Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1883-01-16

..H
contrast between your home and this
hovel. your family and these destitutes,
striking? See that haggard woman
there, with paid face and large hectic
fushes upon those cheeks, in which
briny tears have made deep, blue fur.
rors, that's his wife-the one he selected
and adored, and whom before God and
man promised to Glove, cherish, and
protect" and which he did until you
sold him rum and crazed his brain and
stif1ed his feelings. See that modest
girl there with crimson face, endeavor-
ing to hide her nudeness and shrink
from sight, that's his darling, pet daugh.
ter, once the joyous sunbeam of his
household. See that boy there with
plnched features and pleading en-
treaties, begging for something to eat,
that's his dutiful son, once the pride of
his heart. See the cheerless Fireplace.
the empty cupboard, the broken furni-
ture lying in confused heaps about the
unexpected room. But that ia not half:
let US take another step in our solu
tion of this shocking life-drama, and
see every phase as it is hourly enacted
by some human hyena. Notice that
apparently inanimate object lying in
corner upon handful of straw listen
see 1t breathes and turns; hear those
fearful grewls; see those horrid contor-
tions; see il, as it awakes from its death
ly stupor as from some delirious dream,
and looks about in strange bewilder-
ment-that's husband and father! who
does not comprehend that he is in the
bosom of his own family, the members
of which are sitting in abject fear of
some abusive, severe, and crushing pun
q hxlan ont ia = 4 :
blanched cheeks and encounters those
swollen eyes, he is transformed into q
f1endish heathen, and the savage ma
MAC, under the enraging and sitting
influence of drink, assails the patient
wife, beating, kicking, and cursing her
with every breath Hear that agoniz-
ing cry as her noble and heroic heart
breaks under such cruel and repeated
treatment; the tears have forever left
her eyes to curdle around her heart,
which has now ceased its pulsations
and relieved her of pain and misery.
See how he mocks and treats the
touching appeals of his children for
mercy and food; he jeers and whips
them for complaining, and with inut-
tered curses leaves them with their
dead mother! their only friend and
protector. See those little sobbing and
perishibg things nesting about her as
If to bring her back to life, despite fate
and death, They cling to her, weep
over. and call her by endearipg names;
but, alas those sunken eyes open not,
the lips are silent 10 their feverish kiss
es, the hands are dead to all caresses-
thus suffering, pleading, and praying,
death finds them, and gently laying his
icy hands upon them, they join their
mother in another world !, aTrftsl ,. /
Oh, rum seller, do not tremble and
shudder so, this Is but part of the hell
ish massacre to which you are an acces
soTy. Unconscious of his bloody deeds
the man goes to the saloon again where
more liquor is dealt out to him by your
clerk, and imbibing freely he totters to
his home to sleep off his stupor. Mark
be enters his now desolated home and
peers around in amazement-all is as si-
lent az the grave, but see he recognizes
the three butchered and bleeding forms
cold and rigid be family remembers
that they are The work of his own stim
ulated passion, and with fiendish ex-
ultatiOn of satisfaction bends over them
and putting his gore bedabbled hands to
his throt bing temples with blood curd-
ling "aihs tails heavily to the floor
where he is found by the vigilant off
GERS of tie law and ushered into a mur
derer's cell. The black aud bruised vic
TINS are huried-no long cortege of
mourners attend their funeral-none at
the grave save the sexton aud underta
ker. Why? because they are the pos
terity of a drunkard. The 'mau is tried
and released upon the fiinsical plea of
irresponsibility, be wandeTs from place
11a b.N,. Il r. Los~
uucared for he grows fearless and is even
tually a villainOus desperate, an incendi
ary, an out law, barbarous rpffian.-
Finally at the hands of an excited mob
of outraged citizens be forfeits his worth
less and miserable lite upon the scaffold,
End damning the day he was born, rush
es towards eternity with defiant shout
This is a terrible speetacle-but no false
picture of rare occurrence the thrill
ing incidents in this sick euiug tshleaux
are not In the least toverdrawn, but as true
as they are awful for thousands drink,
thousands of ihnocent beings So fer and
die and thousands know this to he on
ly too tTueI What must be the feelings
of that mother who upon her bended
knees. with uplifted hands pleads with
her Intoxicated husband for mercy upon
her children, and finding every entreaty
in vain is compelled to witness and re-
ceiVe unmetiled, harsh aud decorating
treatment, Yet pOWerless to defend, pro-
tect, or comfort!
Rum vender, here is a demonstration
of how perfectly your liquors do their
work Are you satisfied you are doing
a noble business? =? Does it give you
pleasure to watch the acts of your pa
irons? Are you proud of the represen-
tatives of your legitimate vocation? In
temperate man there is nothing which
will ravage a once happy home, confis
cate hard earned property, starve the
blushing bride of your bosom, and make
profiigates of your children, so quickly
and completely as this liquid, cOnsum-
ing, and encased demon! What pitt
full avocation is that of the whiskey
dealer, there is not a single place where
be can peacefully rest. An angry God
and vengeance in heaven, curses and
hatred upon earth, yawning and burn
ing hell beyond the fleeing portals of
time. In every flaming and bubbling
decanter of that distilled poison, there
is an admixture of pleas for mercy,
bloody sweat for food, tears for compas-
sion, prayers for deliverance, W hich are
to be witnessed in every rum cursed
family. Whiskey makes the heart
den in which crawl and hiss the Shiny
serpents of most loathsome lust. AS
the Iavages OF Intemperance effect all so
should the death of Intemperance be a
paramount interest to all Oh, God of
omnipotence turn back the broad and
surging tide of corruptive lava, which
is rushing with such vehement force
and threatening us with swift destruc
zion. Retarding the spread of the glo-
rious gospel, preventing the true accept
ance of regeneIatlng religion, strongly
lettering the redeeming work of the
Church, boldly robbing our happy
homes of some dearly loved one, visibly
effecting every secular enterprise, un-
fitting the youths of our land for the
weighty responsibilities of life, and ush-
ering thousands of care-laden and bleed.
ing souls into a premature grave. If
every precaution were exercised to pre-
vent the consumption of liquor, this ne
farious vandal, Intemperance, would
soon end its pernicious existence. A
~E