and put the companions of Socrates under the table, but it was not until
distilled liquors came in that alcoholism became chronic, epidemic and
ruinous to whole populations.

But the chemist later tried to undo the ruin he had quite inadvertently
wrought by introducing alcohol into the world. One of his most
successful measures was the production of cheap and pure sugar which, as
we have seen, has become a large factor in the dietary of civilized
countries. As a country sobers up it takes to sugar as a "self-starter"
to provide the energy needed for the strenuous life. A five o'clock
candy is a better restorative than a five o'clock highball or even a
five o'clock tea, for it is a true nutrient instead of a mere stimulant.
It is a matter of common observation that those who like sweets usually
do not like alcohol. Women, for instance, are apt to eat candy but do
not commonly take to alcoholic beverages. Look around you at a banquet
table and you will generally find that those who turn down their wine
glasses generally take two lumps in their demi-tasses. We often hear it
said that whenever a candy store opens up a saloon in the same block
closes up. Our grandmothers used to warn their daughters: "Don't marry a
man who does not want sugar in his tea. He is likely to take to drink."
So, young man, when next you give a box of candy to your best girl and
she offers you some, don't decline it. Eat it and pretend to like it, at
least, for it is quite possible that she looked into a physiology and is
trying you out. You never can tell what girls are up to.

In the army and navy ration the same change has taken place as in the
popular dietary. The ration of rum has been mostly replaced by an
equivalent amount of candy or marmalade. Instead of the tippling trooper
of former days we have "the chocolate soldier." No previous war in
history has been fought so largely on sugar and so little on alcohol as