The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-05-09

One takes o sad kind of interest in the
tragedies which are being daily enacted in and
near such city as this. Every twenty-four
hours furnish material for q novel of the most
exciting order Incidents are recorded in the
columns of every newspaper which, if
properly grouped into literary composition,
would convince almost any reader that the
imagination Of the writer had run riot. The
New York life of which history takes note is
enacted on the fashionable avenues and in the
great mercantile exchanges. But far below
this is another world, one of poverty and
guilt, of temptation and remorse, like the
mud at the bottom of the clear tide, where
evils of every shape crawl and where untold
crimes find a lurking place. Into this world
the majority of ministers and philanthropists
never peep, but from contact with it they
shrink with natural dread.
The inspiration of these dangerous classes
is rum Bad liquor is the chief source Of
courage to the criminal. He drinks when he
is concoctipg his schemes, and he drinks his
stirrup cup when he sets out on his midnight
expedition. While sober there are certain
his veins he Is like wild beast of the forest,
reckless Of his own life and careless of the
lives Of others. What New York might be-
come if the gin mills of the city we're to be
consumed by the blazing indignation Of those
who have lost and more than lost dear ones
in this way, it might not be easy to say. No
one can doubt, however, who has watched the
progress Of crime and looked into its causes,
that if such an abolition could be effected the
moral mercury would indicate higher tenn
perature at once Here follows the last
tragedy of drink -
Mrs. Bridget Sheridan had finished her Sun
days work, and at four o'clock was watching
her sleeping husband, when she heard knock
at the door. Almost before her invitation to
enter could be uttered one Doyle came into
the room with the unmistakable gait Of
drunkenness. Some men are happy when
they drink. The mystic stimulus steals into
the brain and unlocks every cell, letting out
all sorts Of queer conceits and brilliant sayings
and repartees. They are better company and
appear to be clearer headed when reused by q
given amount Of liquor Richard is himself,
his best self, after the dram. Other men are
sleepy when they drink A veil is drawn
over the brain, and the mind burns as dimly
as candle in an impure atmosphere, and at
last fickers and goes out. Such imbibers
quietly drop under the table, and are not
heard from until the next day. There are
still others who grow to be ugly when they
drink. Every demoniac propensity which is
kept in tolerable subsection by sobriety is let
loose by whiskey. In this latter catalogue
we must write the name Of Doyle. He stag
gered across the floor of Mrs. Sheridan's apart
ments, and, hitting his clumsy trunk against
the table, upset it with all its dishes. This
confusion worse COMPOUNDED naturally reused
the ire Of the frugal housekeeper, who opened
the door and suggested to Doyle, in language
which does not appear in evidence, the pro-
priety Of hasty leave-taking Perhaps her
voice lacked melody as she invited her guest
to stand not upon the order Of his going, but
to 60 at once.
Doyle felt that his dignity had been in
suited, and determined to avenge il. Under
the hallucination Of drink the offence magni-
fed itself to his mind and the possible conse-
quences of what he might do we're not thought
OF. The poor brute armed himself from the
arsenal Of the street with q brick and paw
ing stone and returned to Mrs. Sheridan's
household to teach her and her husband bet
ter manners. With unsteady aim he hurled
the brick, which just missed the head Of the
head Of the family He then took better aim,
and with the paving stone brought the Of
fender to the floor with fractured skull.
After that the story went on in the usual
way. A policeman took Doyle into the re-
tirement Of cell, where he will have ample
leisure to calculate the exact cost Of glass Of
whiskey Mrs. Sheridan hurried to the doc
tor, who, good Samaritan as he was seemed
perfectly willing to visit the patient, pro-
vided he could get just dollar for his
trouble, but who preferred to sit in his easy
chair and wait for more remuneratve call if
the dollar was not forthcoming. But, in spite
Of the DOCTORS refusal to attend the case until
he was compelled to, the wounded man died.
If he had died under the care Of the physician
4 il would have been in the order of nature but
10 die after the prescription Of the doctor has
been refused is o fact which invests the case
with singular interest.
All this from Sunday afternoon spree
bad whiskey the cause, and the result q
funeral, widow, two orphans and pris-
oner under indictment for murder. This.