The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1877-05-18
A TOUCHING STORY.


ginia City court on the charge Of drunken
ness. .hc was a remarkably sccdy looking
specimen, arrayed in a dirty check shirt
aud pair of loose, baggy trousers, which
were prevented from falling off by a leath.
er strap knotted about his waist. He was
shivcring and trembling from the effect of
a debauch, and hardly had the strength to
stand upright When the judge asked him
if he had anything to say, he rose up in
sort of disjointed way aud demanded ajury
trial, which was granted, and when his turn
came he advanced and began:
"Gentlcmen Of the jury, stand here to.
sasS4 -.asfsadsf 81 my own personal de-
basement than an example Of human de-
pravity, which like beacon light, should
warn you from the ragged rocks of intem-
pcrance. A man in my condition is like
rude sign post once saw in Tennessee,
which poiuted up road over which the
green grass was beginning to wave. On
the sign was the inscription, Smallpox
and the index finger of hand pointing
westward. If any Of you in travelling
along highway saw such sign as that
you would pause upon the brink of deadly
danger and turn backward. [Sensation. +
In me you behold sIch sign, and if by
looking upon me any one of you can be
turned back from destruction, shall think
that God in His infinite mercy has allowed
me to fill sphere of usefulness which shall
enable me to bear with fortitudc tho impu-
tation constantly hurled upon me by my own
conscience, that have lived in vain.
"Gentlemen of the jury, as you peruse
the pages of the old poets you will see how
the, have dcified the wine cup. They have
wreathcd it with the flowers of fancy, sur
rounded it with the halo of song, and peo-
pied its bloody depths with the creatures of
their own bright imaginations, until one
might almost believe it to be the wcllspring
ofhuman happiness, when bitter experience
tells us in very diHcrent language that it is
the fountain head of misery, the abode ofthe
demon that destroys our lives. There is
something which comes ,p in the fumes Of
the cup that fools call inspiration, but it is
!. q cunning reptile, ~hieh, crawling UP from
the dregs of the grape, enters the window
of the brain and steals away, like thief in
the night, with our reason fast in its en-
brace. There is hand in tho wine cup
which at any moment may put its felon grip
upon your throats and stransle you as a
strong man might babe. Gentlemen of
the jury, l have not long to stay. Two
mighty miners are delviug on this lode
time and death. They are daily at their
posts, working together side by side as one
eternal shaft, clearing away the rubbish OF
waste rock and pushing along the ledge
Before long shall be gathered into the
vest laboratory of death, piece of useless
porphyry, to be cast into the waste dumps
of hell ,'9nu8trvultr and Degan to sob. me
-ed br,rs and the jury moved by his forci
BILE simie, broke forth into a simultaneous
sob, in which the court, spectators and pros
ecuting attorney joined. The jury were
oblidged to find virdict of guilty, but
recommended him to the mercy of the court
He was accordingly fined IS, which the ju.
ry paid on the spot.
CUTTING Our A BOYS ToNGUE.-A few
weeks ago man presented his son, boy OF
about twelve years, to our surgeons for treat.
ment. The case was novel one, the child
being afflicted with enlargement of the
tongue. His father hailed from Williamson
county, and stated that he came to San An.
tonic to consult our surgeons, as those of
Austin, Galveston, and New Orleans, to
whom he had applied, had demanded cxor-
bitant fees. DIR. Herff informed the troubled
father that he would endcavor to cure his
son of tho excrescence, and sympathizing
with him in his trouble, and the child in his
pain, the father being poor man, he offered
to perform the operation at a most reasona.
able charge. The citizens OF Williamson
county charitably raised the means to pay
for the operation 1t was executed Wed.
nes0ay, under Dr. Herff's care, others aid
ing him. About four inches of tongue were
taken off The extreme end, which has
been preserved in alcohol, would weigh
about quarter Of pound, and about as
much more was cut off in small bits. 1t is
thick, much wider than the childs mouth
from which ii was taken, is very rough, and
resembles very much the tongue of young
calf The patient is now doing we'll, and