The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-06-28
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF INTEMPERANcE:
A Remarkable Editorial From the New
York American Entitled "The Prison
sr Of the Bottle"-The Drunkard May
Be Cured by Sympathy and Forgiveness

De Cureu Dy sympathy anu rorsisehess
Let temperance reformeTs remember
always that the man who loathes
whisky most intensely is whisky's vic
tim.
There never was a clear, cold-headed
teetotaller that hated whisky, despised
1t or knew its dangers one-half as thor
pughly as the unhappy, hopeless
drunkard.
. He don't theorize. Whisky has
dashed him with scorpions; it has ill.,
hicted upon him physical pain and end
less moral suffering.
1t has dug the grave Of his hopes
and ambitions, one after the other. 1t
has cursed those whom he loves, killed
his manhood, and left in place of all
his early possibilities only a trembling,
uncertain, fearful wreck.
Whisky, you must remember-horrid
as it is-brings oblivion for the mo-
ment. lie that must 60 under the SUR
geon's knife will have chloroform. TO
the drunkard, whisky is the chloroform
that saves him from the knife of coll
science. 1t is the e%xpedient, ever at
hand, that solves the problem Of the
moment.
The drunkard would like to leave the
bottle that has made him a prisoner
for so long. But how can he do it?
The past is q dreadful nightmare,
with its follies, weaknesses, resolves
broken, manhood degraded.
The future is full Of unknown ter
rors. Each succeeding week has made
him less able to fight and more de-
pendent upon the poison. And he
knows it, although he may not con-
fess it.
Only the mar whose nerves have ac-
tually lived upon whisky has any idea
Of what it means to give whisky up.
1t is easy for you to preach to him-but
suppose he should ask you to give up
food? You might try it for one day,
two days, or three days. If you yielded
to temptation on the fourth day, in
spite of all your firm intention, you
would expect kindly sympathy and
consideration.
Hunger. could not make you want
food any more than the famished
nerves, trembling will, vague %terrors,
constant temptation make the victim
Of drink want alcohol.
You should plan to cure the drunk
ard, by all means-work at tile task.
never. give up, whatever the disap-
pointments.
But 60 about your work intelligently,
and above all alphabetically, with
kindness, not with reproaches or any
"holier-than-thou" feeling.
Remember that to stop drink requires
an effort Of the villa very great effort
one that the sober man cannot con-
ceive.
And that effort must be made by the
drunkard himself. You can't make 1t
for him. All your fine moralizing,
scolding, bullying and contempt are in
your brain-not in his.
The drunkard's will alone can cure
kim Of drink. Therefore, to help him
you must strengthen that will.
In what does will power consist
what does it bed upon?.
First, on good health, strong nerves.
The man of iron nerve is the man Of
iron willard whisky, alas! doing it's
devilish work so i~ntelligertly, destroys
the nerves and the will first of all.
If you would cure 4 man of drink by
strengthening mis- will. try to give him
health, without which the nerves can
not resist the abnormal craving.
Good food. a great deal Of it, comes
first in this task-poverty causes more
drunkenness than all other causes com.
bined. The bad cooking Of insufficient
food brings more whisky into poor
homes than any cause save worry
poverty's other curse.
To help q man stop drinking, first
help him to build up his health. Many
q mar has been cured Of drunkenness
by a protracted life in the open air,
with plenty Of exercise, simple food
and long sleep.
Another thing most important IN the
building up Of will power is the stimu-
lating Of ambition.
Human beings do that which pleases
them best.
If you can actually give a man any
thing that he likes better than whisky,
he will take that instead of whisky.
Above all, if you would cure q human
being of drink by helping the will,
give to that human being constant
sympathy, endless kindness. Remem-
Der that you are asking that which is
almost impossible. and which only a
miracle Of the will OF the affections
can possibly accomplish.
True affection, sympathy, have done
more in this world on q big scale and
q little scale than all other agencies
despite the assertions Of philosophical
historians that morals have not intlu.
enccd civilization. The religion that
rules the world is based simply on
kindness-it has no other motive power.
Who can doubt that the woman
whom Christ forgave-blameless as He
was-wa q new woman from that
hour?
AS He cured that woman Of disease
worse than drink, by affection, sympa-
thy and forgiveness alone, so that
drunkard can be cured-Dy long pa
thence, persistent effort. by kindness on
your part as great as the fearful cray
ing on his.
Young men, be sure that you leave
whisky alone. If you don't like it very
much, or-as you might say-"don't
care much one way or the other" then
YOU would be q fool not to drop it.
Keep the poisonous trash out Of your
system. keep the money in your pocket,
spend the hours in your bed or at work
not deceivlng yourself in the stupid
waste of time that accounts for all the
wrecks in life.
Be able to say: 81 gave myself 4
chance, anyhow."-New York Amer
lean.
: Temperance Notes.
The Pittsburg Jail is now being
doubled in size. This is the way the
taxpayer is providing for the product