The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-24
written for The Republican,
Alcoholism.
NUMBER vi.

ANCHSCt VI an WIVtiSo ~ SCo uP"H
the whole rum interest. at least as
conducted in this land of culminat-
ing iniquities. let me now bring be-
fore the readers of the REPUBLICAN,
as witnesses to the same sad and aw-
fuI truth, in doIeful review, the long
line Of diIapidated rum-inns, and no
less dilapidated mountaineering fam
| lilies still to be found strung along all
the old turnpikes, and common stage
roads Of the country. Why are these
old islands" almost without eXccp-
| tinn in a tumble down condition. or
actually rntted to dung-heAp? And
Uhy are nine in ten of the families
once conducting them, both mater
tally and morally. gone to the dogs
also? 1t is enough to answer that
| the traffic has abandoned the roads.
A. a rule, the inn-keeper was also
farm owner; could not the farm
keep up the house and the family
there rs we'll ~ in the case of the
non-ru,n%plling neighbor? Many .
farmer along the old wagon-high
ways over the AIIeghanieS, has told
me personally that his dependence
for Il market, and consequently for a
living. was almost exclusively on
the traffic Of those roads. But are
nine in ten of the farmers ruined he
cause the traffic has fOrSaken the
roads? Certainty not. The oats and
hay market along the old pike is
gone hut not the farmers prosperity
On that account! The Oil market
left them, hut they have gone on
proSpering; and where once stood
the log cabin and primative stabIing,
now, nine times in ten, is seen Il fine
farmhouse, and imposing bank barn.
| have made close observation along
hundreds of miles Of these old road,
and consequently speak from person.
al knowledge. In scores of instances
haye I seen the sad fact of which |
speak, lllustrated-the old "stand"
rusty, rotten or gone quite-the hon.
est farmers all around prosperous and
happy. From Somerset county. Pa.
alone, could be drawn, | am conf.
dent, fifty examples to prove my
staten mt. Forty years ago no class
in that county, proSpered as the rum
selling innkeeperS. To-day no class
is more reduced and de6dSed. Then
the bulk of the wealth was in the
taverns; in the taverns were the lead
ing famiIies-they were the aristo.
cracy OF the day, enYied and courted
by the common toiler, to-day, as a
rule, they are-let facts answer.
In the stone mansion, on the slope
of the mountain, Mr.. w. and his sty-
lish family, led luxurious life fifty
years ago. So abundant was his
wealth and income, as to enable him
for years to conduct the business of a
private banker. To day not one of
that family is known to own a decent
reputation, or a house to shelter him.
Two miles further, on the very crest
of the mountain, is seen clear spot
If some two acres, a beautiful spring,
and some crumbling foundation walls.
NH, -, -, lnft sc ~. II it,O
stand" of forty years ago. No one
has told me the fate of the family
made rich there on rumselling, furth.
er than that the fortune crunIbled as
the vanished house. Westward three
miles are seen the iickety remains of
First class stand" Mr.. s. the pro-
prietOr was in his day what a mil
lnnaire would he among us. a few
years ago, the youngest son, last male
representative of the house, had his
earthly all nailed by the sheriff's
hammer: when his property was gone
he found himselfn not possessed of char
acter enough to secure him the nom.
inatiGn for a county Office, Still
westward a mile, is another wreck of
once Furnishing establishment.
The property is in other hands, and
demented remnant of the family in
the pnOrhouse Half a mile onward.
is another, still; buildings dlIapidat.
ed, fences prostrate, fields empower
ished. and family scattered. But.
one aud a nalf miles onward is, per-
haps, the most striking witness IN all
this noble line-and l pause here,
not because the end is reached, nor
yet because it is better beyond. This
was ~ high place' in its day. But
how fallen! A house once fit for a
prince, hardly tenantable for rats !!
A farm, large and beautiful. once
grandIy productive, hardly able to
feed family of six a. family once
opulent, literally in rags! Why is
this the fact? No one need ask. 1t
is all plain. Rumselling brings a
curse part of that curse is the demon
alizatiOn Of those who engage in it.
AS l said, they are lazy, sIouchy,
worthless crew, and nothing but en-