The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1915-02-18
THE TEACHER AND THE TEMPER.
ANCE QUESTION.

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In Professor Smiths last article
he discussed the relation Of alcohol
to disease showing that alcohol acts
as a poison upon the system weak
ening il and making IL unfit TO fight
germs, just as a drunken army Is
unfit to fight the foe and save the
nation. He goes on to say:
A very little alcohol makes the
white corpuscles which compose the
standing army Of the body drunk
and units them for patrol service.
When the typhoid germ enters the
body and finds the body guard
drunk it goes about its deadly work
with little interference. Now you
can understand why the man who
drinks is much more likely TO sue
cumb to certain kinds OF diseases
than the man who is an abstainer.
Every physician knows that the man
who drinks alcohol is much more
likely to die Of pneumonia or tuber-
culosis or of many other seed dis
eases than the man who does not
drink. II is not question OF size
Of body or strength OF muscle but IL
is a question Of strength and fight
ing condition Of the white corpus
cles.
In order that you may know that
this is no mere theory | am telling
| give here a number Of instances
where men who drink are more
susceptible TO diseases that kill.
Over half a century ago a cho-
lera epidemic broke out in Glasgow.
225 cases were observed. II was dis
covered that Of those who were abb
stainers only 1872 per cent died; but
Of those addicted TO the use OF alco-
hol, 9i.2 per cent died.
A few years ago a Washington
doctor investigated the personal
habits OF 465 men who had suffered
from sunstrokes. He learned that
40 Of these men drank to excess,
go OF them drank occasionally, and
only % of them drank liquors at all.
Death resulted in,ii0 OF these cases.
60 per cent of those who died were
excessive drinkers. 80 per cent
were occasional drinkers, and only
10 per cent were total abstainers.
A German physician investigated
the reports of a number of insur-
ance companies some years ago and
found out some very startling facts
The records of tens Of thousands OF
men were studied in this investiga-
tion. They were divided into two
groups-the drinkers and the alb
stainers. Each group was CLASH
fled according to age, those between
IS and 2i were put into one group
those between % and 81 into an
other, those between IS and al into
another, and so on to the 7ith year
II was discovered that in every
group except those between IS and
2i nearly three times as many OF
the drinkers were sick during the
term of insurance as of the alb
stainers. In the youngest group
twice as many were sick. The death
rate of these men was examined
and il was learned that in nearly
every group the death rate OF the
drinkers was about twice that OF
the abstainers. No wonder the life
insurance companies do not like TO
insure men who drink.
An investigation was made some
years ago in number OF different
countries to discover how many peo-
pie live to be 100 years old. The
following table shows the result:
In Bulgaria, in 1000.
In United States, in $4,000.
In Spain, 1 in 1900.
In England 4 in $1,000.
In France 4 in 100000.
In Germany 1 in 100000.
When this investigation was made
the favorite drink of the Bulgar-
ians was water and buttermilk but
in Germany an excess Of beer was
used.
Pneumonia takes away about as
many mature people as any other
disease. Every physician knows
that the man who drinks is much
more likely to die when he becomes
sick with this disease than the man
who does not drink. In order 10
test this matter q doctor not very
long ago made an interesting ex-
pertinent with two rabbits. One he
fed regularly with water the other
he fed regularly with wine. He
inOculated both with pneumonia
germs and waited for results. In a
few hours the total abstainer af-
ter, being a bit indisposed, was run
ming about as if nothing unusual
had happened; and the tipler