The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-11-17
THE eLlDDEN TOUR
(Finis.)

pixies and while passing through
some of the towns and cities; the diff
fculties we found in passing over
some of the swollen streams: the per-
lis encountered in climbing down the
mountain sides in a rainstorm, and,
in many instances, of the many mar
row and miraculous escapes, all of
which we remembered and recounted
without a culver, but the last item in
our note-book-the subject Of liquid
refreshments"-we approach with
considerable trepidation and misgiv-
ing for fear that the mentioning of
the same may arouse and provoke
criticism, but as a faithful and truth
full chronicler of events we do not see
how we are to let this phase of the
journey escape unnoticed.
So far as we could observe liquid as
well as solid refreshments were in ev-
idence in one place the same as an
other, and whether the state, the
county or the city was wet" or dry"
it made no particle of difference in
the program, if one had the price.
All along the route. from New York
City to the Florida line, if one desired
liquid refreshments of any variety,
brand or quantity, he had no difficulty
in having his wants promptly sup
piled.
We make one exception. At Sails
bbury, n. c., the hotel proprietor said
that one would have to sign a card to
the fictitious membership of a club
John Smith, Bill Jones, or any old
name, would do.
Yet, despite the fact that liquors Of
any description or any quantity were
so easily obtainable, and the long
jaunt was an unusual one, we remem-
Der to have seen no intoxicated per-
son on the entire trip.
Despite the further fact that the
census reports show that the United
States leads all naions in the total
consumption of malt liquors, wines
and distilled spirits, with an enor-
nous total of 2,045, 900 gallons, we
think that there must be some mis-
take in the figures. That while these
large quantities were manufactured,
part of them, at least. must have
been exported to some of our foreign
possessions.
Eliminating, if one may, the tremen-
dous and continuous work of Chris
tian and temperance workers, espe-
cially in the south, there have been
other forces at work that have operat-
ed in bringing about a great degree CT
sobriety in these later years.
A person addicted to the drink hab-
it can no longer obtain employment in
any railway or express company, or
in any of the great business houses
or manufacturing concerns of the
country. Sobriety is one of the pre-
requisites to obtaining employment.
We agree with the observations Of
the Macon Telegraph and Galveston
News in the observations which fol-
low:
Drunkenness has become rarer
than it used to be, and, what is more,
and probably one of the causes of
that fact, drunkenness incurs a heav-
Ter social and economic penalty than
il used to. A good many men who,
twenty years ago, were inclined to re-
gard spree as merely venting OF
mans vigor, and therefore fit to ex-
cite only feelings of amusement, If
not indeed of admiration, now look on
drunkenness as beastly. The point
of view has been changed and elevat-
ed
Many causes have contribut-
ed TO produce this effect The chief
of them probably is the growing in
sistence on the part of business men
on the sobriety of their employees.
Where drunkenness brings certain
dismissal, and even a habit of using
liquors puts an employee under dis
trust, there is a very compelling ar
gument, not merely for habits of So
Ibriety, but for total abstinence.
Doubtless, too, this growth in sobrie-
" is due in large measure to the
growth of the average intelligence,
which enables men to appreciate both
the demoralizing consequences OF
drinking. the impairment of efficien-
CIV and ruin of health which it causes,
as well as the utter futility and We
nality of II.
LAS every man of years and long
memory is aware, there has in truth
been a remarkable growth in sobriety
in the United States during the course
of a generation. And as our Gal
weston contemporary intimates, this
is due to the changed attitudes of
society and to the impelling demands
of business rather than to any or
I