ALCOHOLOGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 162, 18 October 1910, Page 3

ALCOHOLOGY.

THE MODERATE BEER-DRINKER, j (Published by Arrangrr.cnt), "Half a pint of beer won't do r.i.ybody any harm," so the saying igoes. So the j very moderate man said some years ago, j and at once, and again took it; but I wh:re is he now? The question as to the truth of that common saying is not so simple as it looks. If the very moderate drinker continued to be IT.'y JllC'V crate no good would PAme to him from liis habit; and look at the risk! Half a pint to-day means half a pint to-morrow, and the next day, r.r.a the next, nnd so on. day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. Yes; and it often means more than that. The half-pint at dinner, s.iy, leads to the half-pint at supper, and at other times, too; the half-pint this yevjr often means a full pint next year, or, in too may cases, it means pint after pint, and so the habit grows. This is not fancy, Anybody can name instances af just this style of progression. Then, again, the J apparently simple* g'lftss of beer culti-|® vates the* appetite for, and leads the ( J way to, something stronger on spu-lc 1 . ott-asloni —ft glass ui ffiuS or whisky, perhaps. It is like the Arab's proverb: "The half-pint is just the camel's nose, and be-1 hind that the camel's head, then hir; neck, and the whole carcase complete." That pleasant guest becomes the tyrant who means to stay. It is, too, impossible. to confine the il\??u??ion t? t1 5 .:., liiults Or -denicrlts o! halt' a pint o£ beei, but it is possible to show that even this I quantity does not improve a man in any particular—and it should be clear to every maa that -his internal organism is! too 'important and delicate a system to : play any-tricks with, or try any doubtful experiments with. As a matter of fact, the half-pint even alters the drinker for the worse. The half-pint of beer contains somewhere about a taMespoonful of alcohol—more, as a rule— awl this is equal to about an ounce or an ounce ami a-lialf of pure brandy. There are many who think nothing of a half-pint of beer who would think twice before taking half a wilifc glassful of brandy, so we may see that the half-pint of beer is not the simple innocent thing that some regard it, and declare it to be. It can be proved that only half a pint of beer can i lower the temperature of the body. This can be tested by means of a clinical thermometer—such as doctors use—and the heat of the mouth, say, should be taken just before taking the beer and again a quarter of an (hour afterwards. The difference may not be great, but it shows that the half-pint of beer contained enough alcohol to have some effect, and that this effect is to cool the body, | not to warm it, as it is commonly said to <lo. It can also be shown that this - innocent-looking drink can blunt the senses to a slight extent-, though the person who has taken it will probably declare that lie does not feel any difference. But, though this may be true, the fact has been proved, bv means of special instruments, that even in half a pint i of beer there is enough alcohol to injuriously affect the senses. The great indictment, however, against' the pint is that it creates a desire for more; a desire which so many are unable to resist. So it goes on and the result we see in moral, physical and financial wreckage in our midst. It comes from the small beginnings. If these small beginnings were in any way beneficial there would be some reason' for taking some risk; but as there is no benefit and great risk it would surely be - the j part of prudence and safety to shun the drink altogether; Let us. beware of small beginnings, the small leak that ultimately sank the noble barque.