Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-05-26
Am ARMY OF DRINKERS.
some startling Facts and Figures of tn.
Rum Traffic.

into a street with saloons on both sides,
allowing 20 feet to each saloon, they
would make street POS miles long.
Let us imagine them brought together
into such street, and let us suppose
that the moderate drinkers and their
families are marching into it at the up
per end, and let us see what that street
turns out in one year.
What army is that which comes
marching down the street in solid
column, five abreast, extending $40
miles? II is the army of 100000 men
and women who daily and constantly
go 10 saloons for Intoxicating drinks as
beverage. Marching 20 miles day,
it will take them more than 2S days TO
go by.
Now they are gone, and close in their
rear comes another army. marching five
abreast and go miles in length. In it
there are $50. 600 confirmed drunlxards.
They are men and women who have lost
control of their appetites, who are in the
regular habit of getting drunk and
making beasts of themselves. March
ing two abreast the army is $50 miles
in length. Scan them closely. There
are gray-haired men and fair-haired
boys. There are. alas! many women in
that army, sunk to deeper depths than
the men because of the greater heights
from which they fell. 1t will take them
seven days to go by.
1t is sad and siclSening sight; but,
do not turn away yet; for here comes
another army-lO0. 600 criminals. From
jails and prisons, and penitentiaries,
they come. At the head of the army
comes long line of persons, whose
hands are besmeared with human blood.
With ropes around their nechs, they are
on their way TO the gallows. Others
are going to prison for life. Every
crime known to our laws has been com
mitted by these persons, while under
the influence OF drink.
But bark! Whence come those yells,
and who are those bound with strong
chains, and guarded by strong men, that
90 racing by? They are raving mani
acs, made such by drink. Their eyes
are tormented with awful sights, and
their ears ring with awful sounds.
Shiny reptiles crawl over their bodies,
and fiends from hell torment them be-
fore their time. 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?
II is the line of funeral professions.
One hundred thousand who have died
the drunkard's death are being carried
TO their graves. Drunkards donot have
many friends to mourn their loss, and
we can put thirty of their funeral pro-
cessions into mile. We have thus a
procession 1888 miles in length. II will
take good share of the year for them
to go by, for funeral professions move
slowly. Yes, most OF them do: but
every now and then an uncofiined
corpse, in rough cart. is driven rapid
ly by, and we hear the brutal driver
sing:
"Quick. rattle his bones, rattle his bones
Over the stones;
He is only pauper whom nobody owns"
Look into the coffins as they go by.
See the dead drunkards. Some died of
delirium tremens, and the lines of ter
ror are plainly marked on their faces.
Some froze to death by the roadside,
too drunk to reach their homes. Some
stumbled from the wharf and were
drowned. Some wandered into the
woods and died. and rotted on the face
of the earth. Some blew their own
brains out Some were fearfully |
stabbed in drunken 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 have
anyway be fifty inscribed: He died |
a drunlSard's DEATH"
Close behind this comes another long
line of funeral professions; we know /
not how many. but they are more |
numerously attended by mourning |
friends. They contain the remains of /
those who have met death |
through the carelessness and cruel
" Of drunken men. Some died /
of broken hearts. Some were foully /
murdered. Some were burnt TO death /
in buildings set on FIRE by drunken /
men. Some were horribly mangled on
the railroad, because of drunken en-
up on a steamboat. because a drunken /
captain ran a race with rival boat.
But here comes another army-the
children-innocent ones. upon whom
has been visited the iniquities Of their
fathers. How many are there? Two
hundred thousand. Marching two
abreast. they extend up the street thirty |
miles. Zach one must bear through 1
life the stigma of being a drunkard's
child They are reduced TO poverty
want and beggary. They live IA IL
norance and vice
Some Of the children are moaning
with hunger and some are shiverins
with the cold. for they have not rags {. !
keep them warm. A large number o
them are idiots. made 30 before thev