The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 25, 1899, Page 25

reer and Fate of ndoiph in Atherton’s “A Daughter of the EBeing Imitated Society Girls. teen came into T sniffed at the perfume doctor?’ said on her. § ses, and then uinty eager- o0, or I'll They're mma t drin mescal he died nds d drink eno t a da f the demon not make toward the tumble I helped her brush aws: that frightened 18 cursing and her probable h it again. iness for per- :d what it meant stimulants that are known » to the sideboard and help uld be horrified were a little ned the trick at school, goes J e internally as well as you lmow, for fun, and nks her of the | ay tea.' Their | it er | longer suffices. 1 cologne no use the other g cted to that a boarding e midnight fe Just because it's so funn ‘0, no! | s, but 1 the tenth, who will have at ¢ il h er liguor at hand often § 1 inve ratio, will the child who her more mature cravings with other liguors W me they might go through life wi e Y e without comi 1 temptat They have been taught of the out perfume has never been tabooed. A v y would object to perfume. It is , but perfume is laughingly would be no cause for alarm. But ying with fire and taking chances 1 of the soft-spoken, Madonna-fac at the Nurses' Training Home fl\\:g ind sweet with the breath of potted < med h the color of the scarlet peony perfume drinking was mentioned. stammered. “Why—why, how should I e able to give some information vation of cou 2 unsealed her lips and proved the 1 all I know about the perfume habit, but please, tha impression that is general among nurses. ” who 4rink perfume, but they are the exceptions. There > nurse who has become addicted to perfume, though she is trying hard to give it up. You see she has an innate inherited craving for liguor. But she has never given full swing to her desires 4 | down w and is one of the finest and most conscientious nurses in San Fran- for whom she usually nurses had warned her 2d appetite. Moreover, he has always told his patients that he never allows a nurse to drink intoxicating stimulants while wc z under him. “This had practically isolated her from danger. She was never tempted by W you have just a little something to brace you A patients never realized that the anti ticularly necessary in this nurse’'s case. s without faliing from grace. Then the was acting peculiarly. Several months he physician against her noticed that e passed before he began to have grave suspicions. “When confronted twith proof of gross neglect during her watch she confessed that she had taken an overdose of perfume. She told the story, concealing nothing. “One night, while attending to a particularly trying patient, her desire for something to drink overmastered her. On the bureau stood a bottle of perfume. She recalled having heard that perfume would satisfy alcoholic craving. She drank a quarter of the contents. “From that time she took a ghtly potion of perfume when it wa ible. Gradually she inc d the amount, trying to delude herself into the belief that perfume was not ‘real’ drink. She hasbeen fighting the habit with all the wonderful will power that she can command. I am sure she will throttle it. “She had always Kept uppermost the danger that lay for her in the liquor flask. But the perfume bottle, she weakly argued, was such a harmless substitute. She knew that she was deceiving her- self, but not until others noticed it could she convince herself that the same deadly evil lurked in the perfume. “I have known other nurses to drink perfume when their nerves cried for something. As a rule they do not repeat the experiment. frequently. “After all perhaps there is more excuse for the nurse who snatches Q@oxO¥Ox #& %G FOROXOKOX & ¥ OAORORIXOK PAOROXS v cees!” said the gray major, shaking his hand, ‘(A]’?ill;\ “F;l: dlea.nnp‘;ng with blood. He had just ordered a retreat, and the dust-colored column was retreating sullenly. The major had fought at the front coming up, cheering his men on to the charge, but now, going back, he blushed not to be seen at the rear. He sat on his horse going down the valley with an expression of bitter disappointment upon his face and hatred for his trlumphant adversary filling his breast. He glanced back up the gentle slope, ich his men had charged a while ago. and saw them toiling up the hill again, bearing their dead and wounded and staining the stones with their young blood. The column of blue was steadily advancing. At the head rode the blue general, who had turned the flank of the grays as a tin sword turns when driven against a stone wall. “Damn the Yankees!” was all the gray major could say, and then, driving the spurs into the flanks of his horse, he galloped away after his command. At the top of the hill he halted his shattered band and offered battle, for the hill was hard to climb and he hoped to punish the blue general as he came on. Seeing the great advantage they held, the gray column took new courage and fought desperately. Steadily forward the blue general led his men, drunk with the thought of a victory that was three- fourths gained. Many there were who went down that slope, but the rest pushed on and up until the gray column began to waver. The desperate but thoroughly beaten men looked appealingly to the gray major, and at last, seeing the utter hopelessness of further resistance, he ordered another retreat. Now, as at the foot of the hill, the dauntless leader sat gazing with mingled hatred and admiration at the stout figure at the head of the blues. And as he looked a bullet came whirring up the hill and pierced the breast of the gray major. He sank upon the neck of his faithful horse and then rolled helplessly to the earth. The blue general, having passed with his field glass to his face, saw the brave major fall, but when he reached the summit of the hill he cbserved that the officer had fallen a little to one side of the road, his good horse remaining where the rider had gone down. Summoning his own surgeon, the general bade him see what could be done for his fallen foe. The doctor dismounted and examined the wounded man. He lifted the major's head. “Damn the Yankees!” said the major. “Dcn’t swear,” said the doctor, and then the major opened his eyes and gazed about. His glance rested upon the kindly face of the blue general and he immediately extended his hand. The g s Ve RannorpH prinns ™E Cotoane the first stimulant at hand than for the society girl who drinks per- fume.” 4 Perhaps there is more excuse—but unfortunately excuses don't balance moral accounts. . e e “Perfume cocktails? Why, of course we drink them,” said the society girl. “Surely no one can object to them. It isn’t as though we drank them to excess. Just now and then, when the girls are all together for a little ‘heart-to-heart.’ “Some of the girls prefer their perfume in tea. I like it that way myself. Just a few drops in the tea and you have no idea how it improves it. Others mix two or even three kinds of perfume with water, and still others mix water and perfume and gin and call it a perfume fizz “I think, ‘on the whole, most of the girls prefer the perfume fizz to any of the other drinks with perfume. We use very little gin, just a tiny suspicion of it. A perfume fizz is really not half bad. We make them for the beys, and though they laugh at the idea I notice they usually ask for more. “Do some people really believe that perfume arouses a taste for liquor? I had never thought of it from that point ot view. We used to drink it in school for fun and do it now from habit. It has never created a desire for more with me, but perhaps it is responsible for several of the girls dr—. However, that’s another story. “How silly! It's nonsense for me to think of such a thing. Of course the perfume doesn’t lead ‘to other drinks. It's absurd! “The girls who smoke cigarettes often dip the end in the per- fume bottle, draw the cologne up so that it permeates the tobacco and then light them. They say you can both taste and smell the per- fume and that it's awfully good. “I don't want to believe that the perfume habit is so dangerous or that it will create an appetite. These ‘unto-the-third-and-fourth- generation’ cranks always make my blood run cold. HOAPHOLSX PR IR VA OAOAPADAOUOXDHOHOADK OXOK O HOXOXPAOK DX PR OXOROXOXOX § ¥ VX OXOX O %0500 i THE GRAY MAJOR AND THE YANKEES. * LOXOXPRIADXDAOAOKOU OXOAOXOKOROXOROX LOROROFOXOXO% B ¥ OXOXOXD%0%6@ blue general dismounted and gave his hand to the unfortunate major and some words of commendation for his bravery. Then ke gave the major some very fine brandy, and the major, being of the South, knew that it was fine, and was very grateful to the gemeral for it and for the attention of the blue surgeon. “Good-by,” said the general, mounting. “I must hurry on.” “‘Good-by, my gallant general. Good luck té you—but—damn the Yankees!” . . - . - . . - Just thirty years later the blue general was made commander of the United States soldiers stationed at San Antomio, Texas. He had grown gray in the service of his country, and the gentle woman who had begun in her girlhood to be a soldier's wife had grown gray be- side him. Thelir children were men and women making places for t};:lrgaelves in the world and presenting them with interesting grand- children. In a little while the hero of Grassy Hill and the charming woman who had walked through a score and a half of years at his side, won the hearts of the people of Texas, which had been of the South, but werée n;)‘:r of the great and glorious West, where there is neither North or Sou Many men who had fought against the blue general had come to know him personally and to respect him. If now and then they brooded over the past they blessed the blue general and all his house. One day while the general’s grandchildren were driving in a pony cart a horse drawing a delivery wagon got away from the driver and went flying down the street. The boys in the pony cart were turning slowly, their cart hang- ing crosswise of the street. They were talking and laughing, utterly unconscious of the danger they were in. A man who wore a slouch hat and had about him the air of an army officer saw the horse com- ing down the street and saw the danger the children were in. ‘Without a moment’s hesitation he put himself in the middle of the road, between the children and the runaway horse. The horse seemed to be blind with fright, but as he neared the man he swerved slightly, so that the wagon missed the cart, but caught the man and rolled him over and over in the dusty road. The general, who was walking in the avenue, saw it all and hur- ried to the man, ‘ “You are a very brave man,” said he, “and I am unable to express to }:'oal my appreciaticn of what you have done.” G | || ey h, don’t mention it, general,” said the man. “I was deeply in your debt for that excellent brandy you gave me on Grassy Hill.” *4. S¥ @ # < ’ o< Dr. F. W. D’Evelyn on the : - Perfume Habit Curse. : “Perfumes” as beverages present objectionable factors, & both from a physiological and psychological point of view. ¥ as most genera found are simply commercial x > oils, solutions of artifici: and bear no more direct relationship to the “flower they presum h""fm' extracted from than a “Brummagem diamond” does to a Kim- berley brilliant. The odor is essentially a enfleurage—and A combination of which contain in their classification poisons and irritants—specific properties exert even when diluted to an excessive d A few drops of the from which t fumes” are distilled would throw an ox into convulsions and ve an adult human an attack of chol morbus—which would not tion—not one of low alcohols— most potent they always chemical r ther th e “pe be associated with any “fragrant” memories, The finer s vy be flower d ations, but in that ferm cannot be us: ymmercially—having to be fortified by the addition of alco ® ® o 4 o * ® * < * @ > * * s * @ So a “perfume” in this class would be essentially a diluted alcoholic extract—a soft, sensuous, se i which would lead by subtle stages to a condi i would ultimate in that condition more “drunk.” The victim sprit Pomn hibit the same physiological degeneration as that of the vulgar “sour-mash. “Perfumes’”’ must not be confounded with the waters which since the dz of Meda have formed a pleasant addition to the bath or served to cloak the bitterness of the housewife’s physic. PXOAXPHOUGHPAOHPHOH NP HOXONPADAO YO RO A ORD AP KO A DA DK O KON PHOA QU OHOKQ The psychical objection to perfume drinking is that it tends to form another excuse for social customs; boarding- house ante-dinner ennui nments. re each’ victim draws h unmistakably irnate « lation or stimulation. This is interwov sue fibers—the flaw in our make up— and to successfully combat it demands full recognition, abetted by mental and- physical re nce—not craven capitulation— lest we succumb to this, our heirloom of degeneration. DR. FREDERICK W. D'EVELYN. Gk PxPAPAIKPKIAOAXDXPADHP KD @1 OROKS > % HORS RO “I've heard my mother tell that when Sibyl Sanderson was a girl she was invited to a house party. The host did not believe in in- toxicating beverages. Sibyl drank up b wn perfume and one night after a particularly exciting game of billiards she shocked host and guests by proposing that every one contribute their perfume to the punch bowl as a ‘cologne cocktail was better than none. “Now, of course, that's going too far. But if when the girls are alone they drink them just for fun there’s no need of raising a hue and cry. TI'll make a perfume cocktail now. I have some ‘peau d’espagne,’ which is the very best cologne for a perfume cocktail.” “Sip it,” commanded the cologne mixeroiogist. Ugh! a biting, pricking sensation, that brought tears to the eyes; a peculiar odor and taste that nauseated. “I must have put in too much for the first time,” said La Dame aux Cologne. “I guess a perfume flin would be better. I’ll tell you somebody who makes them to perfection.” w e e The “somebody” who makes perfume s to perfection proved to be a gilt-haired club Johnny, who has an American name, speaks English with a French accent and wears the official fez of the Sultan. He modestly acknowledged being the inventor of the perfume flips. “The girls like perfume,” he said, “and occasionally thrust it on us. They call water and cologne a perfume cocktail. Improve that with gin and you have a perfume fizz. “In a moment of inspiration I conceived of the perfume flip. It's really nothing but a sherry flip with the addition of some peau d’espagne. The girls have rather taken to it and last summer in San Rafael I was duly commissioned Royal Perfume Flip-pe! ‘‘Between ourselves I think putting perfume in any spoiling good material. But the girls all like it. “Do you know lots of girls will take a drink that has a perfume handle to its name when they refuse the same thing called by its other title? The girl who will refuse a sherry flip has no compunc- tions_about a perfume flip. “Just like a woman, isn't it? perfume flip is worse. alcohol.” drink is For, come right down to it, the The addition of the cologne just adds more . s . And the pity of it all is, that it is just like a woman! And the sin of it all is that we are doing nothing to stop the perfume habit. For the sake of the daughters of the vine in our midst let us fiy a danger signal from every perfume bottle. FLORA McFLIMSY.