TEMPERANCE COLUMN

Evening Star, Issue 21580, 28 November 1933, Page 12

TEMPERANCE COLUMN

{.Published by arrangement with the United Temperance Reform Council.) ON THE WATER WAGON. “My advice to boys is to leave strong drink alone at all times.”—Don Bradman. “ No man can smoke and drink and remain a champion for any time.”—Dr Peltzer, Olympic champion, 1928. “ 1 have never touched a cocktail or a stimulant in my life, and because 1 am always fit, I get a real kick out of life.”—Annette Kellerman, longdistance swimmer. “ We avoided wine in our training, replacing it with an allowance of sugar syrup for each athlete.”—The manager, French Olympic team, 1932. “ The Cambridge rowing crew, acting upon my advice, eliminated beer during training, and substituted brown sugar as a producer of energy.”—Dr R. Cove Smith. “As food I will have a few sticks of barley sugar, a vacuum flask of coffee, and some chicken sandwiches.” *—J. A. Mollison, Atlantic flyer. “ 1 am a total abstainer. I could not possibly last as an endurance swimmer otherwise. 1 agree with Tildeu, that alcohol must seriously affect the mind and thus interfere with physical stamina.”—Mercedes Gleitze, endurance swimmer. Miss Dorothy Rounds, the Sunday School teacher, who-made a remarkable stand in the women’s singles tennis final at Wimbledon, writing to the secretary of the Birmingham Temperance Society in 1930, said; “ I am a total abstainer, and have been all my life. I consider it would be beneficial for all athletes to avoid all alcoholic drinks.” Mrs Helen Wills-Moody, who won the women’s tennis championship for the sixth time, is a total abstainer. In her ‘ Diet Hints to Business Women,’ she says—no cigarettes or alcohol. WORLD NOTES. JAPAN. Buddhism has been considered fundamentally a religion of total abstaining adherents, but modern influences would appear to have made their inroads 'upon this. _ However, the new head of the Nishi Honganji sect, the largest and most influential sect in Japan, has banned the use of sake. This is an entirely new move in Buddhist circles. To meet the crisis, the head men of Miho, in Nagano Prefecture, called upon the people to sign a pledge not to use alcoholic liquors. The pledge is reported to have been faithfully observed, and Viscount Makoto Saito. Premier, has complimented the head men and presented them with a scroll of honour. Over 10,000 copies of a new book (200 pages) by a university student here giving historical teachings of Buddhism on Temperance have been sent to as many students throughout the land. BRITAIN. MR HENDERSON AND “HOMES FIRST.” The Right Hon. Arthur Henderson, president of the Disarmament Conference at Geneva, and president of the Workers’ Temperance League, was elected Member of Parliament for the Clay Cross Division. His majority was 15,638. At one of his meetings during the contest, Mr Henderson was asked • “ Would you try to lower the price of beer?” to which he replied; “No, if there is any money to spare, I want it for the social services and the unemployed. The homes must come first.” This reply was loudly cheered by the meeting.

Mi - R. Wilson Black, J.P., in an address on ‘ The Responsibility of the churches,’ stated : “ It is the moderate drinker who perpetuates the drink evil, and from whom our troubles come. Our future citizens must be taught the terrible nature of alcohol.” TASMANIA. DRINK AT DANCES. The Tasmanian liquor law has been amended, making it an offence for persons to be fecund with intoxicating liquors within 200yds of a dance hall. DENMARK. Government returns show that the consumption of alcoholic liquors, includes spirits, beer, Danish fruit wine, and other liquors, decreased during 1932 by 20 per cent. LITHUANIA. The consumption of beer (1932) fell by over 40 per cent. Before the war two breweries alone sold two and a-half times' as much beer as is now being sold by all the Lithuanian breweries put together. INDIA. Colonel Sir Hassan Surhwardy, ViceChancellor of the Calcutta University, rules something like 45,000 students, and is the first to secure the honorary degree of doctor of law at the London University. This distinguished Indian is a total abstainer and a non-smoker, and only 50 years of age. His advice to all students is: “ Don’t drink and don’t smoke.” UNITED STATES. Mr Archie M. Smith, grand master, has issued an order that no member of the Freemasons can sell beer and remain in good standing. Mr Charles R. Beach, second cousin of Abraham Lincoln, was asked to take the part of the martyred President in a movie picture, but declined, saying: “ 1 wouldn’t play the part in the picture because the director wanted me to sit on he floor, roll a whisky barrel, and say ‘ I’ll drink mine from the spigol ’ when I know that Lincoln never took liquor as a beverage.” DON’T MONKEY WITH THE WORKS. By altering the pendulum of a clock it can be made to go much faster., But it is not the pendulum which makes the clock go—it is the mainspring. The alteration to the pendulum has made the clock go faster, but the source of the clock’s energy—the mainspring—will run down the sooner. Alcohol makes the heart beat faster, but adds no real energy to the heart itself. Indeed, it works in the opposite direction, for it exhausts the energy which the heart naturally possesses. Just as one does not fool about with the clock’s pendulum if one wants the best results—the right time—so one should not accelerate the heart’s action with alcohol if one places real value on good health. NOT BREAD. Beer has been foolishly called “ liquid oread ” a “ necessary of life,” and wrongly described as giving the working man and his family “ the glowing bloom of strength.” It has been proved that beer is not a necessary of life, that millions of men of all ages, living in all climes, work better and longer, with less fatigue to themselves. under the sun, and labouring under all sorts of conditions, without liquor. _ • The fact is, that malt liquor having so little feeding or strengthening material in it, cannot give what it does not contain. You might as well expect clouds to create sunshine, ortho sun to freeze the ponds, as to hope for true muscular strength from beer drinking.