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Show DONALD RfllirS LETTER. He Is a Member of a Fashionable Club i Subjects Discussed and Never Treated Members Rounding Out Life Had Best in the Market How Members Were Elected Precluded Vulgarity Interested Interest-ed in Social Reform and Etiquette j Their Views on the Liquor Question H Abusing a Mistake Social Reform At- ( tained by the Respectability of Dealers, ' Who Should Not Be Socially Ostracised Moderate Drinkers Not Inferior Mentally or Physically to Total Abstainers Comparison Com-parison No Intoxicant Should Be Used Before the Age of 25 Variety of Effects Ef-fects Ludlow's "Hasheech Eater" ; Quincey's "Dreams of an Opium Eater" II Wilson's "Needle and the Flesh"; J Dire and Sad Effects of Overindulgence ! States Should Build Inebriate Home, j s f To the Editor:' Sir: When I -was a member of the club and a patron of high class saloons, with my associates and companions. I frequently dis- -ussod total abstinence, moderate drinking-, chronic drinking, periodical drinking and kindred subjects. Some of the members of the club with which I was j'fiihated were total abstainers, a few from choice. ,.. and others from necessity. Altogether we num-; num-; bi red 5S. including 120 outside the city members. ' i There was an unwritten rule of the club that wo men or religion should never be subjects for con-; con-; innersy or even conversation among the members. TJii silent underspending, I can testify, was rigor-. . f ous'y kept. '"Ail other matters -were intermittantly j talked over and threshed out. Our membership included merchants, lawyers, doctors, professors of the university and men of leisure, some of whom had retired from active life and were rounding out their lives in indolent ease and pleasant companionship. compan-ionship. The billiard rooms, smoking, writing and . reading rooms were carpeted or rugged, and every- i tiling was scrupulously clean. There was no bar, liveried servants in waiting answered an electric bell :rnd took your orders. The best of cased and ' draft liquor and nothing but the best were ! stored in a vault of even temperature. There was no law against excess, rowdyism, vulgarity and the like, for, before any one could become a member his name was posted for three weeks on the entry board to Hvo the members an opportunity to inquire in-quire into his standing. He was then nominated by two sponsors at 'a meeting of the members and balloted. bal-loted. Three black balls meant rejection. I am particular in mentioning these details that your readers may know something of the class of men to whose expressions of opinion I attach much importance, im-portance, and whose worldly wisdom and practical common sense ought to add much weight and give ; dignity to their views. These men were as deeply interested in the preservation of good order in society, so-ciety, in the welfare of the masses, and in temperance, temper-ance, sobriety and moderation in all things as were any body of clergymen assembled at their annual meetings in the city. Bear, in mind that they did not confuse, as so many temperance lecturers and preachers do. temperance with total abstinence. 1 collated their opinions, after taking part in :;nd listening to their conversations, and discussions discus-sions for many years, and I now submit for the ap-7ivoval ap-7ivoval r disapproval of your readers the. views of these men of iho world on the "liquor controversy." First They contended that lhe indiscriminate abuse of the saloon, saloonkeepers and bartenders was a serious mistake. They supported their contention con-tention by declaring that the abolition of the sa-1 sa-1 ion, hotel, inn or tavern was impractiblc if not an impossibility. That this being the case the aim -f social reformers should have for its object the elevation of the saloon by insisting on the respectability respec-tability of the characters of the men who conduct the business That the position of the saloonkeeper saloonkeep-er in society and the church should be on a plane .'f equality with that of the druggist, the merchant mer-chant and 'the man of affairs. That the denominational denomina-tional churches, church newspapers, and hired temperance tem-perance lecturers have tried to take the liquor business bus-iness out of the hands of honest and decent men. and without abolishing the saloon, have lowered its lone have not reduced the sale of liquor and have endeavored, and partially succeeded, m throwing the business into lhe hands of unscrupulous men. Finally that the indiscriminate abuse, the insult-, ihe calumniation find vituperation by certain 'lmreli papers and fanatical ministers of the sa-U. sa-U. men and bartenders have soured these men rtgainst religion and driven 100.000 of them into the camp of the enemies of the church. "That the influence with the voting masses, of a popular saloon or barkeeper, is greater than that .f' a popular minister or preacher. , S,.(,ond Thev contended that, physically and n,e,,iallv. ilv men who drank in moderation and whose fathers nn.l grandfathers were -drinkers, wore the superiors of those who for genera ti on s preached and practiced teetotahsm That the men L wnmm, of the Hebrew faith, of the Episcopalian Episcopal-ian ,.r (Lurch of England, lhe Roman Catholic, ,h, -Auld Kirk" rresbyterian and the Lutheran ..hun-hes w,re altogether supenor physically :to those of the Methodist. Baptist and other demcm-(Continued demcm-(Continued on Page 3.) j DONALD RHUPS LETTER. (Continued from Page 1.) naitonal churches on whose banners was blazoned the Margaret Fuller slogan, "taste not. touch not, handle not the vile stuff." That if total abstiininr-e' made for the development of mind and bodv the Methodists, Avho for 150 years are total abstainers and whose "Disciplin" will not admit to membership member-ship in their churches any man who deals in intoxicants, in-toxicants, ought to, physically and mentally, outclass out-class those around them, whereas, it is notorious they haA-e not produced a solitary man Avho, in mind or body, has reached the plane of greatness or Avith the solitary exceptions of Morley Pun-shaAA', Pun-shaAA', the eloquent divine, and Dr. Clarke, thte Bible Bi-ble commentator, even the level of distinction. Third They contended that no young man should' touch hard liquor till he had entered upon his twenty-fifth year. That at this, age tbe aviII ought to be able to control the natural desires and force the natural appetites to rational obedience. They drew a distinction between the natural, the' acquired and the habitual appetites, holding 'that the habitual appetite may develop into a cravino-and cravino-and at times an uncontrollable passion doniinatin"-' the will. That for pathological, psychical, physf-cal physf-cal or for other conditions of the mind or body or for all together liquor is poison to some men 'and their experience and good sense ought to prevail upon them to abstain before they become victims to the "drink habit" or Avreek their constitutions. That as some stomachs cannot digest certain foods, condiments and the like, some systems cannot can-not assimilate Avhisky, even Avhen plentously diluted di-luted with water. That some men may drink freely for thirty or forty years and remain healthy, and that. others have to be careful even in their moderation. mode-ration. That, compared Avith the population, and considering the high wages and salaries paid, the opportunities and temptations there are feAv drunkards, drunk-ards, but that there are many avIio drink. That an occasional "drunk," the result of conviviality, good felloAvship or a "night with the boys" does not constitute con-stitute drunkness or slate a man Avith drunkards. That the man avIio drinks in secret and before breakfast is in the rapids and had better strike for the shore. Here, sir, displayed for the approval or condemnation con-demnation of your readers, are spread out the samples sam-ples of the conversations and the opinions of these men of experience and of matured judgment. AHoav me noAV to trespass a little more on your indulgence. Back in 1803 Fitzhugh Ludlow wrote the "Hasheech Eater," a book describing the ravages rav-ages on the mind and body of the habitual user of the drug Cannabic Indiea. Ludlow was a hasheech fiend, an incurable, whom the habit destroyed at the early age of 34. His sufferings were pitiable, till death, in mercy, called off the hounds. A few-years few-years before Ludlow's time De Quincey Avrote the "Dreams of an Opium; Eater," in which he described de-scribed his own agony and remorse, and his futile efforts to strangle thej hydra headed monster to 1 which he Avas chained. iThen a foAV years ago Fran- J ics Wilson publisbt-4-lis book, the "Needle and the j Flesh," giA'ing his oaa-ii experiences with the drug, his sleepless nights, his demoniac visions, his weird hallucinations, his moral and physical decay. Wilson Wil-son is still living, in London, a prematurely old man. These books with the poet Coleridge's essay on "Opium and'Its Effect on the Human System." ought to be in every library especially in the j'outh's department. Strange, is it not, that calling t omemory the names of the brilliant men who shortened their lives, and imperriled their reputations reputa-tions by whisky, there is no novel, auto-experiencc ' or book describing the campaign of the periodic drinker, the "chronic soak" or- the alco-neuresthe nic, the man with whose nen-es and brain Avhisky plays the mischief. The English magazine Avriter, Kernochau, tried to picture the degradation of a London drunkard of the curbs, but failed, because he AA'as concerned more for his reputation as a descriptive de-scriptive Avriter than for the interests of truth. If I could brace up my old friend, Joseph Mul-hattan, Mul-hattan, who, when I last heard of him was arrested for stealing an OA'ercoat and occupied a cell in a San Francisco police station, get him into condition condi-tion and induce him to record his career, his success, suc-cess, his popularity, his convivial nights, his gradual grad-ual decay, his aAvful sufferings of soul and body, his degradation and his ruin, I think the record would outclass all the preachments of John Gough or -Francis Murphy. When I knew Mulhattan he was in receipt of a salary of. $15,000 a year and a traveling account almost as large. He was a sAvell dresser, noticeably Avell groomed and one of the most brilliant and best natured men on thq road. Whisky robbed him of his $15,000 salary and his position. I met him a year ago in San Diego frequenting fre-quenting back alleys and cheap saloons in the Chinese Chi-nese quarter. His clothes Avere soiled and of cheap material, he AA'as emaciated, bleared and hollow eyed. I shook hands with him, talked over old times, loaned him a feAv dollars and bade him good bye. Mulhattan was "all in." If the sincere and honest resolutions, the pledges, promises, determinations determin-ations he had made and broken in the past ten years were solidified into bricks, they would build another Horton Houie in the city of San Diego. Too much whisky will pervert the decentest man aliA-e into a common "bum" or a stable swab, and will ruin the brightest hopes of the most promis-ing'man promis-ing'man on earth. And iioav, sir, while I am not a prophet or the son cif a prophet, let me make a prediction. Some day the great heart of the people will go out in sympathy to men like Joseph Mulhattan. Some day the people, Avho are contributory agents, iu the degradation of the drunkard by licencing the manufacture man-ufacture and sale of intoxicants, will commission every legislature in the union to build at their expense, ex-pense, homes for the detention and reformation of men,' tvho after heroic efforts to. save themselves have lost heart and floated with the drift. If there be anything in the "Keeley Cure" let the state purchase pur-chase the cure and let the home and cure be open to every man who, voluntary or involuntary, goes or is committed to the institution. Again,, let m be patient and forbearing with the men in the "dcift." The other day I kicked up in my daughter's sewing room and snuggery a book which Avas given to her by one of the nuns of the convent. When I married her mother twenty-five years ago I gave a promise to allow the issue is-sue of our marriage to be brought up in the Roman Catholic faith, the religion of my wife. I have never regretted the making or the honorable observance ob-servance of that promise. At that time I Avas s deeply in love that, I think, I would have signed anything. For the past ten years my wife and family have been bombarding heaA-en Avith prayers, masses and novenas for, 'what they arc pleased to 1 ' ' " '' ?-Ji.",:a.': " ti - - term, niy comx-rsion. For my domestic peace, and for their happiness, if for no biVber reason, I'll knock, some morning, at the door of a Catholic church for admission. They tell me I will have to 'make a confession of the sins of my whole life. Well, be it so, I'll be on the lookout for some kindlv and aged priest, some old campaigner and '"have it out with him." But the book? My daughter's book! It Avas the "Life of St. Catherine of-Siena'' and this is Avhat I read: "Charity requires us al-Avays al-Avays to have compassion on human infirmity."' I closed the book and thought of poor Joe Mul- j hattan. DONALD IUIUE. j |