arded. It might kill
him. Nor is it altogether safe for the chairman himself, a man already
in middle life, to be exposed to a current of cold air. In this
case, therefore, the chairman suggested that he thought it might be
"prudent"--that was his word, "prudent"--if I should take a small drop
of whiskey before encountering the draft. In return I told him that I
could not think of his accompanying me to the platform unless he would
let me insist on his taking a very reasonable precaution. Whiskey taken
on these terms not only seems like a duty but it tastes better.

In the same way I find that in Scotland it is very often necessary to
take something to drink on purely meteorological grounds. The weather
simply cannot be trusted. A man might find that on "going out into the
weather" he is overwhelmed by a heavy fog or an avalanche of snow or a
driving storm of rain. In such a case a mere drop of whiskey might save
his life. It would be folly not to take it. Again,--"coming in out
of the weather" is a thing not to be trifled with. A person coming
in unprepared and unprotected might be seized with angina pectoris or
appendicitis and die upon the spot. No reasonable person would refuse
the simple precaution of taking a small drop immediately after his
entry.

I find that, classified altogether, there are seventeen reasons advanced
in Scotland for taking whiskey. They run as follows: Reason one, because
it is raining; Two, because it is not raining; Three, because you are
just going out into the weather; Four, because you have just come in
from the weather; Five; no, I forget the ones that come after that. But
I remember that reason number seventeen is "because it canna do ye any
harm." On the whole, reason seventeen is the best.

Put in other words this means that the Scotch make use of whiskey with
dignity and without shame: and they never call it alcohol.

In England the case is different. Already the English are showing the
first signs that indicate the possible approach of prohibition. Already
all over England there are weird regulations about the closing hours
of the public houses. They open and close according to the varying
regulations of the municipality. In some places they open at six in the
morning, close down for an hour from nine till ten, open then till noon,
shut for ten minutes, and so on; in some places they are open in the
morning and closed in the evening; in other places they are open in the
evening