The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-05-12
WHY USE ALCOHOL
Some of the Fnllncies Set Forth from
UnquestiOned and Unimpeach-
able Authorities.

To repeat in a short summary the
grand Indictment against alcohol
what it does to the drinker himself
Prof. John Fiske says:
THE perpetual craving of the drinker, is,
in all probability, due to the gradual al
teration in the molecular structure Of the
nervous system caused by frequently re-
peated narcosis."
People have imagined that it enables
men to endure great extremes of cold
and heat; but all observers, with sim
gular unaniInity, condemns the use of
wine and spirits as preventives against
cold; all the arctic expeditions, includ-
ing Nansen's latest, bear uniform testi-
mony in this respect; they all say that
the seeming stimulation is followed by
a more that: corresponding depression.
To be sure Or. Blessing on the Fran"
added spoonful of brandy to a bowl of
STEPPED huckleberry punch, to be shared
by II; but it was only as reminder of
''festive" days at home; and hansen
and Johansen endured that last long,
bitter winter with no alcohol, but came
out well ard fat men. The Hudson Bay
company forbid it to their employees,
the guides at Chamouni use no s3i.its,
and the Russian army on the march re
fuse to take along man who has been
drinking. When great eXertions are to
be made in hot climates, there is the
same uniform testimony to the worth
lessness of alcohol as an aid to endur-
ance Sir John Hall, X. C. B.. says Che
was with the Crimean army:
"The healthiest army I ever served had
not drop of wine, spirits or beer In the
Kafflr war QS52) a march was made by 200
men, in which 1000 miles were covered in
II days or at the rate of Is miles day the
men were nearly naked. exposed to great
healthy day, while at night water froze In
a bell tent with p men sleeping in 1.-THE
men got only biscuit and ~ pounds of
meat, with what game they could kill.
Yet this march was made without spirits,
and no man was sick tin the end of the
march, when two men who had got hold of
some liquor had dysentery."
Officers in India had an opportunity
to compare marches made through a
malarious region by men who used
spirits, and those who used tea instead.
The figures demonstrated the superior
ity of the tea ration; and Sir Garnet
the rum ration" and urges the sub
stitution of tea. The suggestion of the
use of tea for the army came from
studying the experience of the Canada
lumbermen, who spend the whole win
ter in the backwoods engaged in the
hardest labor and exposed to freezing
temperature, being allowed no spirits,
but an unlimited quantity of tea. Now
that the true nature of malaria has been
discovered, the demonstrat ton of the in
ability of alcohol to counteract it fol-
lows, of course.
Many working men believe that alco-
hol increases their capacity for labor,
their deception coming from the gen
eral sensations and appearances. Lie
big says:
Brandy, in It's action on the nerves, Is
like bill Of exchange drawn on the health
of the laborer which, for lack of cash to
pay it, must be constantly renewed. The
workman consumes his principal instead Of
interest. hence the inevitable bankruptcy
of the body.
And DR.. Parkes and Count Wolowicz
conducted careful series Of expert
ments ona strong and healthy man, and
by comparing the figures of the water
days and the alcoholic days, they dem
onstrated the truth of Liebig's 'over-
draft" theory and where it gets in its
work. The mischief came in tine quick
ening of the beat of the heart; and
they proved the ruinous acceleration of
the heart beat thus: the heart of the