The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-06
by Emma l.. Transcau, In National
Daily

by Emma L. Transcau, In National
Daily.
All who have read Jack London's
John Barleycorn' or have seen II on
the screen viii be strongly reminded
Of his cry IS OF one bruised" as they
read In the papers of his sudden
death
He died before the MONDAY OF his
life, as one paper puts it, in spite of
his belief that no was a strong and
seasoned drinker. that his "unmerited
/ luck of chest and shoulder and constt
tuition" had kept him alive through his
unusually heavy. drinking. But he
told US even then, three years ago. that
, never again could he run with the
slcdgc dogs along the endless miles
! OF Arctic trail Never again could he
swing dizzily aloft and trust all the
! proud quick of him TO q single rope
| clutch in the driving hlackness of
/ storm He knew that he would "soon
I be gone, and he was then not forty.
! The cause OF lack London's sud-
/ den and premature death Is given in
! the newspaper reports as urenia, a
| kidney disease. We have statistics
| and estimates based upon statistics
/ placing alcohol as an important or
! contributory cause of kidney djsea SO
in from 25 to 80 per cent of the
/ deaths therefrom. We have German
| experimental work showing the effects
| of alcohol in producing demonstrable
! irritation OF the kidneys and the
| opinion OF specialists that ii Is an i'm
| portant cause. Some writer's have
! thrown doubt on this opinion by citing
the small proportion of diseased kid
| neys found in post mortem of alco-
! holes. Hultigen, for example. I9109
! found only IA per cent of morbid kid
ney changes In post norton examina-
lions of 46i alcoholics.
! The objection is easily answered ::
! The injurious effects are shown by
| the weakest organs or by those upon
| which IT brings the greatest strain. In
| his exultation that he could outdrink
| the hardest of old drinkers, Jack Lon
don was thinking only of his brain.
| His almost superhuman will enabled
| him to keep up and keep going when
! others collapsed The next day he
! paid for 1t in the after effects which
( showed that somewhere his body was
/ being poisoned. His death comes
early in that mortuary decade of the
tfrtnker-the years between forty and
| fifty
Jack London's John Barleycorn"
| was a valuable contribution to anti
! alcohol literature for two reasons: It
upset the theory that would relieve al
| cohol of any considerable responsible
| ity for alcoholism. and 1t showed the
! barbarism of the eternal accessibility
OF alcohol
| Not only did the popular author
| have no indication OF any inherited
weakness, either physical or mental,
but ne was exceptionally virile In both
| respects. He had such a normal dis
| like for alcohol that it took twenty
| years TO establish a craving for It. He
| had such strong physical tolerance Of
| II that he could astonish the seasoned
! drinker. But II got him and got him
young.
If there was any characteristic that
| laid him specially open to alcoholic
| temptation ii was his socia blllty--a
| lovable trait in man or woman. He
! enjoyed the company and the good
opinion OF his fellowmen and the trag-
edy OF his life was that he was obliged
10 join in the drinking he met in all
| classes with whom he came in contact
| in order TO enjoy the sociability his
| nature craved 1t was that which
| fnally- decided him to continue to
drink more skillfully and dtscreetly
| than ever before" but still to drink
on occasion. because he had all his
life been trained to like the company
| OF men who made time pass lightly
with glass IN hand"
Rut he did not want his children to
grow UP In an alcoholic world. IF
! seem TO cry out" he wrote, please
remember that ! have been sorely
bruised and that do dislike the
thought that any son or daughter of
mine or yours should be similarly
bruised"
And so. on one election day he rode
ITO the polling place and voted for
woman's suffrage because he thought
the women would legislate for the ba-
bies yet to be born as men never would
and that they would vote the saloon
out OF existence.
Ii was three or more years ago
when he penned those lines. and he