Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-10-30
NO. 257.
MisreIIans0uS.
THE DRUNKARD.MAKER'S EXHIBIT 4.

1t is somewhat remarkable that in all the great
Industrial Exhibitions OF these days, one branch
business, second to hardly any other in CONNER
cAi, financial, and social Importance, is largely
unrepl eSented. In the great Exposition, ~ Phil
aoephia, as IN other international exhibitions, the
mechanic, artizsn, engineer, builder, naval con-
structor, the farmer, the teacher, the publisher.
the machlnest, the inventor, all have Combined to
bring the choicest and most characteristic products
OF their skill the ripe fruit of their physical and
intellectual labor; and the congregafed trophies
OF their toll are exposed as grand index 10 hs-
man progress. as an open book in which the ad-
vaneement of nations can be clearly read. But
one branch Of industry. employing immense capi-
tai, and an army of laborers which is carried on
in the most splendid streets, and in the lowest
slnms OF the crowded city; which extends its ram
ihcaions to frontier settlements and to obscure
corners and crossroads in the interior; . business
which Is the subject Of the gravest comment and
OF the warmest defence; o business which selects
the choices. buildings on the most eligible sites,
and which haunts itself in gilt and glitter in the
eyes of all the passeis by the multnudes engag-
ed in this business with all their capital and wealth
have contributed no specimens of their completed
work to the great national expositions Of the
age.
In the Centennial Exposition at Philsde,phis
a large building devoted to the interests Of
the brewer, illustrates the process of turning
wholesome grain into stimulating beverage; and
magnificent exhibits Of large quantities of wine
and strong drink have formed 0 part Of al the
great exhibitions. But nothing has been shown
which illustrates the pI ocess of changing . human
being, under the potent influence OF intoxicating
liquor, from his h althful and normal condition of
intelligence and usefulness, to the wreck which he
becomes by indulgence in intoxicating beverages.
"What do they make drunkards Off" said the
writer to company Of little children in the Lit
tie Wanderers Home"
"Rum, brandy, '-"Wine, ,"-'Cider," were
among the answers which were received. In re-
ply the children were told that these were The
means by which drunkards were made, but what
they were made from was an entirely different
thing, and at length the thought dawned upon
their minds that poor, vile, wretched, losthsome
drunkards, were made of little boys and girls.
The raw material on which the drunksrdmaker
expends his fatal ingenuity comes from the cradle,
from the I'll eside, from the home where peace, and
love, and concord dwell. That little babe nest
ling in your bosom; that child that fings his
chubby arms around your neck those bfight-cyed
black-eyed, blue-eyed boys and girls, Who gather
around you and shed the sunshine of their Joy in
your path those children for whom you toll early
and late, and whose smiles ere an ample reward
for all your labor; those babes, the fruit Of the
tenderest love, brought forth as the pledges Of
mutual Affection and the strongest bonds Of social
life; these constitute the "raw material from
which the drunkard maker selects his victims.
Those Young men, fresh with their manhood's
those young women, full of grace and life ana
beauty, these are the materials that are consumed
in this manufacture. f..
The places where this work is carried ON are
numerous and various. From the gided saloon,
at the door Of which the portly landlord stapds,
saying: walk iu, gentlemen, walk in. and make
yourselves at home;' down to the lowest dens Of
shame and infamy, where riot, robbery, and viii
lany hold carnival; through all these varied cir
cumstances and scenes. the processes Of this msn-
tsx.t.a H..
the steps of the fashionable drinking saloon OF the
first hotel, gentemanly, sober, intelligent
and honorable. Fair ladies smile upon them, and
all is respectabty and courtesy; but after COM
psrstively brief period, a. the process Of manu-
iacture advances, health gives place to sickness,
respectability to dishonor wealth and position to
poverty and disgrace, until at last rude, intem-
perate, boisterous, and penniless, the victim 10
kicked from the steps Of low groggery. and
driven away from the haunts and fellowship even
OF those who Themselves ere unfit companions for
decent men. The process still goes on. Lower
and lower sinks the wretchcd slave Of appetite and
passion; the vilest associations and the viest
haunts are his hope dies within his heart: friends
forsake him; wife and children plunge down in
the darkness of the grave, or abandon the wretch
ed drunkard to his fate; and so, dragging his
weary way along, at last he comes where demons
haunt and helish fancies ill his brain, where SER
pent forms are twinDg in his hair, and where be
who once stood noble and upright in the image of
his Maker, lies senseess as log, or raves in fury
like a madman. and hastens hesdlong to his doom.
Surely the drr nkard-maker might give Us an
exhibit of few of the choicest products Of his
toll. There is no lack of them drunken, bruised
bloated blear eyed and hslf-crszed victims are on
every hand. Within sight of the splendid struc-
lures where the worlds industry is represented,
prisons and almshouses stand which could Weld
their quota of thousands of drunkards, and rob-
bers and murderers: of debsuched. diseased and
ruined men and women out Of whom the man
hood and womsnhood has died,-poor wrecks
scattered on every hand as the fruits Of this in.
fernal toll
viii the drunkard- maker sho,c us his work
Will he bring US the raw material, bright and
beautiful, sunny faced aud throbbing and thrilling
with life, and JOY, and gladnesss ? Will he show
US the half finished specimens of his work Will
he show US in the hospital, the prison, the mad.
house; in the desolate homes of ruined families,
and in the drunkafd's graves the crowd the potters
field; specimens of his comp leted work. His
business is said to be legitimate; it is transacted
for the public good; it claims privileges which no
other business asks or receives; it commences
earlier in the morning and continues later at night
than any other business seven days in Q week are
not thought too many Tor the prosecution of this
work; now who VIII teve the kindness To stand
up and exhibit its resultsi
Who will gatRe, hospitals, and prisons,
and drunkard's graves and the gates Of hell. men
that have gone down beneath this bsleful power
Who will bring those men whose genius has been
quenched in drink, whose noble ambitions have
sunk into degraded aud abhorent sensuality
Who will show US husbands red with blood from
the murder of their wives, and children slsugh-
tered by their parents hands Will the drunkard
makers prepare their exhibit Are they afraid to
look their work in the facet Let them remember
then that they are sowing seed for time to come,
and that Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also resp;" and let them inquire in solemn ear.
nest, what shall the harvest be
"Sowing the seed of lingering pain.
Sowing the seed of maddened brain,
Sowing the seed of q tarnished name,
Sowing the seed of eternal shame:
Oh, what shall the harvest bel
Oh what shall the harvest be-
Sown in the darkness and sown In the light,
Sown in our weakness or sown in our might,
Gathered in time or eternity.