Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-11-18
ALconoL Has FALLEN.
Condemned as Food, Rejected by Med
icine 40 Without Virtue.

From the San Francisco Wave.
Thrones are lottery things 10 these
inconoclastlc days--thrones Of State
or throne figuratlve. People ash
questions, investigate, and practica
action follows thought. This Is why
old King Alcohol, once so powerful, I:
not only a social outcast DOW, but Is
hereafter to be written small 10 the
pharmacopea. knowledge OF the
evil effects of alcohol upon the mind
aud body is older than history, but IL
remained for modern Investigators
like Sir Benjamin Richardson ito
elaborate them In scientific manner.
His experiments resulted In the state.
ment that alcohol acts as a deadly
poison from It's elimination from the
human system The dIctum of the
most eminent physicians is that al
cohol, aud thus alcoholic liquors,
excite the nervous system to greater
activity, but cause greater depression
as a result. IL is not n food, but on
the contrary, interferes with and i'm
pairs digestion, According TO recent
physiological experiments, IL Tetards,
perverts and destroys normal cell
growth. Science makes bad case
against the stuff.
These evils OF alcohol are u matter
of dollars and cents with llfe-insur-
ance companies, which unqualihedly
refuse TO take a "risk" who Is habltual
In the use OF alcohol In any form.
This does not apply, of course, to the
man who sups claret at dinner, or
even the gentleman who takes cock
tail or two before, but TO men who
make q practice OF toddy.drlnklng
throughout the tfteeu hours Ut active
living-the gentleman who generally
retires with what Is known as "still
on" The underwriters don't want
and won't have such risks. Indeed
they are convinced by experience,
that alcohol, taken even In moderate
quantities, impairs the health and
shortens the life OF the user. There
are few positions that may be had by
drinking men, and society looks Sc
verely askance at the young gentle.
man who iudulRes too freely his
appetite for champagne or punch at
It's celebrations. The truth is, temper
ance has become fashionable, and IL Is
no longer extraordinary TO find man
who "really does not care TO take
anything" There are those who do
not hesitate TO attribute the superior
accuracy OF our gunners during the
Spanish War TO the absence OF the
wonted ration OF Rrog Nowadays
Jack-at.sea Is perforce most abstem.
lous persun. ShlLs are not Rrappled
rail 20 rail, while boarders leap from
deck TO deck. There Is now no use
for dutch courage" aud the Berserk
fury. What is wanted is a cool head,
clear eye and a steady hand TO train
great rifle on moving speck a mile
away perhaps, on the water.
That there Is something In the con
tentlon Of the abstainers Is lmpos-
slble 10 doubt. Lord WOlseley made
careful experiments with various reg
lments OF the British Army 10 test
the health aud staying qualities OF
troops allowed or denied alcoholic
liqnors TO drink. The regiments
served for RrOg after the traditional
custom we're put TO blush by those
under teetotal regimen. The latter
developed superior endurance on the
march, greater GOODNESS In the face OF
the enemy, stronger staylng-p power In
action and reader Incorporation from
injuries. The grogged men made
iiercer charge, but the reaction from
IL left them exhausted, while their
non. drinking mates we're steady sud
capable OF sustained effort prOtracted
far beyond their fellows IL was be-
cause OF their practical considerations,
and not for any conscientious scruples,
thai, during the Sudan campaign, al
cohollc liquors were rigIdly prescribed
In the Anglo. Egyptian army.
All the general objections To alco-
holIc beverages are capped by the
gradual development within recent
years OF the fact that the value OF
alcohol as pharmaceutical agent
has been much oyer-slghted. AS a
drug, II has lost caste with the med
ical profession. Indeed physicians
aud surgeons have found II TO be not
really stlmulant, but depressant.