Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1905-06-14
THE KAISER HELPS.
HIS MAJEsTWs HEALTH MAY HERE
AFTER BE DRUNK IN WATER.

An Announcement which May Seem
70 Americans of Little Importance,
but which Means Much TO the Cause
of Temperance In Germany.
The simple FIVE line cable announce
ment that the German emperor mas
permitted bis army officers to drink
toasts in water doubtless seemed OF
trivial Importance to most American
readers. Yet 1t is certain to have Gre
ated a sensation In Germany, where
the officer who wished to be u total
abstainer has found 1t practically Inn
POSSIBLE to live up to his principles. To
drink the health Of his majesty In any
thing else than champagne has hith-
erto been regarded as q mild form OF
leze majesty. Only few officers have
had the courage, the character and the
position to face the criticism certain
TO follow an avowal Of abstinence from
alcoholic beverages. One OF these Is
Field Marshal Count Won Haeseler, re-
gently retired, who was considered one
Of the most brilliant officers In the
service. he Is, moreover, warm
friend Of the emperor, and his example
may well have influenced his sovereign
when the latter Informed the Munich
Society Against the Misuse OF Spiritu-
Gus Liouors that mo compulsion ex-
lists TO partake Of toasts In alconoho
drink and expressed the hope that
th,s fact should receive wide publicity
II would be a mistake for any one
to portray the officers Of the kaisers
army as merely an aggregation OF
toners. Not even tbs sensational writ
ers. ike Beyerlein, Bilss and Won
Randissin. have gone 80 TAR as tpls'
but all of them have dweit upon Ine
fact that there was entirely too mucn
dr,nkinR. and drinking to excess, par
t,cularlv in the officers casinos or
c,ubs. and there has been wide
spread belief that this evil, instead OF
decreasing, has grown worse, partic-
ularly in isolated garrisons and in Sne
most fashionable and artstocradc regl-
ments Of the service. Everywhere the
foundations besetting a young omcer
are very great. BE is expected 10
drink with every comrade at the nrs1
entertainment in which he partici-
mates and is supposed to lag behind
M one in conviviahty at the regimen
raj gathering known IS the hebesmanl,
or resImental feast Of brotherhood
which has been the undoing OF many
an officer.
That there could be temperance OF
n moderation sOiclety Of which the en-
peror would take notice wouid nave
seemed impossible twenty years ago.
Stin more incredible would have ap'
peared a prophecy that within 30 snor.
time there would be widespread
agitation to curtaIl the Use Of beer ana
liouor. There were then voices crying
In the wilderness, but the wilderness
was very great, the voices few and Re
echoes very rare.
Curiously enough, it Is the scientists
who have led In the movement ratnsE
than social reformers, and 1t was III
Heidelberg Itself, the home Of the peer
, drinking student, famous for us gam
fun. that the experiments of Professor
Kraepelin. begun In 1892, supplied a
variety of scientific arguments IN 1aVor
Of abstinence as opposed to moderate
drtaking. Professor Kraepelin and his
assistants speedily became convinced
That there was no increase In vigor
and alertness through drinking. Id
the case Of some typesetters 1t was "as'
certained that when these men hao
drunk half a bottle of wine each they
were under the deluslOn OF Increased
vigor and capacity for work, while they
actually did inferior work. This dis
turbing influence was still quite dis
} Anct on the following day, 30 that q
| second day of abstinence was peces-
sary to bring the men up again to theii
own standard of efficiency"
Among the students, particularly
among those studying medicine, there
are fiourishIng abstinence societies
which make the oldest inhabitants Of
Heidelberg rub their eyes In amaze
ment.
Manufacturers, too. are beginning tC
see by practical experience that WORK
, rsn who are constantly STEPPED IN a.
cohol lose In their productive power
, The difference between the laborers IL
, north and south Germany In this re
spect is noteworthy. The publisher OIL
n prominent Munich newspaper whit
recently moved there from Berlin est
mates that the difference is fully q
=, per cent In favor of the north Germans
= His new workmen have their beer bot
Ties by their side throughout the day
!. and have blocked every effort to pre-
vent drinking during office hours. TIL
employer calls the great beer brew
cries which have made Munich prosper
: Gus 1.-THE curse OF south Germany
Those students Of our own liquo
= problem who see IN the habitual use
: beer and light wines an antidote Z
q whisky and brandy drinking evidenti!
have something to learn from STUD.
4 of conditions in Germany. They ma,
: be surprised to find an increasing mum
Der Of societies working for Temperance
particularly In Bremen and Hamburg
where the Good Templars have oh
q tanned a firm foothold Moreover, tn
9 German movement has at last obtaine'
( q respectful hearing from the press
n which will be all the more liberal mind
8 ed now that the emperor has taken hi
K stand in regard to temperance IN tn
e army.-New York Evening Post
l. CouId Drink or Let IL Alone.