Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-04-04
EVENING STAR,
WHY DIDN'T THEY HOLD M.

IA Thrilling Sketch from The NJ Y Tribune
The stago-horn was ringing in my ca
its warning that like time and tide i
waited for no man, or woman either, bu
as l hurried on through dim passage
L had glimpse tbroug gh half.open doo1
at scene that has impressed itself On m,
memory indelibly.
why didn't they hold me,'' were
words uttered in sure and anguish. tba,
they thrilled in my ear when the stag,
had borne me far away from that great
city and its sins and sorrows, and / de.
termIned to fling them as an alarum on
the winds, until statesman and pcorle.
mother and teacher, should set about
forging bands to hold those that follow
In the footsteps Of that dreadful sufferer.
A heltIdozsn fine-looking men surround
eo MS Ded, the Unity sSo-.L -rL-:
their faces, and the glitter of iewclry
about their persons, indicated as plainly
as their haggard features and wary ewes
the order to which they belonged. They
were OF that mysterious order of knight.
hood, who seem to have found the al
chemists coveted power, or at least TO
enjoy its coveted results. They live in
tirst-ciass hotels, wear first class clothes
gold abounds with them, and vet thew
hold labor, practically at least. in si-
preme contempt. I knew the object Of
their care was one of their number, who
the night before, in a fit of delirium
tremens, had thrown himself from the
window IN the upper story of the hotel
tie did not toss from side to side as men
do usually when burning fever RACES on
them, for head, spine, limbs, had all been
rendered useless by that fall; but his
whole frame quivered with agony. and
from underneath the matted, streaming
masses of hair that fell over his face, al
ready wan and wasted with SUFFERING. his
eyes glared out fercely as q wounded
tigers.
"Why didn't they hold me 2" be NUT
tered; and with his groans he mingled
reproaches and horrid curses on the care
less watchers that had let him make tha,
terrible leap.
Why didn they hold him Wbv.
they did not realize the fcarfulness of the
terrorS that encompaSsed him: they have
never had deliriun tremens-not vet,
lhe tiend that brandished that naked
sword over his defenc ,leSs head was in
visible to their eyes. They did not hear
the Mss CT the serpents that coiled and
Writhed their Shiny folds about his
shrinking form! On, no. they did not
see thcU, and it was such rare sport. 70
see that swsggering, clustering bully
COVER and crouch bef3,e his imaginary
tormentorS! SO they Knocked and ieered
auu iucIIeu MIN On to combat with his
phantom foes, until the window caught
his eye as hope for escape, and so. with
yell and kound, he made that dps-
perate leap, and the next momeat there
was taken up from amid the mire and
blood and shivered glass in the street, a
shrieking and mangted wreck of hu.
manity.
Whether that reckless ard restless
spirit has gone up to its awful account
OF mlsSpent time, or has yet to beat out
its weary life against the prison-bars Of
a crippled frame, | know not. God be
merciful, and heal. if he fingers. hoth
soul and body. Why didn't they hold
him Not those careless, heartlcss
watchers of the other night; the demon
OF drink was in him then too strong for
mortal control, but long, long ago, when
he was blithe, bright boy, as remem-
ber him, then his mother might hive
, held him in the bonds Of good habits
and trained him as she did those fragrant
vines about her door, ard thus yirtua
might have rendered another home as
fair as did those clustering branches her
own sweet cottage. | remember tha,
household well. The father was a man
of high standing, filling reponsibie and
respectable office. The mother, cav. in.
dulgent, and afftctionate, su.rou, lded bv
a band OF rosy girls and frollicking bows
Fashion entered the holy circle first, with
its bancful habits of idlcness and ex-
travagance. With it came the custom
OF drinking, because of fog OF of frost,
because they were merry or because they
were sad. The wind was sown there !;
long years they have been reaping the
whirlwind.
A taste fer drinking rendered useful
occupation distasteful gaming afforded
at once excitement and the promise of
living without labor. The boys .driEed
oil into vagrancy, the father was degraded
from his station, and died in disgrace
and penury. The girls dropped like can
kered fiowers, and God, in pity, took
them. The homestead has passed into
strangers hands, and now the poor old
mother sits alone in a comfortless cabin
beside the same stream which rolled by
the home of her early happiness, and
doubtless, as it wanders by, it often
whispers of the time when she might
have held them all back, by her counsel
and example, from their ruin.