Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1907-11-08
Drinking in Germany.


old .cour tries, Dr. Abraham *. Ioo-
sui. who has has just returned from
abroad, becamei interested IN stuuylhg
the drinking habi Is of various nations
and mas come home with some IDEAS
of his own on the subject. "Contrasted
with the German aud Austrian meth
ods of imbibing spiritnous liquors, the
Americans drink 100 much ana their
actions in general, while in saloons,
partake more of the porcine nature
than of sane human beings" SAID the
doctor.
ave ought to take few hints from
onr German and Austrian friends and
learn 10 drink decently," said Dr. foo-
sui. "rhen, instead OF making reser-
voirs of ourselves we could imDioe as
decent people should. Why, our Gus
tom OF treating a crowd isaoomlnaoie.
"In my opinion, the temperance
problem Is the mos, vital thing IN
lnoaern life in the United states, con-
tinued Tie doctor. 81 did not see one
drunken man durl s nay whole stay
on the eautineut Here | can see them
every minute ia the day.
.,\Shen Grst entered German ter
ritory was struck by the absence Of
4 saloons as wahaye hem. No bars were
/ TO be seen any where, and On inquiry
learned tnat there were none. lu-
stead, there were restaurants and gar
dens, where hundreds of men, women
aud caildren drank beer. All these
places are eminently respectable and
indeceneies are never either seen or
heard anywhere.
I'm Europe there is 10 such thing
as treating the crowd. Our custom is
bad. A man cutters bat and sees his
friends lined up for drink. Some one
says, 'Have a drink on me, and then
The desire to treat circles a.ound the
gang. Half or all of them are drunk at
the end. In Germany, on the contrary,
each man pays for his own bser, which
is much better than our custom. They
pay their individual bills, drink as
maeh as they want 10, and then go
home in sober condition. They enjoy
themselves. We are hogg'sh aud enjoy
our drinks.
81 was at the Hofbrau Plstz in Mu-
nich where were seated at one time
5000 persons drinking Mnenchen beer
Women were just as numerous as the
men. 1t took the crowd on an average
fifteen to twenty minutes TO drink one
glass of beer. Americans would have
swallowed it like lightning. Germans
sip the stimulant gradually, getting
, the full taste, as we do our wine.
"Of one man in Munich | asked tbs
question: Why ia il there are so many
drinking here and you have no mtoxi-
crted persons?' He answered with
three reasons. He said first that Ger
maus dtd not drink to become drunk.
/ secondly, he said, they drink only
small Quantities and do 1t slowly, thas
missing the intoxicating results of the
| beer. Thirdly, he thought the absence
! of DRINKS was 10 be ascrlbed TO the
/ fact that treating was unknown.
( at was the same all over the eonti-
nent. There they drink for social
chat. Americans in Europe get tipsy
ana make themselves the laughing
stock of the natives, They call for
cocktails and gin and champagne, and
become shot up good and hard. In
many cities they nave signs over the
restaurants, American saloon-Amer-
lean drinks That means that the pro
prletor is catering 10 the American
! love of whisky and is making our
thirst for liquor to put sheckles into
his pocket.
! While IN Vienna | visited Nenedic,
the Coney Island of Austria, l looked
! for DRINKS, but saw none. / saw Ger
mans and Austrians drinking cham
payne. Six OF them drank one bottle in
how long do you think? Two hours. l
watched them and noted the time.
Here they would have gotten tight in
short time. / en- bottles would have
followed the first inside of less than
two hours