The Oklahoma Democrat. (Altus, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 23, 1908 Page: 3 of 8
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THE OKLAHOMA DEMOCRAT, ALTUS, OKLAHOMA, THURSDAY, JAX. 23, 1908
DRINK HABIT AMONG
WOMEN ON INCREASE
GROWTH OF DANGEROUS EVIL IS SEEN
Prof. Quackenbos and Dr. Parkhurst Join in Deploring
Present Conditions—"Common Among All Classes,
Declares the Former Columbia Professor—Testimony
of the Present Superintendent of Bellevue Hospital.
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 Simday 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
<JQJWD C&JXCXZA&OS
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
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 700 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-
ciety woman. She usually comes to
me either at the urgent solicitation
of relatives or friends, or with only
a surface desire to be rid of the
habit.
and truly, and with their whole heart,
want to be cured.
"For instance, a certain woman
came to me for treatment for the
drink habit and seemed sincere indeed.
I treated her by auto-suggestion, giv-
ing her the suggestion that she coulJl
not lift a wineglass to her lips. She
went away and the very next night
tatlons of whisky were judged to be
the re l 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-
I vue. I don't say that real whisky, it
I 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
drinks of pure whisky would not do
a man the harm that one drink of this
vilo stuff they sell for whisky in New
York would do him.
Poisoned by Vile Liquor.
"I know a man who left his office
one evening all tired but. dropped into
dull, sunke* eyes and pinched faces,
and the continuance of the use of the
druf; leads to nervous wreckage, de-
lirium and insanity."
LETTER POSTED 32 YEARS AGO.
Crossed Ocean Many Times Before
Delivery to Sea Captain.
A letter posted at Garmstad, Nor-
way, 32 years ago to Capt. Thomas
Nielsen of the bark Harmonia, and
which has traveled across the Atlan-
tic to and fro many times in pursuit
of him, was delivered to Thomas Niel-
sen, a carpenter of the revenue cut-
ter Manhattan of the local service,
says a New York dispatch to the St._
Louis Globe Democrat. It was the
right envelope, and the joint letter it
contained brought the mist to his eyes
with the "news" it told of old friends
and relatfves in Norway, many of
whom are now dead.
Capt. Nielsen is now 68 years old,
and has been retired from the sea for
many years. The letter was from his
wife, Alviner, and his brother John,
who wrote to tell of an accident to an-
lUTiimiHiiiiiFii.n.
BILL PROPOSED TO ESTABLISH
GREAT CENTRAL BANK
TO BE
AT
CONFLICT OVER GAS
;
Government to Hold Three'Fifths of
Stock—Branches to be Established
in Nine Cities—National Banks to
be Stockholders
WASHINGTON: "The United
States National Bank of America" is
provided for in a bill introduced in
the house of representatives by Mr.
Fornes, of New York. The bank as
conceived is to be located in Wash-
ington, and is to have a capital stock
of $1,000,000,000, divided into 100,000
shares of the par value of $1,000.
Three-fifths of these shares to be
purchased by the United States treas-
urer at par, the purchase money to be
raised by the sale of $60,000,000
United States gold bonds, payable in
fifty years and bearing three per cent
interest, the same to be designated
"United States currency bonds." Two-
fifths of the shares are to be offered
at not less than par to the national
banks of the country, to be paid for
in gold coin.
"The United States National Bank
of America" it to open for business
September 1, 1908, and to C3ase ti
exist September 1, 1958, unless its life
be extended by congress. Branches
are to be established in New York.
Chicago, New Orleans, Boston, Den-
ver, St. Louis, San Francisco, Cincin-
nati and Portland, Ore.
The bank shall be governed by a
board of twenty-five directors, elected
by the stockholders, and the secretary
of the treasury shall be the chairman.
It may issue additional notes of the
United States National Bank of Amer-
ica in amounts not exceeding $40,000,-
000, and such notes shall be available
for general national bank circulation
upon deposit of proper security. Four
per cent dividends may be paid to
stockholders on the bank's earnings.
"A case was pointed out recently of a luncheon given here in New
York at which 24 debutantes drank 36 bottles of champagne, and 15 of
them smoked seven dozen cigarettes."—Dr. Quackenbos.
New Yorkers Becoming Hysterical
BY DR. S. T. ARMSTRONG.
(Superintendent of Bellevue and the
Allied Hospitals.)
THE New Yorkers are becoming a
hysterical people. They show an
increasing excitability, a dimln-
Ishment of self control. This demon-
strates itself in all forms of excesses.
Less and less restraint is exercised.
The extreme tension of life here is
showing on 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 what
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 condl-
a saloon of the best class and took
Very few of them honestly | oniy two drinks of their bar whisky
and was lost for four days. I was
called In to help find 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.
"The 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 stx months before
being sold to the drinker.
It is rather surprising how many
become
other brother, Nicholas, who had re-
turned from a sea trip with a broken
leg. All three brothers are now em-
ployed on the Manhattan, and the wife,
now an elderly woman, Is living with
her husband in Brooklyn.
The envelope containg the letter
was covered with postmarks, many of
them so faded that they could not be
made out. It was directed originally
to Minoteteon, Mexico, in care of the
Swedish consul, but had been directed
so many times there was no furthei
space, and when it was returned to
Garmstad for the sixth time last June
it had to be Inclosed in an other cov-
er. The letter, which was posted Jan
tions. or to make comparisons be-
tween the present and the past. The ^
records of the alcoholic and psycopath- I our school children hav
ic wards of Bellevue haspital do not | ^eer drinkers, especially those of for-
show the facts of inebriety even i plgn birth and the habit is making
among the classes of men and women j thenl mentally sluggish to a degree
who would seek aid from this hos- [ tftat lg attracting the attention of ed-
pltal. In 1904 there were 8.941 admis-
sions to Bellevue for various forms of
alcoholism. The number now is great-
ly less than that. In 1906 it had fallen
to 6,653. 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
ucators and philanthropists
"Another habit which is getting con-
trol of our shop girls particularly is
the cocaine habit. 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.
Federal Inspection of Grain
The senate committee on agricul-
ture, of which Senator Long is a mem-
ber, held hearings on the bill -by
Senator McCumber to provide federal
inspection of grain. The committee
will hold further hearings, for their
is both opposition and demand for the
proposed legislation. At one of the
hearings representatives of the Bos-
ton Chamber of Commerce and the
Philadelphia Board of Trade appeared
in opposition to the bill. They claim
that national grain inspection would
put out of business the supervisory
functions of boards of trade and
chambers of commerce throughout the
country. Senator McCumber s bill
proposes that there shall be organized
in the department of agriculture a
section of inspection and grading and
slso a chief inspector and necessary
porce at each of the following citie3*
Boston. New York. Philadelphia. Bal
timore, Chicago, Minneapolis, Duluth
Superior, Kansas City. St. Louis, New
Orleans. Seattle, Tacoma and San
Francisco. The department of agri
Government and State May Have a
Clash Over the Matter
WASHINGTON: War has brolcen
out between the federal government
and Oklahoma and officials here have
remote visions of a pitched battle
between the regular army and the
Oklahoma state militia.
The conflict grows out of the pass-
age of a law preventing the piping of
gas out of that state. The govern-
ment contends that such a law inter-
feres with the rights of the Indians,
who have gas to sell and who are
wards of the government. The state
courts have taken steps to enforce
the state law. The federal courts
will be asked by the government to
annul the state law and protect the
rights of the Indians as guaranteed
them hy the federal government.
Secretary Garfield of the Interior
department has kept the wires hot
between here and Muskogee giving
instructions to his field assistant.
Judge Thomas Ryan, and to Inspector
J. George Wright, as to how to pro-
ceed. It seems that the state courts,
by injunctions, have already closed
down a couple of pipe lines which
carry gas from Oklahoma to some
factories in southern Kansas. The
lines were built before Oklahoma
came Into statehood and under a per-
mit from the federal government.
These concerns have now appealed
to the government for protection and
for Oklahoma gas under the original
permit which, they say, gives them
vested rights. The government will
champion their cause, on entirely dif-
ferent grounds, however. It is the
guardian of the Indians who have gas
to sell. There is no market in Ok-
lahoma for the gas. The Indians
have a right to market their gas.
Therefore, as their guardian, the
government will insist on marketing
the gas in another state, regardless
of the Oklahoma state law to the con-
trary. Wright and Ryan, represent-
ing the government, will bring some
sort of a suit in the federa lcourts of
eastern Oklahoma to annul the state
law. It may be a proceeding to en-
join the state courts from interfer-
ing, a suit to enjoin state officers
from enforcing injunctions of the
state courts or a suit against the
state direct. The exact nature of the
proceedings is left to the government
otncials at Muskogee. But they are
instructed to take action immediately.
Oklahoma's idea in passing the law
was to keep her gas at home. She
wants to bring factories in to use the
gas instead of letting the gas be piped
to factories in other states. It is
certain that her officials will back
up the law to the last ditch. The old
question of state's rights is involved.
leuer, \*I1IUU VV i U3icu oau nauiiatu. A " r . . s.up
1875. had been opened and culture is to determine and
these records prove nothing in the The e(ject 0f the habit is noted in the
line we would follow. The number of j
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
him to an asylum as a chronic drunk-
ard. This had the effect especially
of keeping many women from taking
repeated advantage of treatment at
Bellevue.
sealed with Mexican stamps bearing
the date of 1876.
A Bargain.
"What! "-exclaimed the husband
"You drew your savings from the
bank, went to a broker's office, and
bought Z.. X.. and Y. stock at 14.
when it has been dropping like a
rock?"
"But, my dear." argued the wife.
"It was such a bargain. Why, during
the short time I was in the office I
saw the man mark it down to 14 from
45!"—Success Magazine.
Dr. Parkhurst Says "It Is a Fact"
w
the | to what they could see and eat and
Judge Ryan Denies Any Trouble
MUSKOGEE: Judge Thomas
Ryan states that neither he nor the
commissioner to the five civilized
tribes had received instructions from
the secretary of the interior to start
action against the state of Oklahoma
to dissolve the restraint the state has
placed upon gas companies who have
attempted to lay pipe lines across the
state line and pipe gas out.
WOULD GO TO DENVER
classifications.
Relief for Homesteaders of Oklahom
Senator Curtis has forced the Gore
bill to give homesteaders in the Big
Pasture" of Oklahoma additional time
to make their payments to the gov-
ernment out of the subcommittee and
it will be reported by the Indian com-
mittee immediately. Curtis said there
was no reason to delay action on the
bill: that it was just and fair and
that homesteaders should be relieved.
Would Restore Press Pass
Senator Stone has introduced in the
senate a bill providing for the is-
suance by railroads of transportation
to newspapers in return far advertl3"
ing The measure is intended as an
amendment to the railroad rate law
enacted at the last session of ^f ress.
It has the indorsement of
Editorial Association, and the only
'•■usiitK inebriety In New YorkT ! r.pialy utnons the women > ">« "J.
creasing inebriety in New York? i growing rapidl;
Whatever will bring easement to the I Qf Now York.
restless life in the city will lessen | have not made a real investlga-
all forms of dissipation. The whole j t)on ag Dr Quackenbos has. but one
subject needs careful and thorough j does not have to investigate, it is
investigation to know what palliative a fact *hich stares you in the face,
measures can be taken. Drinking is ^ jg a|j on surface, and one can-
onlj one symptom of what is wrong ( noj overlook it.
with us.
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
and the poor, young and old. Girls in
their teens evidently see no itnpropri-
•ety whatever in drinking publicly
with men companions. Very often
indeed 1 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 hej maid to bring her another
quart. Then before leaving the house
to enter her carriage she would empty
the bottle to 'steady her nerves
Girls Indulge in Liquor.
"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 24
debutantes drank 36 bottles of chain
parne and 15 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 fur-tlons. and
many a girl baa p t her first taste of
llqacr by a dtp into It The punch
'HEN a representative of -
Sunday World read portions of drink j that Transportation may be
Dr. Quackenbos' article to Rev. 1 suppose the growth of the dr nk . provw rates in return lor
Dr. Charles P.rkhur.t he -Id; babi, b. been ■*£<■« "J i .. reS«Ur r.,„.
undoubtedly true. ~4 «*" ] worn., ,.rjtartc*J .. ^ ^ ^ ^
Senator Gore has introduced a bill
requiring the government to make
a per capita distribution of all funds
held in trust for the five
tribes These funds aggregate about
$8 000.000. divided by tribes as fol-
low* Creeks. 12.000.000: Cherokses.
II 800.00; Seminoles. i2 000000: Choc-
taws $1 000.000. Chlc^asaws. $1,200.-
000.' The administration w"j
upon an amendment to the Wll. flrat
si vine the government authority to
?9;,nwhir funds are necessary to
equalize the land ano,®t!l3 ,h- aov-
the allotments are equa Ized. the gov
ernment has no objections at-
tributing the funds to the Indians.
Objtf.ts to the Donation of
Senator Carter of Montana has an-
rcanced that he will object to the
"A chief reason for this increase in J 8tatute books, but it isn't in the
the number of women who drink is. I j hearts or niinds of those in author-
she went with a man companion to ; believe, that there has been too much j jty or tn the hearts or minds of the
one of our large restaurants, made no j prosperity. Of course, just now we J 1>e0pie who put those men in author-
objection whatever when wine was ; are passing through a period of hard j were, the law would be en-
ordered. and even tried her best to j
overcome the suggestion I had glveu
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 but little time 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 sorta. but they
don't. They think they do. but what
they are really drinking is a deadly
poison and one swift In Its execution.
1 feel safe in saying that out of 100
drinks sold in New York city as
whisky not more than one Is the real
article.
Counterfeit Whisky.
"But so cleverly is whisky counter
felted to-day that club connoisseurs i
cannot detect It. as was shown In an times so to speas
experiment made recently by Dr Dar panic for a numbei of Years the conn
llngton of the board of health Dr try was moat pi
Darlington went around and collected
a number of samp'es of whisky from
saloons of ail classes, took the sam-
ple* to bis Club where be had Sev
end of the members teat them, aad
mtck to his surprise the cheap **1-
forced.
I "The growing tendency of the
I 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
J the people who elect those men to of-
j flee do not make them do it. and they
keep on electing men who will not
do It
Speaker Murray Announces Himself
for Delegate at Large
GUTHRIE: Hon. Wm. H. Murray,
speaker of the house has announced
his candidacy for delegate at large to
the national democratic convention
and gives out the following:
"To the Democrats of Oklahoma:
"I desire to be a delegate to the
national democratic convention which
meets in Denver in July. Am too busy
with the legislature to look after my
interests, and therefore call upon my
friends in the local precincts to do so
for me, If they believe I will advo-
cate the right kind of a platform. I
am for Bryan for president, and I
request my friends to secure an en-
dorsement for me in each precinct
or voting box democratic convention
instructing their delegates to the
county convention, and that each
county convention instruct their dele-
gates to the state convention for me
for one of the delegates from the
state at large to the national conven-
tion. If elected I will thus owe the
same to the common people of the
state and will gladly defend their
rights and interests in said conven-
tion.
KANSAS BANK BILL DETAILS
Besides Guaranteeing Deposits Com-
missioner May Name Receivers
TOPEKA: Senator Fred Qulnch of
Salina gave out copies of the state
bank deposit guaranty bill which he
will introduce at the special session.
It has the approval of Bank Commis-
sioner Royce. The bill la to become
effective in six months and is com-
pulsory. The assessment is $100 on a
bank's first $100,000 or less of aver-
age deposits A bank that has not
been In business the full preceding
year from which the basis is made
up shall be assessed on amount of
deposits shown by its last called
statement The minimum must be
$100. The fund to be raised is not
more than $1,000,000 and assessments
be made each year until this
rcanceo iu.v lookint lo the shall be made each year until tnts
passage o i.nM. (or varioui ' sum is reached A penalty of M per
donation #,HJaJ(JcUrw| tha, ,Uch do- cent of the assessment is to be added
purposes. 1^^ would make it j in case remittance is not remitted, tha
necewarv''for 'senator."from all states J banks7 «uthority to do business is to
havIng ^ubHc lands to see that they | be revoked
"Our mayor is sworn to be active in j ^^jve as large donations of land as
— •. of the laws, but is other states. Senator Carters oo-
Well. If the mayor j jectlon *r s made to a bill ®
you expect those nn North Dakota 3«.000 •<-re. of l«d to
itherwise? He is the .id In the maintenance of a school of
Rev. Dr. Charles Parkhurst.
hut belore th«
oun-
most pro*iwruns, everybody
had money, and life Itecame too eaay.
When life Is made too <-«ay we are in
a danger tone and more prone to give
way to temptation That long p«rtod
«rf prosperity made us too material.
k'po turned the desires of man? «*lj
the enforcement of the laws, but is I other states. Senator Carter
he? He is no:. we . If the mayor | jection was madejo^a bill gran
j Is Inactive can
! der him to be otherwise
j man to whom the lessor officials look, j forestry.
j and if he sets such an example, what
is the result" Inactivity all along
the line and our laws become mere
printed matter
has in-
Representative Hobson
troduced In the national house of rep-
resentatives a bill to provide for a
ns« v adequate for
We also send Incompetency to our - . .PPropriates $.<0.( 0.000 an
... ._ k... * BP ul" r ,n..tnw>lini
legislative bodies in Albany We hava
done so for years and probabl) will
k****p on doing so We know that we
are doing It and have little or no re
, spect for a large majority of the men
i we send there, so bow can we have
respect for the laws they make* We
! cannot ta*e reaper* '* those lawi
' aad we have not.'*
oualiv for the purpose of constructing j
new batsleships. the number and teat
-re, of 'he vessels to be determined
lent under the advice of
" ie pres-
by
„ L.^crt. It also authorise, t
ider when in his judgment the n
,tonal security aad defense jeqqir
It. to order or at house
.broad veese'.s or
the tots: cost of
ceed
war i
i!ilcl sluill
The fund is to never be below $750.-
000 Senator Qulnch says that his
bill is in reality an enabling act. He
also proposes to introduce a bill which
gives the bank commissioner power to
name receivers of failed banks.
To Deepen Candtan River
MUSKOGEE J B Crouch rep-
resentative of Muskogee, will intro-
duce a bill in the legislature ashing
the state to appropriate $10,000 for
the purpose of making the Canadian
river navigable tor mmmii boat, from
the potnt where the Midland Valley
railroad crosses that stream to ita
confluence with the Arkansas over.
This amount. It la claimed, would
be snfftcieat aad would estaVtah a
water freight rate at Porum, the !arr
est town ia the so«thw*ra part at
Maakogee coaaty
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Williams, Bob. The Oklahoma Democrat. (Altus, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 23, 1908, newspaper, January 23, 1908; Altus, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc280172/m1/3/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.