The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-05-18
THE MODERN SALOON.
REV. THOMAS DIXON CONTINUES HIS
SERMONS ON THE GATES OF HELL.

Itself Is Organized Lawlessness-Tho
Vices Of Civilization.
NEW York, May 14.-.Rev. Thomas
Dixon, Jr., delivered today the fourth
sermon Of the series on the "Gates Of
He'll In Modern Babylon" The subject
was "The Saloon In the City" The text
chosen was from Haballruk ii, 10, "Woe
unto him that giveth his neighbor drink"
The problem Of tho saloon is so old
and yet ever new. 1t is scarcely posi-
BILE to treat it thoroughly without re-
peating what one has said again and
again. And yet it Is q subject upon
which repetition is needed. Truths ore
never learned until they are dinned into
the ears of the unthinlzing multitude.
They must be repeated q thousand times
before they are even recognized. Orig
inality is not much Of a 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
ravages Of intemperance. The modern
city has brought men into closer rela-
tions 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
with the modern man. Everything tends
| tc stimulate and to intensity life in the
| city, even TO the point Of insanity, in the
| reaction Of nerves, and the result is tho
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 q trip to the great
west and asked by one of the company,
"Did you see any signs Of civilization
among the Indiansf" "Why, yes" re-
Piled the leading citizen hopefully;
'tmighty nigh all Of them drink whisky
and smoke cigarettes" The intenser the
civilization of today the higher these
evils rise apd the greater the consequent
curse.
The use of alcohol on the nervous sys-
tenn has not been understood in thepast.
We are gaining light. DR.. 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 an9sthetic 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-
lieved of the suiferirg--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
anesthetic effect. 1t does notremove the
exciting cause nor increase nutrition. 1t
has proved a curse in thousand in.
stances, even in its use from medicinal
point of view.
The enormous extent of the drink evil
Is impossible for tho mind Of man to
grasp. 1t is the one deadly shadow that
overspreads not simply the life of the
people in the city, but in the whole ma
ton. 1t is the one curse that touches us
financially, socially, politically and NOR,
ally. 1t has concentrated its forces OF
late in the cities as never before. 1t has
been shown that the city of Chicago alone
consumes $40 600 900 worth of beer in O
single year, Pittsburg spendsS1S, ,OO0, ,00C
for drink. New York spends not less
than S6O,OOO,O0O to $4,000, 600 for beer
alone. We have about 5000 licensed
drinking places and about 5000 illicit es,
tablishments where drink is sold with.
out license, and the 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
fventurers and adventuresses who daily
and nightly throng it. 1t is fitted NJ
in magnificent style. Its chandeliers
fash with beauty. Its brilliant hght
invites the passerby to the late hours
Of the night, and even in the morning
Thousands upon thousands of hurryinl
feet cross its threshold daily. It's bust
ness never ceases day or night. By it.
side stands church, silent and grin
Below Fourteenth street there are III
churches; there are LOSS saloons,
The saloon as an institution sicing
open more doors to hell than dny Othe1
potcer 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 iti
fascination over man is the principle o.
its power to poison those who consume
it. 1t kills man physically. 1t makes
him the prey to every disease that MAJ
attack him in the first place. The MAJ
whose system has been broken by tht
power Of drink is the first victim Of ev
cry pestilence that affiicts the race.
young man suddenly died with pneumo
mia next door TO me the other day. Tht
doctor said that the trouble was he drank
and the doctor added, "a man wh(
drinks has no chance of life in fighting
pneumonia" 1t not only makes a MAI
the easy prey to every disease that seizei
his body, but it produces disease of it
self. Medicine has demonstrated thai
alcoholism is terrible physical disease
and drunkenness is n physical disease
. | The Establishment of the Kelley institute
and it's cures wrought through physica
process have demonstrated the factof tlt
terrible extent Of this physical evil anC
Of its power over the body.
Not only does it damn the body Of thC
man that uses it, but it blasts the liGe Of
generations unborn. 1t is handed down
Il L n 4. g. 10. a