Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1891-11-12
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
a SAD STORY.
An Incident Illustrative OF the Dreadful
Power of Rum.


long since this heading appeared among
the local items: "A Sad story" II was
a short concise story, printed in ten
lines of the column devoted to items of
local nature: Frank 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 his story TO
the physician lie had been living in
the city under an assumed name for a
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 a 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 a delicate
constitution the exposures incident to
a vagrant, drunkard's life had told
upon him. His friends were notified of
his illness but be 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 drunkard; he
might have behaved himself. Yes.
yes, ne 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
tian teaching, but liquor was his
master. Once he was temperate,
happy boy, but some time he took
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 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 1t entirely alone.
No arguments for or against will be
then. The power of the habit
of liquor drinking once formed is some
thing very hard to be overcome.
In the police reports of daily paper
a few weeks since the arrest of mid
dle-aged man for a serious crime was
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 ! took my dying
mothers hand and promised her !
would never drink another drop. /
meant just what | 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
lied. She begged me on her death
bed to stop drinking, and ! promised
her | would. | called upon God to
witness the promise. | wanted to keep
il, but after my little girl had gone
the terrible thirst for liquor came
again. fought against it, but it over
me. Drink had destroyed my
l loved my child, but
chains were forged about me that
could not break
So you see, boys how very hard it is
10 reform after zone has formed the
habit of drinking. The problem of
rescuing 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
S the question. You boys can solve
lie problem, as far as you are individ-
ialiy concerned, by being determined
hat you win never take even one
rink. If every boy would make that
and keep it, old King Alco-
lol's head would soon tumble off and
oil into the bottomless abyss.
This is very serious matter, and in
Jew of the ruined lives-thousands of
hem-the brolsen-hearted mothers the
'orrowing friends, and the unlimited
mount of human misery caused by
his power for evil, ! beg that you will
consider this momentous subject, and
'ledge yourselves to do all you can, in
he name and with the help of the
sord, to exterminate the serpent of /
be still Susan Teal Perry, in the
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