The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1912-06-19

that we thought our readers would en-
JOY it. Mrs. Vaught objected seriously
to its being published, but our argu-
ments finally prevailed and she reluct-
antly gave her consent:-EDIToR-
MADAM PREsIDENT:-I wish to say in
the beginning. that while not opposed to
women speaking or reading in public, ]
seriously doubt its expediency. or |
might say its value to us, except in so
far as il might improve our ability 10 do
the things that are imposed upon US as
wives, mothers, housekeepers, or to
make it more useful to others, or to en-
able us 10 better perform our civic duty.
In saying this. do not propose for a
minute, TO have you believe that | think
men are more competent to speak or to
express an idea than we are. But his
relation to the community is altogether
different from ours, from his every en-
vironment Public matters and ques-
tons are constantly the subject of dis
cussion, while hats, bonnetS. children,
home, in its many and varied aspects.
are ours to discuss On the other hand,
however, am persuaded that to be use
full, TO reach the highest points of our
opportunities, or to do something worth
while. it is well for the sake of our own
families, even did we not owe something
to the community at large, to give at
least some attention TO the many drugs,
food adulteration and drinks, that
scheming manufacturers have put upon
the market. Especially do these adul-
terations flourish in towns and cities
that have voted saloons out, for men
must have. it seems, some form of slim
ulation, running all the way from gin
ger ale to wiskey, or from cigarettes to
"long green" as they call native grown
tobacco. Then, if this is the case, it is
wei for us to use what influence we
have 10 prevent complete destruction Of
him, or at least to make it as slow a
process as possible. To this end, have
been asked to say something on the
Coca Cola habit Ii is questionable
whether there exists such a thing to-
day as Coca-Cola habit That is if we
mean by habit our inability to do with
out the drug TO which we are addicted
From my limited observation, there are
no addicts that cannot get along with
out his or her daily rashion Of Coca
Cola. Yet from the great and ever
growing use of this beverage, it might
seem that we would be taking advanced
ground, were we 10 say, that there is no
habit forming in the use of Coca Cola
l wish TO make this point plain, l mean
this: That had you been drinking
Coca Cola, for say a year or more, the
deprivation OF it would have no appre-
ciable results, not more, any way, than
the withdrawal of tobacco, coffee or tea.
Yet, there are millions of glasses of this
drink consumed each and every day, so
there are millions of cigars, thousands
of pounds of coffee, tea, and tobacco
used daily. While all of these indul-
gencieS might be said to be habits, we
hardly pay any attention to the man
when he smokes, or TO the woman when
she drinks her coffee. Then. if these be
classed as habits, we are all guilty, or
at least with few exceptions. We, as
class of people, are ever restless, seek
ing something out of the ordinary
When we find it, we set about trying to
convert Others to our way of thinking.
and if our way means dissipation, if it
means the taking Of something that en-
larges our feeling of self-importance,
our feeling of well-being, without too
much expense of money, and less of
energy-we have converts by the score
Such are the conditions, ia my opinion,
that has led up to the wide and uni
versal use of Coca-Cola. 1t stimulates
us and makes us feel the better, or at
least, we think so, thinking so, we act
| am told that the man who invented
the formula of Coca-Cola, was beaten
out of ii, or at least that he realized but
a pittance for it, while the stock to-day
is more valuable than Standard Oil,
Steel, or any other high paying stock.
This, we see has been done by its al
most universal use. and from the fact
that it stimulates us. We have occa-
sionally heard the statement that il
keeps US awake if taken at night, yet
the experience Of those who use the
most of it, is that they sleep with or
without Coca-Cola, while some of us
don't sleep, who never drink Coca Cola.
Il all depends upon our health and
strength. 1t really brings us to that old,
but true law of the Survival Of the fit
test" The weak don I sleep well, don't
eat well, don't digest we'll, don't feel
well, they pass out, while the strong
survive, either when using Coca Cola, or
when using the more dangerous drinks
and drugs l noticed some time ago
trial in the United States Court,
case of Henry A. Rucker VS.. Coca-Cola
Company, where the Coca-Cola Com
pany sought TO recover taxes assessed on
it, as proprietary medicine, under the
war tax law Of 1898. The president Of
the company, testified under oath, that
kola nuts and coca leaves we're used in
its preparation. Chemists testsfied that
it contained caffeine and cocaine. the
latter in exceedingly small quantities.
One chemist stated that an ordinary
drink Of coca-cola would contain about
one and one-haif grains caffeine and
about lIaoo or Of cocaine Recently the
Coca-C Cola Company has been claiming
that the preparation contains no cocaine
Whether this means that they were not
telling the truth at that time OF are not
doing so now, or whether perhaps the
cocaine formerly contained in the pre-
parations has been left ont. is question
Since it hae been shown that each
drink Of coca-cola contains an ordinary
dose Of caffeine, watch as you know is
the active principle Of coffee, and since
we believe that most all people crave
stimulants, and in fact propose to have
them, they no doubt believe that posi-
IDLY The drinking Of coca-cola is about
lhe easiest and certainly the most plea