The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-09
BEST PREPAREDNESS
'fBanish Cocktails Says Society Wo-
 man of Philadelphia.


 man of Philadelphia.
 There can be no compromise with | liquor if America is to be ready to |
 ace an emergency of war, and if she | is to be prepared to defend her honor. | One of the first steps in national pre- 1 paredness is to banish liquor, and the | place to begin this punishment is in 1 the upper circles of society, whose ex- 1 ample is followed by people of lesser l wealth.
 In this courageous fashion spoke Mrs. Joseph M Gazzam, society leader of the city of Philadelphia, re- gently. She had invited to her home | a company of friends and acquain- i tances to discuss and consider the drinking and cigarette habits of the so-cal1ed higher classes of society. The | subject was presented by Miss Abbie Suth erland, principal of the Ogontz school, where hundreds of debutantes have received their education. She spoke impressively of the sin of so- ciety against young girls in lowering their ideals and putting them in the position of having to accept or to re- fuse cocktails and wine at almost eV- cry social function they attend.
 The effect of these strong words is said to have been instantaneous. No one attempted to defend the drinking and smoking habits. No one denied that they exist. In a report or the occasion which appeared in the Phila- delphia North American, written by
 Rose D. Weston, Mrs. Gozzam is re- ported to have said in discussing the meeting:
 etAn that society needs today is someone to lead the way. There is half-shamed consciousness of the evil 1 in everyone's mind. We are all in our l hearts against the drink habit. The 1 temperance wave which has swept the 1 world has penetrated to society, and 1 it finds itself uneasy under the accusa- | ton of drinking. It is eager to get ria i of it for it's own peace of mind, butt it | takes courage to go against the tide. 1 It is easier to drink than not to drink. l The octopus which we find spreading 1 it's tentacIes throughout every walk of 1 life has a strong hold, but believe 1 the present war and the need of na- | tiona1 safety and preparedness in this | country is going to loosen that hold. l My chief concern today is for the young men and wo, ten, the boys and l girls, who will be the future defenders of our country. We must give them high ideals, strong heads, straight-see-
 ing eyes. We cannot let them fritter away strength, physical and moral, drinking cocktails and smoking cig- arettes.''
 .'I would not dare to give a drink to any one of the boys or girls who come } to my home,' said Mrs. Gazzan1, earn estly., ''I would be afraid of what ] ) might be awakening, of what might l be paving the way for. We have nc right to put our girls in the position g of having to refuse drinks when they
 go out to take their places in society r They come to us from their finishing 3 schools and colleges fresh and eager = and excited with life, and in the flusf = of it all they are likely to do wha ' others do, unless they have beer l. warned and unless they have unusual s ly strong characters and high ideals |, we are criminal to put the choice $ of being temperate or intemperate LII ), to such young people, and we hav'
 no right to expect them to withstand s temptation when they see elder per r sons on all sides of them succumbing :, How are the boys to be prepares n to defend the country if they ar s forming drinking habits? How cal d they make good doctors, good exc @ cutives, good business men if we 1e e them impair their faculties when the, Lt1 are young? And how can we expec e girls to make good nurses, god hospi d tai administrators, and able to do tn
 home work, if there is @ war, if w l. encourage them to dring and snok s now. Sobriety is the Fundamental o it preparedness, and the only safe an, k sane way to sobriety is total abstin ' ence. You would be surprised hoy l. many men and women who have beel s. accustom ed to drinking think this wa; s, and have stopped. As have said be l. fore, they are simply waiting fo
 someone to show them the way t tt temperance.
 r. Since meeting at my house, I hav '' received innumerable letters com = nending the move and expressing tn IS wish that it will not be abandoned n One letter has especially fntereste e me. It came from the head of a bi d reformatory for girls, and the messag y it bore showed me like a, flash tn It society woman's resp onsibility for tn e morals of the working girls. The hea
 of this institution wrote that she wa e glad to hear of the meeting, as it vii h help her in her work. The girls wh ,t Hare brought to her for various of s lenses always answer when she tell d them they should not drink:
 "' Why shouldn't I drink? Don it the society women do it?' g
 y- My interest in this temperanc s movement dates some six years back, $ said Mrs. Gazzam. ''I have a youn d dauSSater in society, and two boys il J. college. and I do not want to hay 3, them brought in contact with an e more temptations than are necessar a and I want to rouse other women t
 feel the same. e.'-U1rfon Signal