se and other
affections superinduced by alcohol; and I took stock of that feature of
it rather earnestly. The funerals have not stopped. They have been more
frequent in the past three years than in the three years preceding--all
good fellows, happy, convivial souls; but now dead. Some of them thought
that I was foolish to quit too!

And there are a few cases of hardening arteries I know about, and a
considerable amount of gout and rheumatism, and some other ills, among
the gay boys who japed at me for quitting. Gruesome, is it not? And God
forbid that I should cast up! But if you quit it in time there will be
no production of albumin and sugar, no high blood pressure, no swollen
big toes and stiffened joints.

If health is a desideratum, one way to attain a lot of it is to cut out
the booze. The old game makes for fun, but it takes toll--and never
fails!

I have tried it both ways. I can see how a man who never took any liquor
cannot understand much of what I have written, and I can see how a man
who has the same sort of habits I had can think me absurd in my
conclusions; but a man who has played both ends of it certainly has some
qualifications as a judge. And, as I stated, I have set down here only
my own personal ideas on the subject.

As I look at it there is no argument. The man who does not drink has all
the better of the game.

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