Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1878-03-11
COLD WATER FOR r,RE.BALL.
Editors Press d Dakotuiian


hood TO sanction drunkenness. His argu.
ments in effect and substance amount to as
much. He regards alcohol as necessary to
the success of the patiently abused man Of
business" He refers to the dim ages of an.
tiquty, to prove that wine was king then.
tie travels to the vineyards of France, Spain
and Italy; lounges into the beer.gardens of
Germany, and breathes in the sweetest
pleasures Of Johnny Bulls life -Euglish ale
houses
People in wine countries drink wine, and
people 10 beer countries drink beer to a
greater or less extent, but such facts are not
arguments in favor of intemperance. Citi.
zens Of Michigan and other apple countries
drink great deal of cider. Wine, beer aud
cider are mild ttimulants. ~ become in
toxicated on such beverages, involves a
drowning process, which, in few years,
developes stomach and abdomen distcnded
to the capacity and proportions of a forty.
gallon beer vat. Murphy, the reformed
drunkard, says ie man must drink, let him
use the mild stimulants, wine and beer.
The drowning ordeal is preferable to the
greater ordeal OF being internally burnt out
by the "doublc-listilled essence OF damua.
tion," as Lorenzo Dow termed whisky.
What constitutes nine-tenths Of the whisky
sold in the United States to-day: The an.
swer is: cursed, yea thrice-cursed adultera.
| tjOnS nnjSOpous concoc,;onc or,3 hon h...,,
bubbling out from the illicit distillery of
the devil, l, is "lhe pestilcucc that walk
eth in darkness and wasteth at MONDAY"
1t is true that this nineteenth century is
far in advance of all the ages that have pre-
ceded it, not only in the arts and sciences,
but in religious civilization. Because now
and then Temperance advocate declares
that this is an age Of drunkenness, that as
ser,ion proves nothing. No issue is taken
with Firc-Ball on this point. Men are be.
coming wiser, and with all the accumulated
experience Of the never returning past be-
fore them, are stunning the poisons and
avoiding the mistakes of that past. The
temperance question is receiving more at
:enton at the present time than it has ever
received. The spirit Of Father Mathew lives
and labors in this generation.
"Fire-B Bali dcsignates the so.called tenn.
perance movement as fr,ghtful moral
plague, full Of deep and deadly DANGER
morally aud financially, to the people of any
community who encouragei,''. His distor-
ted Imagination sees in IT very centipede
or devil fish, with its myriad arms reaching
out for victims. He sees in it stagna,ion of
business, ruined hotels and deserted streets.
The honest yeomanry of the land would
turn pale, droop, sicken and die if denied
''the sweetest pleasure Of their lives" How
they delight 10 lie beneath the bung hole of
s whisky barrel, with rye straw inserted
therein, through which the liquor gurgles
anG percolates down their thirsty throats,
until visions of Utopia float through their
wilderipg imaginations
Now, let US reason together as Paul
said. If the wheat, corr and oat crops fail
in this land for two or three years, financial
distress, destitation, poverty and misery
must necessarily cnsue. This community
is an agricultural community, subsisting
upon the fruits Of the ealtb, and using them
in exchange for other necessary commodi.
ties manufactured elsewhere. Picture for
one moment another calamity(:) Suppose
no alcohol could be shipped into Yankton
for one year, what fearful dcsoation must
ensue rs contemplated by "Fire BALI! In
that case, would men in the delrium OF
drink Undue their hands with blood !?
Would pale checks be moistsned with tears
of bitterness and woe, because there was no
alcohol to stupefy and brutalize husband,
son or brothers Would starving chilSren
clothed in rags, shrink from sight because
their father vas drunkard? Would our
jails be filled with criminals, and paupers
be found blocking up our streets: Would
our merchants claim that their customers
could not pay for goods, because they spent
so much money every Sunday in saloons ?
Would the building Of churches and school
houses cease? This Is the sou!-harrowing
spectacle presented as Fire Ball" lifts the
curtain, and discloses the awful scene of =
community as free from the demon Of rum
Is the Elysiau fields of Paradise. Is his
position we'll taken? Is it in accordance
with reasons Is it not Cooking through
glass darkly"-using the ssloon keepers
spectacles! II financial prosperity is to be
purchased at the price Of lost souls, blight
Cd hopes, ruined homes, besotled wrecks
and scalding tears, then welcome be the ad.
versl.y that comes in the absence Of such
price. II men must live 10 the rum and
death Of others, then let them dig hoaora.
bic graves, and die like men with clean
hands, and souls uns,aincd with damning
blots.
A wiser man than "Firc.Ball' has ex.
! pressed hi. views Of drunkenness and these
views can be found In the twenty third
chapter Of the proverbs Of solomon.
quote these lines:
Look Dot thou upon the wine when |, 70
rcd VhAn II Riycth liz Cs,lar in the cur