The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-01-26
DAILY GR0G FOR OUR TROOPS

By Capt. Charles E. Woodruff, assist
ant surgeon, United States army, Fort
Riley, Kan,
81 N SPITE of the fact that alcohol in
N large amounts is DANGEROUS stun.
~ ulant and a slow poison, 1t Ca nnot
be successfully denied that in small
amounts it is a food, for it has same
what Of the chemical composition Of
starcl1es, sugars and fats, and burhs up
in the body, producing heat and other
forms of energy. The amount that can
be oxydized in one day is very small, a
mere ounce or two, and as an equivalent
energy may be obtained from a generous
slice of bread and butter, we are JUSTIFIED
~ in ignoring it as IL food undeg-
circumstances The war now being Waged
over the theory as to whether or motif
is a food, is a tempest in "a teapot, OF no
practical utility. Man, like all other ami
mails must adhere to the foods by means
of which he attained his present zoolog-
icsl position. He was am intelligent, ac-
tive and powerful being long ages be-
fore he knew Of alcohol. and it is no nj ore
logical to suppose that he can safely
change to alcohol than to suppose that
We can feed meats to horses.
Discussions OF alcohol tire thus mar
rOWed down to its use as a stlmull1t.
Wherever man goes he finds a stimulant
necessary if he is TO live long and work
well. and the stimulant which has sur
vive0 the test of many centuries is caf-
feline. Some use it ia coffee, others il.
tea or cocoa, and its use is almost univer-
sal in civilization Even among the most
rabid antagonists of all stimulants, its
use may be SO excessive as to be harm
full. Its moderate use seems to fill all the
needs of existence of normal men In nor
NAL surroundings and makes any other
stimulant unnecessary.
We are thus still further limited in our
discussion, to, the of alcohol as a
stimulant for abnormal men or for all
men in abnormal surroundings For one
class Of abnormal men, the diseased, it's
use in such a fixture of the soundest
medical practice that it is waste of
time to discuss it. It is a medicine
classed with strychnne, digta4is and all
other stimulants, and in the hands of in
tell1gent physicians saves SO many lives
that we cannot dispense with it. The
very small number of physicians who are
opposed to it's use are SO illogical in their
argument that we can safely ignore them
When life flags and needs a whip and
does when he wants his engine to put
forth an extra eXertiOn. He uses an
easily burned fuel Alcohol likewise fur
nishes energy for the human machine,
just when it is most needed. for it is more
easily oxydized than a-~>sher food and
1t is the whip at the same time No other
stlmulant can take its place.
Another class OF men who need alcohol
consists Of those m
NAL, have passed their prime and are on
the downward path to the grave. There
does not seem to be any reasonable doubt
that they are better off, work better and
live longer, if they help the machine along
little. A toddy in the afternoon helps
10 repair the damage Of the days work,
aldS digestion and other vital processes.
ana certainly preserves good men for
many years of useful work We all know
Ola men who would do better work if
theF were not so constantly feeble and
exhausted from depending on their own
failing powers.
Inc next class consists of abnormal frail
men VINO in former ages invariah}v
p9flsned before maturity. Modern SCIENCE
ana clVlilzatlon save them as babies
oeVelop them as adoleScents and keen
1hem alive as adults. Without helm thew
are a prey to all disease producing bac-
'erla ana other enemies. They fill our
c'hlcs, hospitals, asylums, almshouses
ana Jalls. Whether they ought to he
Aelped to survive and keep the race de-
1erlorated is foolish discussion for such
family lines die out as rule and the
species purifies itself. Yet in the number
are men of extreme value to the nation
ana to the world, men, for instance with
Dig brains, but a tendency to consumption
VINO could be preserved by a little alcohol
Judlclously administered Men once lived
in the open air and that is still their
normal existence. for housing is fatal
City life is particularly deadly and cities
are called consumers of population"
winch comes in streams from the country
his unnatural, unwholesome existence is
so bad and vitality is so reduced that
artificial food and stimulants are needed
IN more cases and much sooner than in
the country. The liquor traffic is a neces-
slty Of modern deadly city life.
Now soldiers do not belong to anv If
the above classes, for thew are abso1,tel1,
healthy, normal young men so carefully
selected that three-fourths of the appli-
Giants are rejected. At home thew lead q
healthy outdoor country life. Under
normal peace conditions, alcohol is no
more necessary for them than it is for
horses. Once upon a time the soldier
was given whisky every day, but that
was time every gentleman was expected
TO get drunk before bedtime. Nothing
can De more certain than that the 49,,
issue Of whisky to young men who did
not need it led to drunkenness and ruined
many a. promising life. The practice was
vicious that when the whisky ration
was abolished and more food issued in
lieu, Of it, grand thing was done FOR
the army. - 81 IN. 49, RI -2sr.
= The usefulness of alcohol for soldiers Is
then irestrlctels to such" times as they need
it as, q. result, of abnormal conditions
The chief occasion is when exhausted
from overwork and insufficient food in
the field. Though the .comnaissary de-
partment furnishes every conceivable
practicable article of food which human
ingenuity can suggest, it is not possible
for them to supply everything which
man should have to keep him in health,
and the law will not permit them to
supply enough of the articles composing
the ration. The law does not give the
soldier enough to eat, our ration being
one of the least liberal in the world. In
garrison we have means of getting adj
ditional supplies which the government
is too niggardly to pay for. In the field
these means fail and If the soldier cannot
buy extras he is hungry, underfed and
exhausted. and instructive ely turns to
alcohol for support. If the exhaustion
continues, he acquires chronic alcoholic
craving ard sinks into drunkenness just
as civilians do, for this condition. whether
steady or periodical, is symptom Of ex-
haustion in nervous, unstable men. the
congenitaliy weak being the chief suf-
ferers. In soldiers it Is result of ex