Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-02-17
WINNING ESSAYS IN W. c. T. U. CONTEST
lRY JOHN w. POTTERY

Liquor is a great destroyer of the
mind 1t destroys the tiny nerve cells
and disables the nervous system.
When these cells are destroyed they
can no longer carry a message to the
brain.
When a man is intoxicated he does
not feel the pain of a cut, bruise, or
burn and it is generally known that a
drinking man does not have the power
to so successfully resist an attack OF
pneumonia as the man who does not
use liquor.
When used in large quantities it
| causes the loss of self-control and
memory. The brain of the drinking
man is never normal and often acts
dishonesty. If he is usually good ma
tured when sober he is cross and
some times brutal when drinking
1t has been found by an
experienced physician on the
medical staff of one of the
largest insane asylums in the world
who had an opportunity to study the
causes of mental and nervous disease
i in thousands of patients and found
more cases OF insanity due to the ex-
! cessive use of liquor than all othe.
causes put together
In some cases liquor causes the
state of continued excitement. An
other case will show depression
which might be cause of suicide
in ntI no
are hardened causing generally par
alysis.
Deirium tremens is a form of men
tai disease due entirely to the excess
i've use of alcohol. Many times when
people are suffering from this disease
it is necessary to put them i'll straight
jackets to prevent them from harm
ing themselves or others and it is a
known fact that they are much more
apt to injure those they love- For
that reason it is better for any one
suffering from this disease to be con-
fined in a hospital where they under.
stand caring for such patients
Tobacco has the power to dull the
brain for a certain length of time AMI
deadens the senses so that the person
using it feels or realizes nothing. It
causes the indulger to become dizzy.
faint and drowsy. 1t contains nicotine
which is a poison. Sometimes men
have serious heart trouble caused by
excessive smoking.
In France the difference in scholar
ship was so marked that the govern
ment prohibited the use of tobacco IN
all government schools.
Cigarettes are the greatest tobacco
evil because of the nicotine they con-
tain. A young person using them
stunts his growth and the development
of his mind. Boys using cigarettes
are often not able TO keep up with
their studies. The use of cigarettes
has deemed it to be such a mental de-
stroyer that most all of the business
men of Chicago when employing men
ask if they use cigarettes. Lying and
stealing have been traced back to the
use of them.
Often a man who makes cigars will
have palsy in the hands The effect
of smoking is good deal more harm
full to the youth than it is to the
grown man.
- Tobacco is not a stimulant. There
fore there is little use for man or
boy to form the habit.
Any boy who smokes before the
age of II runs the risk of growing MP
with a poor brain and nervous sys-
TEN.
In number of states laws have
been enacted preventing the sale Of
cigarettes to boys and in some other
states still more advanced measures
have been taken prohibiting within
the state the manufacture or sale "
cigarettes to any person.
Our nation would certainly contain
fewer criminals if the use of liquor
and tobacco were abolished Besides.
the mental ability of the people would
surely increase and in this way the
nation would advance to perfection
more rapidly
Books of references used in this
essay are: THE Drink Problem and
Graded Lessons in Physiology and
Hygiene