The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1911-03-23
RAPID PACE IN TEMPERANCE
World is Forgetting How to Get Drunk
-AncIents Spent Immense Sums
Of Money on Wine.
By JOHN WATSON WHYTEJ

By JOHN WATSON WHYTEJ
The world is nearer real temper
ance today than at any time in It's his.
tory.
Teetotalors may not believe this but
II they read the following they will
realize that the world at least IS for
getting how to get really good and
drunk. The men Of GO or 70 years
ago were great drinkers, but for point
ers on how TO get drunk and spend
money II is necessary to turn 10 the
ancients
Caesar on a certain occasion while
drunk with wine is said to have given
Eutychus, his Charloteer, tip
amounting to $4,000. the largest
money tip on record.
Philip Of Macedon was a drunkard.
He always left the banquet table stag.
gering Alexander the Great. his son,
inherited his weakness for drink. II
took him two days and two nights to
sleep on a banquet lie died Of drink
at the age Of 80.
Dionysius, the younger, tyrant Of ST..
cily, went on sprees which lasted three
months az a time He lost his eyesight
through overindulgence
Nero was in the habit Of sitting at
noon and sticking there until midnight.
eating and drinking all the lime.
Tiberius was a sincere drunkard.
After becoming emperor Of Rome he
was drunk so often that his army
niclnamed him "Biberius," meaning
"tlppler." He had two boon compan.
ions, F1accus and Piso with whom he
went Of sprees. AZ the weeping stage
they deplored the prevalence OF drunk.
enness. Tiberlus was very fond Of
mushrooms. and died from eating the
wrong kind
Nowhere In all the world today win
you find as many confirmed drunkards
as there we're among the Thraclans,
che lberians, the Celts or the Scythi.
ans. The man who didn't get
drunk every day or two was consid.
cred queer.
Eat, drink and amuse yourself All
else is vanity" said Sardanapaus, the
last king OF the Assyrlans, and those
words were written on his tomb.
The Greeks we're moderate drinkers
until they began to copy the luxury Of
the Persian feas.s. The Romans iml
tated the Greeks. Then the whole
world went on saturnalia.
In the beginning no wrong was
thought OF drinking, and the moralists
even advised drink to dispol melan.
choly. Hippocrates upheld drinking
and earnestly advised people to drown
their sorrows In wine.
The Romans carried over indulgence
to an extreme never equaled in an
other age. Gluttony and lntemper-
ance reigned, and huge fortunes we're
spent In single repasts.
OF the many feasts given by Vitelius
not one cost less than $1,000. and his
reign was an almost continuous de-
bauch. Commodus was a notorious
drunkard. and Septimus Severus was
not much better Several died of over
indulgence in the flowing bowl
When Mellogabalus ascended the
throne he had a historographer whose
special task was to record the orgies.
Forty courses day were served at his
feasts. each one Of which cost not less
than 10000 He gave fortunes to new
inventors of drinks.
Apicius spent S3,OOOOOO on rare
wines and dishes. lie went over his
books one day and found he had but
$3.50 900 left. Rather than starve on
such pittance he killed himself Api
cius discovered how to keep oysters
alive during long shipments. For this
he was revered as a demlgod.
Many Of the famous drunkards drank
$500 worth of wine at a single meal
At a little luncheon given to Cicero
and Pompey by Lucullus, $4,000 worth
of wine was consumed by the three
These facts leave no doubt that we
are comparatively sober nowadays.