The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-04-24
DRINK HABIT GROWS,
Americans Are Great Consumers
Of Alcohol.
ENORMOUS WASTE OF MONEY

Internal Revenue Receipts Show That
Nearly Two Billion Barrels Of Beer
We're Drunk Last Year-saIes Of
Whisky Also Increased.
Startling evidence Of the growing ap.
petite Of the American public for whis-
ky and beer, tobacco, cigars, ciga.
rettes and even snuff is presented In
the statement of the internal revenue
bureau for the fiscal year that closed
June 80. Prohibition and reform move
ments, to say nothing Of New Years
resolutions, seem to be failing of their
purpose. The country year by year
drinks more liquor and smokes and
chews more tobacco. Worse still, much
Of the smoking consists in the con
sumption of the cigarette.
The fiscal year just closed has bro
ken all previous records in the amount
Of liquor and tobacco consumed. Be
sides, the public is using more oleo-
margarine, renovated butter, process
butter, filed cheese and other "unde-
SRA bles."
The receipts OF Internal revenue for
the fiscal year that closed June 30
amounted to 1863, 664, O22 against $780,
1O2, 1913 for the preceding fiscal year.
Large increases are shown in receipts
for revenue or spirits, tobacco, fer
mented liquors, ol~eomargarine, aduI.
terated butter and renovated butter.
But Tor impressive is the showing
when it Is considered what quantities
Of these various products were manu-
featured. Beer drinking has increased
enormously. The amount Of beer with
drawn for consumption on which reve-
nue. was paid was SO, $40. Ill barrels, or
S,S94,474 barrels more than in the pre-
ceding fiscal year. Expressed In gal
Ions, this Is an increase Of Zig, 8 200
gallons. 1t appears the country has
consumed the enormous total Of 1884,
029,441 gallons of beer in the last fiscal
year. If the country has a population
of 100000 this means that in the
twelve months ending June 80 there
were drunk in the United States an
average of more than twenty gallons
OF beer to every man, woman and
child. This means a high average, but
the internal evenue officials say 1t
was a poor year for beer drinking,
the cold, wet spring driving folks to
strong drink and hurting the beer traf-
&c.
fiscal year ending June was 1874, 1920
gallons, or an increase of II, 400 $50
gallons over the preceding fiscal year.
There was an increase also In spirits
made from apples and other fruits, the
consumption being 1.993,6Ss gallons
against 1,781,644 gallons in the pre-
ceding fiscal year.
busy putting away at the noxious
weed. The country being prosperous,
cigar smoking grew at an amazing
pace. In the fiscal year there were
withdrawn for consumption 51,151,-
862, 12O more cigars of the class weigh
ing over three pounds to the thousand,
an increase ver the previous year Of
1,36S, sos ,917 cigars of that class alone
that is, the public smoked about a
billion and a third more Of these cigars
In the fiscal year just closed than it
did the year before. The increase was
nearly as heavy in cigars weighing
less than three pounds to the thousand.
1t is easy to calculate that the cigar
bill Of the nation is increasing enor
mously. Aside from cigars. the public
chewed and smoked 1863, 1856, 1903 pounds
Of tobacco, an increase of 14,27O,S0
pounds.
In cigarettes the consumption in
creased heavily, the entire number
smoked in the fiscal year ending June
80 being SO high that 1t Is small Won
der the tobacco trust has thrived. 1t
amounted to 5,151,SG2,1 $50, an increase
Of 1865, 595, 917. As to snuff, there
was an increased consumption Of $685.
65S pounds.