The Cordova daily times., 1922-10-16

DEATH RATE ELOWEREDBY
 PROHIBITION

LONDON, Oct. 16.-All American doctors are regarded by foreign med ical men as more or less expert concerning alcohol, both as regards the consequence of going without in altogether, over-indulgence, and the various stages of inebriety be- twixt and between.
 Therefore, the assembled doctors at the meeting of the British Medical Association at Glasgow listened with great interest to what Dr. John T. MacCurdy, of Cornell Medical Col lege, had to say about "alcohol in it's relation to human economy"
 Each one of us in varying degrees he said has the same difficulty in meeting the world as the unfortun- ates who demonstrate their incapac- ity dramatically. The "normals drugged themselves with cheap fic- ton, theaters, and moving pictures; above all they forgot themselves in social intercourse.
 When, however, a man is tired ! or oppressed with care," Dr. Mac curdy went on, "hoW can he forget his obsessing anxietes sufficiently to become social? If he be normal a small amount of alcohol will give the necessary relaxation. Conviviality inn fop n ,oi in taY ance of our mental ability and eff fectiveness than we realize. Innum- erable people are happier and there fore healthier because they indulge moderately in alcohol.
 we live in an imperfect world imperfect largely because we have not yet gained the capacity to gov. ern our own instincts. Alcohol is z crutch that man has discovered tC help him with this disability"
 Dr. MacCurdy dealt with what ht called the "paranoiac group" "Ir them" he said, ia drink or two brought out quarrelsome and dan gerous tendencies. They were ap to imagine sights and insults. Ere quently they were women haters, ant affected the company of men almos exclusively.
 "These men are not well-adaptet people, and rebel at discipline O. authority. Drink brings these anti social tendencies to the surface. A marriage makes the most persisten demand for social adaptation tha we know of, many of these men be gin to drink only after marriage. "The innate rebellion at the bon | dage of marriage appears when al cohol has liberated their inhibi tions. They become querulous, anC beat or abuse their wives every Sat urday night. Later, delusions and in ability may appear, and eventually become fixed Then the victim be comes certifiable, and is confined"
 Sir James Barr, of liverpool, con tinuing the discussion, said that the main value of alcohol was social.
 People like myself" said Sil James "take It becautse they like it. A great deal of social unrest is due to the high cost of alcohol. notice that cutthroats in Ireland an( Russia are largely teetotalers.'
 Dr. c. Sullivan, Medical Supre intendent of Broadmoor Aslyum said that alcohol as hegards in sanity, is a negligible factor"
 Dr. M. Hindhede, of Copenhagen discussed the effect of the severel. restricted supply of alcohol on nor tality in Denmark. The surprising result of the war-rationing system he said, which included the restric tion of alcohol, was not the reduc l tion of the mortality rate but thu rapidity of the reduction. The mos natural explanation of this seemed to be that the effects of alcoho were not limited to drunkards only The death rate of the whole coun try dropped from 12.5 to 10.4 pe1 1000, which was the lowest mortality figure that had ever been registered in any European country at any time