Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-02-25
Prohibitions
First Birthday
nv Frederic J. Hnskin.

10 tho Eighteenth Amendment.
IL ia generally admitted that New
yorh ia ahout wide open. With the OK
c.ption of the large hotels. you can buy
drinks I'm nearly all tho old places that
op,ratcd before the 18th Amendment
went into effect. as we'll as In largo
number of new places. Saloons are
again flourishing all over tho city: the
foreign table d"hotes have reinstated
rod ink" on their menus. whilo the
nocket flask has become ubiquitous.
II YOU are wealthy. you carry n neat
losthor-covered flask with a silver. ini-
tailed top and II you are a proletarian
YOU carry n plain glass bottle. often
labeled with some degree of truth
Poison" Sometimes tho flask may be
empty. hut at least you are keeping up
appearances.
The manufacture Of homeorcw has
taken rapid decline since II has be-
como So easy 10 secure supplies from
tho large hootlegging enterprises. De-
livery wagons. carrying huge supplies
~ ssrong liquor for home consumption.
daeh carcessly about the town under
the very noses OF traffic cops. and
case of whisky is dropped OF at your
door as nonchalantly as II II were bot
tie of milk.
The assortment OF liquors Is not as
varied as Il was in the old days OF un-
restricted traffic. the quality is not so
good. and the price Is more than dou-
hled But these drawbacks do not seem
10 dim the public's keen delight In Sc
curing something II isn't supposed 10
have. What the liquor market lacks
IN variety. moreover. the patent medi-
mo market is almost certain 70 sup
plv. Thus. tho cocktail has again re-
turned 20 popular favor since the dis
,ovorS uf "A patent midicine which con-
talns a very fair frade OF vermouth.
Many Down and Ont
Not only - the population Of Man
haitian drinking more excessively than
u ever has drunk before. but the evil
effects ~ excessive drinking are dis
trcssingly apparent. During the past
tx months for instance. alcoholic cases
have doubled in the hospital wards
While Bellevue Hospital of this city
handled 653 victims OF alcoholism be-
tween July ! and December ! Of 1919
Il treated l.l4S during the same period
Tor 1920.
According 70 Commissioner Bird S.
o'ol,i - the Department Of Public We'll
fare. the rrst three months Of prohibit
t.an showed a perpendicular drop. and
i appeared almost as II the millennium
hal arrived.
This IMPRESSION was somewhat mis-
! ,ad.ns says Nj Coler. and. looking
Aack. ! thiuk this due 70 three facts:
'trst the fear put into the people by
many deaths from wood alcohol: sec
nd, the saloons having liquor for sale
were tir!d and took few chances:
Pthird. the hootleggers had not become
81" Wcn oreanized as al present.
The doctors also inform me that the
new typo Of cases is diferent-that
here Is 40 fight IN them-that they
re Just completely DOWN and out and
cry unpleasant T. aaudle."
From the condition of many pa
tlents. picked w unconscious on the
-tTcc;s and taken % Bellevue Hospital.
: IS apparent that much OF the liquor
olI .a The cheaper saloons still contains
wood alcohol. This would Indicate that
the fcar inst!,led into people by the
mortality rate from this poison IS not
IS great a. is imagined. The drug
addict does rot consider the conse-
quenccs when he takes his drug, and
he man who IS a confirmed alcoholic
does not argue about the quality Of the
liquor when il Is offered 70 him. Thus
Bellevue IS not only svamped with de-
4r.um tTemens cases. but with patients
1
.ays Al a stretch. after which follows a
p,riod of hyst,ria. from which they
merge paihtucauy weakened and IN
for work. For wood alcohol does
.o' 4IVays hill or blind rs victim, but
.t never fails 70 have q dangerous effect
non tho brain.
Iu addition 70 the hospitals. the pris-
ons are also showing q tremendous in .
erase in population after a short period
o. the carly part oI 1920 when the
commitment rate noticeahly declined. /
Whether the present state OF unen-
iarced prohibition IS or is not response I
iIo tor this seems 10 be a disputable /
question. The Ants are inclined 10
ilame the entire crime wave on the /
Sth Amendment, while the Pros insist /
that the two are wholly unrelated. In I
support q this contention, they call /
attention 20 the fact that a similar /.
crime wave Is splashing over Europe
where 10 effort has been made 20 re-
strict the free low Of liquor.
Prohlbltionlsts Optimistic.
New York prohibitonists, moreover.
refuse % admit that prohibition has SO
Jar prov ID unsuccessful il New York.
ney point out that liquors OF ali sorts
and descriptions valued al s2T5O.0OO
nave been seized by The authorities and
stored IN impregnable warehouses: that
un6recs Of persons have been arrested
! or violations OF the Volstead Act which
las proved an efflcacious warning 20
,ther would-be violators. and that the
estrictions on the withdrawal OF uouor
re ever becoming more rigid All OF
these things must, in time. they assert.
have their effect.
al these reports about New York
being wide open are greatly exaggerat-
Cd. declared one such optimistic Pro
tho other night, as he went 10 dine
with an Anti. "Of course. il is only 10 |
e supposed that some people would at
tempt 70 break the law-especialIy /
those of the underworld-but they arc
being successfully coInbatted Saloons
have gone. and the distribution Of
liquor has been practically stopped.
except az prohibitive prices"
AZ the Pro hurled this opinion force
fully al his companion. the two debaters
urned into dimly-lighted East Houston
street where there are certain famous
afes. on the pavement before the
diIgy. picturesque doors Of the two OF
hese strode d tall. watchfui policeman.
There. you see" said the Pro. the
,olico are everywhere on the job. Con