Arizona republican., 1911-05-15
FEATS OF OLD TOPERS.
World Is Nearer Real Temperance To-
 day Than Any Time in History.

The world is nearer real temperance today than at any time in its history says the Chicago Inter ocean. Teetotal- CTS may not believe this, but if they read the following they will realize that the world at least is forgetting how to get really good and drunk" There are few persons who have gained repu- tations for the amount of food and drink they babitually consume. but only a few in comparison with previous generations, this is a most Obstemious age The men of 50 or 70 years ago were great drinkers. but for pointers on how to get drunk and spend money it is necessary to turn to the ancients.
 Caesar on a certain occasion, while drunk on wine, is said to have given Eutchyus. his chariOteer, a tip amount ing to SSO,0O0. the largest money tip on record. The most reckless of our mod ern millionaires thinks he's making an awful splash when he tips his chauf- feur a s2O note.
 One of the Caesars fed his charger on wine and barley in a golden vase. one of his dinners cost half million dollars. His supper bill for four months was $2O,O00,O00
 Phillip of Macedon was a drunkard. He always left the banquet table stag gering. Alexander the Great, his son, inherited the weakness for drink. It took him two days and two nights to sleep off a royal jag. He died of drink at the age of 32.
 Dionysius the Younger, tyrant of Si- ely. went on sprees which lasted three months at a time. He lost his eye sight through over-indulgence.
 Nero was in the habit of sitting down at noon and sticking there until midnight, eating and drinking all the time.
 Tiberius was a sincere drunkard. After becoming emperor of Rome he was drunk so often that his army nicknamed him "Biberius,' meaning "tippler" He had two pals, FTaccus and Piso, with whom he went on sprees. At the weeping stage they deplored the prevalence of drunkenness.
 One time Tiberius had vacancy for the Quaestorship and there were many applicants for the job. The man who got it drank a whole pitcher of strong wine which Tiberius himself had filled. The successful applicant had neither position nor pull" but Tiberius said the man who could drink that amount of wine was the man for the place.
 Tiberius was as crazy about eating as drinking. He gave Sabinus sS,00o for writing a sketch in which an oyster, thrush and a mushroom figured as characters. Tiberius was very fond of mushrooms and died from eating the wrong kind.
 Nowhere in all the world today will you find as many confirmed drunkards as there were among the Thracians, the Iberians, the Celts or the Scythians. The man who didn't get drunk every day or two was regarded as queer.
 Eat, drink and amuse yourself. All else is vanity" said Sardanapalus, the last king of the Assyrians. and those words were written on his tomb.
 The ancients were so fond of drink that their most popular god was Bac- GUS. Their feats in honor of Baccus, Venus and Saturn were char9 cterized by debauches from which the most ad vanced inebriates would shrink in hor TOT and disgust. The average gour mand of Athens or Rome ate and drank more in a single day than we do in a week
 The antiquity of drunkenness is not known, but one of the most ancient ac- counts of a jag is that of Lot, which is told in the Book of Genesis. The Persians, were famous drunkards in the old days.
 The Greeks were moderate drinkers until they began to copy the luxury of the Persian feasts. The Romans imi tated the Greeks. Then the whole world went on a mad drunk. It was a saturnalia.
 In the beginning no wrong was thought of drinking and the moralists even advised drink to dispel melan- choly. Hippocrates upheld drinking and earnestly advised people to drown their sorrows in wine.
 When shall we live if not now?" was the giddy advice of the sober Seneca.
 The Romans carried indulgence to an extreme never equaled in another age. GuttOny and intemperance reigned and huge fortunes were spent in single | 
 Claudius was noted for the rare | wines he served. He often had 600 | guests at his table. Like Tiberius, he ]