La Junta tribune., 1910-03-05
va. never fond Of re.dins; NY ersnp

~ ~ A$SOs A0AA0 ~ tV94sAA0s ~
ed quarters were smali and stufty:
! belonged to no clubs; and the few
family friends had were usually en-
gagged In the evening. soon got
over my prejudice against "gilded gin
palaces" and learned to like cocktails
and nearly every other form OF ~
cohol But the use OF such beverages
had not become habituAl with me.
It was not necessity. merely lux.
ary. which enjoyed keenly-for ~
association more than for itself and
which l did not abuse. 1T II not
the use but the abuse that y evil"
used to tell myself. quoting char
acter In one OF DIR. Weir Mitchelrs
books.
Later. however. while living At
clubs and dining out frequently. 1
got into the way Of consuming more
or less alcohol every day. took It
AS a matter OF course. .as one partakes
OF dessert. coffee. tobacco. did
not give the matter much thought.
except to look upon dining with peo.
pie who had nothing to drink upon
their tables as something of bore.
like being deprived OF the pleasure
Of smoking after dinner: and usually
when such was to be my fate. drop
ped in at the club, on my way. for .
cocktail or two. l became. In time,
rather wise in wines. learned q good
deal about their vintaGes. was fas-
tidious about their temperature and
handling. was considered some
thing OF connoiseur. To this day.
believe. there is in one Of the best
known bars In the country a certain
cocktail that bears my name. l
used to be rather proud OF that honor
too. 1t is rather curious that one
who began by hating cocktails should
end by giving one his name.
Occasional intoxieation Physieaiiy
Less harmful Than Daily Modsr-
ate Drinking.
To those accustomed to the moral
literature OF alcohol II may seem
high time to tell how the thing grew
upon me-" how. gradually. almost
imperceptibly. my daily potations In.
creased. until at last ! found myself
in the full clutches Of the demon
Rum. But have no such story to
tell. remained moderate drinker.
somewhat more moderate one. In
fact. as I grew older, and certainly
much wiser one AS TO indiYestible
mixtures. No cause is helped BY
lying about H. Nine out OF ten
moderate drinkers do not fill drunk.
ards graves. They remain moderate
drinkers. or stop entirely. may
as well say. once for all. that l have
never been completely under the In.
fluence of alcohol in my life. Such
is not the moral OF these confessions.
But have a moral. or else would
not make them, which may also be
valuable. At any rate. II is more ap.
plicable to the vast majority who like
me. have been daily moderate drink
ers for years and complacently con.
slider themselves sensible In this mat.
ter.
I do not hesitate to affirm that
what had been doing all these years
was physically speaking only worse
than II l had got thoroughly drunk
once in a while. like some of my
friends. and the rest OF the time re.
NAMED. like them. 'on the water
wagon I do not refer. Of course, to
the moral or social effects OF occa.
sional drunkenness, or OF what II may
lead to In the way Of habituzl drunk.
enness. other vices. and sometimes
crimes. Physically speaking. ocoa.
sionai intoxication may. as certain
scientists declare. have a certain ben.
eft at times; but daily drinking Is
amost Invariably harmful. The aver.
age liver and nervous system can as.
simulate only Il certain rather small
amount OF alcohol each twenty.four
hours. For some years ! had been
giving mine just . little more than
WAS good for them. practically every
day. with none Of the complete relax.
alton. the new lease Of life. sometime
though not often fancy-produc'
ed by intoxication upon the overwork'
ed mentalities.
This view Of the matter had never
even occurred to me. knew that
the Highly coIored charts exhibited To
us In school days were misleading
ms. indeed. they were.-and 40 ! had
nusumed that the 0nlv real evil of