The Republican., 1898-08-25
LESSONS OF THE HOUR.
Experiments with Armies and NaViea
That Demonstrate the Wisdom {,
of Total Abstinence.

1t is not generaIy KNOWN IHdC L Ielu
Marshal Lord Wolseley, the British
commander in chief, has instituted
careful and exhaustive experiments
with a view to ascertainlng the relative
effects of alcohol and of total absti-
nence upon the physical endurance and
staying qualities of the troops.
writer in the Chicago Tribune gives an
extended account of these experiments,
which we summarize.
Advantage has been taken both of the
annual maneuvers, as well as of the
petty wars of which England has a
few on hand in one part or another
of the world almost all the time, to
examine carefully the question. One
regiment would be deprived of every
drop of stimulant, while another be-
longing to the same brigade would he
allowed to purchase as usual its malt
liquors at the canteen, and a third,
probably n Highland corps, would re-
ceive a sailors ration of grog in the
form of whisky. In each instance the
experiment went to show that whereas
at first the corps which had received
an allowance of grog surpassed the
others in dash and impetuosity of at
tack. yet that after the third or fourth
day its members began to show notable
signs of lassitude and lack of spirit
ard endurance. Tho same manifesta-
ons, though in a minor and slower
degree. were apparent in the regiments
restricted to malt liquors, whereas the
men who had been kept from every
kind of stimulant increased in staying
power, alcrtness and vigor every day.
The result of these experiments led
the British war department to decide,
not on the ground of principle, but
solely for the sake of maintaining the
powers OF endurance of the troops now
engaged iii the Soudan campaign. not
to permit a single drop of stimulant in
camp save for hospital use. Spirits,
wine and malt liquors have been barred
from the officers mess table as we'll
as from the regimental canteen, and
from generals in command down to the
drummer boys and the CAMP followers
liquid refreshments nave been restrict
ed to tea and oatmeal water. Thanks
to total abstinence, the men have been
able to make forced marches of the
most extraordinary character across
the burning desert and under a blazing
sun, the heat of whose rays can only
be appreciated by those who have lived
under the equator. Indeed, what
aroused most admiration at the battls
of Atbara was the calm and collected
manner in which the Highland reg-
ments advanced across the bullet-swept
plain in front of the Dervish zereba,
apparently just as free from undue ex-
citemcnt, and cooIly keeping their for
nation with as much eXactness as if
they had merely been on the drill
ground.
The British admiralty has not yet fol-
lowed the example CO the United States,
which has abandoned the daily grog
ration, and prohibits the use of stimu-
lants on beard when at sea, but orders
have recently been issued that, in lieu
of double grog rations when going into
action, not drop OF alcoholic liquor is
to be allowed on the day when fighting
is to be done. 1t is no longer fierceness,
fury and reckless dash that are re-
collectedness. In naval engagements
there is little boarding to be done in
these times of ironciad warfare. YES
sells are no longer armed with tier upon
tier of small guns, some of the men
of-war of the early Victorian era hay-
ing over hundred of them. Modern
battleships and cruisers are equipped
with gigantic pieces, relatively few in
number, but carrying projectiles of
colossal weight over range of several
miles. 1t is no longer necessary to
pepper the hull of a man-of-war full Of
small cannon ball holes in order to
sink it. This can be achieved by one
well-directed shot from any of the great
guns with which the warship Of the
present day is armed. Everything de-
pends, therefore, upon the precision of
the gunnery and the bellgerent whose
every shot carries hCme is practically
certain to win the day. The marksman-
ship of Admiral Dewey's fleet at Manila
seems to have been superior to that Of
which we have any record in the target
practice of the English or continental
navies. Did absence from stimulants
give Dewcy's gunners the precision
which enabled them to annihilate the
Spanish fleet with the minimum of
harm to our squadron because almost
every proiectile found its billet? Ger
tain it is that a man who does not drink
is more cool and collected. and there
fore better able to shoot with precision
than anyone whose pulse is in the least
bit quickened by Standardization
Watchman.