The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-23
Concerning Alcohol.

Julian Hawthorne in N Y. American.
 Alcohol has no place in athletics, ex- cept as thing to rub sore muscles with. No athlete should drink 1t; if he feels faint after an effort-and that should not be the case either, if he be properly trained, and his heart and lungs be sound-he can be revived with a glass of hot milk. In England, it is true. men are allowed glass of beer or sherry at dinner, or sherry with raw egg dropped in 1t Is sometimes allowed a nervous man just before go ing on the track, or getting into the boat; but the climate of England is damp and cool, and the sun shines less than with us; and such indulgences do little harm. But even in England the man who does without wine or liquor Is better and more trustworthy than the man who uses them, even moder- ately; and here in America there Is no excuse whatever for them. If you have to depend on them, your athletic career will be short, and Is certainly not like ly to be brilliant.
 Many persons think, however, that alcohol is useful as a medicine when one Is ill A man will take drink of whiskey "to settle his stomach" It is often used in what is known as summer complaint One meets men who de- clare it to be a remedy for most mall adies. In cold weather 1t is often ta- ken to ward of a chill though there is plenty of expert evidence-Arctic ex- plorers, for example-that a man is all ways the worse and never the better for it when cold is to be borne. It's warming effect Is brief and 1t is fol- lowed by a sort of collapse of the pow CT of resistance from which there is no recovery. A man supposed to be oth- erwisS intelligent Che was a magazine editor) once seriously argued to me that alcohol supplied the place of ex- ercise. because exercise increased the activity of the circulation and alcohol did the same while saving the time and trouble which exercise demanded. l made no attempt to controvert this po- sition, but the editor. I observed, lost his position a few months later. And, as q matter of fact, alcohol is always T misfortune. Even if, upon occasion, It saves you from a worse misfortune -or a more visible and immediate one, at least-is eXacts a high price for its services, though the bill may be some what long in coming in. But it always happens to be at a time when you have very small balance in the bank of vi tality to pay 1t with.
 Alcohol has. however. been used by man for many ages ana will probably be used for many ages more. Neither argument or plain evidence will Induce those who enjoy its effects from keep ing on with 1t. But there Is one rule which alcohol users might profitably bear In mind. and thereby save them selves much trouble If you must use it. never do so as a preparation for an effort or an exposure which you are about to make or undergo, but wait un- Ill the effort or exposure is over and then take as much Gas little, rather) as you feel to he a necessity. If you re- verse this plan, as many do, you will feel a false strength of a false power of resistance. which will probably be- tray you at the critical moment, but if YOU put off taking the "fortif1cation" fill after the affair which prompted 1t Is over. you will be better able to judge how much the case demands. and you may find that 1t does not demand it at all Any one can see the common sense of this proposition; and there are other reasons for 1t as good or better, though not so readily understood by persons whose knowledge of pathology and physiology Is limited. But the coming man and the man at the top of the ladder will not drink; and We must choose our own standip ]