The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1916-02-08
EFFECT OF ALCOHOL
VERY DETRIMENTAL
Physical and Mental D0teriOTa-
ton Determined by humeT-
Gus Experiments,

sOHOliC beverages upon piyAltdI dHu
mental efficiency has been absolutely
determined by numerous experiments
in Europe and America. Indeed the
Heidelberg experiments were the
foundation for the anti-saloon move
ment in Europe, and widening ac-
%quaintance with the scientifically Oe-
termined facts has influenced the at
titude of the railroads and Industrial
corporations in America, and, indeed,
may properly be said to have affect
ed the progress of the prohibition
movement.
Some of the most famous of these
European experiments are given be-
low.
Walking: In Germany a walking
contest was conducted over a course
OF ~sixty-two miles. E%ighty-one men
entered the contest, of whom only
twenty-four were abstainers, but the
first four men who crossed the line
were abstainers. or the ten prize
winners six were teetotalers and two
had been abstainers for some time
while In training. More thar half of
the nonabstainers fell out by the way,
but only two of the twenty-four alb
stainers.
Endurance: During a campaign the
late Field Marshal Wolseley tested the
effect of alcohol upon endurance. To
some of the troops alcohol was given,
to others one The a%bstaining troops
showed decidedly better endurance,
better marching powers, were fresher
and more alert.
Mountain Climbing: Professor Durig,
a famous mountain climber. conduct
ed experiments upon himself, climb
ing in each case 5000 feet to the top
of Mount Bilkencrat in the Alps. He
recorded the height climbed, his per-
sonal weight and that of his pack, and
carried instruments to measure exact
ly the bodily energy put forth, the
amount of muscle work done, and the
length of time required. On certain
days he look alcoholic drink equiya-
lent to two glasses of beer, and found
that, while his instruments showed
that he expended Is per cent more
energy than on the days of abstinence,
he took 21.7 per cent longer to reach
the top of the mountain.
Workmanship: In Sweden three
corporals and three ~privates were
used in a test to determine the effect
of alcohol upon precision. During the
days OF the first test the men were
entirely ~abstaining. while during the
second series of tests they were allow
ed two-thirds OF a wine glass OF BRAN
dy a short time before the firing and
an equal amount of alcohol in punch
on the evening before. In the quick
firing tests, on the alcohol days, they
hit the target on the average only
three times out of thirty shots, but
on the abstinent days the average
was twenty-three and t~wenty-six hits,
The men were found to be similarly
affected by alcohol during tests for
endurance OF sustained firing.
Typesetting and Typewriting: Four
typesetters in a printing office In
Heidelberg, Germany, were tested in
their work TO find out il alcohol help
ed or hindered them. The trials were
carried on for an hour a day for four
successive days. The first and third
DAYS no alcohol was taken; on the
second and fourth days the work was
done after drinking about three-quar.
ters OF a tumbler of Greek wine us
per cent aicohol).
Alcohol used in these amounts to
which the men were accustomed de
creased the amount of work done
about 9 per cent on the average. This
mean that IL the same loss held for
q whole days work, IL a man were
capable of earning SIS a week when
not drinking, be would earn only $13.6s
II he drank as much alcohol daily as
would be contained In a quart Of beer
This typesetting test showed that
the amount of skilled work done was
diminished by alcohol. In a test by
typewriting 1t was found that alcohol
increased the number of errors from
IA per cent to 81 per cent, although
fatigue only increased the average q
errors by 2 per cent.
Memory and Scholarship: PROBES
sor Vogt of the University of Chris
tiania made tests upon himself to de
termine the effects of alcohol upon
memory He daily committed to mem
DRY twenty-five lines of Greek poetry
and recorded the number of minutes
required to learn them. On the days
when he took as much alcohol as one
would get in from n and one-half Il
three glasses of beer it took him OF
the average Is per cent longer to learr
the lines than when no alcohol wa
taken. Six months later, when he re
viewed and relearned the same lines
he found that the lines learned on thu
alcohol days required more time TO
relearning.
It is the man behind the saloon, ii
distinction from the man behind thu