Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1848-01-27
FOR THE SENTINEL,
sWHO DID IT!,

MIR. Editor:-In YOUR notice of the horrible
dc ath of Jacob d. Myers. in your last paper,
you propose this very proper and timely in
curry, and answer it with unquestionable
truth, .LraroR killed him This is one the
thousands Of cases occurring every year in
our land where Intoxicating liquors destroy
i not only the health comfort, reputation and
| usefulness, but the koes Of valuable citizens.
II adds another to the ten thousand reasons
already before the public, why these murder
ers OF the peace and happiness. souls and
bodies OF men, should be banishel from soci
ETY.; and, like other murlerers, deprived by
the strong arm Of the law, Of til :ir power to
destroy.
But is this The ,ohole Of the answer JIho
dtah Who KILLED Jacob b. Myers, Run,
did it. True; but wee there any accompliccs
i'll this murder; amy 'wccessories before the
fact'' Did any persons "ad and abet" the
destroyer in getting access to his victm;-
Did they do this, knowing that his domestic
peace. his character, his prospects in life, had
already been destroyed by the poison of which,
he partook, and that in filing his bottle from
day to day, week to week, they were has
| tening him to drunka,6's gravel
I don't know it these questions were asked
before the Jury, nor how they would have
been answered if they had been, but it seems
! to me there is an awful responsibility about
this business of supplying Off fellow creatures
/ with the hnoa'f, means of wretchedness ruin
and death, Which the rumseiler does not Dcr
ceive, and TO which the community are but
imperfectly awake. Suppose the mad hogs
YOU speak OF in your last number, were all
made into bacon, and that the hnowu effect of
! this bacon was that those who ate it would
have fits of MADNESS abuse their families
neglect their business, and sooner or later
die horrible death. That knowing this.
men, for gain, should buy this pork. hang it
in the loft of some black and dingy stiN-house
to be cured, and keep it in all the grog shops
in the lat.d to sell to those Who having &C
CURED relish for this poisoned food, would
have it, If it could be obtained, though their
families starved. That by this traffic tllous>
ands are annually destroyed, and other thous
ants made tor,nents TO their families and pests
to society; and among the thousands who die
from the poisoned bacon, one falls in the fire
and is found dead. fPhut Killed him? The
poisoned meat. True; bu: would the enquiry
stop here Would not All indignant commu-
nifty demand ,rhere did he get is Who made
bacon Of these mad hogs and sold it. knowing
the effects it would producei Would not the
moral sense of the community hold the maker
and the yender responsible for the effect> of
the poisoned food they had sent abruad,-
| Would such business be tolerated for dav
after its true nature was understood? Sup
pose, moreover. that our fathers had imagin-
ed that bacon made from mad hogs was good
for men # they did not eat tao much of it, and
under this delusion had made provision for
licensing the sale of it under certain restrc
tons, would this provision be continued for
a year after it was ascertained AMI known
that it was always a poison.and oniya poison,
! NIL fI,l. I, IL,
as it is known that ardent spirits are never
useful drink to healthy persons, Now,
what pos sble difference does it make in the
moral principle, the practical result or in the
| indir,duaL responsibility, whether :he man
dies in consequence of being furnished with
poison in the shape of meat or drink, Whe
! Their what kills him was prepared by smoke ,or
| by steam. from mad hogs. or rotten apples, or
so.d by the pound or by The pint
should like 10 have some one state the
reason ,chy it would be any worse, it the law
allowed it, to make bacon Of mad hogs to be
eaten by our neighbors. than it is to make
whiskey to be drunk by them; or to sell ba-
| con which we knew was poison. than IT is to
sell intoxicating drinks, which are not only
poison in their yerv nature. but productive OF
! such an immense amount OF crime, suffering
and death, and of no imaginable or possible
good to him who drinks them
! If had furnished the liquor which killed
| Myers, should have his distorted counter
ance. his crisped and roasted brains, as they
appeared through the hole burnt in MS skull,
haunting me day and night. should never
| look on the nirepence Epocketed tor that pint
of whisSey without feeling that it WAS the
price Of blood. wo&rld rot stand in sweh a
relation to that horrible death, that when an
| aroused public sentiment demanded ,sAo did
| it, or who helped to do it. or furnished the
| naenae Of doing it, conscience would reply
/ .staou art the man. for all that has been
Egained by making and selling rum since in.
| toxicating drinks first cursed this fallen
/ world. or averice devised. means to make the
curse source of gain.
1 NATHAN.
| p. ST. have more to say about this at
another time.