are
to some extent the slaves OF fashlon'
and once il becomes no longer the fash
inn for women to drink freely OF po-
tent liquors at dinners, dances anu
other convivial assemblies, intemper-
Ance among them will receive checK:
Rrt asainst the pet vice OF secret
Arinking the only remedy IS III the
Reaching of temperance and hygiene
l,onden Chronicle.
Alcohol Dwarfs Dogs.
The Waterman explains the Japan
ose method of breeding dwarf dogs.
,l,A unI