The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-09-24
v c. I. j. DEPARTMENT
Mrs. f. Van Hood, Editor
AND CHEMICAL TEN
PERANCE
\ Department of the w. c. L. L.

by Mrs. VI. J. Sullivan, of Belleview,
at the district W. c. T. L. conven-
ton, held at DunneIlon, last month,
and by request was read at the meet
ing OF the Ocala union on Tuesday:
So obvious and powerful an argu-
ment in favor of total abstinence
from Intoxicating drinks as that sur
nished by their injury to health, was
not likely to be long overlooked by
the founders of the w. c. T. T..
In oIden times drunkenness was
regarded either as the result of
weakness of the head, that is inabil-
ity to stand the liquor; or the effect
of deliberate indulgence therein, and |
the man who could carry the most |
alcohol without staggering or STAN
mering was regarded as man of |
great head power, and among his
companions was treated with distin- |
guished honor. AS Robert Burns |
has it: ''Wha last beside his chair
shall ia; he is the king amang us
ALL"
To drink deep without drunken
ness was an accomplishment most
nightly coveted by men in all grades
of society. Old admirers of that dis
tinguished Massachusetts statesman,
Daniel Webster, will not fail to re
member that along with his peerless
fame as 1.-The defender of the consti-
| tuition" there was often coupled this
other distinguished honor co,
namely, "Old Dan. can carry more
brandy than any other man in Amer
lea
In those days the ruinous effects
of alcohol upon the physical consti-
tuition were regarded as among the
common ills of mankind, and the
verdict of a coroner's jury of per-
son who suddenly died in drunken
debauch would be, ''Died of the visi-
! tation of God" Such view of such
a case implies not only the most alb
soIute blindness to the crime of
/ drunkenness, but a dense ignorance
of the laws of health as affected by
alcoholic drinks. No less useful was
liquor thought to be for comfort and
consolation in times of severe mental
distress. SIS any merry" says ST.
Paul, ''let him sing psalms. If any
among you afflicted, let him pray"
But this also, if one might judge
from the common practice, had been
varied so as to read, ''Is any merry?
let him drink punch and toddy; is
any afflicted? let him drink brandy
and Hollands. But at length some
of the medical profession in our own
more than loved America, Land
of the free and home of the brave
Standing as she does today for
peace, while our brothers across the
waters are in the midst of war, the
and what for? Echo answers, BE
cause God alone is just" while man
is vile. Well, these noted NJ. DIS. be-
gan to study the effects of alcohol
| upon the muscular and nervous sys-
TENS, and in 1894, DR.. Rush publish
ed a volume of medical inquiries in
to the effects of ardent spirits upon
the body and mind, and in that early
day preached the doctrine of tota
abstinence as the only safeguard
against intemperance. Then the
war against this theory began be
tween the doctors, some declaring al
cohol to be healthy stimulant aid
ed digestion and toned up the nerves
but others abandoned all argumen
from the old medical authoritie
and commenced to observe for them
selves. 1t was not long before it wa
| discovered that alcohol taken int
the system was neither digested it
self, nor did it help in the digestion
of anything else, but that after fyins
about along the nerves, and otter
into the brain, it was demonstrated
once for all that alcohol was not ;
food and on this ground the tenn
perance men intrenched themselves
and prepared for further advance
/ 1t was in 1912, I believe, in th'
midst OF the early success of the
Washingtonian movement that DR.
| Thomas SeweH, professor of pathol
ogy in the College of Columbia, d
c., published a series of colored dia
grams taken from drawings made a:
the result of the dissections of the
stomachs of drunkards who haC
died in different degrees of alcoholic
| diseases. These plates were readily
Endorsed by DR.. Warren, of Boston
| DIR. Mott of New York and DR.. Hor
ner Of Philadelphia, and form the
II basis of a considerable lecture sys
tenn on the hygenic questions con
nected with the temperance reform
They did good service in the early