SOAKERS.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 423, 19 May 1871, Page 2

SOAKERS.

Tiling 13 a habit which has become alarm ingly prevalent of late years in all 1^ society. It is practised by people of all aff6 / and, unfortunately, by persons of both S It consists in a perpetual draining of «S of brandy, or "two penn'orths" of gin • a ? d not UHfrequently, of glasses of sherry an d * port. The beer tippler indulges in a cheaper but not xn the Jong run, I l ess S hquor-for the deleterioas effects of beer upo' S'-SSTpSf 1 are almosfc as Bad as «2 he 8 J ZZI I neCeßßity- J ea ' coffeerc^a and hJ^TTT 61*, these habxts lead to early death, and-the huiband and the father who started life full of eood intentions and possessed of a hopeful prospect is shovelled away to the worms, who LaSfc we know may be made drunk as they feed on his reeking carcase. Anyone who is accustom ed to mix m large societies of men, cannot fail to become aware of the sad havoc made by drmk amongst their number. A large percentage of the deaths that take place in iu C h associations may be traced either directly or indirectly to drunkenness. With some men, however, hard drinking really appears to agree most thoroughly. If it be in teed poison, it is so slow in its operation that many years of soaking seem rather to improve the soaker than otherwise. People cnn actually live on gin, and some positively do so ', but it is at best a very dangeroua experiment to try, for thousands where one survive?. If it fail to kill quickly, the habit of soaking tends to induce excessive nervousness, or it produces softening of the brain, and this renders him fit only for the madhouse. Nor, unhappily, is soaking confined to men. Although more revolting iv a woman, it is by no means rare in proportion to its detestability. Women who drink are the worst of drunkards, and the feminine soaker is one of the most pitiable sights under heaven. How often, even in respectable society, so-called, do we find the " ladies" of the household addicted i o this vice. Their husbands and families enleavour, successfully, as they believe, but generally in vain, to conceal the unwelcome propensity. The usual indications of soaking ire explained away by all sorts of ingenious inventions, but all these are valueless again&t the " odour" with which the unhappy woman' s determined to strike the nostrils. In such cases the practice, is incapable of any but the iimsiest disguise, and will "always, sooner or Inter, betray itself beyond the power of concealment. There is a point, very frequently reached, at which soaking becomes a disease—when the soaker is unable to control his appetite ; when •egardless of all consequences, he flies to the old stimulent; and when his business, his character, and his life are placed in jeopardy by bis vicious practices. Delirium tremens disposes of thousands of these " miserabJes," though in i very horrible way. The death of a man uffering from this disease is one of the most horrible sights that can be conceived. The -tarting eyeballs, the distended nostrils, the listorted mouth, the clenched fingers, the ttorror-striken visage, all tell a fearful tale of the terrible aspect which the last enemy has wrne. The countenance of a man so dying, never relaxes even long after death, and is borne to his grave stamped with the terror that has hurried him from life to deati. [usanity overtakes thousands of these pitable soakers, and they are carried out of the sight of men to fret and pine away the miserable remnant of their lives withiu the walls of, * ■ madhouse. If, perchance, they recover, the / rembling hand, the unsteady fingers, and ths shambling gait, proclaim what ghosts of their ormer selves they are become, and indicate 1 iow soon their journey will be over.—Manchester Free Lance.