The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-10-19
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
A FALLEN CHAMPION.
The Temperance Lesson Taught by .
Prize Fight.

The Temperance Lesson Taught by .
Prize Fight.
The prize fight at New Orleans be-
tween Sullivan and Corbett has in it
lesson of temperance and right living.
The defeat of sullivan, if rightly con-
sidered, will carry to the mind of every
young man a proof of the proposition
that sobriety promotes health and
physical siren 9Th, while debauchery
and drunkenness injure the one and
sap the other. Sullivan, in the hours
of chagrin and sorrow following the
contest self-accusingly cried out to the
little group of friends about him that
''booze" did it. Every teacher of phys
zeal culture, every trainer of men for
contests in which bodily endurance is
to be taxed to its utmost, will give tes-
timony that Sullivan but stated the
truth as to the primal cause of his en-
tire collapse The pugilist, long be-
lieved to be peerless in physical
strength and endurance, is noted for
his debaucheries. For several years
he has been hard drinker, INDUCING
in protracted drinking beuts with boon
companions. The result was that at
his career cut short, and he probably
will, in the course of few years, be
back at his origi nal occupation of sew
.r-digging, unless his old enemy,
''booze," brings him to the grave.
On the other hand, Corbett who tri-
umphed over Sullivan, is strict alb
stainer. He never drinks of any intox-
icant. In his hour of triumph after the
New Orleans contest, when surrounded
by excited and admiring throngs of
friends, and with champagne flowing
like water, he resisted every impor-
tunity to drink; even the lone glass"
he was urged to take sin good fellow
ship" was steadfastly declined with the
remark: 81 guess this is good enough
| for me-" as he lifted glass of water to
his lips. Though one can have no SYM
pathy with prize fighter as such, yet
we can admire thoroughly and com
mend heartily his steady abstinence
amid class of men to whom a refusal
to drink is, as general rule, tanta-
mount to a personal insult. The ex-
ample is one that should be profitable
to every young man, 1t often requires
| q considerable amount of moral cour-
age to say mo" on aconvivial occasion,
and thousands of men have taken the
first step IN the drunkard's path by
their unfortunate lack of will power.
The ultimate and inevitable result of
the drink habit in destroying physical
strength and undermining the constitu-
ton is fact which should be deeply
impressed upon the minds of the rising
generation The young men of
| America as a rule, must make their
way in life by their own exertions
The great majority must do this by
labor-either by hands or brain, or
both. No lesson can be more i'm
portant to them than indulgence in
any intoxicant Injuries the body, and
affects their cpower for steady,
persistent work. The effect upon
the brain is no less marked than
upon the muscles; and the mental
worker who INDUCES the drink habit is
at quite as great a disadvantage as the
drinking man who la bors at some handi.
craft. Drink means decay of strength,
both physical and mental. 1t deranges
every physical function, and makes the
body prematurely old. In the case OF
Sullivan, most authorities upon prize.
fighters will always maintain that the
ex-champion at his best was the su,
perior in strength and endurance of the
man who so easily defeated him; but
his bodily strength had been impaired
by his drinking habits, and his vitality
impaired, Hence he met defeat where,
had this not been the case, he would
assuredly have been victor.
The fallacy is world wide that drink
is strengths giving. This is because
there is fictitious access of eXhil-
aration following the swallowing of
any intoxicating liquor, which is mis-
taken for an addition to the bodily
powers. The truth is the exact reverse
of the common belief. Liquor adds nc
strength, nor does it add to the endur
ance of the mans physical powers. II
is the Delilah which robs him of his
} strength and makes him old when he
should be in his manly prime. Teach
ers in the schools of the land should
impress this lesson upon the minds OF
the boys under their charge, 1t is part
of the great educational process which
our people must go through in order tt
create a majority public sentiment
against not only intemperance, but it,
feeder and support, the saloon. Wher
that sentiment is created, a successful
effort will promptly follow to pulver
ize the rum power. Toledo Blade.
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