TEA VERSUS BRANDY.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 402, 10 December 1874, Page 2

TEA VERSUS BRANDY.

It is ■well known that during both the Red River Expedition and that on the Gold Coast, tea was the bevei'age recommended for the soldier, to the exclusion of all alcoholic liquors. We incurred a certain amount of hostile criticism by hinting that it might be expedient, if not actually necessary, to issue an allowance of spirit to the troops in the field under certain circumstances. We took care to guard ourselves against being thought Lo advocate the indiscriminate issue of a spirit ration to men of all ages and under all and every condition of climate and service, but we nevertheless held that soldiers would probably have been benefited by a moderate allowance of sphit after a hard day's march, in a malarious, moist, and exhausting climate, and our judgment has beon fpitified by the opinion expressed by several medical officers who took part in the late campaign. It is all very well to institute a comparison between an issue of rum and a cup of hot coffee with some addition in the way of a biscuit and meat ; but how is it to be prepared during a campaign 1 We tried the effect on ourselves of a total abstinence from alcoholic drinks for a brief period, and we must confess to having felt the loss of the two or three glasses of wine of which we ordinai-ily partook in the 24 hours, and the withckawal of the wine was not followed by an increased appetite for solid food. The main thing appears to be to avoid alcohol altogether except at meals, and then, of course, only to consume it in strict moderation. To "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake" is old and very safe advice, we suspect, for men who work hard with their brains or muscles, esp«cially in the case of those who have reached middle age. In the case of young men, or in those who are leading an active out-door life and possess a vigorous appetite, alcohol is quite unnecessary as a rule, and only useful under exceptional circumstances. It must not be forgotten, too, there are great differences in individual constitutions in regard to the consumption of alcohol ; while a moderate use of wine agrees with most people, the smallest quantity disagrees with others. One of the greatest requirements of the present day is a cheap and pleasant beverage, free from alcohol, of which persons engaged in urban pursuits can partake ad lib. during the summer in this countiy. No practice is more injurious than that of having recourse to what people please to term " a nip " of brandy in the interval between meals. The appetite is impaired and the digestion seriously deranged by such a pi*actice, to say nothing of the f>ict that "it grows by what it feeds on," and a constant craving for alcoholic stimulants is soojn engendered. We should be inclined to recommend, in a future campaign, a trial of cocoa or chocolate as a more palatable and nutritious beverage for our soldiers than cold tea, which is not a very palatable or an entirely unobjectionable drink to many people. — Lancet.