Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-05-29

+. fTlis column is devoted to the interests Of and
is edited by the Ladies of the Women's Chris
tian Temperance Uni5n.3 " -
EnlrEp Dy Mrs. Il. v, MILES.


En1rEp ny Mrs. E. v, MILES.
On reaching New Orleans one soon
realizes that heis far from prohibition
Iowa with its closed saloons and pale
nosed men. On every side are eviden-
ces Of. the coup which inebriates,"
from tlle'dirty looking beer kegs to the
costllest decanters of choicest wines;
and the eNcuse (why do WINE drinkers
offer an escuseD fer the numerous sas
looms, as given me;by the'city resident,
is that sit seems necessary to drink
liquor on account Of the climate" The
larger part. of'the city being built on
marshy lands, the people are subject to
malaria, and Of course every hotel has
Its bar or salodn where anti aqua can
be obtained in unlimited quantities.
However they do not try to disguise
the different drinks by fictitious names,
but cheered by the hope Of warding off
malarial fever, drink their port wine
and lager without searching farther
for remedies fully as efficacious and
without the deleterious effect which
follows the use Of alcoholic drinks. I
found n place though from which
Intoxicating drinks were certainly han
ished. Up in the gallery of the gov
eminent building on the exposition
grounds I discovered a little company
OF women who, though they Were not
sending out crusades against the sur
rounding evil Contemporaries, were at
least Holding the Fort" 1t was about
two O'Clock n afternoon after a half
day spent among the wonders of Wom-
ans department that my eyes met the
familiar motto "God, Home and Native
Land" | hurriedly passed on through
surrounding attractions until the space
was reached which had been given the
w. G. L. U. Every inch of the square
is occupied. Hundreds of Unions have
sent devices Of various kinds, some of
them containing names Of members.
Nearly every stateis represented. New
Jersey sent a beautiful shield of blue
and gold. With an eye to business the
ladies have placedon sale fancy articles,
badges, etc. Temperance literature,
consisting Of text books, charts, tracts
and leaflets, is abundantly displayed.
Handsomely decorated shields, notices
and banners surround the little office
where the superintendent is found, and
where / registered one for the Pioneer
Union Of Washington Springs, Dakota.
Lack of time prevented me from
learning much Of temperance work in
the South, but Judging from observa-
ton l concluded That the day of prohi-
b:tion is afar off, yet who can tell what
wonders may be accomplished by the
w. G. T. u, which has already gained
Il stronghold in the wicked metropolis
of the South? Let us hope ut least,
and keep strong u faith in the princi-
pies OF our order, remembering at the
same time that faith without works is
vain. With earnest wishes for the sue
cess of the Pioneer Union, / remain
truly yours, L. II. LAMB.
Center Point, Iowa.
The prisoners Of bush Renitentiary,
Texas, in sending their unique banner,
heretofore described, to the W. C. T. u.
booth at the New Orleans Exposition,
addressed the following communica-
ton to the society:
1t was because IL work was propos-
ed to be exhibited under the auspices
of your society that we have felt so
profound a pleasure In its execution.
A society the avowedmission of which
is to save the drunkard, to lift up the
fallen, to drag besotted humanity out
of the ditch be he eyer so worthless.
In every state OF the union we have
noted your continued, patient efforts to
save, when worldly people knew the
case was hopeless. .."
Strong drink brought seven out of
every ten of our entire number to the
states prison. Certainly we believe
that the future may hold grand posi-
bilities for some Of US yet, although the
power OF habit is as strong as iron. We
can wear no masks here; VIC cannot de-
celye-not even ourselves. We are
confronted with the practical and the
real. The demonstrations of the real.
eliminate in the fact that we have
weakly permitted the rumsellert to ruin
us. When the prisoner finds himself
locked in his cell at night, alone with
himself and'h God, memory stretches
backward through the dim vista OF the
past, and he sees with wondrous dis
tinctness along that pathway the bro
ken monuments Of youthful ambitions,
the failures and the sorrows.
How bleak and desolate that past
hath been. Turning from a horizon
dark with perils, he beholds only the
cold and cherries ashes Of blasted
hopes and whitening disappointment.
Surely it has been the "valley Of the