The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1890-07-03
WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPER
ANCE UNION,
George W. cheever, D. D.


Continued from last tOeek,)
The deacon had fresh cargo of mo- {
lasses to be worked up, and a great
many hogsheads thea in from his
country customers to be filled with
liquor. When he went home he lock-
ed up the doors, leaving the distillery
to his new workmen. As soon as he
was gone you would have thought that
one of the chambers Of hell had been
transported to earth with all its in
mates. The distllery glowed with fires
and burned hotter than ever before
and the figures OF tle demons passing
to and fro, and the loaping and yell
ing in the midst OF their work, made il
look like the entrance to the bottom
less pit.
Sumo Of them sat astride the rafters,
over the heads OF the others, and
amused themselves with blowing
flames out Of their mouths. The work
OF distiling seemed to play to them,
and they carried it on with supernatu-
raj rapidity. 1t was hot enough to
have boiled the molasses in any part
of the distillery but they did not seem
to nina it at all. Some lifted the hogs
heads as easily as you would raise a
tea.cup, and turned their contents in
to the proper receptacles; some scum
med the boiling liquids; some, with
huge ladies, dipped the smoking fluids
from the different Yats, and, raising it
high in the air, seemed to take great
delight in watching the fiery stream
as they spouted it back again; some
drafted the distilled liquor into empty
casks and hogsheads some stirred the
fires; all were boisterous and horribly
profane, and seemed to engage in the
work with such familiar and malig.
nant satisfaction that concluded the
business OF distilling was as natural as
hell, and must have originated there.
/ gathered from their talk that they
were going to play trick upon the
deacon that should cure him of offer
ing rum and Bibles to his workmen
and | soon found out from their con.
versation and movements what it was.
They were going to write certain in
scriptious on all his rum-casks that
should remain invisible until they
were sold by the deacon, but should
flame ont in characters OF fire as soon
as they were preached by his retailers
or exposed to the use of the drunkards
When they had filled few casks
with liquor, one Of them took great
coal of fire, and, having qncnched it
in mixture OF rum and nolasses,
proceeded to write, apparently by way
of experiment, upon the heads Ct the
different vessels Just rs it was dawn
they all left off work and all vanished
togetlrr.
III thc morning the deacon was puz-
zled to know how the workmen got
out of the dfstillery, which he found
fast locked as lie had left it. He was
still more amazed to find that they
had done more work in one night than
could have been accomplished. in the
ordinary way, in three weeks. He
pondered the things not a little, and
almost concluded it was the work OF
'e supernatural agents. AT any rate,
. they had done so much that he thought
he could offord to attend meeting that
day, as it was the Sabbath. Accord
ingly, he went to church and heard
HE minister say that God could par.
don sin without an atonement, that
the words HELL and DEVIL were mere
} figures OF speech, and that all mer
/ would certainly be saved He wal
: much pleased, ard inwardly resolved
that he would send his minister hal
!. cask OF wine; and, as it happened tt
be communion Sabbath, he attended
meeting all day.
- In the evening the men came again
re and again the deacon locked them il
m. to themselves, and they went to work
They finished all his molasses an
filled all his rum-barrels, and key,
U and hogsheads with liquor and mark
ed them all, as on the preceding nigh
with invisible inscriptions. Most {
the titles ran thus:
CONSUMPTION SOLD HERE.
Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distiller,
CONCLUSIONS AND EPILEPsIEE
Inquire at Amos Giles's Distillery.
INSANITY AND MURDER.
! Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distiller!
DROPSY AND RHEUMATISM, PIT
TRID FEVER, AND CHOLERA
q IN TEE COLLAPSE.
~ Inquire at Amos Giles's Dstillery.
n DELIRIUM TREMENS.
in. Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distller
hoe
fso Many Of the casks had ON them il
and scriptions like the following;
elf.
hoe DISTILLED DEATH AND LIQUI
ress DAMNATION.
ted rht Elixir of He'll for the bodies
tn Sc whose souls are COM
IS, ing there.
ced
rior Some OF the demons had even TAKE