The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1888-03-23
w. Q. 7. u.
ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE Wo'
An LAKE CHARLES, La,


ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE wo.
MANS CHRISTIAN NTEMPERANCEu UNION i
AT LAKE CHARLES, La,
BY MRS. NJ. A. BAILEY.
Ladies' and Gentlemen--It has often
been asserted that history repeats itself;
that there is nothing new under the SUM-
and that all great movements are but
thegeturn Of some forgotten cycle,
j may be forgiven, however, If | look
upon temperance as the one grand ex-
oeption to this axiom. Never before has
there been such a triumph OF truth over
prejudice and social custom, never be-
fore in the annals Of the world, have
there been seen united under one ban
ner, representatives of both sexes, of all
ages and of all cTeeds and conditions.
We see the prime movers and founders
of the Wisest and most successful labor
movement of the age refusing admission
to its ranks TO the wine seller; we see
political parties divided and threatened
with disruption, on the issue of prohibit
ton; Leo XIII, the spiritual head OF
millions gives special aid and counten-
ance to the leaders and followers of tenn
peFance, and through the council of Bal
timore, prohibits the sale ofintOXicating
| liquors at all fairs and entertainments
given in aid of the church; little chill
dren are banded together in the cause,
not ignorantly and blindly, as We're those
| childish crusaders of old, but many of
them alas from bitter, personal eXpe-
rience, well acquainted with the evils
against which they are fighting; and
last, though not least, because sine reaps
the bitterest fruits of fntemperance, wo-
man has taken up the banner of tenn
peTanee and is carrying it Rloft as a
guidon to faltering and wavering hui
manity.
Al the late Press Convention, reso-
| luton was introduced and passed, ask
| ing the legislature to authorize the use
lin the public schools, of book on hygi-
enc that treats specially Of the effects Of
alcohol on the system, OF what avail
to teach a child the hidden effects Of
alcohol if he be blind TO the visible, pal
pable effects that are daily upFOlled be-
| fore him2 Is not the arm OF the wife
| beateT, the murderer and the fTatricide
lneryed by it2 Are not more than one
| half Of all the crimes and misdemeanors
| that fill our jails and penitentiaries the
direct result of aiCohol2 Are not the
brightest minds, the loftiest intelleCts,
Gods highest gift to man, daily weak
| ened and finally extinguished in the
| slums of intemperanCe2 Are not want,
| misery and shame the ghosts that haunt
| forever the inebriate's home? And, if
| true, that man is more amenable to rldi-
| cule than to argument, how can one con-
| template liquor in it's less harmful
! phases, as exhibited in the staggering
| gait, the silly leer, the idiotic, incoherent
| language, and still expose oneself to
| furnish q similar spectacle for the
amusement of some, the contempt. Of
all ? II is indeed, an incomprehensibl
law of nature that makes
"Vice monster of such hideous mien,
| That to be hated needs but to be seen;
| But seen too oft, familiar with Its face,
First we abhor, then pity, then embrace"
SelE-preseryation is the first law of ma
ture, but in some women that natural
instinct seems oVershadoWed nay, COM
| pletely neutTalized by that of self-sacri-
fee. Prompted by love for some un-
worthy object, and sustained by Quix-
| otiG hopes of reform-Woman, overlook
ing or disregarding the warning exam
! pies that surround her, aye,s often for
| getting the curse which has darkened
and blighted her own childhood-delib-
erately enters the fiery furnace that
Above the door of her dwelling well may
she inscribe the words that appeared TO
the Dante over the portals OF the In
| ferno "Who enters here leaves hope
behind" Farewell TO Joy, to peace, to
happiness; farewell 10 all that makes
life Sweet, and welcome to all that con-
yerts the spot that should be "Su-
premely blest," " into q .yeritable Pando-
ra's box in which lie all the ills oflife,
! may admire the fortitpde Of such a.
woman, may give my praise to tbs. great
love or the great vanity that whispers
of success where thousands fail, but
here my sympathy must cease, for ] be-
HeYe that If men, as rule, were con-
WINGED that no good and true woman
would link her life to an inebTiate, the
glory or rather the profit of the rum
seller would depart forever.
go further, a woman may, il she
chooses, condemn herself 10 lifelong
misery, but deny her right to condemn
the children who will call her mother,
to the pains and horrors OF such an eX-
iBtence, or to taint their blood with the
| inherited cravings Of q yitiated appetite
that may, in the years to come, lead
them to shame, to degradation and to
crime.
/ I'll have so far spoken Of inebriates
only as men, is because years of resi-
dence in this town, where at least this
sin OF great cities has not crept into our
homes, have softened, though they cam
not eiface, the recollection that the curse
VI las bAffsA4AS4
and lives Of many woman. IL / abhor
and depFecate intempeFance in man,
IN what words of loathing can / speak
OF the woman, who, forgetting every
instinct of good Within her, sleeps body
and soul il the horrors of a drunkard's
life, without even the poor excuse which
men often plead, that business or
soeiability FIRST led them astray.
i tits a matter Of congTatnlation that
- y
fall victims TO the demon Of alcoholism,
| but feel compelled here 10 notice d
form Of intemperance which unfor-
4 tnnately II gaining terrible foothold in
many homes, the growing fondnesa for
narcotics. Opium and chlorofoEm have
had and are daily adding thousands to
the number Of their slaves, and their
approach is SO stealthy, their guise SO
I aeductiyel IT is 30 hard to bear pain
patiently when there, at hand, IS ease
and comfort Are heart and brain
racked by mental anguish, how easy IL
seems TO find oblivion in the soothing
drug. The excuses multiply so rapidly,
until at last, casting aside every rel
straining influence, the nnfortunate
! finally seeks stupefacti0n for the love
+ of it. II Is true that the ELECTS of these
deadly drugs are not as disgusting as
the effects of alcohol, but they are
equally as degrading and demoralizlng,
even when they do not lead to the use
OF alcoholic stinulants. The oblivion
produced BY them ie Indeed fsl.ethe's
stream without it's quiet,7 the pepentile
in which IS sunk every womanly grace,
every noble Instinct, all love, duty and
honor,
The pledge taken by women as re-
quired By the VI @. T. U., Is, I an pleased
70 say, Of little necessity except as an
incentive and an eXample 70 fathers
brothers aud husbands No faf as a0Ts
are concerned, but permit me 70 suggest
and ia point out tie necessity Of adding
ai the preparations 9f 9pium and
. c1loIof8ria to the pledge Make Bpplen
scieuciQaa physician viii they touch
Z these Dulsots hoaa efIccts nFu Il