And I didn't like the stuff.

I drank it as I had drunk beer at five, and wine at seven.

I mastered my qualms and downed it like so much medicine.

And when we wanted more bottles, we went into other saloons where the free drink was flowing, and helped ourselves.
I haven't the slightest idea of how much I drank--whether it was two quarts or five.

I do know that I began the orgy with half-pint draughts and with no water afterward to wash the taste away or to dilute the whisky.
Now the politicians were too wise to leave the town filled with drunks from the water-front of Oakland.