TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3864, 3 April 1928, Page 9

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

[The matter under, thia heading la pubiiahed at the requeat 01, and is supplied by, the United Tempeiauce Reform Council in pursuance of the desire to inculcate the principles of tom pt-rance.] THE WORLD’S NEW DAY AND ALCOHOL. In this column are presented in si iple form the facts about alcoholic drinks as determined by modern science, especially in relation to the practical aspects of every-day life. We present new facts now known about alcohol that our ancestors did not know when they started to make and use alcoholic drink. DIFFERENT DRINKS, BUT THE SAME ALCOHOL. If you drink every day one pint of wine (8 per cent, alcohol), or two pints ot beer (4 per cen t. alcohol), or 3oz of whisky (42 per cent, alcohol), you get trom each liquor the same amount of alcohol— Beer, wine, and whisky all contain alco2a!’ * , e steady beer or wine drinker, • , average amoun ts of these ’ I d -‘? ks a ? much alcohol as the .'.AM" “ ’•Thtrvs ■>«- *»» dNHH«I P r° ple still . believe that it is the Id Kf ”" 0 " wl ! ,cl chiefly do harm, harmless W ‘ nC beer are datively 7 aS ° n Z or ,! his idea « doubtless the Spirits* ™ r n C '- a l y n ° d 7. nker be ° ins spirits, The drinker off with wme or beer. By the time he Tete to spirits-drinking, some physical harm has P robn bly been done already, especially if .ko“ e X?”b" l, d2 i s‘ ,h ° uito’ £ resentl * b 7 in g bow are charged Xh 2k f plntS a ' o, , le ’ VVe sl ’all see, presently. that even moderate drinking of wine ° e r> Can do sel ’ious harm in various hX no° ne | ° f f i a<?ts careful scientists haie now learned, which formerly was not whZk’ t | hat ? gl , Ven <l uantit y of alcohol, or wH=l takCn n in tbe form of bcer or wino or whisky after it gets into the blood passes put from the blood very slowly. For several hours after even a single dose, there is alcohol circulating i n the blood and being earned to the various cells of the rlnill 2 I } umb ®. r of drinks are taken daily, the body cells may seldom, if ever be free from the presence of alcohol. And this i s true whether the alcohol is taken strong as in whisky or other spirits or diluted as in wine and beer.

ALCOHOL INCREASES DANGER FROM

Says Dr John Rae, an Arctic explorer:— . -the greater the pold the more injurious is the use' of alcohol. One of the commonest uses for alcoholic drinks has been to give warmth, as was supposed, the old idea being- that-they would protect against cold or exposure; -This is one of the old notions of the past that we must let go. Long ago the doctors proved by careful tests that the use,of -alcohol reallv lets out body heat and increases danger'from exposure. Actually what' happens is this: Alcohol paralyses or narcotises the nerves which control the .bloodvessels near the surface of the body 'This allows an extra amount of warm-blood to. flow towards the surface (the skin),’ and this warm blood is felt a s warmth by the .sense nerves in the skin. But when this extra amount of the blood is brought thus, to the surface of the body it is chilled by the colder air of toe atmosphere, with the result that the body heat is really lessened just at the time when it is most needed. So presently the drinker feels colder than before if in the meantime he has not been so overcome by cold that he has lost consciousness. This is the reason why the drinker when exposed to severe cold is more liable to freeze. Even in the Arctic regions, leaders like Nansen find no use for alcohol as protection against cold. The teamster, the longshoreman, or other . exposed worker in the city in severe weather) would do better to spend his money for hot drinks and substantial food that will keep up brdy heat than for beer or spirits. The man in the country or on the plains could better afford to buy a thermos bottle that will enable him to carry a hot drink with him from home when he is to be exposed to cold than to use an alcoholic drink. The alcohol will only increase danger of suffering from cold, of frostbite, or of even freezing and death.”

WHAT ATHLETES ARE LEARNING. I positively know from experience in 15 Marathon races in America and in England that alcohol used in any form in a. race of this kind is a great detriment.” So wrote George V. Brown, manager Boston Athletic Association. r The man who plays a really good 'game in any kind of sport needs perfect nerve and muscle control, endurance, swiftness, agility, quickwittedness, good breathing capacity. He must have physical ability o hold on effectively to the end of th e game, the football player, for example, has to have these qualities, and because the drinker does not have them to the same degree as the total abstainer, the trainers in American universities even before prohibition came, began to refuse to “ bother ’’ with him. The question, “ Does he drink? ” was asked not only by the trainer, but by other students when considering a new player, and a man in the habit of using alcoholic liquors found himself shut out from sports like football and often from baseball. Runners, too, require physical fitness, and experience showed that the use of alcohol in connection with a race was a detriment. ' Every year the Boston (Mass.) Athletic Association conducts a “ Marathon race.” Contesting runners from many parts of rhe United States and Canada cover the 26mile course. Ont of that-, experience came this testimony from one of the managers that alcohol is a detriment to runners in races of this kind. . <