The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-12-19
NoNDRINKERs BEST FIGHTERS
what the BOer War Has Shown a.
to Effect of SPirituous Drinks
on the battlefield.

1t is known that the sturdy presi-
dent of the Transvaal republic, Kru-
ger, is a total abstainer, and that in
his country many effective measures
have been taken for the suppression
of alcoholism. In the present war with
England, the use of alcohol has been
prohibited by the Beers, and the sig
niticance of this fact has been dis
cussed by one of the nonabstinent par
takers of the campaign, FIR. van Strait
en-, in an article sent from Lorenzo
Marques to the Deutsche Warte. He
says that people in Europe are gem
orally of the opinion that before
battle the soldier must have his bran
dy, that it gives him courage, warns
his stomach, increases his power of re-
sistance and endurance of fatigue, and
makes him oblivious of danger and
hunger. In the Boer army the drink
ing of brandy was forbidden, and, the
introduction of spurious liquors into
the camp was prevented as much as
possible. From these regulations"
he says, eve have obtained the best
results. In all weather our people
have sat in the saddle and travelled
hundreds of miles with scarcely tia
loss of a single man. There were TO
uniforms manufactured according to
the teaching of hygiene. Everyone
went clothed just as he would about
his work in time of peace. Many had
not even one warm cloak, and yet we
endured the fiery heat of the African
day and the following piercing cold
of the night without injury to health.
We were often for months under no
roof, and in no bed, but no stomach
warmer was ever handed out.
81 have during the campaign asked
various physicians their opinion on
this point, They are almost univer-
sally of the opinion that the wonder
full power of endurance of the Boer
army has in great part been due to
their total abstinence from spurious
drinks. Men say that brandy makes
privation more endurable No word
of that is true. 1t is also fable that
when one takes spirituous drinks it
relieves fatigue. All that is true is
that the drinker does not measure the
extent of the danger, and on that ac-
count disdains it, even if he is cow
ardly by nature. In earlier times when
the method of fighting was to run down
the antagonist by wild dash. alcohol
probably had its effect But modern
scientific warfare has other features
to reckon with. The intoxicated mad
man who might rush over the field in
vehement charges would be shot co.,
lectively and individually under the
quick fire of the repeating guns. But
now tranquility, cold-blooded delibe--
alton, iron endurance. a steady hand.
a clear eye, a quick decision, are the
qualifications which the warrior of the
present day must possess in order to
make the rifle in his hand his formida-
BILE weapon. To remain hour after hour
undercover, and coolly, with the sharp
shooters eye, wait the cautious ap-
proach of the enemy, or, in attack, t
sean with falcons eye every stone, ev-
cry rise of ground, every molehill in
order, if possible, to come upon the
enemy unperceived-that is business
which requires actuas courage, but not
that drunken tumbling into danger
with which one whose brain is clouded
by the use of alcohol enters into a
battle. The thing is not to under
estimate danger, but to recognize it,
by foresight to diminish it, ard, if that
is not possible, to meet it coolly
'How far the hygienic experience
which we have gained by the prohibi-
ton of spirituous drinks in this war
will prove correct for non-African con-
ditions is difficult to decide at this
point. Personally I think that GEN
eral conclusions may very certainly be
drawn from the facts here given, and
will only add that the auxiliary Euro
pean troops which are accustomed at
home to the use of spirituous drinks
have done very well with tea and coffee.
Their condition of health was also en-
tirely satisfactory, although many in
this war became accustomed for the
first time to the African climate, and
most of them knew only by heresay
of the fatiguing hunters life of the
subtropical campaign.
conversely, it very frequently hap
pens where troops and officers defy all
measures of prudence and break into
stores of brandy or wine that great
injury follows" Berlin Educa tional
Transcript.