Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-19
Miseellansuas Rsaains.
DECLINE OF THE DRINK HABIT.

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DECLINE OF THE DRINK HABIT
Experience Proves That Success Comes
Only to the Sober.
pursued by the great mass Of men and
women of this country is developing
| the spirit Of commercialism In man.
kind to such an extent as to leave
room for little that Is good and pleasant
| In the world Is one of the periodical
yappings Of the tender souled and mar
| row visioned pessimist. II we are to
believe the words Of some we, as ma
| ton, are rushing to quick destruction
through our incessant chase of success.
The mercenary spirit Of the dollar hunt
has us for its own, and stunts all de-
velopment along the better lines. This
Is the wall of the ones who see nothing
but evil In the universal scramble for
| wealth and position. Let us see how
| 1t works out In practice.
First and foremost among the things
admitted to be great forces in making
| the world better is clean living. The
| nation that lives clean Is ever the con-
queror. And by the sarne token the
| nation whose people are earnestly de-
voted to the pursuit of success Is the
| nation of clean livers:
Growing Desire For Success.
In this country the effect Of the
growing desire for success on the part
Of all men Is directly responsible for
much good along this line. No one who
Is at all familiar with conditions as they
| existed forty, fifty, or sixty years ago,
or longer, can doubt the truth Of this.
The decrease In drunkenness and
| drinking is probably the strongest tes-
| timony that can be offered In proof of
this. and this testimony is strong
enough to convince even the skeptical.
Fifty years ago downright drunk
enness among business men was not
only not unknown. but was so common
as to excite but little or no comment.
The sight of man reeling home drunk
from his place Of business was no unu-
sual one. Drinking over the opening
or consummation Of q business deal
was the order Of the day. The man
who would not drink to the success of
business proposition was looked
upon as a misanthrope or worse-a
poor specimen Of a man. The young
| man starting out In life was taught
and shown that conviviality was not
only compatible but necessary In bus
mess life. This was not the condition
only among the smaller merchants, but
among the heads Of great enterprises,
among statesmen and leaders In every
| field Of activity. With small business
| men, storekeepers, or statesmen the
drinking was even more pronouced.
To get a man into condition to buy or
sell at a proper figure constituted one
phase Of business astuteness of the
day. The wheels of business moved
fabricated by frequent drinks Of IL
quor.
Esteemed For Ability to Drink.
But not only among business men
was drinking the accepted thing In
business hours. Lawyers. doctors,
journalists. professional men Of all
kinds were with few exceptions de-
votees to the flowing bowl. The young
man Of brilliant qualifications and OPP
portunities who did not amount to
anything because he drank" was so
numerous to have provided fiction wri-
ters and playwrights with a character
type Different from many types.
this one had a real founder. The old
time lawyer who made his best speech
es when under the influence Of liquor
and the doctor whose breath was con-
stantly tinged with some Of the same.
the past. The journalist of fifty years
ago was a notoriously hard drinker and
the young geniuses Of that day paid
much attention TO their drinking. Life
as pursued by the men Of the Indus
trial world Of that day was not In any
sense Of the word sober proposition.
The result of so much drinking had
its effect In the worlds work Of the day
and on the health and activities Of the
drinkers. Life was shorter Illness more
prevalent, and a mans capacities Tor
work more limited than they are today.
Despite the fact that competition had
In nowise assumed the strenuous con-
dition that prevails today failures were
common, generally due to mismanage-
| ment. Breakdowns were common among
| business men, and the carers that were
| ruined through drink would require
volumes in the telling. The young man
of the day thought little or nothing
about what effect drinking might have
on his future.
DRINKING Tabooed In Business.
How much Of this Is left In this day,
when some assert the lust for the dol
lar Is running away with the sense and
reason Of the people? Extremely little
Drinking as an adjunct to business Is
strictly tabooed I'm this degenerate day
| In some lines. where much country
custom Is had. the habit Of treating has
not entirely died out. In most lines OF
| trade the offer to treat prospective
customer Is a mark of provincialism
| Often such offer Is taken as an insult
| The business man who drinks during
business hours has passed with the last
| five decades, until now he Is almost ex-
tinct A doctor who would drink now
would absolutely have no chance or ac-
quiring a clientele. The same Is true
with lawyer. Confidence Is no longer
placed In a man who Is hard or even
| a moderate drinker.
| Not only has the custom OF drinking
while in the pursuit Of ones business
duties ceased but modern demands 1T
the industrial world probably have done
more for the sake of temperance than
any other cause that may be named
Men have discovered that, no matter
what line they are In. II they want to
win success they cannot drink. And
| the desire to win success Is so over
whelming that they have given up the
drinking. Even the geniuses OF the
day, while retaining many OF the &C.
centricities usually accredited to people
Of their kind, are wise enough 10 see
that drinking and success are not com
patible. The Anti Tipping league, re.
|
headed business and professional mer
throughout the country, proves tha
the incompatibility of drink and sue
cess Is universally recognized.
Success Craze Does Good.
All this revulsion against drinking
has, of course, not been due to the de-
sire for success. Nor has the drinf
evil In this country entirely been stamp
ed out. But the change In the habits
of men has been so marked ana its
cause so directly traceable to this de-
sire for success that we, being an en-
tirely practical nation, must look upor
the success craze from more than ont
angle. Undoubtedly 1t has made maj
more mercenary. Probably 1t ha'
caused much Of the graft that stirs TIT
country at present. But also IL MAJ
taught men to take better care o
themselves, the physical and menta
health. and the results Of this Will b.
reaped not only in this generation, Du
In the generations that are to come
when the success bee" will buzz Jus
as nightly, IL not mightier. and drink
ing and other coarse habits or I'M
body will be even less followed thai
they are now.-Henry Oyen In Chicag'
Tribune.