The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-12-05
rho street. of Hell.

looms on each side, allowing only twenty
five feet to each one, they would make a
street about four hundred and ~twenty-six
miles long. Let us imagine the saloons
brought together into such a street, and
let us suppose that the moderate drinkers
and their families are marching into it at
the upper end. Come with me, If you
nave the nerve and patience, and we will
stand at the lower end Of that street and
| see what comes ont of it 10 one year.
What army is this that comes marching
along in solid column, five abreast, and
extending eight hundred miles? 1t is the
army Of seven million mel and women
who daily enter those saloons for intoxi-
eating drinks. Marching twenty miles a
day it will take them forty days to pass us.
At last they are gone, but out OF their
ranks has dropped and fallen to the rear
another army. marching five abreast and
e~ighty-fve miles in length. In it are five
| hudred thousand drunkards. They are
men and women who have lost control of
their appetites. and who more or less fire.
quently get drunk and make beasts OF them
| selves. Scau them closely as they &C by.
There are gray-haired men and fair-haired-
boys among them. There are. alas. many
women in that army sunk to deeper depths
than the men, because Of the greater height,
from which they fell.
See the trembling limbs, the palsied hands,
the untidy appearance, the bleared faces,
the blood-shot eyes. They march with un-
steady step and in zigzag lines, and it will
take them nearly a week to go by. 1t is a
sad and sickening sight. but do not turn
| away yet for here comes another army, one
hundred and twenty-five thousand GRIM
inals. From jails and prisons and p%eniten-
is a long line of persons whose hands are
smeared with human blood. With ropes
around their necks they are on their way
to the g~allows. Others are going to prison
for life. Every crime known to our laws
has been committed by these persons while
they were under the influence of drink.
But bark, whence come those unearthly
| wells, and who are these, bound with
strong chains and guarded by strong men
that 60 raging by? They are raving man
iacs, made such by S rong drink. Their
eyes are tormented it'll awful sights and
their ears ring with horrid sounds. Shiny
| reptiles crawl over their bodies, and fiends
torment them before their time. To all
intents ard purposes they are already in
hell. They are gone now. and we breathe
more freely.
But what gloom is this that pervades
the air, and what is that long line of black
coming slowly down the street, 1t Is the
line of funeral professions. One hundred
thousand who have died from alcohol are
being carried to their graves. Drunkards
do rot have many friends to mourn their
loss, and we can put thirty of their funeral
professions into = mile. We thus have a
procession three thousand three hundred
and thirty-three miles long. 1t will take
a coed share of the year for them to 20 by,
for funeral professions move slowly; yes,
most of Them do. but every now and then
an uncofined corpse in a rough cart is
driven rapidly by, and We hear the brutal
driver sing:
"Quick, rattle his bones over the stones.
He's only Il pauper. whom nobody owns.'
Look into the collins as they go by.
See the dead ~drunkards. Some died OF
delirium tremens, and the lines OF terror
are still plainly marked on their faces.
Some froze to death by the road side too
drunk to reach their homes. Some STUN
bled from the wharf and were drowned.
Some wandered into the woods and died,
and their bodies rotted on the surface of
the earth. Some blew their own brains
out. Some were fearfully stabbed in drunk
en- brawls. Some were roasted in burning
buildings. Some were crushed to shapeless
masses under the cars. They died in various
ways, but strong drink killed them all, and
on their tombstones, if they ever have any,
may be fifty inscribed:'Hs died a drunk
ards death"
Close behind them comes another long
line of funeral professions; we know not
INV manly Out thcy arc LuOIc UuLDeTOubIy
attended by mourning friends. They are
the funeral professions OF those who have
met death through the carelessness and the
cruelty Of drunken men. Some died of
broken hearts. Some were foully murder
ed. Some were burned to death in build.
ngs set on fife by drunken men. Some
were horribly mangled on the railroad
because OF drunken engineers or hagmen.
Some were blown up on a steamboat be-
cause a drunken captain iua a race with q
rival boat.
But here comes another army, an army
of children, innocent ones upon whom has
been visited the iniquities OF their fathers.
How many are there? Five hundred thou
sand. Marching two abreast, they extend
up the street seyenty-five miles. Each one
must bear through life the stigma of being
a drunkard's child. They are reduced to
poverty and want and beggsry. They live
in ignorance aud are familiar with vice.
Keep back your tears now-if you can
and look at them. See these gaunt figures
and boDy hands; see those sad, uplifted