The Use and Need of the Life of Carrie A. Nation [120]
and she stepped
upon the stage, unattended by any glare of colored lights or fanfare
of music. A quiet, motherly looking woman, plainly dressed, with a Bible
in her hand, she commanded almost immediately the respect of that large
crowd--from the men in the orchestra stalls to the gallery gods. One
half intoxicated fellow began to scoff at her, but was almost immediately
hushed by the scarcely less drunken ones around him. It was a sight
that hushed them all into respectful silence, for a respectable, earnest
woman,
with the Holy Book in her hand, will have a subduing effect upon
almost any company of people.
Mrs. Nation announced her text, and preached a sermon, and delivered
a temperance lecture, both within the half-hour. (The latter she calls
a "prohibition lecture"--hating the word temperance, as applied to drink.)
She said words, such as had probably not been heard by most of those
there, for a great many years. She told them what sots they were making
of themselves, and made her points so emphatic that they cheered her
--almost in spite of themselves. She commenced her speech as an experiment,
so far as that day's audience was concerned; she closed a
heroine. She did not remain idle during the time between her appearances
on the stage, but cultivated the acquaintances of the actors and actresses,
and, it is said, to their good.
That is what Mrs. Nation is doing now, on what is called the eastern
vaudeville circuit; and it would be hard to see how one woman could do
more good in half an hour, than she does; and that among those that
need it most.
Mrs. Nation's whole name is Carrie Amelia Nation, but having noticed
from old records that her father wrote the first name "Carry," she
now does the same, and considers the name portentous as concerns what
she is trying and means to do. She believes, she says, that it is her mission
to "carry a nation" from the darkness of drunken bestiality into the
light of purity and sobriety; and if she can do this, or in any great measure
contribute to it, there are millions of people in the world, that will
bid her Good speed.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A scientific article on the effects of alcohol on the human system.
If any doctor should try to deceive you here is the proof of his malicious
intent to drug you.
LIQUOR DRINKING IN HEALTH AND DISEASE.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE UPON THE PROGRESS MADE IN MEDICAL SCIENCE
IN FAVOR OF TEMPERANCE DURING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 1, 1902--A. W.
GUTRIDGE, CHAIRMAN. READ AT THE THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION
OF THE CATHOLIC TOTAL ABSTINENCE UNION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST.
PAUL, AND ORDERED PUBLISHED BY THE CONVENTION.
In order to understand what progress has been made during the year,
it is necessary to note the condition of affairs at the commencement of
the period.
Long before this committee began work the leading physicians of
every enlightened country, the men to whom the entire profession looks
for guidance, had declared against the use of alcohol both in health and
in disease.
IS ALCOHOL A DRINK!
One reason why all the greatest physicians believed it harmful was
because it had been found that alcohol was not a drink. The most abundant
substance found in the human body, is water. About 130 pounds of
the weight of a 160-pound person is water, "Quite enough if rightly
arranged to drown him." Man has been irreverently described as "about
30 pounds of solids set up in 13 gallons of water." So it is quite natural
for us to hunger for water; "death by thirst is more rapid and distressing
than by starvation." "It is through the medium of the water contained
in the animal body that all its vital functions are carried on."
Dr. W. B. Richardson of England has pointed out more than fifty
characteristics of the action of a natural drink upon the system. The action
of alcohol is the opposite of these in every particular, and therefore it
is not a real or natural drink. Of course the water which is found in
mixture in all alcoholic liquors serves to quench thirst, even
upon the stage, unattended by any glare of colored lights or fanfare
of music. A quiet, motherly looking woman, plainly dressed, with a Bible
in her hand, she commanded almost immediately the respect of that large
crowd--from the men in the orchestra stalls to the gallery gods. One
half intoxicated fellow began to scoff at her, but was almost immediately
hushed by the scarcely less drunken ones around him. It was a sight
that hushed them all into respectful silence, for a respectable, earnest
woman,
with the Holy Book in her hand, will have a subduing effect upon
almost any company of people.
Mrs. Nation announced her text, and preached a sermon, and delivered
a temperance lecture, both within the half-hour. (The latter she calls
a "prohibition lecture"--hating the word temperance, as applied to drink.)
She said words, such as had probably not been heard by most of those
there, for a great many years. She told them what sots they were making
of themselves, and made her points so emphatic that they cheered her
--almost in spite of themselves. She commenced her speech as an experiment,
so far as that day's audience was concerned; she closed a
heroine. She did not remain idle during the time between her appearances
on the stage, but cultivated the acquaintances of the actors and actresses,
and, it is said, to their good.
That is what Mrs. Nation is doing now, on what is called the eastern
vaudeville circuit; and it would be hard to see how one woman could do
more good in half an hour, than she does; and that among those that
need it most.
Mrs. Nation's whole name is Carrie Amelia Nation, but having noticed
from old records that her father wrote the first name "Carry," she
now does the same, and considers the name portentous as concerns what
she is trying and means to do. She believes, she says, that it is her mission
to "carry a nation" from the darkness of drunken bestiality into the
light of purity and sobriety; and if she can do this, or in any great measure
contribute to it, there are millions of people in the world, that will
bid her Good speed.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A scientific article on the effects of alcohol on the human system.
If any doctor should try to deceive you here is the proof of his malicious
intent to drug you.
LIQUOR DRINKING IN HEALTH AND DISEASE.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE UPON THE PROGRESS MADE IN MEDICAL SCIENCE
IN FAVOR OF TEMPERANCE DURING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 1, 1902--A. W.
GUTRIDGE, CHAIRMAN. READ AT THE THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION
OF THE CATHOLIC TOTAL ABSTINENCE UNION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST.
PAUL, AND ORDERED PUBLISHED BY THE CONVENTION.
In order to understand what progress has been made during the year,
it is necessary to note the condition of affairs at the commencement of
the period.
Long before this committee began work the leading physicians of
every enlightened country, the men to whom the entire profession looks
for guidance, had declared against the use of alcohol both in health and
in disease.
IS ALCOHOL A DRINK!
One reason why all the greatest physicians believed it harmful was
because it had been found that alcohol was not a drink. The most abundant
substance found in the human body, is water. About 130 pounds of
the weight of a 160-pound person is water, "Quite enough if rightly
arranged to drown him." Man has been irreverently described as "about
30 pounds of solids set up in 13 gallons of water." So it is quite natural
for us to hunger for water; "death by thirst is more rapid and distressing
than by starvation." "It is through the medium of the water contained
in the animal body that all its vital functions are carried on."
Dr. W. B. Richardson of England has pointed out more than fifty
characteristics of the action of a natural drink upon the system. The action
of alcohol is the opposite of these in every particular, and therefore it
is not a real or natural drink. Of course the water which is found in
mixture in all alcoholic liquors serves to quench thirst, even