The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-02-05
A FAT BLACK BOTTLE,
Filled to the Cork With Five Dollar Treas
ury Notes.

! fhleu TO tie CoIk with Five Dollar Treas.
ury Notes.
There came to light in Macon yester
DAY New Years story that would fitIy
adorn temperance lecture.
a bright little girl gave away what
was regarded as pleasing secret. II
happened in this way: The telegraph
man stumbled into millinery store yes
terday and while waiting to get the mt
tentinn of the lady vino makes the female
population pretty. iLiy listened to n
conversation between a customer--evi
hentiy the vile of II northumberland the
milliner The lady was louking Mt a
very, pretty ha, for her little girl who
stood at her side with hungry eyes.
The hat was purchased, and the Telegraph
man mentally thought it looked like
extravaSance for n mechanics family tn
throw away four dollars and half on q
little girls hat.
| AS this WAS the only purchase in which
| tue enid seemed interested, she sided up
To where the Telegraph man was standing
and artles>ly said: I'VE dot lots er
money nav" The reporter here mentally
cursed h' nself for forgetting to buy a
ticket Tor ne last lottery drawing.
| :" uSiN' Niu ybu ReI ", Nls
Papa broke tn bottle.
Broke the bottle?"
"Essur; tn bottle was JUS as fuller
money As it TODD be, an' we's 'ich now"
No true reporter can be idle when
such an item rs this is in speaking dis
tance, mud it was not more than a few
minutes before the child's mother wn,
persuaded into telling the following story,
nd ht,n Il
word of II was being jntted down by the
shorthand finger Of memory upon the
thumb worn page of mental note
book:
II have passed through the ordeal of q
drunkard's wife, aud nm too happy
now To go over what and how much
suffered. My husband drank heavily
ami often half of his wages went for
drink. He KEEP, a large black bottle of
whisky alI the time in the house, in
addition 10 what he drank in town. On
Christmas Evo night five years ago he
came home drunk, and as something had
gone wrong with him, he WIS IL the
worst kind Of hunor. Our oldest bpy
WAS in ,he crib very sick with the fever,
and there was not cent of money in the
house to buy him the cheapest toy. MY
husband had been away from home ali
day and being drunk had forgotten all
nbou, his Christmas. put nv husband
to bed and returned to the bed side of
my dying boy to watch and weep. II
wns nearly daybrenk when saw nv
precious son sinking fast. Rushing out
OF the house called in lady friend,
and then aroused my husband. The
sleep had somewhat sobered him, and
as lie loved his boy devotedly, he was
soon bending over the little fellow, beg.
ging him to say something to him.
"rhe little fellow slowly turned his
eyrs toward his father and said: I'm
going to die, papa, for zee the angels
brckuning mo 10 come. This is Christ
mas morning, papa; please let me zee
what Santa Claus put in my stt cxing.
My husband went to the mantle and took
dawn the little stocking. 1t WIS empty
He stood aiill aud stared at it for min.
ute, and God only knows the agony Of
his heart in that short time. He turned
to say, but our boy would nc. A-e heard
him had the pnor mans breaking henrt
allowed him to speak. Our boy was
dead
The day beforc New Years my hus.
band called for the bottle. May Gud
forgive my feelings ut that minute, for /
wish he. too, WAS dead. I obeyed him
mechanically. To my surprise, he took
the bottle in his hands and, pouring The
whisky on the ground, said: 4 will
drink no more; and the money would
spend for whisky we will put in this
bottle, and all enjoy the contents" You
can imagine how happy wns. lie had
sworn off many lines before, hut knew
he was in earnest this time. We made a
calculation, and estimated that whisky
cost him. taking the pms, year az basis,
m an average of five dollars a week.
You see n gnnd deal of his money went
to pay court fines for drunkenness. Well,
it was decided to put five dollars a week
In the bottle for five years, come what
would. The time was out last New
Years DAY. and the hig black bottle was
broken. Now figure up how many five
dollars that bottle contained 70
1.-TWO hundred and sixty"
eyes, or 81, 900 dollars. But this was
not all. We saved enough in that time
outside Of the bottle to buy little
home"
"But are you not afraid in breaking the
bottle your husband will break his reso.
luiion?"
"No; because we have started another
bottle bank" said the ludy with happy
smile.
The husband Is Macon mechanic,
well known and enjoys the respect and
esteom of all. tie says he never knew
how much genuine pleasure there was at
home with bis loved ones until he got
sober enough To appreciate it. and to Gil
instead of empty the fat black bottle.