In the Ypres Salient

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2500, 31 October 1922, Page 5 (Supplement)

In the Ypres Salient

All practical people know that “an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory.”

We hare had “tons of theory” thrown at our heads about the advantages from a health standpoint which Prohibition is supposed to confer. I can supply the “ounce of practice.” In the winter of 1917-18, the New Zealand .Division were holding the front line in the peak of the Ypres Salient. The conditions of the so-called trenches were so bad that a dry issue of thigh gum-boots was made to the troops every second day. The men, while in the trenches, were continually wet through, but by a judicious use of rum internally and whale oil externally the evacuations from sickness were kept within reasonable bounds. Then one day a bombshell arrived from Oorpe Headquarters (where i the direction of the Medical; Services was in the hands of an ardent Prohibitionj ist): The rum, issue was to be discontinued. It was; and the result soon became apparent. Evacuations from KQknesa increased at an alarming rate; within a week they had assumed such startling proportions that the Battalion Commander took counsel and formally protested, with the result that the rum ration was again authorised, and ; evacuations from sickness dropped! al--'"V-inost immediately. t. Unfortunately, 1 cannot quote exact figures, ..but I can speak 'with authority, as during the period under review I held the appointment of Battalion Adjutant, and, of course, all orders and records of evacuations for the battalion passed through my hands. The above facts, ivhich can easily be verified, constitute, to my mind, a most effective answer to the wild assertion of the Prohibitionist that liquor taken wen in moderation is harmful, under any circumstances. PRACTICE has proved that, like so many of the Prohibitionist catch-cries, this IS NOT TRUE. “N.Z.R.8.”