A stale smell of tobacco and beer hung about his clothes, his finger-tips were yellow with cigarette smoke, he had even taken some kind of scented lozenge to try and hide the whisky smell in his breath. No wonder nobody would employ him, or give him more money to drink with, for that was all that he would do with money if he got it.
Very much of the poverty and distress in this country is brought about by men getting into the habit of wasting their money and time on drink. And a great deal of crime, and also of illness, and even madness is due to the same habit of drinking too much. Liquor—that is beer or spirits—is not at all necessary to make a man strong and well. Quite the contrary. The old saying, "Strong drink makes weak men," is a very true one.
Yet £166,400,000 were spent last year alone on drink in the United Kingdom—enough to have made every family in the country better off by £15 if they had drunk water. And this £15 would be increased to £22 if the men gave up tobacco.
It would be simply impossible for a man who drinks to be a scout. Keep off liquor from the very first, and make up your mind to have nothing to do with it. Water, tea, or coffee are quite good enough drinks for quenching your thirst or for picking you up at any time, or if it is very hot lemonade or a squeeze of lemon are much better refreshment.
A good scout trains himself pretty well to do without liquid. It is very much a matter of habit. If you keep your mouth shut when walking or running, or chew a pebble (which also makes you keep your mouth shut), you do not get thirsty like you do when you go along with your mouth open sucking in the air and dry dust. But you must also be in good, hard condition. If you are fat from want of exercise you are sure to get thirsty and want to drink every mile. If you do not let yourself drink the thirst wears off after a short time. If you keep drinking water on the line of march, or while playing games, it helps to tire you and spoils your wind.
It is often difficult to avoid taking strong drinks when you meet friends who want to treat you, but they generally like you all the better if you say you don't want anything, as then they don't have to pay for it; if they insist you can take a gingerbeer or something quite harmless. But it is a stupid fashion when, in order to prove that you are friends, you have to drink with each other. Luckily it is dying out now; the best men do not do it because they know it does them no good. Wasters like to stand about a bar talking and sipping—generally at the other fellow's expense, but they are wasters, and it is as well to keep out of their company, if you want to get on and have a good time.
EARLY RISING.
The scout's time for being most active is in the early morning, because that is the time when wild animals all do their feeding and moving about; and also in war the usual hour for an attack is just before dawn, when the attackers can creep up unseen in the dark, and get sufficient light to enable them to carry out the attack suddenly while the other people are still asleep.
So a scout trains himself to the habit of getting up very early; and when once he is in the habit it is no trouble at all to him, like it is to some fat fellows who lie asleep after the daylight has come.
The Emperor Charlemagne, who was a great scout in the old days, used always to get up in the middle of the night.