The free citizen. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-11-06
THE SADDESr OF ALL.
Waste That Would Ilnve Driven an Epi.
Mad.

| Waste That Would Have Driven ,,n Epi
| cure Mad.
| = St Louis Republican.
| Once III while something happens il
the world, SO far removed from the natural
proper order of things, SO thoroughly and
awtully abnormal i'll it's quality, SO com,
| pletcly prcposterous i'll its consequences
| that the average man can almost weep from
sheer wrath at an evinccd disregard of the
eternal properties. They may weep over
| this statement of an actual fact:
In lS53'a gentleman, whose name need
not be. given, closed up a profitable drug
business, and retired upon deserved com
potency. a taste for the good things OF
| the world had Unsuccessful business man,
and when he retired he selected from his
stock of liquors a supply of the best, for
private consumption. Rare Bourbon twen-
tyyears old, was carefully bestowed in bot
tlcsand dccanters; smooth, oily brandy was
| similarly put aside; rich port and brown
/ sherry and precious cordials were pre-
| served with equal care, and when he final
| ly went out of business, the gentleman re-
tcrrcd to had in his possession Il rare lot
of liquors contained in aSvariety of
bottles, dccantcrs, jugs and other rccep-
tacles.
Then came Il sudden death, and the
business mans possessions decended to
his kinsiOlk. The bottled liquors went
to Il near relative whose family were not
in the habit of looking upon the wine
when red or any other color, or of con-
suming liquor in any form. The bottles
and dccanters and jugs were put away, as
so much rubbish, in the garrct, and left
undisturbcd.
There in the lonely garrct, the liquors
stayed, and the years passed by. The
Bourbon grew richer, the brandy oilicr,
the wines more nutty, the cordials more
like the very elixir of life. The ocean
cable became fact, Germany took Il
slice Of France and her milliards, Stan
ley found Livingstone, and other great
things happened, and still, by days and
weeks, and months and years, in bottles
and decanters and jugs, hidden away,
half forgotten, in the dusty garret, the
rich Bourbon grew richer, the oily handy
oilier, the nuttys wines more nutty, the
precious cordial more like the elixir of
life. Time, the great distillcr was doing
his best.
Time still passes, as time always does
and in the household where the liquors
were, the thrifty housewife and her assist
amt daughters kept all things neat and
oi','is alSls iuIDisliSu Wcll-pIoFlueu
table. They do so still. 1t has always
in autumn large supply of pickles and
and while ago they began the usual
work. They had accomplished much,
when at n certain stage with great deal
of fruit on their hands, they found them
selves without bottles to hold the various
essences and extracts and other sloppy
necessaries for the work. Some one spoke
up.
"Thcrc are Il lot of old bottles and iu
with nasty liquors in them up in tn
garrett"
The suggestion was enough; the ukasc
was issued by the good mother, and one
w;ls sent to take all the bottles and jugs
in the garrct and prepare them for use.
They were all brought down and the con
tents cmpticd on the ground in the back
yard, that the vessels might be used for
household purposes!
The English language is 4 very good
language for some purposes, but then,
you know, it is totally inadequate for the
PURPOSE just here.
The thirsty earth drank up the precious
liquor and gave no sign, but had it lips
it would have smacked them; had it eyes
it would have rolled them. The greedy
earth took all, the rich Bourbon, the oily
brandy, the nutty wines, the exquisite
cordials! What an aroma, fit to tickle
the nostrils of gods upon Olympus, must
have arisen What delicious agony of
cXhalation? The sweet inaudible wall of
a lost spirit! Comprehend it if you can
Bourbon forty-three years old, other nee
tar as priceless, all cast away as common
stuff fit not even for beasts that perish
and no earthquake, no lightning from
the sky, no convulsions of nature to pun
ish the thing. "Think of it, drink of it
(no, you can't drink of it, because its
gomez, dissolutc manw Was ever such
an outrage before?
This is no mere sketch from the imagin-
alton, this is a simple statement of hor-
rible fact. Is its knowledge not enough
to make the man with organs of taste and
smell q temporary maniac, enough to
make him want to go and dash his head
against pillar Of iron? Oh, ghost Of old
| Silenus!
Newest Fashion Freaks.
| "A BOitellse {the cripple1 is the name