The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-08-30
Drinking a Tear.

Drinking a Tear.
"Boys, | won't drink without you
take what l do,' SAID old Josh Spillit,
in reply to an invitation. He was
topper of long standing and abundant
capacity, and the boys looked at him in
astonishment.
The idea, ''one of them replied, "that
you should prescribe conditions is laugh
able. Perhaps you want to force one OF
your abominable mixtures on us. You
are chief of the mixed drinkers, and l
won't agree to your conditions.
He wants to run us in on castor-oil
and brandy" said the Judge, who would
willingly have taken the oil to get the
brandy.
mo, I'm square, replied Spillit.
''Take my drink and I'm with you.
The boys agreed and stood along the
bar. Every one turned to Spillit, and
regarded him with interest.
''Mr. Bartender" said Spillit, ''give
me a glass of water"
What! water!" the boys exclaimed.
"Yes, water. It's a new drink ON
me, admit, and 1 expect it's a scarce
article. Lemme tell you how came to
take it. Several days ago, as passel
of us went fishing, we took fine chance
of whisky along, an had heap of fun.
Long toward evenin' l got powerful
drunk, an crawled under tree an
went to sleep. The boys drank up all
the whisky an came back to town.
They thought it good joke cause
they d left me out thar drunk, an told
it around town with a mighty buster.
NV son got hold of the report an told
it at home. Well, l laid under that tree
all night an when woke in the morn
in thar sot my wife right thar by me.
She didn't say word when woke up.
but she sorter turned her head away. J.
got up and looked at her. She still
didn't say nothin', but could see that
she was chokin'.
II wish I had suthin to drink" SIS ].
"Then she tuck cup what she fotch
with her, and went down to whar a
spring billed up, an dipped up cupf,l
an fotch it to me. Jes as she was
handin' it ter me she leaned over ter
hide her eyes, and seed a tear drap in
the water. tuck the cup an drunk
the water and the tear, an raisin' my
hands vowed that would never after
drink my wife's tears agin; that had
been drinkin' them for the last twenty
years, an that was goin to stop. You
boys know who it was that left me
drunk. You was all in the gang. Give
me another glass of water, Mr.. Bar
tender. ."-Arkansaao Traveller.
The CoRN's VoICE.-"What, fellow
citizens" asked Senator Voorhees,, of
Indiana, addressing a mass-meeting,
Twill you do with your large crops of
corn, If Prohibition should become the
policy of the State?' Raise more
hogs and less crime and misery
promptly replied Granger That farm
er evidently sympathized with "A Voice
from the Corn"
- was made to be eaten. and not to be
To be husked in barn, not soaked in a tank.
l come as a blessing when put in a mill,
As blight and a curse when run through
Make me up into loaves, and your children
But into drink, will starve them instead.
In bread I'm a servant the eater shall rule.
In drink I'm a master, the drinker fool
Then remember my warning; my strength
If eaten to strengthen. if drank to destroy"
A CHICAGO MATHEMATICIAN shows
that the $3.50 saloons here sell $32, ,000,-
600 worth of liquor in a year, fifty dol
lars for every man, woman and child in
the city. The consumption in Illinois
oatside of Chicago is put at $38, ,OOO,-
600, SO that the average per capita for
the whole State is about twenty-five
dollars, not much over the probable
figures for the whole country, as indi-
Gated by the amount of spirits and beer
produced.-M. a. Smith, tn Chicago
AdUdHee.
DIR. HOLLAND was a strict Temper
ance m,,n. When asked as to his hab-
its, he said: II neither drink wine nor
give it to my guests. Strong drink is
the curse of the country and the age.
Sixty thousand men in America every
x,aa. lie doxv,, IN tho orrava nf the drink