Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-02-09
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A Holocaust to Infemperane
3 BY a TEMPERANCE MAN.

Strange as it may seem to readers in
the Northern States, there is no day OF
all the year which is so universally and
totally given up to drunkenness in the
South as Christmas. In the palace OF
the wealthy and, in the hOvel of the
pOor-in the home of the clllrch-mem-
ber and ON the sideboard of the worldly
man-the Glowing bowp findsa place
at Christmas eve, and ON Christmas
morning. Men who, at other times of
the year are abstemioys, then give un-l
|.stinted sacrifice to ebacchus. All other
Penates areput aside, and the egg-nog
bowl is sole and supreme ruler of the,
hearthstone. Not only do men sacri-
flee before this god, but the gentler sex
pour ut1freely their libationS in his
honor. .Isra fa-
In all this, tile people seem TO reeogz:
nize no antagonism to the Gospel Of
Him whose birth they celebrate. There
lis agdullness of understanding in refer
ence to some moral questions that re-
minds one forcibly of the words of Isai
ah: 'iThis peoples heart is waxed gross
and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed" To one
living here, is not, at, all Incredible
that a General Conference of ministers
should resolve that Temperance IS an
outside question, not coming within
the range of Christian Ethics. rfqr D
""WhO tempted you to drink again ?'
said /, to onewho had reformed from
drinking; but who had again become en-
tangled in the meshes of this net of de-
struction. THE chaplain of my lodge
of Sons of Temperance asked me to take
q olaSs of wine with him. and ] could
not stop, said he. The poor victim OF
this reverend tippler, for this man rs
pastor of a church here. was Favlng IN
delirium tremens the last time saw
him. Such is the character OF the tenn
peranee ideas of the South. l,.rlns.-a. -
Christmas eve 1S70in the city OF Klch-
mond, was, like all its predecessors,
hailed as time of universal debauche-
ry. The yOtarieS OF Bacchus early
commenced their offerings at his shrine.
At the SpottswoOd Hotel, a large bowl,
filled to the brim, with egg-n0g, was
placed on the office bar for the comfort
and cheer of all who chose to paftake.
There were not a few who drank deep :
| ly, and some were so overcome that
| they required assistance to reach their
| rooms. At early morning o n Christmas
the hapless inmates of the hotel were
aroused by the cry of fire. There was
barely time for the awakened to escape
| leaving all behind but those who, stu
ps6ed with the orgies of the night, lay
! iunconcious and helpless, the flames
made speedy and unresisting victims.
There We're three who had been
helped to their rooms but a short hour
/ before the fire was discoyeredi one OF
them was so helpless that ewas carried
by four men. The cry of fire awakened
| the one most sober of the. three; ! and
] startled into partial sObriety, he made
| his way through the flames and smoke,
leaving his drunken fellows in the same
room slumbering in their drunkenness.
! The cool air revived his recollection OF
| his helpless comrades; and, begging
some one to go with him, with the un-
| balanced Judgment of q drunken man,
he rushed into the fire and fame, and