To put it plainer, fifteen years ago, a
smart man would be employed on a newspaper to "write" or "report". If he
were brilliant, he was entitled almost by custom to "go on the war-path"
once a week--that is, to be drunk that often, and to be totally unable
or unwilling to do the current day's work.
NOW-A-DAYS,
if a man in the same position were to get drunk once a year he would be
superseded. No matter how brilliant he may be, the drunkard at once
sinks to the bottom. The "fat jobs" are filled by men as steady as
clock-work. How has Society done this wonderful thing? Hard to tell. She
has constantly tempted the steady man. In fact, she inclines to treat
him a shade the better if he can drink some stimulant each day without
unbalancing himself--some alcohol, some coffee or some tea--but
WOE TO HIM
if he transgress her limits. In the country it is asked "Does he drink?"
In the city it is asked "Does he get drunk?" The two methods are
essentially the results of two conditions. The mistake of the one
locality is to apply its own preliminary to the other. Now, again, to
this frightful question of woman-torture: Society knows all about woman.
Pages:
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356