DRINK HABIT AMONG
GROWTH OF DANGEROUS EVIL IS SEEN
Prof. Quackenbos and Dr. Parkkurst Join in Deploying
Present Conditions—“Common Among All Classes,”
Declares the Former Columbia Professor—Testimony
> of the Present Superintendent of Bellevue Hospital.
W0MENON INCREASE
NEW YORK.—According to
Prof. John Duncan Quacken
bos, specialist in nervous
and mental diseases, mem
ber of many American and
foreign medical societies, and formerly
of the Columbia university faculty,
the drink habit is spreading at an
alarming rate among the women of
New York. To a representative of
the Sunday World he said:
"It is with real alarm that I note
the rapid growth of the drink habit
among women in New York city. I
g/oh/sd QyAcxzA&ctf
have been in a position to watch that
growth closely and I can say with
full knowledge that ten women drink
to-day where one drank a dozen years
ago.
“The growth of the habit has been
among women of all classes, the rich
“School misses and college girls In
great numbers are among the throng
of women drinkers. A case was
pointed out recently of a luncheon
given here in New York at. which 21
debutantes drank 26 lmttles of cham
pagne. and IT. of them smoked seven
dozen cigarettes.
“As everyone knows, the punch
bowl figures largely in the growth of
the drink habit among women of New
York. It is found at all functions, and
many a girl has got her first taste of
liquor by a dip into it. The punch
bowl, however, is not to be blamed
entirely. Many women dip into it and
may do it many times without acquir
ing the drink habit, but many get
their start there. It does give them
the taste of liquor and then, with
many of them, the taste for liquor.
“Now, the tendency of the Ameri
can woman is to go to extremes, and
in drinking she over-drinks. It is
dangerous for her to touch liquor at
all. This is particularly true of the
New. York woman, because of the
added excitement of life in New York.
“It is not my object to preach un
less the mere statement of fact is a
sermon, and the fact is New York
women do drink, or rather too large
a percentage of them drink, and drink
to excess. If one doubts it let him
go to any of our large hotels and
restaurants any night and look about
him. On every hand you find them
and their sister visitors" to New York
drinking. No one thinks anything
about it. and the women think they
are simply doing the proper thing.
Many of them drink just because they
do think that way and many of them
’drink because they like the liquor.
Do Not Want to Be Cured.
“I have treated in the last eight
years <00 cases of alcoholism, with a
large percentage of women, and I
found in many cases where the pa
tient was a woman that she did not.
deep down in her heart, want to be
cured of the habit. This fact is true
especially in the case of the rich so
New Yorkers Becoming Hysterical
BY DR. S. T. ARMSTRONG. *
(Superintendent of Bellevue and the
Allied. Hospitals.)
TiilC New Yorkers are becoming a
hysterical people. They show an
increasing excitability, a dimin
ishment of self control. Tlfis demon
strates itself in all forms of excesses.
Less and less restraint is exercised.
The extreme tension of life here is
showing cn. the people. One sees
plenty of examples of this in individ
ual life. A vast demonstration of it
among a mass of the people is ob
served in the increasing hysteria of
such celebrations as those of the
night before the New Year. What is
true of the city men is true of the
city women. The increase of drunk
enness is a distressing fact. It. is
a natural outcome of the restlessness,
the overstriving, the unrestraint of
present day life in New York.
This subject is of tremendous im
portance. We should know just w-hat
we are confronting, what the future
has in store for us, just where and
how we are threatened. One may
form an opinion as to an increasing
inebriety among women from such ex
hibitions as those of New Year's eve,
but beyond that it is not easy to go.
There are no official statistics bearing
on the question. The subject has had
no investigation of scientific value.
One cannot speak exactly as to condi
tions, or to make comparisons be
tween the present and the past. Thc
reeords of the alcoholic and psycopath
ic wards of Bellevue haspital do not
show the facts of inebriety even
among the classes of men and women
who would seek aid from this hos
| pital. In 1904 there were 8,941 admis
sions to Bellevue for various forms oi
j alcoholism. The number now is great
I ly less than that. In 190G it had fallen
to 6,053. But even with this reduc
! tion the number of alcoholic patients
is more than 25 per cent, of all the
patients admitted to Bellevue. But
these records prove nothing in the
line we would follow. The number of
inebriates who seek treatment at
Bellevue has fallen off simply be
cause an old offender who comes here
is now liable to be turned over to a
city magistrate, who will sentence
hint to an asylum as a chionic drunk
ard. This had the effect especially
of keeping many women from taking
repeated advantage of treatment at
Bellevue.
What is the cure of the eVil of in
creasing inebriety in New York?
Whatever will bring easement to the
restless life in the city will lessen
all forms of dissipation. The whole
subject needs careful and , thorough
investigation to know what palliative
measures can be taken. Drinking is
only one symptom of what is wrong
with us. . ,
and the poor, young and old. Girls in
their teens evidently see no impropri
ety whatever in drinking publicly
with men companions. Very often
indeed I have had young girls brought
to me for treatment, hysterically
drunk. ,
“I have treated within a year
women whose weekly bill for cham
pagne alone was $100 and who filled
up the intervals between their
draughts of wine with highballs and
cocktails. One woman drank a quart
of champagne every morning,., and
when ready to go out her custom was
to order her maid to bring her another
quart. Then before leaving the house
to enter her carriage she would empty
the bottle to ‘steady her nerves.’
ciety woman. She usually conies to
me either at the urgent solicitation
of relatives or friends, or with only
a surface desire to be rid of the
habit. Very few of them honestly
and truly, and with their whole heart,
want to be cured.
“For instance, a certain woman
came to me for treatment for the
hrink h^bit and seemed sincere indeed.
I treated her by auto-suggestion, giv
ing her the suggestion that she could
not lift a wineglass to her lips. She
went away and the very next night
she went* with, a man companion to
one of our large restaurants," made ho
objection whatever when wine was
ordered, and even tried her best to
l overcome the suggestion I had given
oooooooooooocooooooooscooaci
her and drink the wine. But she
found that she could not lift the
glass from the table. You see. she
did not really and honestly want to be
cured and .wasted bid-.little*tinie in
rushing into temptation.
“Conditions might not be so bad.
however, if women or men drank real,
pure whisky, real, pure wine and real,
pure liquors of all sorts, but they
don't. They think they do, but-what,
they are really drinking is a deadly
poison and one swift in its execution.
I feel safe in saying that out of 100
drinks sold in New York city as
whisky not mtfe than one is the real
article.
Counterfeit Whisky.
“But so cleverly is whisky counter
feited to-day that club connoisseurs
cannot detect it, as was shown- in an
experiment made recently by Dr. Dar
lington of the board of health. Dr.
Darlington went around and collected
a number of samples of whisky from
saloons of all classes, took the sam
ples to his club, where he had sev
eral of the members test them, and
much to his surprise the cheap imi
I-7“
r
taken excessively, is not harmful, but
I do say that a man could drink the
pure article in moderation all his life
and not be hurt by it. Why, 15
tJcinks: jaf pure whisky would not Jck>
a man'the harm that one drink of this
viler-stuff they sell for wtfifeky in Xew
York would do him.
Poisoned by Vile Liquor.
“I know a man who left his office
one evening all tired out-dropped into
a saloon of the best class and took
only two drinks of .their bar whisky
and was lost for four days. I w'as
called in to %elp And him. as he was
a friend of mine, and when we found
him he was in a pitiable condition, his
mind was clouded, he could not re
member where he had been or what
he had done after leaving that saloon.
He only remembered that he had taken
two drinks of whisky.
“Thu beer drinker, if he gets real
beer, is handed a glass of the bever
age which, to meet the demands of
trade," is" put out too new and im
properly fermented. Beer should be
kept in the keg for six months before
being sold to the drinker.
1
‘•A case was pointed out recently of a luncheon given here in New
York at which 24 debutantes drank 36 battles of champagne, and 15 of
them smoked seven dozen cigarettes.” —Dr. Gluackenbos.
tations of whisky were judged to be
the real thing.
“It stands to reason, of course, that
the great proportion of the liquor sold
is counterfeit, when it is known that
the consumption is far in excess of
the ability of distillers and brewers to
produce the genuine product. Adul
terations and criminal counterfeits
must be resorted to in order to meet,
the demand. I will wager that there
have been inmates of Bellevue’s alco
holic ward who have never tasted a
drop of real whisky in their lives.
They just think they have been drink
ing whisky, and if they had been
drinking real whisky the chances are
they would never have been in Belle
vue. 1 don't say that real whisky, if
"It is rather surprising how many
of our school children have become
beer drinkers, especially those of for
eign birth, and the habit 'is making
them mentally sluggish to a degree
that is attracting the attention of ed
ucators and philanthropists.
"Another habit which is getting con
trol of our shop girls particularly is
the cocaine trabit. This habit has
grown in the last few years with such
rapidity that to-day thousands of
young girls as well as mature wom
en and men are'held in its clutches.
The effect of the habif is noted in the
dull, sunken., eyes and pinched faces,
and the continuance of the use of the
drug leads to nervous wreckage, de
lirium and insanity."
Dr. Parkhurst Says “It Is a Fad”
WHEN' a representative of the
Sunday World read portions of
Dr. Quackenbns' article to Rev.
Dr. Charles Pavkhurst lie said:
"It is undoubtedly true, and a de
plorable fact, that the drink habit is
growing rapidly among the women
of New York.
"I have not made a real investiga
tion. as Dr. Quackenbos has, but one
does not have to investigate; it is
a fact which stares you in the face,
it is all on the surface, and one can
not overlook it.
"A chief reason for this increase in
the number of women who drink is. I
believe, that there has been too much
prosperity. Of course, just now we
are passing through a period of hard
Rev. Dr. Charles Parkhurst.
times,’ so to speak, but before the
panic for a number of years the coun
try was most prosperous, everybody
had money, and life became too easy.
When life is made too easy we are in
a danger zone and more prone to give
way to temptation. That long period
of prosperity made us too material,
also turned the desires of many only
aocoooooeooooooooooooooooooc
to what then- could see and eat and
drink.
"1 suppose the growth of the drink
hahit lias been principally among the
women of jhe richer classes. It is
at least reasonable to believe so, as
they have the money and time to in
dulge in such laxity. Idleness is usu
ally dangerous.
“Another phase in the drink ques
tion- is the quality of the liquor. Dr.
Quackenbos points out the shameless
adulteration in whisky, but let me ask
why it is tolerated? Where is our
pure food law? Why, it is in our
statute books, but it isn't in the
hearts or minds of those In author
ity or in the hearts or minds of the
people who put those men in author
ity. If it were, the law would be en
forced. v - * <
“The' growing tendency of the
American people is a disrespect for
laws. We have plenty of good laws,
but they are not enforced. That is
the whole trouble. The men who
should enforce them do not do it, and
the people.who elect those men to of
fice do not make them do. it. and they
keep on electing men who will not
do it. , . _
"Our mayor is sworn to be active. In
the enforcement of the laws. but. is
he? He is not. Well, if the mayor
is inactive can you expect those un
der him to be otherwise? He 4s the
man to whom the lesser officials look,
and if he sets such an example, what
is the result? Inactivity all along
the line and our laws become mere
printed matter.
“We also send incc.npetency to our
legislative bodies in Albany. We have
done so for years and probably will
keep on doing so. We know that we
are doing it and-have little, or no re
spect for a large majority of the men
we send there, sp how ncan are have
respect for the' law's they make ? We
cannot' have respect for' those laws
and we have not.”
OSOOOHOOOOOOtfGOSOOOGOSOeO
Fun With The Professor.
Erudite Teacher Deceived by Con
scienceless Student.
A well-known professor remarks
that the passion for any science may
make a man hopelessly narrow, in a
way. As an example-he cites the case
of an elderly pfofessor in Middletown,
Conn., whose love for philology was
•o excesive that it frequently led him
to disregard the broader principles of
language in his minute searches for
the particles binding an ordinary Eng
lish word to its Ayran or Sanskrit an
cestor.
Once a student thought to have a
sbit of fun at the learned professor's
expense. Assuming an air of great
modesty, he rose.
“Doctor, I’ve been thinking a great
deal of late about the derivation of the
word ‘Middletown.’ What is your ider.
of it?"
The professor wa3 a bit taken back.
“Really," he stammered, “I—er—real
ly, young man, that is a subject that
will require much reflection. May I
ask whether you have chanced upon
anything that would throw any light
on the question?”
“It is my Arm belief, sir,” responded
the student, .with great gravity, “that
Middletown is derived from Moses!”
“Dear me, dear me!” exclaimed the
guileless professor. “And pray, sir,
how do you derive Middletown from
Moses?”
"Very easily, doctor,” replied the
joker; “by dropping ‘oses’ and adding
'iddletown.’ Lippincott's Magazine.
Poiaon Used by the Ancients.
The deaths of Socrates, Demos
thenes, Hannibal and Cleopatra testify
to the pharmaceutical knowledge of
the ancients. Phrysa poisoned Queen
Sfatira, in the reign of Arta\erxes II.
(B. C. 405-359)" by cutting food with
a poisoned knife.
IN THE PUBLIC EYE
SEEKS SOUTH POLE
Lieut. E. H. shackletou, M. \. U., tne young
British officer, introduced several imovations
when he started for .the south pole with an Eng
lish party recently. Profiting by past experience,
he went practically withotit vegetables, it being'
found that they do not keep well, andtearrietponly
the best,of meats. He will use a specially built
automobile for the earlier stages of the journey
and, instead of relying on dogs for the final dash
over the snow and ice, he will rely mainly on the
hardy little Siberian pony.
As commander of the expedition he has taken
with him 2S men. "Success" has been painted on
the funnel of the old Newfoundland sealing ves
sel. Nimrod, whose name has been changed for
the trip to Endurance, and Lieut. Sfcackleton ex
lieuis iu \tlain uu «ut? auuui [juir iiosrn me
jack, presented to him by Queen Alexandra.
Almost as many fruitless expeditions have been made to the Antarctic
regions as to the Arctic, "with the odds in favor, however, of the Antarctic ex
plorers getting back to a warmer and more congenial climate.
Shackleton's vessel sailed from Lyttleton. Xew Zealand, and is expected
to reach King Edward VI!.1 island February 1, which will be midsummer in the
Antarctic region. The vessel will then return to Lyttleton and wait until
January, 1909. before going to the base of operations on King Edward VTI.
island to bring the explorers hack to civilization. The motor car is not built
for speed. It will carry the provisions.
The base of operations is 750 geographical miles from the pole. It is
expected on the return of the spring to establish depots to within 500 geo
graphical miles of the pole. The dash to the pole will be made by only three
members of the party.
Lieut. Shackleton went with (’apt. Scott five years ago in the latter's
historic dash to the pole, in which’a record for "furthest south ' was estab
lished. During the 9k days’ journey over the ice Lieut. Shackleton was
stricken with snow blindness and so had to be fastened to the sledge, when
all the dogs were dead, in order to do his share of the pulling. He spent
Christmas day. 1902. 200 miles front the ship, and the party had a plum
pudding w'hich weighed only nine ounces. On his return to England Lieut.
Shackleton was made a member of the Victorian'order.
DEFENDER OF ROCKEFELLER
Dr. Harry Pratt Judson. president of the 1’ni
versity of Chicago, comes forward as the defend
er of John D. Rockefeller, whom he represents
as the burden-bearer of the community, conveying
inferentially the impression that the multi-million
aire takes the money of the American people
with a sole view to using it for the best interests
of humanity by establishing universities at Chica
go, general educational boards and institutions
of research. And Dr. Judson is no doubt sincere
in the opinion he expresses, for he is a man of
considerable independence of thought and not
a mere truckler to the money power.
He comes of an old American family that was
mainly instrumental in organizing the Baptikt
enurcn in America, a lanniy mat was or consider- *
abie importance in the early days of .New York
state. Incidentally, he is a nephew of. CIrover Cleveland, but he does not
trade upon that.
The doctor was born in Jamestown in 1S49 and was graduated from Wil
liams college in 1870. He was for 12 years assistant^ principal of the high
school at Troy, N. Y.. and in 1885 accepted the chair of history'and a lecture
ship on pedagogy in the University of Minnesota! Seven years later he went
to the University of Chicago as assistant professor r? political science, and
was shortly afterwards promoted to head of his department. ’The administra
tive qualities he displayed while acting president during Ur. Harper's illness
caused him to be selected as president of the university at the latter's death.
Dr. Judson is the author of a number of authoritative works, including:
"Europe in the Nineteenth Century," "The Growth of the American Nation."
"The Higher Education as a Training for Business," "The -Mississippi Valley,"
and a number of others on a wide range of subjects. He has been decorated
by the German emperor as a compliment to his literary ability.
THAW TR8AL JUDGE
Victor J. Dowling, justice of the supreme court
of New York, who is sitting as trial judge in the
Thaw murder ease, is one of those judges who be
lieve in deciding every question as' it arises,
promptly: and definitely, and allowing no criticism
of his ruling-.afterwards. At the last Th'aw trial
Justice Fitzgerald: allowed the lawyers the
fullest latitude in arguing every little point, of
law. and after he had decided the point would
permit them to carry on another long drawn-out
debate. This is a thing that Justice Dowling has
never been knbwii to tolerate. He holds the
record for the shortest murder trial in New York.
By holding the attorneys down to the case and
excluding all extraneous matters he had a verdict
i 1 in minutes irom tne time tne case was starred.
Dowling studied law in the office of Justice
Fitzgerald. At the University of New York he won many honors, particu
larly the Devlin prize for classics, and also prizes for both the best written
and the best oral examinations. From the beginning he has been an ardent
politician and he has served two terms in the state .senate, besides being
for several years one of the party leaders and one of the secretaries of the
Tammany hall executive committee. In 1905 he was elected by a handsome
majority justice of the supreme court, the term for which i§ 15 years and the
salary $17,500 a year.
The judge is 41 years of age. He is a recognized authority on constitu
tional law and is the author of the- Dowling anti-gambling bill, which he pre
sented while in the senate. He belongs to a number .of Catholic benevolent
societies, several historical societies and thj Oakland Golf club. He has
fought many battles for the labor unions.
NEW OKLAHOMA CONGRESSMAN
That he is seven-sixteenths Chickasaw and
Cherokee Indian and nine-sixteenths Scotch-Irish
is the boast of Charles D. Carter, new member
from the fourth Oklahoma district. His paternal
ancestor. Nathan Carter Sr., was captured when
a small boy by Shawnee Indians at the Lackawan
na valley massacre, when all of the other members
of the family except one of Nathan's sisters were
killed. Nathan Carter was afterward traded to the
Cherokees, one of whose full-blooded squaws he
married Mr. Carter's father, a captain in the
confederate army, added to this strain of I nil fan
blood by marrying a one-fourth breed Chickasaw
woman, a sister of Gov. Guv, chief of the ChirKa
S3.WS. • v -** «. ;'»; i
I ne new representative was oorn in a nine ^
log cabin near Boggy depot, an old fort of the
Choctaw nation. 38 years ago. When seven years old he was taken by his
parents to Mill Creek, a stage stand and pos^offlce on the western frontier of
the Chickasaw nation. When 11 he started to school at a log school house
nearby. When 13 he entered the Chickusuw Manual Labor Academy, where
he finished' when 18. Two of these five years at the academy he missed tn
order to work as a cowboy on his father’s ranch.
As a cow-puncher and broncho-buster he began life for himself at "Dia
mond Z” ranch, where the city of Sulphur now stands. He was then 18. When
20 he accepted a position in a store where he advanced from clerk to book
keeper, cotton buyer and cotton weigher. When 23 he was appointed auditor
of public accounts for the Chickasaw Nation, and three years later became
a member of that nation s council. From this position he advanced to superin
tendent,ot schools and, mining trustee of Indian territory. At the time of his
•lection to the new congress he was in the insurance business.
