Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-02

Yivial cheer. She DIR. MUNCIE.
is a jolly person, -
with a silvery hair bob and a live-and'
let.live laugh pleasant to hear.
INV father" DIR. Muncie goes on,
twas the first doctor in washington
to destroy his cellar of homemade
wines in the temperance movement
that started nearly 70 years ago. he
was convinced, as l am, that sucn
beverages are harmful, even when
taken at table, and that a drinker
reaches the middle-life breakdown be.
fore he is past his first pubescent
period"
Physicians prescribe brandy or
whisky, says Dr. Muncie, because II
is convenient, though strychnia and
other drugs are better to increase
heart action or raise the body tenn
perature.
Cites Gray-Snyder Case.
Because some people have enough
stamina to resist the action Of alcohol
longer than others, is no proof 1t is
good for the human system. Alcohoi
directly destroys the oxygen In the
blood. Without oxygen the chemistry
of the system becomes perverted.
"Toxins result. These not only IN
terfere with the process of nutrition
but prevent normal mental ADJUST
ments. Comes alcoholic psychosls,
which NAV be either Of a depressant
or exhilarative order. This follows
the drinking Of pure whisky, as sure
ly as adulterated liquor.
Through the centuries, suicide mas
been a common aftermath OF drink.
ing, and depression, nervousness ana
blues invariably follow. You have
only to look at crimes such as the
Gray-Snyder case to see the false
courage and revolving passions re-
leased by alcohol. Remember the old
story of the mouse which drank the
tricklings from a wisky barrel In
his cellar. Drunk to the eyes, he
swelled up and cried in his new vaior,
Now, bring on your cat! ;"
The doctor asserts that figures can
be made to do such unreliable stunts
that she prefers to get results by
looking about her.
Redeemed by Dry Law.
"Old acquaintance, old patients, old
servants come to me constantly with
grateful stories of how the dry law
has redeemed them," says DR. Muncie.
There may be some whom prohibit
ton has hurt-not because the law is
bad, but because they themselves are
weak enough to be tempted into drink
ing. because it is forbidden"
The personal liberty" argument
came in for a measure of the doctors
scorn.
MY liberty ends" she said, where
yours begins. The non-drinker is con-
being yictimiZed by the
drinker. just as the non-smoker is for
ever having to forego his own liberty
and comfort because some tobacco
user compels him to breathe nicotine
laden exhalations."
DIR. Muncie makes another point for
prohibition by approving the bitter
discussion it has led to. She insists
this is a good thing. People who
never thought about drinking one way
or other will now investigate, sample,
experiment, overdo, perhaps, and after
a bad time or two will put the stuff
from them as a hinderer of work,
destroyer of delicate tastes and sensa-
tions and an upsetter of life generally.
IF the few go wrong" she insists,
"the many will profit. Everywhere
you look nowadays the drinker is
frowned upon by the same class of
people who used to regard intoxica-
ton with equanimity. Twenty years
ago, when a guest slid under the
table, the butler and footman toted
him quietly out and laid him away
upstairs. No one noticed. His weak
ness was forgiven and he was as
popular afterWard as ever.
Drunken Man Social Mistake"
''Not so any longer. Self-respecting
people are Disguised with him. He is
never invited again. He is a social
mistake, not to say a bore. No one
wants him about. And right here let
me make it plain that there Is always
psychologically wrong with
the person who persists in drinking
even to a moderate extent. He or she
most certainly has an inferiority COM
pick.
ut is the wrong way to bolster self.
esteem. There are many right ways"
If perchance more wildness prevails
in society today, DR.. Muncie believes
it comes from lack of religion.
Take away the inhibiting power Of
belief in Cod" she says, land the hui
man mind, however. scholastic, falls
into the eat-drink and be-merry-for-to
morrow-we-die slough of carnality and
becomes easy prey to drink, sex, inn
morality and crime. Down goes the
mental, moral and spiritual force and
the result is the suicide tendency
which we read of through tears"
Nevertheless the doctor believes the
old pendulum will swing back again
and that through prohibition we shall
become a temperate and therefore
powerful race-that we are this very
minute on the upgrade.
s'If / didn't know at first hand the
benefits of total abstinence" concludes
the lady of stethoscope and scalpel, Il
would not preach it. But education
and experience will swing us all into
line for prohibition within the next 10
years.