La Junta tribune., 1909-07-24
BOO ZE L ET S
by A WATER WAGON CONVERT

Booze Is = funny proposition after
all. Men drink booze In the exhu-
berance Of success. and they drink
booze to drown their sorrow. Men
drink tooxe to warm up. and they
drink more booze to cool of. Men
drink booze because some woman
won't marry them. and men drink
booze because some woman has mar
ried them. Men drink for no reason
at all. and no man can give good
reason for drinking. Men drink
because somebody asks them to and
there's saloon handy around the cor
ner. and in many instances neither
the man who tenders the, Invitation
nor the man who accepts II wants
to drink They drink because they
don't know any other way Of being
sociable. Nearly every man has .
desire within his inmost soul to be
considered q good fellow. Good fel-
lows are always popular. and the de-
sire to be popular Is microbe that
infects the human race almost unani.
mously.
Some of our esteemed critics en-
tertain the suspicion that we have
experienced a change OF heart. Their
suspicious are well founded. We
have. We voted dry last fall and
we voted dry again this spring. and
we will continue to vote dry every
time an opportunity Is afforded. II
makes the feat OF riding the water
wagon very easy. and its US for the
water wagon now and always. There
is not = single good thing that ever
came from drink-not one. The in
fluences and associations Of saloon
are wholly and always bad. without 4
single exception. They have not the
saving grace of a single redeeming
feature
We do not make these declarations
from the standpoint OF a prohibition
crank or from the standpoint OF a
booze lighting novice. We have had
twenty-five years experience on the
wa.er wagon-and off again. Some
were long periods and some were
short periods. During that time we
have probably drank enough booze to
float the lattleship Oregon and one
or two minor armored cruisers OF
Uncle Sans navy. We have arrived
at the definite conclusion that there
u nothing In the drink habit but
misery and degradation. and eventual-
~. want-hever has been and never
will be. A man who takes one drink
In Just that much less Of . man
morally. mentally and physically. One
drink calls two. two drinks call
three. and three drinks call five. and
20 on forever world without end.
The only true system h TO drink
never. A man who never drinks
Is better off In every way-feels
better. looks better. attends To the
duties OF his daily avocatiou with
better grace. and In consequence
prospers more. Some men prosper
even though they have the booze
habit. but they would prosper more
had they never acquired II. A man
who drinks is not reliable. You
can not depend upon him. and can
never tell what 10 going to happen.
Just At the time when you need him
most he ID liable to fall Why any
sane and healthy man wili monkey
with bose and thereby jeopardise
home. friends. position and everythins
desirable In life. II one OF the un.
fathomable mysteries.
II we had been 4 psalm. singing
Methodist all our lives and mover
worked outside Of = junk print shop
In Q country town Il might have
been different. Most men. however.
are the creatures Of their environ.
ment and associations. For = good
many years we made . living BY set.
ting type on daily newspapers all
over the country-from Chicago west
70 tho Pacific coast Twenty.seven
Year, ago this summer we were set.
ting type on the Salt Lake City
Daily Tribune. There were not many
prohibitioniSts working on daily news
papers . quarter Of = century AGO
from the editor.ln.chicf down to the
press room. Eugene Field. In one