St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1907-02-27
II Pays to Know the Facts.

When anyone becomes the possessor
an automobile, he is certain, if sensiI
- person, to post himself thoroughly as
the characteristics ofhis machine, gettil
all the points as to its care and II
method of getting most service an
speed out of it with least wear and tea
He makes himself familiar with all tt
directions furnished with it. To disr
:; gard these he would consider expense,
folly. He would not employ or retain
chauffeur whom he found to be indiffe
ent on these points, or who took wal
ton pleasure in going contrary to il
S StructiOns.
J Everyone of us is responsible for tn
care and management of a mechanism
infinitely more delicate and valuable THAI
the finest motor car The use we maxi
of our bodily powers, and the care W.
take OF them will largely determine oul
happiness, usefulness and efficiency
Ignorance or carlesSness will certainly
mean disaster and perhaps death.
Hence the thinkers of ancient Greece re-
garded as fundamental the precept,
know thysef, and the Hebrew Psalm
t put the case perfectly in saying: THY
! hands have made me and fashioned me;
give me understanding that may learn
! thy commandments This is simply
common sense applied to the most funda-
mental concerns. 1t is for us to learn
with all reverence and care, the laws
which dictate how we may manage our
physical system safely and effectively
and which we cannot disregard without
injury and loss.
Among the questions we have to ask
IN learning the right management of our
body organism, one OF the most import
ant is, what is the effect upon it of
alcohol, and Of beverages containing
alcohol? The large use made of these
liquors, their immense fascination for
those who use them, and the pronounced
consequences of their use. give emphasis
to the question. 1t directly concerns us
all as individuals, and as members of
human society which is vitality affected
by the welfare or the misery of all.
The question has been much discussed
is alcohol food? The question is not
practical one, for it is certain that
alcohol is not normal food, for the
reason that it is never digested. 1t must
be thrown off by means ofvarious organs
of the body, which make great and often
desperate efforts to get rid of it, The
lungs take someo fit, as you can tell bv the
breath of any drinking man, but it goes
chietiy to the blood, the brain. the liver
and the kidneys.
Alcohol is an organic chemical com
pound which has special affinity fo,
oxygen. 1t steals oxygen whenever it
can Now oxygen is the life of the blood.
That IS why the open air is so good for
us ALL and why we grow so dull and
depressed in an ill-ventiated room where
the oxygen has been exhausted. Alcohol
goes directly from the stomach into the
blood, and in fllching its oxygen from the
blood alcohol lowers the vitality and
lessons the efficient and resistant power
OF the whole man. Alcohol mounts
swiftly to the brain, and it has a mark
ed and fatal power of attacking the
higher parts OF the brain first.
Whatever is choicest in the mental
powers, reason, imagination, Judgment,
these are the first to feel it's touch. and to
be impaired by its use. 1t creeps like a
cunning sleuth hound to all the fine CEN
tiers OF brain activity and power, and
works disturbance and DISCRIMINATION
in them all.
Eminent medical authorities distinguish
four stages of alcohols action upon the
brain, and every observer can verify these
for himself |''~
i. A temporary exhilaration The
blood flows more rapidly, and the svs-
tenn is stimulated Many physicians
greatly value this effect, in special con.
ditions of collapse, after serious accidents
and the like. But, mark you, the bene-
ut OF this stimulation in emergencies
accrues only to the person who does not
make practice OF using alcoholic liquors.
whoever uses them, even moderately.
becomes hardened to them and does not
obtain the quick and salutarv reaction
from their administration in an emer-
gency, which the abstainer at once
experiences. If you want to get anv
good from alcohol, never use it except in
small doses IN rare emergencies when life
hangs trembling in the balance. The
effect of alcohol is one of its
great perils. 1t covers up the effects of
fatigue or dissipation but does NOT re-
move those effects, which must be reckon
ed with later. The practice of drinking
alcoholic liquors before meals is
dangerous one, stimulating annette
while impairing digestion. 4 cut of the
whip may stimulate lazy or a iaded |.
horse, but whipping is not strengthened
ne spur does not feed nor refresh.
2. The second stage of the influence If
alcohol is nervous excitement. The face
is flushed as it is in fever. Ideas are
quick but unbalanced The tongue waqs
freely, and secrets ordinarily under t6e
lock and key of the judgment are openly
exhibited The victim of this mild IN.
toxlcattion is selfimportant, noisy
quarrelsome, or foolishly affectionate,
the Judgment is weakened, and passions
may slip the leash and do serious or
fatal mischief. The condition is periIons
D. The third stage is reached. perhans
i IN 1t isa further impairment
OF the co-ordinating power of the brain
fenters' A partial paralysis of the brain
mas set IN The legs and arms move but
not with accuracy. The tongue babbles
1t is as if paralysis seized the arm Of the
expert driver of team of six horses. The
lines fall from his unnerved grasn o .n