The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-05-18
THE LEGACY OF DRINK.
Two Lectures by Mrs. Clara Hoffman
of Missouri. at the Armory.

Two Lectures by Mrs. Clara Holman,
OF Missouri, at the Armory.
The very talented temperance lectures, Mrs.
Clara Hoffman, of Kansas City, lectured twice
at the Armory yesterday under the auspices oil
the Women's Christian Temperance Union Her
first was entitled, 'our Legacy to the Future,
and was addressed in the afternoon at O'Clock
to q very representative audience, the seats on
the floor of the hall being filed with the culture
and intelligence of the city, and q considerable
number Of appreciative listeners OCCUPYING seats
in the gallery. Her second lecture was listened
to by a very large audience in the evening, and
was upon "The Problem That Faces Us Today"
Some of the churches held short services In the
evening in order to accommodate their oongre-
cations to attend Mrs. Hoffman's lecture.
The lady who graced the platform by her
power and eloquence is a middle-aged, robust,
stately woman with strongly marked features
that give great intellectual expression to her
face, and add greatly to the impressiveness OF
her figure Her voice is full and smooth and
her articulation perfect, each word being dis
tinctly audible in every part of the hall. Her
lectures were logical, scholarly efforts, and met
with very warm receptions, and she treats the
subject OF temperance in a way quite unique
and original aud truly captivating is her COM
mingling of wit and pathos For more than an
hour, both afternoon and evening, she held her
audiences, yet she talked with refreshing ease
aud fiuency. She is president of the Missouri
w. C. T. U.
The afternoon service opened with the sing
ing OF hymn by the audience. A scriptural Sc
lection was read by Mrs. Johnson, and Rev.
Clark Davis offered up an invocation. The choir
followed with some excellent music, and then
Mrs. Hoffman was introduced. Briefly her
thoughts were as follows:
AS sears are indelible in flesh so are impress
sions upon brain and nerve Such brain and
nerve scars produced by mental and physical
habits can never be erased indeed, they become
the basis OF the self-propagative power of habit.
transmitted from parent to child, and from
generation to generation. Sad legacy 1t is that
is handed down from progenitor to offspring-a
legacy that does not consist of lands or money.
Let mans record be noble or ignoble, it is
handed down. Far better would il have been
had the legacy Of an ignoble ancestor stopped
at the close of his record. Alasl the sins of the
parent are truly visited upon the children of the
third and fourth generation.
Now, when 1t is proposed to improve the con-
dition OF plants or animals, we well understand
that conditions must be made right so as to adj
init OF and contribute toward such desired i'm
proyement. What are the conditions of our
municipalities today with regard to the i'm
provement OF the human stock? Indictments to
drunkenness and impurity abound. When the
world has attained a true, high, Christian civil
lization, religion OF the body viii be more en-
phasiZed in the pulpit, and less will be said in
limitation of "woman's sphere" and in elabora-
ton of her duty to maintain silence. The
speaker drew strong picture of the manner in
which children are afflicted with the conse-
quences OF their physical inheritance from in
iquitous parents.
Intemperance, she said, was the most prolific
cause, perhaps, of the sin and suffering of today
She closed with an urgent appeal to her hearers
to make stand against the dreadful forces of
intemperance and crush IL out
The evening lecture upon 1.-THE Problem That
Faces U.s." fully recognized the many problems
that imperil modern civilization and this young
republic, such as the immigration and race
questions, capital and labor, corruption in
political life, and kindred dangers, but, the
speaker asserted, towering above all these stands
the problem of the liquor traffic. with its danger
Gus and demoralizing influences, its control of
great wealth, and its insolent dictation to parties
and legislation. Clear, vigorous and logical as
the speaker was, she did not descend to the
vituperative. Her aim evidently is an educs-
tional one. She viii go to Tacoma today, aud
then East