| Show league of reformed drinkers founded in 90 s was unique among american organizations org aniz actions 0 Y ea j A 1 F az nai J L aw la 14 T 4 V t A AIL national convention of tho the keeley league at harrisburg pa dy by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 0 western newspaper union AMONG ONG the many thousands of clubs societies assoria A eions leagues federations and the like which have J x been organized in this country there once was one that was vas absolutely unique it was composed exclusively of men who had been drunkards and at one time it had a membership of more than mor moreover 0 ov e r it had a auxiliaries in which the wives mothers and sisters of its me mem m bers were enrolled it held national conventions attended by thousands of delegates and its nat national ional and state officers were men noted in politics the professions and literature instead of being ashamed of the fact that they had been drunkards its members honestly admitted it but they took pride in the fact that they had conquered demon rum alias john barleycorn and as a symbol of that fact they wore in the buttonholes of their coats this emblem why the horseshoe that was because this league was founded ih a blacksmith shop in the little city of dwight ill and thereby I 1 hangs la tho the tale of the national keeley league and the man who was responsible for its organization a horse and buggy doctor named leslie E keeley bom in potsdam N Y in 1832 the son of an old fashioned country doctor young leslie keeley camo came west in the late and studied medicine for a time under a doctor littlefield in beardstown Beards town ill in 1860 he entered rush medical college in chicago and was in his second year when the civil war began he volunteered for service ns as a 0 medical cadet and was assigned to duty at jefferson Jef lerson barracks I 1 near st louis he was soon made an assistant surgeon and placed in command of the medical staff there then he was promoted to surgeon and ordered into active service as a brigade medical director on the staff of general wrights third division of the army of the cumberland when the war ended young keeley resumed his studies at rush and was graduated in 1866 he settled in the little corn com belt town of dwight ill and became a successful country doctor which led to his appointment as divisional surgeon of the chicago alton railroad while in the union army dr keeley had become interested in investigating tile the various effects of alcohol and was soon convinced that drunkenness was a disease that could be cured so he began to experiment ile he found that alc alcohol hol attacked certain nerve forces and being an experienced chemist he established a laboratory and began his researches to discover a drug or com combination of drugs which would combat the power of alcohol an impractical visionary 1 people of the community in which he was practicing regarded him as a dreamer an impractical visionary alcoholism was a moral not a medical problem theal the declared but a young irish ch chemist ernist recently arrived in america thought differently john R was hit hii name and lie he was employed as a pharmacist in a dwight drug in he building in which dr keeley had his office became interested in Kee leys researches ond and soon he was assisting the doctor in trying to compound the medicine which would hold john barleycorn in check finally in 1879 came the announcement that they had been successful and that a cure for alcoholism co had been found at first the people of dwight were incredulous but when some confirmed drunkards around the town to whom life had little to offer took the cure and found that it worked skepticism changed to belief in its efficacy soon inebriates from the surrounding country were offering themselves for treatment at the end of two years keeley was able to establish a small sanitarium It itari um drawing his patients largely from chicago whose gin mills were turning out more and more drunkards every year requiring capital to operate his rapidly growing institute keeley entered into a partnership with and maj curtis judd who was engaged in the mercantile business in dwight Kee leys plan of treatment for alcoholism was an innovation whereas the asylum for inebriates was a place of horror with its straitjackets strait jackets and othar forms of restraint Kee leys institute was a place for voluntary patients where they met the doctors on a basis of mutual concession of responsibility for a cure during the eighties furth further e r research and experiments developed new methods of treatment and by 1890 the institute began to attract public notice the next year occurred the incident which led to Kee Ke eleya leys becoming a national figure joseph medill editor of the chicago tribune heard that a country doctor was curing men of drunk enness ile he sent a reporter to dwight the newsman came home and wrote up what he had heard not convinced medill sent another reporter dr keeley said to him please tell mr medill to send me six of the worst drunkards lie he can find and in three days I 1 will sober them up tip and in four weeks I 1 will send them back to chicago sober men and unless of their own volition they will never seek liquor at any rate they will never have need or necessity thereafter experiment the challenge was met mr medill declared 1 I selected a half dozen of the toughest products of alcoholism which the chicago saloons were able to turn out the experimental cases were sent down to dwight one at a time extending over a period of several weeks and in due time they were all returned to me looking as if a veritable miracle had been beeh wrought upon them they went away sots find returned gentlemen but I 1 did not stop with the half dozen spec specially lally selected cases but sent down to dwight a number of inebriate acquaintances to take the treatment when I 1 had then become convinced that drunkenness was a disease the result of imbibing a poison and that a medicine had been discovered which released the victim from the irrepressible thirst and that it restored the man to nori normal nal health of both body and mind I 1 felt it to be a duty which I 1 owed to humanity to make known the virtues of the keeley chii cai as fast and as for far as it was in my power newspapers throughout tho the united states began writing up the institute and soon the quiet little town of dwight was overwhelmed with visitors and patients seeking treatment A boom developed rivaling tile the scenes of present day oil discoveries soon it hod had become the most famous village of its size in america and the saying gone to dwight became a familiar part of the argot of the day As the demand for the treatment grew it was found necessary to supplement the facilities of the parent institute A far flung system of branch institutes in principal cities grew up totaling at one time more than 69 dr keeley carried his treatment abroad and institutes were established in london liverpool and other foreign cities the Lea league guels Is founded As more and more patients flocked to this little city an organization of graduates of Kee leys institute was formed who began to hold reunions to proclaim their victory over demon rum out of this grew the national keeley league with its local lodges in every state of the union and its membership that exceeded the members of the league had qualifications for doing the most effective kind of temperance work knowing the danger of social drinking they were able to k 0 41 V I 1 f V DR LESLIE E KEELEY caution the beginner and knowing the growth of the habit they were well equipped to admonish the moderate drinker to stop while he could still htiu control himself when dr keeley died in 1900 at the age of 68 the work which he had pioneered had made him internationally famous the town of dwight was known throughout the continent dr keeley was fortunate in that the value of his discovery brought him public appreciation during his lifetime while the majority of those who took the cure remained cured there were naturally some back sliders dr keeley himself said 1 I cannot give a man a moral moral will his creator does the that t but if he has not sinned away that moral will entirely I 1 can help him to say nol no I 1 AU things considered he did more for the victims of inebriety than anyone had before or since moreover the change that has developed in the past half century in the attitude of society toward the drinking man of regarding him as a person afflicted by a disease rather than as an unregenerate sinner is largely due to the teachings of dr keeley some time perhaps the social historians aiu discover this country doctor whose pioneering temperance work entitles him to as much if not more credit than some of the politicians whose names adorn the pages of history and the value of his contribution trib ution to the nations progress will be more widely recognized than it has been up to now |
