The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-02-12
SITTER WAR ON lNTEMPERhNCE
SOLDIERS FIGHTING THIS CURSE
GREATLY CHEERED.

The Green Terror-What Absinthe Is
and Where 1t Comes From-It
Ruins the Body, the Mind and
the Soul.
Secretary Wilson, of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, at Washington,
has ordered an investigation into the
reports that have come to him from
time to time concerning the increase
in the manufacture of absinthe in
this country. 1t IS alleged that the
cultivation of the wormwood bush,
from the seeds and leaves Of which
absinthe is distilled, is becoming
quite extensive in Wisconsin and
other parts of the country. The oil
of wormwood, from which absinthe is
made by adding alcohol and other
ingredients, has been manufactured
for many years for medicinal pur-
poses, chiefly in the neighborhood of
Baltimore. The oil Is used in the
manufacture of liniments and lotions,
and is administered internally to
horses, cattle and other animals 20
cure certain diseases. Until recently
it has been distilled exclusively from
the seeds of the wild wormwood.
The liqueur known as absinthe re-
quires the finer quality of oil, which
may be made only from the culti-
waited plant called in the botanical
catalogues "artemisia absinthium.
The plant grows wild on almost
every farm east of the Mississippi
ID -. 10 I'll
The old-fashioned wormwood herb
has been used ever since anybody
can remember. For the manufacture
Of oil for medicinal purposes the
seeds have been sown broadcast and
the plants cut down and sent to dis
tilleries, where the roots, bark, twigs,
leaves and seeds have been boiled up
together and the oil extracted very
much as whisky is made from gain.
The oil is very valuable and the sup
ply has never been equal to the de-
mand. Comparatively few people
have beer" engaged in the business
and the European market has abb
sorbed all the medicine manufacture
ers in this country could spare.
The manufacture of "the green ter
ror Of France" as the .iqueur is
called because, like cocaine, it ruins
the body and mind and the soul, is
still quite limited in this country.
Indeed, it has never been investigated
and nobody has any accurate idea Of
the amount produced. But the con-
sumption of absinthe in the United
States has increased very rapidly and
is becoming general. Formerly 1t
could be obtained only at few clubs,
restaurants and bars frequented by
foreigners in the larger cities, but to-
day, I am told, there Is bottle Of
absinthe on the buffet Of almost every
saloon in the country, and Secretary
Wilson thinks that it is about time
to inquire into the matter. The re-
suits of the investigation will be pub
lished in the bulletins Of the depart
ment, and If they prove to be Of suf-
ficient Importance will be submitted
to Congress for legislation that will
crush the Infant industry" as speed.
lily as possible. We have enough
curses" in this country without in
PRODUCING the green curse" OF
France.
Congress, of course, has no con-
stitutional power to prohibit the cul-
tivation of wormwood or the manu-
facture of oil, or even the liqueur it.
self, but under the Interstate COM
merce clause Of the Constitution 1t
can prevent its shipment from one
State to another and can start an agi-
tation that will result in local legis-
latiop.
In Switzerland the greater part OF
the worlds supply has been produced,
chiefly in the valley Of the Rhone.
Neuchatel has been the centre Of the
trade and the mountainsides Of that
canton have been covered with worm
wood plantations. Until few years
ago the entire. produce was shipped to
France and Belgium, but the Swiss
people have been gradually acquiring
the habit, and it has extended so far
AS to create alarm. An earnest agita-
tion was provoked several years ago
by the brutal murder of a woman and
her children by their husband and
father under the influence Of the
liqueur and the medical authorities
were unanimous that it's excessive use
almost invariably produced homicidal
tendencies. Public sentiment was
aroused and two of the cantons have
absolutely prohibited it's manufacture
and sale. It is now proposed to enact
q federal law applying to all the other
cantons, but this will require an
amendment to the constitution of
Switzerland, which resembles that Of
the United States in providing State
sovereignty over such local affairs.
The feeling in Switzerland, however,
has become so strong that it is be-
lieved that a constitutional amend
ment may be easily adopted.-Will-
lam E. Curtis, in the Chicago Record
Herald.