Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-09-28
TEMPERANCE,

Drunkenness is spreading % laueh in
Germany thai q new measure lpf lls pun
islinent aud prevention Ia being pfepar'
ell, for presentation 10 the lmperlal Far
lament
"iiapii Transit iagef'liiel" il the sign
over q saloon IN New York city, We
know Oi nothing more appropriate, u
affords q quick passage FROM wealth 10
poverty, respeetabiliiy 10 disgrace, health
10 blOated bodies, and from this world
to the world Of woe,
On sunday morning tie body Of q
negro man, Amos Hampton Wy name,
was found dead by the roadside, some
twelve miles below Albany, The color
ed coroner Oi the county held an inquest,
and all that was developed was that the
negro. who was IN good health, ETC., had
called In tho afternoon at u crossroads
grocery aud got drink 0i whisky
That appears 10 have fixed him' lie
took that drink aud quickly went on 10
die, The verdict was IN accordance
with the facts tiempid food IemIln.
In Philadelphia, IN q respectable
neIghbOIhood, there N block 0i four
teen houses IN these houses there are
eleven families that use intoxicating
LIQUORS IN beverage, There are four
teen men aud eleven women who indulge,
Five families have been 80 reduced hy
III use that they are hardly able to ob'
tain tho necessaries 0i life, There Nrc
two taycrns In the block, aud ono on
each corner opposite each end Of the
block. One man has spent fair fortune
In this indulgence, II has nearly cost
tho lives OF three mon and two women,
Two Of tho men when under the iniln'
ence, are wiie.beatora, ono wife II not
able to live with her husband on account
OF hia uso OF liquor This monster,
more deadly than the poison OF malaria.
~ licensed and upheld by the state, aud
by tho majority Of tho people, "iiow
long, o, Lord, how long u Preshg'
terim,
Often and often, while riding through
the county, We have passed farms whose
history wc could read at glance. The
door.yard fence had disappeared -
burnt up In the shiitlessncss born OF
drink. The house was unpainted and
battered broken panos Of glass We're
stopped with rags or old hats; the
chimney stood in q tottering attitude ;
tho doors swung in crcaking fashion
on the hinges the stops wcro unsteady,
like their owners; everything was di'
lapidated, dccaying, untidy, cheorleas
A single look showed that its owner
traded too much at one shop--'hc rum
shop. Tho spirit OF thrift had been
killed by tho spirit OF the still Fresh
paint, improvements, good cheer and
beauty for tho home-all had gone
down the farmers throat, Outside
matters were the same. The barn'yards
were wrecked stycs the doors were OIL,
the roofs leaky, the gates down, the
carts crazy, tho tools broken, the fodder
scarce, and the stock poor and wrecked.
Neglect, cruelty, wasteiulness, ruin all
had come from drink. The farm show
ed the trail Of the same serpent. The
struggling and tumbled stone walls, the
rickety fences, tho wced.grown fields,
the sparse and half.headed crops, the
dying orchard. all said to the passer-
by "Whisky did it." Drink had given
the plaster OF mortgage, instead OF q
coating of fertilizers, sloth instead of
labor, unthrift in the place of care, and
decentralization in lieu of system. The
farm was drink.blighted, and advertised
its condition as plainly as its owner did
when he came reeling home from town.
One OF the most impressive temperance
lectures, for young farmers especially,
is good look at a drunkard's farm. -
Erchmge