Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1871-05-06

would pity her. He knew parents heart.
lie was Our Father;' and then she thought
of her mother and remembered her mother
teaching her 'Tur Father Oh, how long
ago and far away that appeared Ages OF
sorrow lay between. And she went over
Our Father to the very end. Thus di-
verted from her griefs, and soothed and
worn out, the poor gray -headed, heart
broken old woman went to sleep.
AS for Tom. when his mother left the
room, aud was quiet, he produced bottle
he he'd brought in {; he raked up the Goals
Goals in the stove he drank again and
again and then flung himself OH his bed
and slept the drunkard's sleep.
Scene Third. The same room better
furnished some new things in it, and a
sewing machine in the space by the win
dow. The old mother gone-dead and
buried. Tom has married. That is his
wife with print gown of flaming colors,
and enormous earnings. She had been u
domestic, but got tried of restraint, saved
money, and sci up sewing machine, and
| thus was free to go to the thcater, where
she met Tom, walked with him, received
his proposals, and at length married him,
a year ago. 1t is past eleven O'Clock, when
Tom comes in, to find his wiie's brows
black as night, and an ominous silence,
threatening storm.
Got any supper for fellow, Bcss p is
Tom IS introduction of himself.
Get your supper where you spend sup
per-time, is the gruf response.
Get me my supper, Bess,' he shouts out
stamping his foot, and trying to look the
bully.
Not if know it, is the stolid rep'y.
He rises his hand as if to strike her.
Don't do it Tom, advise you If you
hit me you'll rue it. Tisnr your old mother
you have to knock about, mind you.'
Tom is a coward at heart. He dare not
strike her, but he takes up his hat, slams
the door, and goes to a basement saloon
close by and it is not till dinner time next
day she sees him again.
Scene Fourth, and LdSt.-The same room,
but very dreary and empty. The sewing
machine has been pawned the new things
are gone, and the old look older and older.
Bessie is mother with a pale sickly
baby she was long ill /; is weak yet and
she has been in the womanly weakness of
these mournful months, completely beaten
down and cowed by her brutal husband.
Poor Bessie she was not radically bad
only gay and foolish. She did not respect
Tom, but she wanted to ''change her life,
and she thought she liked him." and could
get on with him. But Tom has grown
worse-much worse. He is hardly ever
quite sober. His associates are the vilest,
male and female. He has just been in
dance-house, where some maudlin compli-
ments to frequenter Of the place are flung
back to him with contempt, for he is known
to be without cent. Get away !; what
business have you here Go home to that
washed-out rag of your own"
In the temper this stinging insult pro-
duces Tom tumblcs home late at night, to
find Bessie asleep ; no coal for the stove
and no supper. There is an alteration
abusive language fierce rctort blows. If
the demons can get any peculiar joy Of hui
man sin and woe, it must surely be when
they see the sweet wine of married life
turned into the bitter vinegar of hatred
and strife when they see a mans hand
uplifted to fell to the ground the trembling
woman he swore to love and cherish. And
they saw this in TOMS room-they, and
the old man, with his grandson that sold
newspapers and apples and lived in the
opposite room. The old man and his
grandson saw that poor creature knocked
down with his clenched fists. They called
out to him. Her very helplessness anger
ed him. II will kill you outright and be
done with il p and he took up a chair and
aimed blow at her. She thought, He
will not hit the child and held up her
babe. loo laie; tho blow had been aimed
already /; the. baby's head had received it
first. She screamed, 'Oh ! my child, and
fell too. The old man and the boy saY it,
They brought the police. Bessie they
found sitting on the ground bleeding hug
ging to her bosom the little body groan-
ing out at intervals as if nobody was there,
oh my murdered child my murdered
child p
Yes, murder with the extenuating cir
cumstance that he was drunk. Curtain
falls upon Tom on his way to prison, for
ten years.
AS you and I, reader, turn from the
tragedy, we moralize. Something very
wrong in the social mill that grinds out
results like that wonder could we do any
thing to mend it p At least we can dedi-
cate this outline 10 all the unsuspecting
young women who are thinking marrying
drunkards, and all the mothers who are
spelling their sons by giving them their
own way.