The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1871-10-19
HOW STEPHEN BAGLEY BE
CAME A DRUNKARD.
CONCLUDED.

CONCLUDED.
About seven years after this, went
to visit some relatives in the village
where they lived. and spent part Of
my time with the Bagleys. On first
meeting Stephen L>was shocked Mt the
change in him which these last years
had made.
He look ted stupid, and bloated, and be-
sotted now 1t seemed a. If the last ira
ces Of manhood were being blotted out
in him. Learned, in the neighborhood,
that he would often remain intoxicated
for weeks together, sometimes in some
low den away from his home, neglecting
all business, giving himself mp entirely
to drink.
How coo!ly we look on at our friends
| rushing to certain ruin, and make cold
comments! 1T il only question of
time with them,' we may say, without
using the effort we might to arrest
their steps. "Am my brothers keep
-r ?"
Prudence looked old and weary, and
dspirited now. There were lines Of
gray in her hair. Her face had acquired
fre,ful expression. her voice queru
Ious tone. But she did not speak to me
of Stephens habits at this time. I
thought it strange.
Stephen had had sober interval Of
several weeks. He often did so, raising
the hopes OF his friends only to dash
He came in one evening. where I was
sitting alone, in the parlor. 1 never
should have thought OF speaking to him
upon the subject of his fall but he struck
into it boldly himself.
"Mary," he sai;., "you find me chang
ed. | want to talk to you about it. I
knew you woul1 not have thought once
to see me "a l am now; would not
have believed it Of myself. Had any
"ne suggested the possibility of such n
thing, should have ans swered as Hazael
did. know / am degraded. | am SO
in my own eyes, as we'll as in those Of
others. | am not going to attempt to
justify myself. know should have
been stronger more manIy-but am
going to tell you Of some Of the infiuen,
ces that brought me to my present de
graded state. You know I am q little
nice about my food. like to have it
come to the table in good shape and well
cooked. Some people can thrive on al.
most anything that viii! fill up. Ican't
It's partly habit, perhaps, but mostly
nature. probably inherited from my
mother a nicely in this respect. Habit,
said; for you know my mother was an
artist in her cookery. I think every
woman should be. II they knew the
importance of welI-cooked food. not on.
iy to health and comfort, but to morals
oven, they would be. They would not
spend all their artistic skill on mere
dress, aud the piano, and thin gs Of that
sort.
"Prudence don't seem to understand
this. She is constituted differently, aud
thinks it is being difficult, fault-fnding,
notional, If one 10 at all fastidious about
tOOd.
Now, so far as the mere pleasure of
eating is concerned, would have given
it up rather than contend about the mat
ter, but sometimes felt SO weak when
l went about my work-such an unsst.
isfied, all.gone feeling, that was unfit
for anything. Ispoke Of this to Pru
dence, and she only regarded it rs a
whim.
II never shall forget the first dram
took, urged on by these feelings
for l had never been frequenter Of
dram shops for the company to be found
there, or for the drink. One night we
had supper-well, much such one as
you have often seen here-worse, I think
than any you have ever seen here.
There was nothing on the table cook ed
as it should be. not a single article-not
even . piece of bread, for that was sour.
II picked about little, as you have
often seen me do, and then took my hat,
and went out. had not been we'll for
two or three days, and l went along
down the street with weak and weary
feeling in body and soul. had design.
ed going to my shop again to finish a
piece of work had been engaged upon,
but l had no heart to go. thought I
would SO into the saloon near my shop
and get plate of oysters. Invent in,
bnt Eldred-ths saloon keeper-said
they were out He was expecting new
supply when the train came in, in about
and hour.
II sat down on bench by the win
dow, with discouraged, listIess feeling,
| didn't ssein to care what became OF