Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1893-01-26
TEMPERANCE COLUMN.
EDITED BY JoNEsBoRo W. c. T. U.
ALCOHOL AS A MEDICINE.

BOou pIdCbiSo' ~ nuo ouiNiNCu iiohi
those days when people took rum and
a~pplejack to keep out the cold; to keep
out the heat: to help the appetite; to
take the place of food; to wish health
to a friend; to keep up the spirits. in
fact to do anything that any one who
liked its pleasant taste wished to i'm
agine.
We do not meal by this to say that
alcohol is not available as q medicine.
We believe that as such it fills a very
important although a narrow sphere in
the hands of the skilful and conscien-
tious practitioner. 1t may also be of
servicessin other hands to meet sudden
shock, where nothing else is at hand.
But what we insist upon is that it is
very rarely useful for sudden illness or
pain in the hands of the public to a de-
gree that should give it preference over
other remedies. Take, for instance,
this matter of stimulation. 1t is as
distinguished an authority as Prof.
Lauder Brunton, of London, who tried
the following experiment: He had a
person who slipped a cup of hot water
and afterward, at a proper interval,
tried also the effect of a tablespoonful
of brandy. In each case the sphygmo-
graph "a applied to the pulse at the
wrist. II was found that the hot water
increased the wave and rhythm of the
pulse and SO affected the heart beat as
much as the brandy. The reviving eff
feet of a teacupful of hot water, with a
te~aspoonful of sugar and six to eight
drops of peppermint to give flavor, is
very perceptible. This is really much
of the value of catnip or other herb
teas.
A good prescription, either in case of
faintness or of pain, is ten drops of
spirits of camphor, ten drops of pare
goric, ten drops of sweet spirits of inter
and half t%easpoonful of baking soda
in a tablespoonful of warm water. Gin
ger tea, made by putting a half tea
spoonful of ordinary powdered ginger
in a half teacupful of warm water, is a
good stimulant. We doubt whether
anything is gained in the interest of
persons taken suddenly ill by suggest
ing a longer list of remedies. Position,
cold to the head, stimulants to the nos
trils, a mustard plaster, warmth to the
feet, %looseness of garments and one of
the stimulants we have named, follow
ed by a drink of warm peppermint
water, will do less harm and relieve
more cases than will dependence en-
the liquor flask. We persist in not ex-
polling it from the physicians list of
remedies, but as a medicine, al well as
a drink, it has great abuse in the hands
of promiscous prescribers. While fully
recognizing all that is necessary as to
it, it surely behooves us to guard
against excuses for its employment.
All the more because in some of these
cases of sudden illness the person and
his habits are not known to us.-New
York Independent.
A IS year old girl reads a lecture to
the young men in a Lincoln county
me. paper. She exclaims: Why do
the young men of this town do so much
loafing? Go to work push ahead l am
but a young girl; l have clothed myself
and got moneyin the bank, and only
IS years old. l lay up more money
every year of my life than any boy or
young man within a radius of three
miles Of my home. When they get a
dollar they go to a dance and go home
a dollar out. My father is able to sup
port me, but l chose to support myself,
l advise all girls to cut clear or those
loafing boys. Give them a wide berth
and never marry a man unless he is
able to support you. And never put
your arm through the handle of g
rum jug.
Rev. Woods lecture given in the
interest of the Loyal Temperance
Legion was a clear concise statement
of facts presented in an interesting
and listened to with marked
attention. He explained how, with
the light of science, the temperance
question had taken a different phrase
from that of 20 OF even 10 years ago,
Then men and women worked an(
pleaded to lift up and ave the drunk
ard, thinking that reform work by way
of pledge signing was the only practi
cal solution. Now drunkenness /
considered to be a disease and j
treated as such by choloride of golt
cures.
More fruitful work is now done in
the homes, schools and Loyal Temper
ance Legions by way of prevention o
the drink habit, by putting our boy
and girls in possession of truth re
garding the poisonous effects of alchO
lie drinks and narcotics on body.
The closing words to the boys were
Don't use cigarettes: You will neve
have but one boyhood, let it be pure.
Republican institutions al thriv
only when the best citizens are il
authority; therefore those who enjo,
the benefits of our present civilization
with the comfort of home, protected il
their lives and property, secure unde
the palladium of liberty and justice