The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-08-07
Drink HABIT GROWS.
Americans Are Great Consumers
of Alcohol.
ENORMOUS WASTE OF MONEY
Internal Revenue Receipts Show That
Nearly Two Billion Barrels Of Beer
Wore Drunk Last Year-Sales Of
Whisky Also Increased.

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 evenue
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 i'll 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 80
amounted t $500. 664 .O22 against $780,
1O2, 1873 for the preceding fiscal year.
Large increases are shown in receipts
for revenue on spirits, tobacco. fer,
mented liquors, oleonargarine, adu!.
terated butter and renovated butter.
But more 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, 546. Ill barrels, or
3,S94,474 barrels more than in the pre-.
ceding fiscal year. Expressed in gall
Ions, this is an increase Of 116,S33,22 ~
gallons. 1t appears the country has
consumed the enormous total Of 1874
929,441 gallons of beer in the last fiscal
year. If the country has a population
of 9O.O00,C0O this means that In the
twelve months ending June 30 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 revenue officials say It
was a poor year for beer drinking.
the cold. wet spring driving folks to
strong drink and hurting the beer traf-
fc.
The consumption of whisky in the
fiscal year ending June was 1874, 142, O14
gallons, or an increase of 11,4O9.2JH
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 ISL GA gallons in the pre-
ceding fiscal year.
Along with drinking folks nave beer
f busy putting away at the noXiou!
weed. The country being prosperous
: cigar smoking grew at an amazin:
+ pace. In the fiscal year there wer'
withdrawn for consumption 51,1Jl.
: S62, 100 more cigars of the class weigh
ing over three pounds to the thousand
| an increase over the previous year OF
j. 1.36S. 595,917 cigars of that class alone
that is, the public smoked about 8
. billion and a third more of these cigars
in the fiscal year just closed than II
did the wear 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
chewel and smoked 1863. 1S6,3O3 pounds
Of tobacco. an increase of 14.21O,S0l
pounds.
In cigarettes the consumption in,
creased heavily, the entire number
smoked in the fiscal year ending June
80 being SO high that it is small Won
der the tobacco trust has thrived. II
amounted tt 5,151.S62, 100, an increase
of 1865 95,917. AS to snuff, there
was an increased consumption of SOB.
exc Mounds