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which they all pay nearly equals the amount which the 

 company had calculated they would have paid if all had 

 lived a given number of years. According to life insur- 

 ance tables a healthy man, at 20 years of age may expect 

 to live 44 years more ; at 30 years of age, 36 years more ; 

 and at 40 years of age, 28 years more. If a man is a mod- 

 erate drinker, at 20 years of age, he may expect to live 15 

 years more ; at 30 years of age, 14 years more ; and at 40 

 years of age, 1 1 years more. As a mere matter of busi- 

 ness a company will not insure a drinker, for they cannot 

 afford to pay a large sum of money if the person is not 

 likely to live long to make them yearly payments. Thus, 

 a healthy man insured at 20 years of age, will make yearly 

 payments for 20 years longer than a drinker. 



343. Why strong drink shortens life. Strong drink is 

 a poison which is strong enough to produce death in itself. 

 A great many drinkers die from the effects of strong drink 

 alone. 



Strong drink also weakens the body so that it cannot 

 resist diseases which it otherwise could endure. In epi- 

 demics of small pox, cholera, yellow fever, and such deadly 

 diseases, drinkers are more apt to take the disease than 

 those who do not. Of the sick, drinkers are the first and 

 often the only ones to die. Surgeons hesitate to oper- 

 ate upon drinkers, for their wounds heal slowly, and they 

 take chloroform poorly. It is true that some drinkers 

 escape the greater dangers of alcohol, but the risk that a 

 drinker runs of being seriously harmed or killed, is far 

 greater than the risk that a soldier runs of being hurt in 

 a battle. 



344. A long life. A healthy body is the noblest work of 

 nature. Such signs as hunger and taste lead man to nourish 

 his body, and pain and fatigue warn him to avoid dangers. 



