New-York tribune., 1918-05-17
How Prohibition
Causes Typhoid Fever

Among the reasons why America
should be warned by the example of
West Virginia and avoid prohibition,
Thomas R. Evans, physician, of
Acme, W. Va, points out that when
young men turn from beer and wine
to water and milk the typhoid
bacillus robs the army of its men.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: A state is almost perfect copy
of our national government, and the
result of national prohibition would
most probably be the same, or less
efficient than under a prohibitory
state government, the bad results Very
/ ing with the. geography of state and
i. character of it's people.
For instance. West Virginia has had
| the labors of state and national olfi-
| GERS, "of a kind" in the attempt to
enforce prohibition, but illicit distil-
leries have fiourished for years there.
! With the premium on alcohol caused
by national prohibition the woods
would be full of distiheries, and the
states would not receive much, if any,
assistance from the national govern
ment, because such government would
receive no revenue. West Virginia has
for several years been a so-called pro
hibition state, yet, as a physician, |
think drunkenness has not decreased,
but, under the legal Tantalus of "a
quart month";" has increased.
'Insatiate, to the flask fly.
| drink, but am forever dry"
The amount of typhoid fever is ab-
| normal, and as this is cause of long
sickness and death, usually among
young men. the economic loss and the
loss to the army, since for many years
we are to be military nation, is a
serious matter Some cases of this
disease seem undoubtedly due to pol
| luted milk and water.
| But for prohibition many young men
would not drink SO much water, or
milk, but instead would drink beer and
wine, which ordinarily do not contain
the germ of typhoid fever.
From my experience as assistant
physician in sanitaria for the treat
ment Of the whiskey habit in prohibi-
ton communities, l found prohibition
to be an evil. | have served in san-
taria for alcoholism in four states. and
I have never seen in the non-prohibi-
| ton states such direful effects of
| drunkenness.
Sanitaria for the whiskey and drug
habit do not usually thrive in nom
prohibition states. or sections.
of prohibition is as the red flag to the
bull, and much of the dislike of a host
of Germans in the United States for
the United States is q reflex Of the
prohibition propaganda. Hence, Grim
inalty from spite has caused some
destruction Of property. Not that they
loved the Kaiser less, but because they
loved Gambrirus more.
Beer. like coffee or tea. is physi-
illogical EXETER. 1t is a mild physio-
logical excitement for the average man
to look at q handsome woman. or for
the average woman to look at the tall,
handsome man. Analogous to the pro-
| hibitionist, the Postum people spend
thousands of dollars fighting coffee.
The word "neurasthenia" is of Amer
ican origin. That condition is next to
insanity. New York City is crowded
with Inconsistencies. From insane hos
pital statistics in the United States, the
Italian, drinking wine and beer and
living on a most simple diet, is al
most immune to insanity
Drive the American people to the
drinking OF worse whiskey than many
Of them drink in New York, drive
them to more morphine and cocaine,
drive them to drinking soft drinks, by
prohibition, and you will have soft
pated people,
So it is not strange to me that the
New England states, or even the City
/ of New York, tends towards prohibi-
tion of whiskey. For their whiskey is
usually red, instead of amber colored.
They seem to fail to use the "waters"
of Kentucky, of which an abundance
remains. although there is no fire un
der the still.
THOMAS r. EVANS. MD
Are These the Reasons
For Saving Liquor
From "The Sunny Corner" up in
East Norwalk, Conn.,, Roswell A.
Benedict has summed up the arp,-
ments against prohibition as thew
have impressed him during month
of The Tribune's liquor forum.
| To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Az radical prohibition;st. tho
writer has been much, interested In the
| symposium of opinion on the xuhiect
/ to which The Tribune has been 30 pub-
| lie spiritediy devoting valuable news
sraca az lata. There seems "a i. .hcmt