trength.

But how can we gain strength?

We must exercise in the open air, and take pure air into our lungs to
help purify our blood, and plenty of exercise to make our muscles grow.

We must eat good and simple food, that the blood may have supplies to
take to every part of the body.

ALCOHOL AND STRENGTH.

People used to think that alcohol made them strong.

Can alcohol make good muscles, or bone, or nerve, or brain?

You have already answered "No!" to each of these questions.

If it can not make muscles, nor bone nor nerve, nor brain, it can not
give you any strength.

BEER.

Some people may tell you that drinking beer will make you strong.

The grain from which the beer is made, would have given you strength. If
you should measure your strength before and after drinking beer, you
would find that you had not gained any. Most of the food part of the
grain has been turned into alcohol.

CIDER.

The juice of crushed apples, you know, is called cider. As soon as the
cider begins to turn sour, or "hard," as people say, alcohol begins to
form in it.

Pure water is good, and apples are good. But the apple-juice begins to
be a poison as soon as there is the least drop of alcohol in it. In
cider-making, the alcohol forms in the juice, you know, in a few hours
after it is pressed out of the apples.

None of the drinks in which there is alcohol, can give you real
strength.

Then why do people think they can?

Because alcohol puts the nerves to sleep, they can not, truly, tell the
brain how hard the work is, or how heavy the weight to be lifted.

The alcohol has in this way cheated men into thinking they can do more
than they really can. This false feeling of strength lasts only a little
while. When it has passed, men feel weaker than before.

A story which shows that alcohol does not give strength, was told me by
the captain of a ship, who sailed to China and other distant places.

Many years ago, when people thought a little alcohol was good, it was
the custom to carry in every ship, a great deal of rum. This liquor is
distilled from molasses and contains about one half alcohol. This rum
was given to the sailors every day to drink; and, if there was a great
storm, and they had very hard work to do, it was the custom to give
them twice as much rum as usual.

[Illustration]

The captain watched his men and saw that they were really made no
stronger by drinking the rum; but that, after a little