PRIZE ESSAY, JUNIOR DIVISION, HIGH SCHOOL.

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 235, 18 January 1915, Page 11

PRIZE ESSAY, JUNIOR DIVISION, HIGH SCHOOL.

(Kssay written In Kric Horn, a#c i.vi years.) Drinks su< h a>. beer, wine, and spirits. which contain a large amount of alcohol, are not health-givin#, a> milk or water arc. They do not help the growth of the body, but they make a person much more liable to disease. Navvies working in Kurland who art' temperance men d< more work in less time than those who drink. What does this show? That drink lessens the power of endurance. Alcoholic drinks should not be taken in any shape or form, except by a do< tor's express orders. Then, we may ask, if drink so confuses one’s brain and lessens the power to endure hardships, why do people drink 3 because drink ere ates an almost irresistible desire for more. It does not quench thir>t. but creates it. Many a fellow has been asked by a friend to have one

glass,’’ and has not had the courage to say “No.” That one glass may lead to his downfall, and to his becoming .» confirmed drunkard. The old proverb, “Look not on the wine when it is red in the cup, for at last it stingeth like an adder,” is too true. Persons who drink become unhealthy, and the craving for drink becomes stronger. Once a man is in the grip of drink, he* might as well be in the grip of his deadliest enemy, for he will have the greatest struggle of his life to get free* from its clutch. A teetotal person who receives a serious wound has much more e hance of life than a heavy drinker, because* drinks which contain alcohol destroy, rather than create, goe d blood. The money which a man spends on his glass of beer could buy him bread, containing 150 Z. of heat gi\:ng food, and 2JOZ. of Hesh-forming food, and he will be much healthier in consequence. Now let Us see what other evils .ire caused by drink. Lveryone admits that more than half the* crimes which arc* committed are due to drinking. Drink also is the very pathway to consumption, cancer, and inttamma tion of the lungs, the worst kind of diseases from which a person can suffer. If drinks containing alcohol, 111 whatever quantity, small or great, were taken out of the world, how much wc* should benefit by it! But, we may perhaps a'k, what will ne have for stimulants? The ordinary person does not need any stimulant, and it any are wanted, fruit forms .1 far better one than alcohol. Let us for a moment look into a drunkard’s home. \\ h.it do we see there? The terrible and degrading effect of drink on man. Broken tables, c hairs, cups and saucers; dirty rags arc* worn for clothing by the c hildren, and beer stains are cm everything ! Children and mothers arc c rying out for bread to a drunken father, who spend' all his money in the public house ! Yet when polling day comes, people* go and vote for Continuance of this business, and believe themselves right in doing so! \\ hc“n the Territorials we re* in town a while ago, 40 of them were* arrested for drunkenness and yet people say th.it this trade dors no harm! Let them U'C* their eyes, and they* will see examples of it' haimfulness all around them.