The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1885-09-11
THE OLD GREEN BOTTLE.

ulSllke 10 Onc IdStc OF liquor. MOI bllaU lie
was a drinking man. Oh, dear, no.
Never was drunk in his life; never even
slightly overcome by liquor. But still
well, a nice glass ofsomething comfortable
struck Tom in a pleasant light, and he
generally took it when it did.
Tonight it was cold and chilly and
gloomy, and the wind ratified the shutters
and crooned down the chimney, and made
a banshee of itself along the street; and
Tom, who was not very fond of reading,
could not lose himself in book or maya
zine, and there was no one to talk to, and
the resolution above recorded seemed to be
the most natural thing in the world. ga
glass of something comfortable said
Tom, and a biscuit. and then I'll turn
in"
Then Tom went to the closet to look for
a vessel in which to bring the necessary
liquor for the comfortable something from
the corner store, and spied on an upper
shelf a green bottle, with a fat body and a
long neck, which had nothing in it, and
smelled of nothing, and he set it upon the
table. while he stirred the fire and put the
kettle on, that everything might be ready
on his return.
Mrs. Tom was absent from home, and
Tom was keeping house for himself. He
was on his knees before the stove, raking
it, when he heard a groan. 1t was a faint,
PARKWAY sounding groan; but it had such
a ghostly sound that he started.
What's that he cried; something
answered:
sOnly me-
And jumping to his feet, Tom Barnaby
stood staring about; for there was nothing
in the room that ought to have had a voice
but himself-not even a kitten or canary
bird.
"Who is me ?' cried Tom.
tom ought to know said the voice.
And this time Tom saw it came from the
green bottle.
SIS it spirits, or WHAT
And the bottle answered:
Eyes. worse luck. 1t is spirits. Bad
spirits, too. Gin, rum and brandy-whisky
and ALCOHOL
"Oh, that kind!' said Tom.
eyes" said the bottle. Five devils.
I've been possessed by them all. Years
and years they led me such a life that ]
wished was smashed; years and years
until your wife got me and put blessed
vinegar in me. Nice, sharp, respectable
vinegar, that never did worse than give
some poor cabbage eater the collie. And |
thought l should end my days a decent
vinegar bottle, and here | am going to have
one of the devils back, I know. Oh, what
did that dear woman go away for? Why
did she go?"
Tom, who had grown used to the phe-
nomenon of a talking bottle, and did not
mind it at all by this time, nodded his head
sagely.
sRight there he said. 'It's exceed
ingly uncomfortable to have wife away,
but you are very foolish to take as you do.
What harm is there in a moderate drink
All you'd hold wouldn't hurt a fly. You've
been listening to teetotalers."
II haven't been listening to anybody
said the bottle. eve formed my own con-
illusions. There was a time when | thought
as you do. 1t was when l was a brand new
bottle, with a gilt label Best Holland
Gin,' on me, and ny owner, the liquor
dealer, took me out of my case and hand
IL no - Tao1r Do ryrny xyh1 lad .,,ck Gp;ch
ed painting the store.
"'Here, Jack, says he, this will help
you keep Christmas
Thank We, said Jack; and off l went
under his arm.
"And there, in a bright little room, with
a pretty wife and a nice old grandfather
and two cunning little babies looking on,
he opened me.
"'What a nice smell!' said she-the pref
ty wife.
"And then he made some stuff with lemon
and sugar, and they all drank some; and
the babies looked at the light shining
through my green sides and the gilt label
on me. And the old grandfather said the
drink had gone to his head, and he should
have to be carried upstairs INC they
laughed at that, because it was such a good
joke.
II liked myself then and what was in
me.
"Before | was empty the first time |
fell pleased to be such a favorite as !
was.
"Ah, dear; | was filled up again, and
again; and after awhile | began to see
things changing about me. The wife's
face was not so bright; the old grandfather
never laughed; the baby's toes were out;
and one day Jack staggered in, took me
up, drank the last drop from me and tum-
bled into a chair. The wife began to cry.
"'Oh, Jackr says she. oh, Jack! how
| hate tina dreadful bottle. We were so
happy before it came into the house,!
ssShe blamed me but | knew it was the
evil spirit in me she meant.
"'You've lost your place, Jack, says
she. Everything has changed. You don't
love me any more. You don't care for the
children. It's all that bottle
"But Jack was too tipsy to care what