The Monmouth inquirer., 1893-05-18
THE MODERN SALOON.
REV. THOMAS DIXON CONTINUES HIS
SERMONS ON THE GATES OF HELL.


serve tho Law, Lax as 1t Is-The Saloon
Itself Is Organized Lawlessness-The
vices of Civilization.
New YoaE, May 14.-Rev. Thomas
Dixon, Jr., delivered today the fourth
sermon Of the series on the "Gates of
Hell In Modern Babylon The subject
was ssThe 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 so old
and vet ever new. 1t is scarcely possi-
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 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
ravages of ilNemperance. 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
to stimulate and to intensity life i'll the
city, even to the point of insanity, in the
reaction of nerves, and the result is the
debauchery of drink.
The paragrapher 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,
did you see any signs of civilization
among the IndiansY' .sWhy, 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-
TEN has not been understood in the past.
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 anRsthetic 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 suffering-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. It does notremove the
exciting cause nor increase nutrition. 1t
has proved a curse in thousand in
stances, even in its use from a 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 thar
overspreads not simply the life Of tho
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 tho cities as never before. 1t has
been shown that the city of Chicago alone
consumes 10000, 900 worth of beer in a
single year. Pittsburg spends SIS, ,o0O,0 600
for drink. New York spends not less
than $60.000,000 to 1000, 900 for beer
alone. We have about 5000 licensed
drinking places and about 5000 illicites-
adjustments 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 it's outfit of evil ad-
venturers and adventuresses who daily
and nightly throng it. 1t is fitted up
in magnificent style. Its chandeliers
fash 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. Its bust
ness never ceases day or night. By its
side stands church, silent and grim
and unlighted save on special occasions.
Below Fourteenth street there are III
churches; there are 4,065 saloons.
The saloon as an institution swings
open more doors to he'll than any other
poacer IN the modern city.
Observation-Disclosures.
First-Because the staple of its com
merce, the commodity in which it deals,
is q deadly poison. The principle of its
fascination over man is the principle Of
its power to poison those who consume
it. 1t kills man physically. 1t 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 ev-
cry pestilence that af1icts 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