The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-06-17
ALCOHOL AND THE ATHLETE.
ENGLISH EXPERT ON TRAINING,
DISCUSSES THE QUESTION OF
sTIMULANTS.

doubtedIy Useful in Emergencies
i'm Its Eject of Clearing the Blood
of Impu ritIes-English Athletic
Teams. TO whom Ale, Wine or
Wbfsky Is Allowed in Small
qnantftieS. Less Liable to Stale
ness Than American Athletes Who
Train on Abstinence Principles
Gn ais Own Case Mr.. Miles Finds
That with the Giving Up Of Flesh
Foods the Taste for Alcoholic
Drinks Disappears. and He Rec
ommendS Trial of Proteid Diet
10 the Athlete.
fCopyrieht. 1901, by z. II. Aiies)
AS general rule do not recommend
alcohol 10 any one. either for the body
or for the brain, especially II no partic-
Mar exertion be needed at the particular
time. and If other remedies be possible:
for example. the stimulating effect Of cold
water poured down the spine. Yet alco-
hol does seem 70 have certain advantages
for modern athletic conditions I think
the tendency will ne for something else
70 take its place, or, rather, for people
10 avoid the conditions which make al
conof necessary. At present 1t Is most use
ful for energercIes A man IS playing
match at lawn" tennis: he feels utterly
tired: If he can keep UP for ten minutes
longer ne will win. He takes a glass OF
brandy: he keeps up for ten minutes
longer: he wins. This value Of alcohol has
been proved so many times that those
so-cared scientific men. who deny the
truth of II, lose all hold on the popular
faith People see the man worn out, and
then revived. If only for time. The fact
is undoubted, whatever the ultimate re-
suits may be.
And 50 it may be with brain work
man may be utterly faded. and a glass
Of some stlmulsnt will give him energy
20 work, at least for half an hour; THAI
half hour may be vital TO him. The al
cohol probably. among other good effects,
clears the blood Of its poisons for the i'm
rsediate present. and that seems 10 me
the best thing that does. It is not so
much the heat that II produces at the
time. nor yet the quickening Of the heart,
as the clear ring OF the blood temporarily
of It's uric acid. etc.
Even though the most sensible people
will see that the best plan Is to keep the
blood SO pure and strong that there will
body and brain will work better without
stimulants. yet 50 long as alcohol does
give energy for while, whether we take
it or not. will usually depend on whether
II be worth while or not. We injure our.
selves by a violent run after dinner 10
catch a train. Yet this may be kulte
worth while: so much may depend on
catching that train that we are content
20 sacrifice a certain amount Of health.
a we'll to ia
worth while to take alcohol; it Is worth
while Ia certain cases. Temperance fan
atics compare it with drawing on ones
capital. They forget that II is sometimes
good to draw on ones capital. But they
make their greatest mistake in false
statements. which the experience of mil
lions refutes When they say that alco-
hol does not really produce heat. but only
seems to, certain men have a perfect
right to deny their conclusion. Only the
other day a man told me that claret al
ways made him feel hot for many hours
afterwards. II I had said TO him. you
are not really hot" the man would have
replied, Il don't care a bit about that;
feel not, and that's all that matters TO
me. So far all practical purposes are
concerned. / am hot"
And when some theorists tell us that
alcohnl does not produce energy. they
again lay themselves open to the an-
Bwers that It does produce energy; II
may be only calling out energy that al
ready exists In the body. but, anyhow,
without alcohol the energy would not be
called out at all. The directors may say
that the effect is oply the immediate ef-
feet but the defenders Of alcohol will re-
ply. That is all we care for I'VE refuse
to listen to you. You must concede what
we know 10 be true
The Cambridge rowing crews. in Eng
land are often allowed a glass Of port in
the evening. and some Of the men are
allowed glass of beer in the middle of
the day. Lehman. the wefl-known coach,
advises an occasional breaking of the
training, II the men get too stale" In
fact. 1t seems TO be common opinion
that II is better for the athlete to have a
thorough break, ana fairly large. ordi-
nary dinner with wine, etc, occasionally.
than a steady amount OF alcohol every
day. Personally. l think a diet which
makes people stale has something wrong
at the root Of it. II seems to me that En-
glish athletes. who are less strict about
alcohol Especially footbaliers) are less
liable TO staleness than American ath-
letes.
Undoubtedly the effect OF alcohol diff
fers with its different forms. II is not al
ways the proportion of alcohol that is i'm
portant. There is a certain Cyprus red
and yet will make Tommy Atkins quite
weak in the head, even though he has
been used to plenty OF whisky. On the
whole. perhaps good old whisky, IL you
can get that kind, and II you can take 1t
weak, is the safest drink for the average
athlete. If he must take alcohol at all.
But individuals differ here more than
perhaps in any other respect One Of the
best and hardest general athletes OF my
acquaintance has rule never to drink any
alcohol except old whisky, and never TO
take that unless he Is going TO work il off
by exercise very soon afterward.
In my own case alcohol has little or no
eppreciable effect on my games. Nor
does II make any great difference in my
standard of endurance. In between games
! sometimes take II and sometimes not.
/ have found that II makes very little
difference one way or the other l am
convinced that IN the end the frequent
use of alcohol does a great deal of harm,
but am also convinced that Il clears the
HOOD for the time being, IL the blood
be- impure, and 10 clear the blood for
the time being is often invaluable for
athletes. l remember a celebra ted crick
eter who used 10 get in a terrible con-
dition after dinner, and then, before he
went IN 10 bat. would drink a quantity
OF liquor, and then make large scores.
remember, also. two Cambridge eng
lish) albround athletes, who used TO
pay beautifully the next morning after