The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-11-06
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
A SAD STORY.


Looking over the daily papers not
long since this heading appeared among
the local items: "A Sad Story" 1t was
short, concise story, printed in ten
lines of the column devoted to items of
local nature: Prank Talbot, young
man twenty-six years old, died in the
Jail last night of consumption. He had
been committed for drunkenness the
week before. When he was told he
could not live long he told hiE story to
the physician. He had been living in
the city under an assumed name for
year because he did not wish to dis
grace his friends. His family did not
know where he was although they had
always been kind to him and tried to
do all they could to save him. But
liquor had made complete slave of
him. He had a good position in his
native town but lost it because his
head was not kept level enough to fill
the responsibilities. He would have his
sprees Being naturally of delicate
constitution the exposures incident to
a vagrant, drunkard's life had told
upon him. His friends were notified of
his illness but he had passed away be-
fore their arrival"
A sad sad story, indeed! But the
boy who heard it read said: HE
needn't have been a drunliard: he
might have behaved himself" Yes
yes, he might have been somebody of
whom his friends would have been
proud, but instead of that he was
source of sorrow to them. That young
man had good parents and good Chris
tan teaching, but liquor was his
master. Once he was a temperate,
happy boy, but some time he took a
first drink, and that was the beginning
of all his ruin and shame. You boys
may not have as yet been tempted by
this form of evil but the temptation is
sure to come to you as it has to others
Many boy as bright, as well beloved,
as well brought up and cared for as
you have been, has become a drunk
ard.
Older tempters have argued with
him that a man who cannot drink as
much as he thinks good for him and
no more is not very strong charac-
ter. But let me tell you. my boys the
only safety from being overcome with
strong drink is to let it entirely alone.
No arguments for or against will be
necessary then. The power of the habit
of liquor drinking once formed is some
thing very hard to be overcome.
in the police reports of a daily paper
few weeks since the arrest of mid
die-agcd man for serious crime was
mentioned. His crime and two-thirds
of all the crime committed, was due to
the same cause-strong drink. Follow
ing the notice was this statement made
by the prisoner:
Drink was the cause of my rum.
Nobody knows the power of such an
appetite but the man who has suffered
from it. Years ago l took my dying
mothers hand and promised her
would never drink another drop.
meant Just what l said. tried hard to
keep my promise, but the terrible
thirst for liquor Overcame me, and in a
few weeks | was drinking as hard as
ever. Two years ago my little girl
died. She begged me on her death
bed to stop drinking, and | promised
her | would. l called upon God to
L
it, but after my little girl had gone
the terrible thirst for liquor came
again. l fought against it, but it over
powered me. Drink had destroyed my
will-power. l loved my child, but
chains were forged about me that l
could not break
So you see, boys, how very hard it i;
to reform after one has formed the
habit of drinking The problem of
rcScuing the country from this terrible
curse is agitating the wisest heads
They feel that 1t must be driven out;
but what is the best way to do it? That
is the question. You boys can solve
tie problem. as far as you are individ-
ualiy concerned, by being determined
that you will never take even one
drink. If every boy would make that
resolution and keep it, old King Alco-
hols head would soon tumble off and
roll into the bottomlesS abyss.
This is a very serious matter, and in
view OF the ruined lives--thousands of
them-the broken-hearted mothers, the
amount of human misery caused by
this power for evil, beg that you will
consider this momentous subject, and
pledge yourselves to do all you can, in
the name and with the help of the
Lord to exterminate the serpent of
the still. Susan Teall Perry, in the
Evangelist.