The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-03-31
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS.
Opinions of Prominent Men of Tx
perience That Cannot BE Gainseid.

perience That Cannot BE Gainseid.
The principles of total abstinence
find little favor with many, for the aIg,-
ment of habit is difficult to overcome,
and statements of specialists as 70 :he
injurious effect of alcohol have little
power to convince, when the haEit of
years and generally accepted beGef to
the contrary are opposing forces. This
conservative power, however, may be-
come tremendous agent for good,
where temperance truths are impressed
upon the child. Though there may be
inherited tastes and tendencies in the
contrary direction, little child has no
habits to abandon to contend against,
and he rarely chooses (for the love of
the thing) that which is likely to cause
him pain, unless it is forced upon him.
He has too vivid conception of bodily
suffering or of physical distress to con-
sciously form habits which have such
results. Home Influence and example
modify the emphasis of other teaching,
but thorough belief established in the
truth he is taught has lasting effect.
III u. w T.. OIOSNGlkOls VI IDullCilO III dOt-
dressing the National w. C. T. L., said
that the last 25 years had witnessed
marvellous change in the sentiment Of
the medical profession concerning the
utility of alcohol as beverage and as
medicine. The number increases stead
lily of those who do not use or prescribe
it; and, where it is used. quantity and
the frequency is greatly diminished,
He mentioned the thousands of cases in
the London Temperance hospital, estab-
lished 20 years ago, which have been
treated by its physicians without the
use of alcohol; its death rate in 1896 be.
ing but six per cent The National Tenn
perance hospital Of Chicago, IL years
old, had a death rate in 1896 of 1-e
per cent; the Red Cross hospital of
New York, four years old, showed a
death rate for the same year of one per
cent. Such figures are eloquent wit
nesses for non-alcohohc treatment.
There have been many opinions rem.
dered the last year by leading recog-
nized authorities which confirm the
temperance teaching of to-day. Dr.
hansen, the more prominent of late
Arctic explorers, emphasizes not only
the uselessness, but the danger of alco
holic drinks III the polar regions. \
scientist says, in explanation of this
fact, that a moderate use of alcohol
causes a deposit of fat which is not
turned into fuel in the muscle and nerve
cells, but acts as. pure fuel in the or
ganism, and, therefore, replaces the
combustion of fat. 1t is especially dan
gerous in extreme cold since it greatly
| accelerates the throwing off of heat
from the body. He compares the effect
to that produced if a stove should be
heated red-hot in a cold room and then
all the doors and windows thrown open.
He reiterates that heat produced by
muscular work in the body is best OBJ
tanned from carbohydrates in the food,
but, besides this, the indispensable pro-
duction of heat is best obtained by fats.
Nature therefore directs man, uncon-
sciously. in his choice of food; the Arc
tic inhabitant requires an immense
quantity of fat, while the dweller in the
llOBlSS CcilS llliIc lat anu llluCh 1Tull.
DR.. Otto Smell bases his conclusions
regarding the need of alcoholic liquors
by mountain climbers. upon the testi-
mony of 60 climbers with whom he cor
responded upon the subject of their use.
Thirty-seven condemned the practice
entirely, considering wine and beer as
detrimental; 12 allowed wine in mod
Grafton, but objected to beer and
brandy; three would allow brandy to
be carried along for possible medicinal
use or to mix in glacier water; no one
thought that the bottled drinks affected
by climbers were of benefit except to
those from whom they were purchased
only five considered alcoholic drinks
useful or harmless. From these com
munications, DR.. Smell argued that while
in exceptional cases alcohol might be
harmless, or possibly of temporary
benefit. in mountain Climbing, yet total
| abstinence or the greatest moderation
was the safer; and that it was better to
practice this for day previous to the
excursion. Were it not for the habit
and the opinion referred to at the be-
ginning of this article, how plain the
logic that the rule of life which favored
a clear brain, steady nerve and wise
courage was the best one to follow at
all times, and in all aces!-Elizabeth
L. Condit, in Home Magazine.