The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-05-18
THE MODERN SALOON.
REV. THOMAS DIXON CONTINUES HIS
SERMONS ON The GATES or HELL

/ He Maintains That Very Fe~ Saloons OBJ
/ serve the Law, Lar II Ts--Ths sAioon
| It.eif Il Organized Iawiessness-Ths
| Vices OF Civilization
NEW YORK, May I4--Rev. Thomas
Dixon, Jr., delivered today the fourth
sermon of the series On the Coates OF
| Hell In Modern Babylon" The subject
was The Saloon In the City" The text
chosen was from Habakkuk ii. Is, Woe
unto him that giveth his neighbor drink. :
The problem of the saloon is 50 old
and yet ever new. 1t IL scarcely posi-
BILE to treat it thoroughly without re-
peating what one has said again and
again. And yet it is a subject upon
which repetition is needed. Truths are
never learned until they are dinned into
| the ears of the unthinking multitude.
They must be repeated thousand times
! before they are even recognized. Orig
| inality is not much of force in reform
work. The secret of success Is, after
| all, repetition. The curse Of drink
seems to be commensurate with the
progress of the pressure Of life. In our
advancing civilization the more intense
our life becomes the more deadly be-
come the power of the saloon and the
rayages of intemperance. The modern
city has brought men into closer rela-
tons than ever before in the history OF
the world. 1t has quickened our rate Of
living. Methuselah lived in years, but
he did not live in thought as compared
| Euarvfhspr foy,d q
to stimulate and to intensity life in the
CITY, even to the point of insanity, in the
reaction of nerves, and the result is the
debauchery of drink.
The Photographer was wiser than he
dreamed when he recently made an
other joke on the Indian and his prog
ress. A leading citizen of the village
had returned from trip to the great
west and asked by one Of the company,
Ibid you see any signs OF civilization
among the Indians?" why, yes" re-
piled the leading citizen hopefully;
mighty nigh all Of them drink whisky
and smoke cigarettes" The intenser the
civilization Of today the higher these
evils rise and the greater the consequent
curse.
The use of alcohol on the nervous sys-
tenn has not been understood in thepast.
We are gaining light. DIR. N. s. Davis
has called attention recently to the illu-
sions that have been imposed upon the
human mind by the use Of alcohol in
both health and disease. He has shown
that by its anasthetic effect on the nerve
cells of the brain the consciousness Of
the individual is lessened, and he is de-
luded with the idea that he has been re-
ieved Of the sufering-for instance, Of
cold or heat-when, as fact, he has not
been relieved at all, but his power to
perceive has been deadened. So in the
progress of disease its use has the same
an@sthetic effect. 1t does notremove the
exciting cause nor increase nutrition. It
has proved q curse in thousand in
stances, even in its use from medicinal
point of view.
The enormous extent of the drink evil
Is impossible for the mind Of man to
grasp. It is the one deadly shadow that
overspreads not simply the life Of the
people in the city. but in the whole ma
ton. It is tho one curse that touches US
financially, socially, politically and NOR
ally. 1t has concentrated its forces Of
late in theAcities as never before. 1t has
been shown that the city Of Chicago alone
consumes SAC, 00o, 600 worth of beer in a
single year. Pittsburg spends SIS. 000, 900
for drink. New York spends not less
than sec, ZOO. 900 to $40, 600, 900 for beer
alone. We have about 5000 licensed
drinking places and about 8 900 illicit es-
Establishments where drink is sold with
out license, and tho drink establish
ments swing wide their doors day and
night and seven days in the week. As
compared with them the church cuts an
insignificant figure in the life Of the peo-
pie.
On Fourteenth street there Is his
toric saloon with its outfit Of evil ad-
venturers and adventuresses who daily
and nightly throng 1t. 1t Is fitted up
In magnificent style. Its chandeliers
flash with beauty. It's brilliant light
invites the passerby to the late hours
Of the night, and even in the morning.
Thousands upon thousands of hurrying
feet cross its threshold daily. It's bust
ness never ceases day or night. By its
side stands church, silent and grim
end unlighted save on special occasions.
Below Fourteenth street there are III
churches; there are 1905 saloons.
The saloon as an institution suinqs
open more doors to he'll than any other
poarer in the modern city.
| Observation-Disclosures ,-
First-Because the staple Of its COM
merce, the commodity In which it deals,
Is deadly poison. The principle Of its
fascination over man Is the principle Of
Its power to poison those who consume
1t. 1t kills man physically. It makes
him the prey to every disease that may
attack him In the FIRST place. The man
whose system has been broken by the
power Of drink is the first victim of ey-
cry pestilence that afflicts the race. A
young man suddenly died with pneumo-
mia next door to me the other day. The
doctor said that the trouble was he drank.
and the doctor added, "A man who
drinks has no chance of life in fighting
pneumonia. It not only makes a man
the easy prey to every disease that seizes
his body, but it produces disease of it.
self. Medicine has demonstrated that
alcoholism Is terrible physical disease.
and drunkenness is a physical disease.
The estab lishment OF the Kelley institute
and its cures wrought through physical
process have demonstrated the fact Of the
terrible extent Of this physical evil and
OF its power over the body.
Not only does 1t damn the body of the
man that uses it, but 1t blasts the life of
generations unborn. 1t Is handed down
as heritage Of death from man to child.
A Philadelphia surgeon recently had a
curious experience. A lady brought
her child to his Office and asked hin
II he gould get an orange seed ont Of
the child's throat. He found that the
seed had lodged In the windpipe and
was unable to get 1t out. He thought
that 1t would come out naturally, and al
1t would cause no Inconvenience would
/ DO he, 49, l.