A Drinker of Kerosene

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 99, 26 February 1887, Page 5 (Supplement)

A Drinker of Kerosene

Atlanta, Galveston, has a kerosene oil drunkard (says the Detroit Advertiser). Henry J. Burrows drinks a gallon of Kerosene oil, taking a Half pint of the oil at one swallow. He says that he has bought the oil for drinkingpurposes, and consumed about half a gallon in this way. When about 15 years of age he and two other boys went on a catnp hunt, and they were lost in the woods for three weeks. Burrows became separated from his friends, and had nothing to eat, and could find no water. He had a small bottle of kerosene oil which had been brought along #to kindle fire, and from time to time he would take a small mouthful to alleviate his thirst. Before he was rescued he had swallowed the entire contents of the bottle. It had an exhilarating effect upon him, and the taste was pleasant. When he returned home he sampled the kerosene every day or two, and in a few months was drinking it regularly in small doses. It seemed to have no injurious effect, and his parents did nothing to stop the habit, While in the army he would make regular foraging excursions for his drink, and while others secured milk, coffee, and whisky, he always obtained a full supply of his loved kerosene. Once during a long march his oil gave out, and hd almost went crazy, and suffered all the tortures of a drunkard with the tremens. He was sent to a hospital and recovered immediately after being allowed to swallow a cup of kerosene. Burrows now drinks nearly a halfgallon of oil a week, and he uses only the very best. His health is perfectly good, his appetite never fails, and he has not known organic troubles. He says that the oil gives him a feeling of exhilaration, and burns him as it passes down his throat just about as much as whisky would ordinary people.