The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1854-11-24

Vi charlty there. We are very sure they
could.
Night before last we were going home
about ten O'clock, and as we passed the al
ley's mouth, little girl turned in form the
street She was half clad in thin summer
clothes, barfooted, wet and shivering flor it
rained heayily.) She was a miserable look
ing object. In her hand was battered tin
cup, which she held carefully while stepping
across the swimming gutter. 1t was a strange
impulse, but we said
"What have you got in that cup, sis i''
She stopped and turning her thin, pale
face toward us, there is a lamp near the alley)
she answered in hesitating, timid voice
Whisky, sir"
''Who is it for?" "a ls.
"Father and mother"
'Do they drink it 7" s
les, sometimes" she said, with
hesitating, halffngLtened tone
"Where did you get Il" XII. i
"At the grocery Sir" .r..
"Show me where you got it."
"Oh, l can't; must go--it's SO cold !"
And she vanished up into the damp, dark
alley. .e.,. 3
Now, knew the secret of the noises, the
oaths, the poverty, the wretchedness of that
alley--or at least one great cause
Whisky, siri"
Look at those bloated, brutal men, those
brawling, ragged, obscene woman, those star
wing, freezing, hopeless, joyless children.
Why are they So
whisky, sir?"
What brought that man, stained and
bloody, before the. Police Court this morning!
What sent that wretched female to the .-va-
grant cell! and that boy or girl to the House
Of Refuge
Whisky, sir"
And when that criminal is asked by the
Judge ifhe has anything to say why the SEN
tence of the law should not be passed upon
him, any plea to make aud defence to put
in, what Should be his honest reply
Whisky, sir ~
There goes man who only FIVE years
since was in excellent circumstances, had a
good business; and a happy family. He is
now dissolate loafer his family suffer eve
ry day for the necessaries of life. What
brought him tonisery and them TO despair
and want -
Whisky, sirw
See those little children, growing up in sin,
ignorance and poverty, with no childish Joys
no buoyant feelings no pure thoughts, no
fond hopes, no affection, no respect for their
wretched parents What keeps them in such
terrible conditiona-
whisky. sir ." 10y
All child with the tin cup, you spoke
volume then; volume that brings no Joy
to the reader. You told the story of much
crime and beggary, ruin and death, of woe
that has no consolation.
But, there stands beautiful and costly
buildings money has been layished to adorn
it in every style of elegance. inside aud out.
II is noble structureI Who was the build.
af
WHISKY, sir!"
Yes, where was great volume in the
child's words--a volume Of splendor, of
youth, of sudden riches, of money accumu-
lated year by year; Of aristocratic families,
of gay men and beautiful, women, who for
everything they have and enjoy, areindebted,
and 70 nothing else indebted, but
whisky, sir 7,
We have noticed that girl with her tin cup
many times before, coming from grocery.
near by but never did we imagine her errand.
We thought the day ofretailing ru.. to child
ren was passed, among men Of conscience
and feeling. God knows it should be. Re-
member "Curseth is he who putteth the
cup TO his neighbor's lips"
There was o murder In that alley last win
ter. The corpse was found, the coroner sum
moned. an inquest held. The verdict vas
~ anna ~ J,io d1ofl IL, a ~, tlo