The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1885-07-17
Our Letter BOX.
The Recent Fourth of July Celebra,

To The MONITOR.
The smoke of the recent Fourth of July ceie-
brs,tion having cleared away, desire to call
the attention of the readers of your valuable
paper to q few observations.
1t is II common saying that ''where there
is much smoke there must be some
fire" The principal combustion this
occasion was that OF "liquid fire. Yes
rum! To be sure there was baby display
of fireworks, and an soration, and there
was a crowd But the main feature of the
day was rum. There more drunken
ness in woodstown than has been witnessed
on any previous day since its incorporation as
a borough. Even boys were drunk.
1t is astonishing what an effort has been
made to give a different impression. \ resi-
dent of our borough, who was absent on the
Fourth, remarked to us that upon his return
home his suspicious were aroused by several
persons, known to he in sympathy with u GER
tain class volunteering the information that
there was such s'excellent ORDER the absence
of drunkenness, etc, - i'll Woodstown on that
day. A newspaper in our midst, whose sym
pathes appear always on the rum side, rushed
into print suspicious communication pur-
porting to have been written by stranger
and giving the same coloring. The author
must have indeed been II stranger to what was
going on here on that day, or worse His pro
duetion reads like the work of Il rummy or one
of his allies. And now the Mayor comes TO the
front, but unfortunately for him an official of
the borough who appears to have been in q
better position to know gives different testi-
mony.
AS anticipated by the temperance people
the two cergymen who have been re-
garded by many earnest friends Of temper
n IN he i'm
town, were chosen to officiate at the public
meeting held in the afternoon. How was it
that other ministers in our community were
entirely ignored? Are they too good temper
snce men : We think So In our estimation
"a minister of the gospel participating in IA eel
ebmtion under the circumstances attending
this, is as much ont of place ifs "Anacharsis
among the >ycihians.H
The fire" of the so-called ''oration We
should say was on par with the hre-works,
particularly that which appeared to he aimed
at some of our good temperance people. We
wonder if there is disciple of Ralph Waldo
Emerson among them. We know not. Did ii
never occur to the speaker that the 'imbecile
pulpits,'' spoken OF by Rev. DR.. Hopkins of the
Presbyterian church, are filled with ''beliey-
ers," that many church members who are II
discredit 10 their churches are "belieNcrs,
that three-fourths of the inmates of our peni-
tentiare- .'believe in the divinity of Jesus
Christ" that all these are thoroughly "ortho-
dox in their belief" and that according to
scripture '.The devils also believe and trem-
BILE or as the new version has ii "The devils
also believe ana shudder." And further But
wilt thou know, q vain man, that faith without
works is dead The Master said By their
fruits ne shat kno0 them.
For many years W oodstown lad few Fourth
of July celebrations, but we are not aware that
she any the less patriotic, orany less ready
TO respond to her country's call when assist
ance was needed In most of our large towns
and cities such celebrations as have just been
affected here are discarded things of the
past sonnet hing better having taken their
place. NAV our Borough another year be
abreast with the times. CITIZEN.