The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1871-12-23


the other side of .Jerico!" ne mutt
tered, a> soon rs he was fairly beyond
the sphere of its dangerous attrac-
tions: :. or that didn't have to pass
it three or four times every day. Ii
old killigrew lays hold of me after
this fashion. I'm afraid my gooa re>o-
lutions are not going to be worth
much. . dear, | wonder what good
ever comes Of this r,lm-selling and
n.m-drinking As to tie harm, one
needn't go far to look for that"
Musing thus. Pratt went Oh his way.
vt dinner time, both in coming home
aud returning to the store. he succeed
ed in getting past old killigrew's 5
..,nail-trap'' without being hailed by
! the watclltiil landlord. But his good
| resolutions were not proof against the
| influences that assailed him i'll the
evening. Later than usual he lingrr-
| eel at the store, in order to avoid. by
! So>doin-. the company OF one cor two
I yollN1 men who always stopped to
| drink at killi9rew'S. He thought lie
had escaped them but it was not so.
! They were i'm the tavern porch Us he
came along, and having taken their
clle from the landlord, who WAS keen
| sighted enough to see what had been
passing in the mind OF Pratt. and
feared to lose Il customer. aSSailed him
with influences that he had not
| strength of mind to resist. just to
satisfy them. rs he said. he consent
cd to otlrink Il single glass. But that
did not satisfy either them CT the tav-
| erai-keeper. A second glass WAS al
| most forced upon bim; then follow
ed third, which. purposeiy made
,1x1f, In
overthrow of hi; reason.
Could those tlioiIgli,leSs Young men
have seen the a-.,cn. agoniziEg face OF
the waiting. anxious wife. when her
hu sband came staggering in that even
ing. they would not have boa>tcd SO
@ieetullv OF having ''sent Pratt home
as merry as fiddler
From that time the weak Young man
stopped almost daily ut the tavern to
drink. The temptation was in his way,
he had rot s,iificiels strength of p,r-
pose to resist its allurements. This
was continued for months, mitii under
the gentle, yet often fearful soiicita-
tions of his wife, lie again resolved TO
stand up firmly against the pressure
OF Il current that was too steadily
bearing him onward to the sea of des-
trtction. And he did stand mp firmly
for Il time. But. in this contest. the
odds were against him. Old KILL
grew saw the struggle that was going
on in his mind. and took Il wicked
pleasure. apart from his love of gain,
in assiiling the young mans good
resolutions on every occasion that was
presented. Sometimes. after allur-
ing him into his bar either through
personal influences, or by means OF
gay young men who fieuuented his
house, kiliigrew could not induce him
to take anything but glass of water.
Oftener, however, he gained his pur-
pose more fully. and ma.ltienetl the
young mans brain with his fiery po-
tsttiotl<
And so the work went on. There
was pltf:lll in Pratt's way, and ever
and anon lie stumbled therein. All.
if the pitf:lli could only have been re-
moved. 1t served to no use whatever;
gave nothing to the common good;
was constant source of annoyance,
injury, and loss to tire people. of Ash
dale. 1t had been diggetl by KILL
grew, and was always kept deep and
dangerous by him, in order that he
might profit by the weakness and In
jurics of those who weakly or unwari-
ly stumbled over the half-concealed
brink.
:. Why did not the people of Ash
dale cause the pittali to be closed up ?
Why did they not remove this man
trap?" is asked in a tone of surprise.
They had no power to do 80, we
answer.
No power
You may look surprised, but it is
even as we say. Killigrew had the
law on his side.
The law.-
Yes. for all you seem so incretlulous.
The law of the State in which Ash
dale was situated, provided. by spe-
ci;ii enactment, for the digging of just
such lIian-trtps as the one maintained
by killigreay. And any person. not
having the love of man nor the fear of
God before his eyes. could, by the
payment of Il few dollars into the
State treasury, obtain the right to
make for himself such pitfill In any
highway or street. in any village,
town, or city in the Commonwealth.
s'PrepOsterous!
Witness the crowded jaiIs. almshouses
ami insane asyluns witness the crime,
destitntion and squalid misery that
rests like black clouds over all parts of
that State where population clusters
thickly-and those licensed inal,-traps
are to be found by the score in every
neighborhood. 1t is true, alas. too
sadly true!
But for this pitf;tll in his way all
might have beer, well with Pratt but
his feet were ever stumbling OH its
fatal brink. Steadily. for nearly ten
years, lad he been going down, down,
down and at the period when he
came home sober for the first time
i'm many months. and announced to
his wife the death of killigrew, he
WAS almost helplessly i'll the power Of
WAS Wis ,e , ta Ait manly strength
fore him. 1t was in vain that he went
ont in the morning strong in his pur-
pose to keep sober through the day;
the sight of Killigrew's tavern fired
his appetite to n degree that left him
no power of resistance. 1t was i'll
vain that he started honewarl in the
evening. promising himself that he
would meet his wife and children with
-