Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1883-06-30

ssMy Papa Diets DrunEx. .

"Wby are you barefooted, little
girl 2" said he; "haven't you any
shoes 2"
"Nol" she answered, my papa
diets drunk"
No further explanations were nee.
essary. Given, a drunken father as
premise, and we have barelooted
child as conclusion. 1t is SO every
where. AT all times and in al
places, with the drunken father we
find the neglected child. 4 mothers
love may shield, and a mothers care
protect for a while her helpless off
spring from the caiamities caused by
intemperance but as the current
sets faster and the father sinks deep
er, the days Of poverty ard misery
come slowly on, and woe to that
child whose "papa diets drunk
There is, perhaps, no cause SO
fruitful Of children's misery as this
accursed crime which fills the land
with mourning, lamentations and
woe There is no day, or hour, or
moment in the wide sweep of cen
turies that does not witness the suf-
ferings Of helpless childhood, caused
by the use Of strong drink. Hunger,
cold, rags, nakedness, want and
sdualor, haunt the drunkard's home
and aflict the drunkard's family.
Out of the novels Of drunkards,
children start on the race of life,
burdened with poverty ,burdned with
disease, burdened with evil habits,
burdened with disgrace, burdened
with sins, and nothing but miracle
of mercy can save them from plung-
ing downward into darkness and
perdition.
We have heard men talk OF the
army OF drunkards, ever recruiting,
ever marching on, ever melting away
over the edge of the precipice which
borders the gulf of despair We
have beheld the bloodshot eyes and
haggard countenances, Wretched-
ness, the brutality and the misery
that attend the drunkard's lot; but
who has ever tried to picture, or de-
scribe, or imagine the unutterable
woes that haunt the drunkard's lit
tie ones
Suppose we summon them before
us suppose we try by the power OF
Imagination to conjure up the thous-
ands and millions of little ones
whose lives are blighted by the de-
mon of strong drink. Deprived of
the pleasures and enjoyments of
childhood, robbed of the nurture
that is their right, condemned to
loathsome habitations, crammed in
to garrets, and cellars, and tumble
down rookeries, exposed to disease,
fed with insufficient and unhealthy
food, their wasted forms, their pinch
ed and haggard features, their suf-
ferings under curses, blows and in
describable cruelties-all these
things, could we see them, would
awake US to sweep from the earth,
as with the bosom of destruction,
the deadly evil which causes all their
woes.
But while this tide of misery rolls
on, the rumseller grows rich by his
traffic the politician trims his course
to win the dramseller's influence and
the rumdrinker's votes and priest
and the Levite TOO often pass by on
the other side, leaving helpless in
fancy stripped and wounded in its
anguish and despair.
But though man may be indiffer-
emit, there is One on high whose ten
der mercies are over all his works.
He watches the sparrow's fall He
numbers the very hairs of our heads,
and the convulsive sob or wailing of
the feeblest child has power to pierce
the very heavens. And though the
sword of wrath seems to sleep with
in its scabbard, yet the woe and
curse of God pursue the men who
engage in this terrible work and
will pursue them to the end.
Meanwhile the plying Christ looks
down upon lost world; and he
who took little children in his arms,
and put his hands on them and bless
ed them, is not forgetful of the needs
of these suffering, sorrowing ones.
n - j L.