Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-02-20
THE HISTORY OF A BOTTLE.
BY CLEMENT CARPENTER.

haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books Il running
brooks,
Sermons il stones. and good il everything. "
Six O'Clock on summer afternoon,
IN great city; bells ringing in the
churches. whistles sounding IN the
factories, and the sidewalks echoing
the tramp of the hOmeward and the
weary; alittle marrow street crammed
with old houses. many OF them built Of
wood before fire ordinances, bolstered
and patched in every way Imaginable,
many doorless. windoWleSs, regular old
ScarecroWS, and monuments to the IA
pacity Of landlords; still, at the same
time, affording some comfort to the
hundreds of humans Swarming them
from cellar to garnet.
The steep, Slanting roof OF one Of
the most miserable Of these teDementS
hides from the heavens q room that,
for barrennesS and poverty, would al
most battle description. ThesUn shines
through the broken panes OF one lit
tie dOrmer window, bringing into
plain relief every corner and Granny:
the furniture. if this place ever had
any, has disappeared long since, saving
a table, az old chair, pine cupboard
and q filthy mattress thrown on the
floor in corner; the walls exhibit
their plaster through the cracks in the
dirty green paper which covers them;
on the floor are q few scraps OF carpet
ing. some fragments of wood, and two
or three pieces Of broken earthen ware !;
not a tool, not a useful thing is III
sight all is naked and desolate.
A young man Of about thirty years
of age is sitting III an old chair, his
elbows resting on the table, his hands
supporting his bowed head; to all APP
pearances he is in deep thought; sud-
denly he rises from his seat, walks
rapidly to the cupboard IL the corner,
opens the door, and disCIoses TO view
low of white pine shelves covered
with dust; falling on his knees, he
places his left hand upon the dirty
floor, and put his right far into the
recesses Of the cupboard there is a
slight puff of dust, rustic Of crisp old
paper, then he slowly rises to his feet,
with a dark-colOred bottle in his hand,
which he holds up moment and then
carefully deposits upon the table. AS
he stands by the table, in the fading
light, we notice that he is quite tall
and slender: we also notice fore
head scanned with untimely wrinkles,
and features Scared by disease and
relaxed by passion.
He wakes from one end to the
other Of the lite room with slow and
regular steps. his hands in his pockets,
his eyes fixed upon the floor; piece
of looking glass glistening in the sun
light attracts his attention; he per-
ceiVeS in it Il pale face, q narrow,
bony nose, thin lips, on which a slight
smile is visible; with one blow of his
heel he crusheS this important witness
into q thousand fragments, then seats
himself again by the table and looks
long and steadily at the bottle; this is
of black glass. with a narrow neck and
and large body the spiders have woven
a sort Of gray envelope about it in
different places; the cork, much larger
than the neck, is fastened to it by
q kind of mechanism; the color Of the
contents is hidden under a thick coat
ing of dust. He takes up the bottle
again with grave air, raises it to the
height Of his eyes, and holds it be-
tween himself and the light; he passes
his hand slowly back and forth
along its neck in a caressing way the
cool sensation of the glass upon his
skin seems to please him; suddenly
the blood mounts to his cheeks, and
he passes his tongue rapidly back
and forth along the edge of his dry
lips with a motion almost cat like in
quickness; the demon Desire is already
moving in him, and, like an old gour-
mand, he is allowing himself to pass
through all the refnements of expect
alton before plunging into the real
tiles.
Night is coming on, and objects
everywhere begin to take on the gray
and vague tint of twilight; he takes
from his pocket.a piece Of candle--very
little and yelloW-which is lighted and
placed in the center of the table; the
fame crackles, hesitates an instant,
and finally throws out q trembling
light, which causes grotesque figures
to dance upon the wall. The bottle
is taken again in both his hands, and
the cork drawn and placed upon the
otSC VI UllC lttU4C, ILOL1 IL Idllo,
rolling softly along the floor; he
places the mouth of the bottle to his
nostrils, inhaling with evident delight
the strong and penetrating odor which
it exhales; it is but step to the cup
board, the door of which yet remains
open; from it he takes little glass,
which in placing on the table rings
out pure and crystal note, then care
fully, tenderly, the bottle is inclined
and pours forth a red and sparkling
stream; the glass is then carried
tremblingly to his lips, with all the
apparent emotion of a lover taking his
first kiss. Immediately, instantly, the
face of the drinker changes, and be-
comes OF a purplish hue; the hand is
carried instinctively to the breast, as
if to contain the feeling of extreme
warmth, which is always the sensation
of the first drink with the old drinkers.
Soon this feeling extends throughout