Temperance Column.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 210, 31 May 1902, Page 1

Temperance Column.

fADVKRTISEHENT.] •

O—— (Published'by arrangement). Total Abstinence and Athletics. (Selected.) D spile Dr Kipling's unwarrantable ; i farenre to the British athletes as “ muddled ( af. ” and *■ flannelled fools,” the a’tHcliniei t of colonial young nvn to athletics is as keen as ever, and while tl osa udi i are face >o face with some of the problems of our time are sometimes jus ifiab'y in-pnti v.t at this large amount of what appears tlicm misdirec el energy, it ii undeniable tint l thletio-', under pure an 1 wholesome surroundings, are no Email fact, r in the making of a nation. But the Iqu r trade is ever teeking (o cast its spell over this department of life, and the seductive glamour of its influence is unfortunately operating on the minds of not a few of our young athletes. To be reckoned “ peculiar ”is the experience that the majority of the young fellows’ hearts de ire, and in consequence thereof, and for no other reason, every season sees additions to the ranks of those who take their first drink. It is true that total abstaining ath'etes are more numerous than in years gone by, but there is still a considerable number who think that the drinking of a glass of liquor is a manly act. In view off this prevalent opinion it is refreshing to find men who occupy envious positions in the world of athletics abstaining from, the use of alcoholic seimulants.

In the local-cycling arena the came of

W. MARTIN

has been lately much in evidence. Martin is, without doubt, a phenomenal rider. In 1899 he is reputed to have won over £2OOO on the racing track, in 1901 over £ISOO, also securing the five and tenmile Australasian championships and the five and ten-mile Victorian championships. He has won a ton-mile championship of Australasia for this year, the only one for which he has entered. Last year Martin secured either first, second, or third place no less than 130 times, and is now regarded as probably the best handicap rider in the world. These successes must appear all the more remarkable when it is noted that the champion cyclist is forty-three years of age. To what floes ho attribute his phenomenal success ? The Sydney Bulletin, a paper from which we would noj expect anything favourable to temperance, says:—“Martin’s suc.ess is largely due to total aba'inence from intoxicants and getting to bed early—a system which he rigidly follows.” From enquiries made in Christchurch wo rrc able to uonoborat l this statement with the added inhumation that he also abstains from the use i f tobacco* A local paper staled that Martin had, unlike many other successful athletes, saved his winnings and bad invested them in public house property. Our only object in repeating Ibis staterrn nt is to show that Martin is no fanatic From bis point of view the l»o positions are peif ct’y consistent. lie inv sts his moiu-y in publ c hou e p-om-rtv hoc use it pays. He l.im clf ab.-.tains from the use <f a coho'iic rquor for the same

reason. We cannot commend I,he first investment, but. w e do heatii'y commend the second to every young man who glories in th- stiength and viynur which is hie, and who delights in all pursuits which afford play foe hese fccul - ics OTHER TE-ST IMON Y. 'J hit the use ;»f alcoholic liquor is injurious and not helpful to athletes is positively Eid down by Mr J G. Harrison in his works on athletic trait in;;, and has tuc ■ endured by long personal exp.- hence by many leading athletes. Eo complete’y is this the case that it has bteo • e an axiom among tnineis. Ti e Rev. W. W. Beveridge, in bis y-iiingt r day o the Scottish champion splitter aed an international fool filler, said n cently in an address . “The siu'cess'ul pursuit of athletics requires übstiuei.ee fiotn strong drink.

. Drinking is the deadly foe .of bodily vig<ur, muscularity, and speed.” This has been stated in other words by Mr Weston, the champion walker ; by Mr Hanlon, the champ i-n rcaller ;by Dr W. G. Grace', who says that “ both beer and smoking are very bad things for cricket”; by Captain Webb, who could only swim the English Channel when he took no drink ; and by the abstainer Jacques Balmat, who was the first to ascend Mount Blanc.