TEMPERANCE COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 12

TEMPERANCE COLUMN

SEVEN STAGES OF DRUNKENNESS. Interesting and amusing evidence of ■tKe different, stages of drunkenness has been given by a doctor before Mr Plowden at the Marylebone Court. A marI ried woman named Agnes Memige, who j was charged with being drunk and incapable of taking care of herself, denied 1 the- charge, and the doctor who examined her some time after her arrest was therefore called to give evidence. Dr Williams, of Upper Dorset street, said he found her in a mellow, comfortable state of drunkenness, recovering from irritation. Mr Plowden : Am I to understand that a person who gets drunk must first of all be irritable a-nd then mellow ? j Dr Williams : There is always an irrit- ' able state, and that is succeeded by the mellow, comfortable, happy state. j " And what," Mr Plowden asked, " ifi i that succeeded by?" Dr Williams : The pugnacious state. Mr Plowden : Oh, they become irrit- j able again ? j Dr Williams : They want to fight then. , Mr Plowden : And what is tie next ; state? j I Dr Williams : They become affectionate after that. Mr Plowden : And the next? Dr Williams : Then they become crying drunk. ! Mr Plowden : Wait a minute. This is really a most instructive lesson, of which we are very much in need in thie court sometimes. First irritable, then mellow, then pugnacious, then affectionate, then crying drunk, or lachrymose, and then ? Dr Williams : Collapse, incapacity, sleepy. j Mr Plowden : And after that, nothing, I suppose? j Dr Williams : If you give them a little more^ — death. j Mr Plowden : We have had the seven stages of man, now we have the seven stages of drunkenness : irritable, mellow, I pugnacious, affectionate, lachrymose, collapse, and death. Dr Williams added that these were the stages through which a person would i pass if alcohol were administered in a scientific way. ' KENTUCKY AND ITS GAOLERS. Within a period of less than two years the liquor traffic has been almost wiped 1 out in the State of Kentucky, 93 out of ! 97 towns voting dry. As a result, the [ General Assembly of Kentucky received the following memorial :—: — j " The Association of the Gaolers of the State have caused to be drafted certain acts for their relief, now before the General Assembly for their consideration. ' These acts are "intended to relieve the acute pecuniary conditions in which the gaolers have been placed by the general adoption of local option laws in the State. . j The office of gaoler in counties having a population of less than 75,000 is now worthless, the fees being totally insufficient to compensate the gaoler or feed the prisoners, the compensation of gaolers averaging less than 100 dollars per annum. " The gaol doors in nearly every county in which no-license prevails are "wide open, and the gaolers have been compelled to engage in other pursuits for the purpose of eking out a 6carity support for their families." t