The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-06-05
BRO. GARDENERS VIEWS.


A Little Philosophic Talk by the Presi-
dent of the Detroit rs Free Press'D Lime
kiln Club.
During the course of some remarks
in reply to communication asking
him for public statement of his views
on the Temperance question, Brother
Gardner said, as reported in the De-
troit Free Press:
''Let me say few words to de men
in dis club:
DO yer know what glass of beer a
day means? Thlrty-hve cents week
a dollar forty a month-about seven
teen dollars a var. Nobody stops at
one glass Jist make dat thirty-four
dollars a year. What hev We got to
show fur yer money when de y ar
eands? How much better does yer
breaf smell? How much stronger am
yer muscle?
FIFTY long Vars ago, when I was a
slave-boy on dc plantashun, | saw a
specter. 1t had limbs which tottered.
1t had hands which trembled. 1t had
hollow eyes-a toothless mOuth-a face
so drawn an pinched dat a blue light
seemed to danced aroun it. | asked
de name of de specter, an an old man
answered: 'Rum!'
Il hev seen dat specter almoas'
cherry day since. 1t has followed
friends of mine to de altar-ithas iined
de funeral purceshun when desc friends
war buried When men fust see it
in, liCrrt1gf h,,f 1ifflo bry If
tie dat grim, relentless specter git. a
foothold. 1t pats you on the back. 1t
walks arm in arm wild you. 1t be-
comes boon companion. De broken
voice of father-de sobs of a mother
de tears of brothers an sisters do
not reach de heart of dis specter. 1t
has no heart-no soul.
Il hev heard it laugh as de poo ole
drunkard fell down in de snow to
freeze to death.
They heard it exult as de young man
was brought home drunk fur de fust
time!
Il hev seen it stan at de cottage
window an dance in glee as de brutal
blows of drunken father smote suf-
ferin' mother an innocent chilren.
II hev heard it ridiculin' de youth
bekase he would not be led into temp
tashun.
Il look back fur twenty years an ask
what has become of Ben an Tom an
Sam an a score of others. Dead. alas!
HowP BY old age? No! By accident?
No! BY disease? No! They locked
arms with the specter. Drink, an
drink alone was responsible fur TO out
o. five deaths.
II look aroun' me to-day an | see de
specter seekin' new victims. 1t has
victims in cherry graveyard in de world
its dead sleeps on de mountains an
under de sea, but it am not satisfied.
1t has made millyun widows, but its
hand is relentless. 1t has made five
millyun orphans, but de number mus
increase.
''De young man who puts liquor in
his mouf am holdin' a keen-edged
razor to his froat an walkin' ober
broken ground. He am stealth away
an sellin' to de dram-shops his rev.
-erence for his father-his love for his
mother-his brotherly feelin fur
brothers an sisters. He am exchangin'
IiOhcSlJ, lHuuSIly oil NC lCopOfh VI LIS
fellow-men fur-what?
"Ra1n! A specter walkin' beside
him wild noiseless step. A serpent
lynn in wait wild deadly fangs. 1t
blghts young manhood. 1t hastens ole
aige. 1t digs graves for hearth broken
women an starvin' chill'en.
"As L cum down heah tonight |
heard walls of sorrow in a house to
which de master will neber return. He
traded his all fur Rum, an de grim
specter walked to de riber wild him an
coaxed him to jump from de wharf.
You can not emagine how dark de
clouds hover ODER dose left behind. De
victims of dat specter am lynn about
us as if Death was holdin' a carnival.
Walk up an down de streets of any
town or city in de land an your eye
will tell you which household welcomes
de specter an which drives him away.
What do broken gates, shattered panes,
ragged chill en- and bar floors mean?
What do blows, screams, oaths an ar
rests mean? What, in TO cases out o
five, cocks de murderer's pistol Oh
draws his deadly knifeP What sepa-
rates husbands an wives-breaks up
homes-fills our asylums an poo
housesp
1T is Rum! Dey talk of de deadly
weapons of war, but rum kills its
hundreds whar' war kills its scores.
War respects de aiged an helpless.
Rum delights in DER slaughter.
81 say to you, young men, look out
for the first temptashun. De specter
stands behind you to drop pizen in de
glass. Men argy wild you dat a glass
of beer kin harm no one. Neither kin
it benefit any one. You am simply
tradin' off yer money fur sunthin' Of
no account. 1t am step down hill.
De man who tells you he kin drink jist
so much cherry day an den let drink
alone am baitin' trap fur hisself to
walk into. No vicious habit eber yit
stood still on a man. 1t mus grow OF
it mus be checked"