The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-15
A. sroRKs,s ELoouENcE.

Gure Water, the Only indebted Gift from
the Garden of Eden.
Knoxville tTenn.) Journal.
Few men have had tire wonderful capacity
to sway popular audiences with their
eloquence possessed by the late Emery
Storrs AS a public speaker he had few
equals, and thousands have been thrilled
by his burning words. His personal ap-
pearance was not prepossessing, being small In
stature, but he was man of genius, and when
he was aroused his imagery, his earnestness and
his remarkable command of language was ire
sistible. Those who heard him can never forget
his wonderful efforts.
In the celebrated whisky trials of 1876 he was
chief counsel for General Babcock. He was
thoroughly enlisted in behalf of his client, he
always was He had the faculty of impressing
those with whom he came IN contact in the
courts. with the enthusiasm he felt for his
peal to the jury and obtained the verdict of mot
guilty." about which so much was said at the
time. In the evening, after the trial
was over, Mr. Storrs and number of lawyers
were gathered in social intercourse, probably
feeling enthusiastic over success in the case in
which they had been engaged 1t was doubtless
merry party. One of the lawyers present
fshed out of his pocket newspaper clipping. a
copy of John b. Coughs celebrated apostrophe
to water. and read IL aloud. When he had con-
cluded, Mr.. Storrs jocularly observed, in sub
stance that that was nothing that he could beat
it himself.
Thereupon the lawyers began to chafe him,
and called upon him to try it. He sat quiet a
few moments When responding to their calls,
he rose with glass in mis- hands ready to begin.
A stenographer present who knew him well,
believing that he would say something good, took
out his note book and pencil preparatory to tax
ing it down. He did so, and has preserved his
notes. They have never before been published,
and it is through his kindness that we are able
to produce them. We are sure they will be read
with interest by thousands Holding up the
glass. Mr.. Storrs began:
How do you expect to improve upon the bev-
erage furnished by nature? Here it is-Adams
ale-about the only gift that has descended
undefled from the Garden of Eden Natures
common carrier-not created in the rottenness
of fermentation, nor distilled over guilty fres
Not born among the hot and noXious vapors and
gases of worms and retorts, confined In reeking
watts, placed in clammy barrels and kegs. stored
in malarious cellars full of rats and cobwebs
No adulteration fills it with sulphIric acid,
spirits of inter, stramonium, other deadly drugs
and posons, until it is called forty rod death
and bug juice fusel OIL and Jersey light
ming 1t is not kept standing in the fumes
of sour beer. and tobacco smoke, and
saloon, exposed for weeks and months before
it is drunk, to the odor of old cigar stubs and
huge spittoons. Virtues and not vices are its
companions Does it cause drunkenness, disease,
death, cruelty to women and children2 Will it
place rags on the person, mortgages on the stock
farm furniture2 Will it consume wages and
income In advance, and ruin men IN business!
MOI But it floats in white gossamer clouds, far
up IN the quiet summer sky and hovers in dreamy
mist over the merry faces of all our sparkling
lakes. 1t wells the woods and hills of earth's
landscapes in a purple haze where flmy lights
and shadows drift hour after hour 1t piles it.
self in tumbled masses of cloud domes and
thunderheads. draws the electric fash from its
mysterious hiding places. and seams and shocks
the wide air with vivid lines of fire. 1t is car
ried by kind winds and falls in rustlng curtains
of liquid drapery over all the thirsty woods and
fields, and fixes in Gods mystic eastern heavens
His beautiful bow of promise. glorifed
with a radiance that seems reflected out
of heaven itself. 1t CLEANS i'll the frost crystals
or the mountain tops and the dews Of the
valleys. 1t silently creeps up to each leaf
in the myriad forests of the world and feeds and
tints each fruit and flower. 1t is here in the
grass blades of the meadows. and there where
the corn waves its tassels and the wheat is bill
lowing! 1t gems the depths of the desert with
the glad, green oasis winds itself in oceans
round the whole earth, and its hoarse,
eternal anthems on a hundred thousand miles of
coast 1t claps its hands In the flashing wave
crests of the sea. laughs in the little rapids of
the brooks, kisses the dripping, moss-covered,
old oaken we'll buckets in countless host of
happy homes! See these pieces of cracked ice,
full Of prismatic colors, clear as diamonds List
en- to their tiny tinkle against the trimming
glass, that sweetest music in all the world to one
half-faintng with thirst. And So in the language
of poor old man Cough, ask you, brothers all,
would you exchange that sparkling glass of
water for alcohol, the drink Of the very devil
himselfP