Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-02-16
BY BEN POTTER.
''Ihe Value OF Total Abstinence TO y
Life"

Life"
! II we wish to have healthy bodies
we should abstain from alcohol, as it
/ effects all the organs and tissues of
, the body, such as bones. muscles, di-
/ gestive organs, blood, heart and the
nervous system.
One drink of alcohol creates a de-
sire for another, until an appetite
is formed. This appetite may lie
/ quiet for years only to be awakened
at sometime by little taste of alco-
hol. then it takes great will power to
overcome it.
I The taste for alcohol is sometimes
/ inherited, and the children of intern
perate parents are often great suf-
| ferers. DR.. Howe of Massachusetts
says three-fourths of all the idiots in
that state are the children Of intern
! perate parents. What a great amount
of money could be saved by the coun-
try If all these parents had been nom
users of alcohol!
Alcohol seriously affects the ami
nal matter Of the bone, while it is
in a growing state, by acting through
the nerves and blood, and also has
great power in retarding the develop
ment of the framework of the body.
Sometimes men doing heavy work
take alcohol in some form, thinking
to stimulate them 70 greater effort,
while it may seem to do that for a
short time, but it actually reduces the
power of the muscles and makes
them weaker.
Taken In Many Forms.
Alcohol can be taken in a number
of forms; as in wine, whisky, beer.
cider, and patent medicines, but
whenever taken it has a severe effect
upon the stomach. After drinking
freely fer several days, the stomach
becomes red and inflamed. and there
is an increased flow of blood, and
gastric juice. After this stimulation
there is serious change in the mu
cous lining and glands of the stom-
ach. This causes many serious dis
eases. Often the stomach will not
retain food in any form.
When alcohol is taken into the
stomach it is carried to the liver
causing it to become larger and fat
ty. If its use is continued it becomes
smaller and harder, often causing
what doctors call 1.-The drunkard's
liver
Surgeons tell us that wounds do
not heal as we'll on persons who use
alcohol as on those who do not.
This is because alcohol affects the
blood in some way, so that an injury
is more likely to be followed by in
fiammation.
Alcohol benumbs, or partially par
alyZes, the nerves that control the
beatings of the heart, making it beat
more frequently and therefore has
less time to rest. AS 1t, has to per-
form extra work, one result is that
its walls are thickened and its cav
tiles enlarged. Later effects such as
fatty heart, dropsy and difficult
breathing are to be dreaded.
Narcotic, Paralysis.
When alcohol is taken into the
system it Is carried to all the tissues,
but more goes to the nervous It's
sues than to any others. Since al
cohol is a narcotic it paralyzes these
nervous tissues. For a short time
the nerve cells are excited by the in
creased amount of blood, but this
excitement soon passes away and
leaves q numbness over the whole
nervous system. The use of alcohol
affects the nervous system in such
way that reason leaves, and the
animal part of mans nature con-
trolls. THE cruel man becomes more
cruel, the untruthful more false,
and the vile man shows his true dis
position"
The first question asked of a man
seeking a position is Are you a
drinking man." If he answers. YES"
he is surely turned away. One who