The organ of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, O. [Ohio]) 1852-1853, 1852-04-02

= from blMe 10 Clme 10 my list the increased
. labOrs Of my calling not allowing so careful
examinations in many cases afterward. In
full three-fourths Of the hundred families in
! question, intenperance prevailed to a greater
I or less degree, and part or the whole of
the means Of substance in thirty Of the in
temperate ones, was the wages of intamy.
I Whether this latter vice is in any measure,
result of incorporate drinking, ] do not
! now pretend to say. But have not found
persons addicted TO licentiOus practices
among the totally abstinent.
; The aforementioned fact, however, may
+ be mere coiReideAce' Since my residence
here and previous to the passage of the
Temperance Law, five persons in one
small neighbOrhood have died of delirium
tremens /; one man was found dead in
the graveyard with his Jug of rum, its
contents half consumed, by his side; one
murder and one highway robbery, as the
immediate consequence of excitement by
strong. drink, have been perpetrated with
in and just without the precincts of the
city. Three cases of divorce have occurred
among the people of my special charge, in
each OF which, one or both the parties came
to me for adVice-intemperance being the
sole cause in each case Almost all the tru-
ants aud juvenile delinquents of every de-
scription, who have come under my notice,
and they are numerous enough, were chill
rem OF Incorporate parents. The same may
be said of young street beggars, which sUeTe
{ abundant, but have now almost all disap-
peared-and of more than half score of
, young girls of my acquaintance, in this city,
, who have gone to infamy and ruin. Con-
sidering the terrible raVages Of intemper-
E ance in other and larger cities, statistics
{ may seem to trifting too mention but let it
e be recollected that | am giving not the sta
e tistics of intemperance in the city, but only
e few facts within my own sphere of obser-
f vation.
o During the winter Of l950-5l, scarcely a
day passed on which l was not called upon,
e i'll numerous instances, to render relief to
% families on the very verge of starvation or
{, freezing, whose destitution and suffering
le were the immediate consequences of intern
Ie perance.
c Not single case of the kind or one in
e any wise analogous to it, has occurred with.
L in my knowledge for six months past. The
e calls for relief made upon me, in cases Of
n real distress during the winter in question,
j. were usually from FIVE to twenty daiIy-to
!. say nothing Of the ordinary calls TO obtain
:. employment, etc., etc. But for the last four
c months, period embracing all the severity
|. of our long winters, have not had five ur-
Y gent calls for immediate relief on single
e day, and according to my exact record more
q than twenty secular days have occurred dur
ing this period on which / have not had a
D single application for relief / have not
4 witnessed case Of suffering as the imme-
diate consequence of intemperance during
the same period; and, indeed, / have scarce,
/ ly witnessed any suffering during this time,
! except from sickness and pain to which all
classes are alike subject. Of the severity
of the season ! need not speak. Rents were
| never higher in Portland than at present,
t particularly Of such tenements as the poor
occupy, Productive employment in such
calling as poorer classes are usually adapted
to, has been peculiarly difficult to obtain
Iduring the winter, and for want of it many
of them are justly complaining. And there
has been more than twice as much sickness
! among this class of persons for the last two
months as during any previous two months
: of my residence here.
n 1 hGUe not seen a person intoxicated for three
Z months, and only one or two who appeared
) to be in the smallest degree under the inhu-
ence of intoxicating drinks. Several men
of my acquaintance who were habitually, al
! most daily, drunk, year ago, and whose
families were sustained and kept from per-
I ishing by the hand Of charity, are now sober
and have been earning-some Sl-some
81 25-soine 81 so per day, through the
= winter, and their families are living com.
Portable and Independently, Some Of these
Z tIidentrical families were often entirely des-
| titute Of food and fuel, sometimes for one
] Eday, sometimes for two at once, during the
and
my agency a.tl Is a...f.as9
|. have made special point Of cOnyersing
d with very many poor, intemperate men in
regard to their opinion of the Temperance
Il Law, Some of these were among the most
y unfortunate victims of incompetence and
d have not found among them all, single
Il Opponent Of the Law, or one who would
d have it repealed. They express unanimous
3 toish, as far have been able to ascertain, that
/. the temptation may be entirely removed.
Mr., o. of ---- street, noble, generous
!. hearted American seaman, but much of the
Z time on shore was always more than ''half
s seas over" as long as the grog.shops were
a in full blast, except occasionally, (as had
!, full opportunity Of knowing )--when he was
4 accustomed to shut himself up in his house
I for day or two ct once to avoid q tempta-
! ton which be assured me be had not the
Z moral power to resist when il was in his
= way. Most bitterly did he lament his en-
! slavement to the cruel tyrant, and now he
+ exults 10 theoverthrow Of his mortal enemy
! have several instances of the kind on re-
cord before me---take this as sample Of
/, many believe that not one tenth Of the
victims Of depraved appetite, among the
, poor, IN this city, who suffer most from in
temperance, are opposed to the Law, but
rather, they would gladly see it rigidly en-
1 forced according to its true intent.
81 During the two winters Of my residence
! here, previous to that Just closing, the chief
/ of my benefactions were applied to alleviate
! the sharpest distress 'of cold and hunger. I
3 have a long catalogue of cases before me, the
J )Icircumstanee Of which were noted down e
& the time, Just as they occurred, and many Of
4 which are Of the most painful interest. /