The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-06-23
We No Longer Laugh at Drunkards.

trolley car and sprawled on the seat.
When the conductor came for his fare
he fumbled in his pockets, but found
no money. Ie was apparent that he
had no clear idea of where he was
going, or why he had taken the street
car. ".>. %.
He was dazed, bewildered-for the
time being a lunatic.
The conductor. rather than have a
fight and terrify the other passengers,
many of whom were women, rang up
the drunken mans fare. That meant
paying it out of his own pocket. The
conductor did not laugh at his help
less passenger. 1t vas a hopeful
sign that none Of the passengers
laughed.
fortunately, drunkenness is now
seldom treated as a joke. The trag-
edy Of it is understood. ("
Men and women who see a man,
maudlin and staggering on his way
home to terrify his children and dis
tress his wife, can see nothing funny
in his antics. ....
They think of what his home COM
Ing will mean; they understand the
pathetic failure that he has made of
life. And they would as soon laugh
at a maniac, escaped from an asylum,
and gibbering his meaningless rub
bish that bespeaks the ruined mind.
As men become more intelligent
and o civilized drunkenness will
die out altogether. 1t was once con
sidered' quite proper for United States
Co~o&Or, a~,;Donf 1o-,arc 0uon
judges on the bench, to bring on
themselves the temporary insanity
that comes with intozication.
Stories of their behavior when
under the influence of liquor were
told and laughed at.
To-day a drunken man in public
life Is rare. Instead Of being laughed
at he is held in horror. Few people
laugh when they hear anecdotes Of
his drunken conduct.
In business employers have discov.
cred that a drunken. man, however
brilliant, Is not to be compared with
a sober man. The topper is given
short shrift. A second offense usually
results in his looking for another
job.
r., The belief that certain things, not
ably public speaking, could be done
by some men better when a little
drunk than when sober has been ut
terly exploded. It has been found
that If a man can make a tolerable
speech after three or four drinks he
can make a far better speech after no
drinks at all. .a
In cases where liquor does loosen
the tongue it loosens it too much, and
the drunkard babbles things Of his
own or his employers business that
makes him bitterly repent when he is
sober.
As for the poor dipsomaniac, who
drinks to forget, it would be as wrong
to laugh at him as it would to laugh
at the consumptive, totter;ng feebly
toward the grave. He has made a
wreck of his life: worse still, he has
probably wrecked the innocent lives
of dependents, broken the heart of a
mother or wife, left children to strug-
gle with the world unequipped to
make a living for themselves. t.
Such a man is not a joke-he is a
terrible human tragedy. He needs
help and sympathy, rather than good
natured contempt.
On the stage drunkenness Is no
longer considered ludicrous. Illus
trated jokes about drunkards, once
numerous in magazines, are now dis
appearing. And liberation for the
drunkards themselves in actual life
Is becoming less and less common.
We are really making progress. A
hundred years ago idiots and luna.
tics, the most horrible of human spec
tacles, were laughed at. Now they
are cared for kindly, and given all
the help that can be given while they
live out their blank, dreadful lives.
To-day we are beginning to thind@
of drunkards in the same way. s
not even unthinking children
laugh at them as they reel by
street.-Editorial by Arthur
bane, in the New York Even
nal.