The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1877-05-11

were one after anOther drawn out, TIL
the once proud, ship riding upon the
wave, was disjointed wreck-the sub
tile influences ofintemperance draw out
one after another, the strong principle
that constitute man and leave the once
proudi mage of his God moral and phys
lcal wreck, unstable and untrusted.
Edgar A Poe,one of the finest poetical
and immaginative minds that ever
graced American literature, was a sor-
rowful example of this. He endeavored,
time and again to reform. His last
effort extended over the space of two
years he thought himself safe, but in
an ungarded moment, through the i'm
portunities of supposed friends, real
enemies, he yielded, drank to brutal
intoxication, brain fever resulted, and
in three days,he was filing drunkards
grave. Do you say his efforts a re-
formation were not earnest; | cannot
lagree with you, he was undodbasdly
sincere, but had not the power to resist.
1t is the strong, magnetic influence of
intemperance that draws the bolts of
resistance out of mans nature, and
leaves him powerless to withstand temp
tation. Coleridge, the great English
philosopher, recognized this principle in
his own case, and placed himself under
the restraint of the keeper of a private
mad house, for the cure of opium eating,
an other form OF intemperance.
The approach of intemperance is in
sidious; it comes in the guize ofa friend
as panacea for all the ills to which hu-
manity is heir. Il will protect thee
from the rays of.the tropic sqp;" Il will
shield thee from the regions of the frozen
zone" by mine own inherent power
| will protect thee from the noxious
influences Of the drenching rain" "1f
thou art cold, i will warm thee; ifthou art
warm, i will be thy cooling beverage" Oh
what a friendl' what counsellor :
But, alasl how tied a friendship to
many. The friendship of the famous
serpent, for the bird upon which he
preys. Or not unlike the friendship of
that olden serpent in the garden of
Eden, which said to Mother Eve, -eat
and thou shalt not, surely die How
fatal mistake to our poor parents, but
not more fatal than the mistake made
by the young man who indulges his
occasional cup persuading himselfthere
is no danger remember, at last 1T biteth
like serpent and stingeth like an ad-
der" Intemperance hints its victims
morally, making good men bad, bad men
worse, wives widows and children
orphans; filling our prisons with Grim.
mails, orr poor houses with paupers, and
hell with the damned; robbing, in many
instances, the pulpit, the bar, and our
Legislative halls oftheir brightest jewels.
When an agent is abroad in our land
capable ofso great injury to individuals,
societies, and nations, it is the duty of
every good man and woman to do every
thing in their power to arrest it's pro-
gress. / for one confess have but little
hope of reforming the confirmed drunk
ard; the morbid appetite for strong
drink when once formed, is very diff
cult to over come; but there are
those whom we may save; they
are the young of our country; my
heart goes out for them, and 1 feel like
pledging myself anew to do everything
in my power to save the young from in
temperate lives. But how shall we save
them? The answer is easy; help now;
help in time. A few years ago a youth
might have been seen leisurly floating in
a small boat on the Niagara river, some
distance above the falls. The force of
the current was gradually carrying the
boat en-. Men stood upon the shore
looking on. They apprehended no dam
ger; few Strokes of the oar would send
The frail boat to the shore. But the
force of the current, unresisted, carries
the boat with its human freight on. The
youth reasons, there is no danger; can
not at the approach of danger retrace
my steps; the boat rushes on, he is near
ing the rapids. Alarmed friends on the
shore now shout the approaching danger
in his ears; but he heeds it not The
of his friends irritates him.
aAm l not able to take care Of myseli?'
His bark now enters the rapids; he
awakes from his lethargy; fear takes the
place cf unconcern; he endeavors to
change the course of his boat; friends
encourage him to pull hard for the shore.
The emotions of hope and despair are
depicted on the countenances
of the lockers on, as now seemingly he
successfully resists the force of the cur
rent for a moment; and now yields to
its overpowering force. Friends hope
against hope and the youth labors against
fate, now gaining and now losing
ground. 1t is becoming painfully appar-
ent to all that the youths strength is fast
failing, the rapids are carrying him fas-
ter and faster; and he is powerl' IS to re-
sist. He is nearing the falls; in a mo-
ment all is over; and the youth plunges
into the foaming abyss.
Are not some of our neighbors and
friends in as imminent danger as the
youth whose sad fate We have just been
And are not we who
profess to be temperance men looking
on? Should we not avail our
selves Of every opportunity of warning
the youngiof the danger of an intemper-
ate life? Fathers should remember that
the further up the stream they lend their
counsel and advise to their boys, the
more potent will be their influence for
good.
After they have entered the rapids of
habitual intemperance, the chances are
that your efforts and theirs, to save them,
will be futile.
At Monroeville on Tuesday morn
ing, May 1st, the hotel at the depot took
ire, and at one time the fine depot of
the L S railroad was in great danger.
Part of the hotel had to be blown down
in order to save the depot. The build