Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-05-04
A DRUNKARD'S STORY.

|
drink, 81 am not drinking now.
Sounds kind of queer, doesn't it,
to hear Jack HJward, the north
side bum, refuse a drink of whisky,
but i haven't tasted a drop since |
left here that night, five months
ago. Listen, and III tell you the
reason
Tue earnest wOrdsOfLne speaker
attracted the attention of the revel-
ers, and tbey gathered around
him.
"You remember, Bill, when l
buried my child, how I began to
come here, after visiting its grave,
to take a drop to cheer me, and
how nv visits became more fire.
quent and my pOtations deeper;
how, from a man with fair means
and bright future, | became a
confirmed druukard, an outcast,
Stunned by all, pitled by few; how
nv wife was driven by my inhn'
man conduct and brutal nature to
seek the shelter Of her fathers
home, there to die ola broken heart.
You know all this, and you know
that after her death / descended
lower, if possible, in the scale of
humanity.
"And perhaps you remember
that last night was in here. How
the wind blew and in what a wind
ing sheet of snow the earth was
wrapped! Fit emblem of what my
very life then was.
81 had imbibed even more freely
than usual that night, and in a
drunken stupor wandered l kne W
not Thither. | only remember of
fighting against the piercing wind,
of trying to find my way, and then
came oblivion and peace.
"Yes | was bomc-lt the home
of my childhood-surrOunde1 oy
the loyed ones of yOre, and my
heart beat light within me. My
father and mother sat in their easy
chairs before the fire, and on the
other side of the room, rocking the
cradle, with a smile ofpeTfect hap
piness and contentment illumlnat-
ing her features, was tue scene
changed.
"The old folks were gone, and my
wife and child were alone. Little
lines of care could be traced upon
her face, and while she knelt by
the side of the sleeping babe and
prayed the angels to watch over
him a sob would rise in her throat.
"And then appeared before me
in rapid succession the manyphaSes
of my checkered lite, and | saw
myself as | really was; saw the
hideousues5 Of my past career and
heard the maniacal laugh Of the
demon who had me IN his power.
| On one side were wife and child
pleading for the redemption of the
sinner, aud on the other the temp
ter, with goblet etoutstretched, beck
oning the poor, besotted creature
to approach-then all became
blank.
"They told me many weeks after,
when l had returned to conscious
ness, that they found ME lying up
on the grave of my child, wrapped
in a mantle Of snow, and that they
had taken me to the hospital,
where | had lain IN raging fever
for some time. l recovered and
was then taken, through the kind
ness OF a friend who thought there
was yet the spirit OF nan in this
poor frame, to one OF the instltu-
tions for the redemption of the
drunkard.
"And this, gentlemen, is Why l
raise my hand against the accnrs-
ed traffic, why | spend the short
space of time allotted me in crying
down this terrible evil. Through
the exposure of that night [ con-
tracted a disease th at lsslowly but
surely carrying me to that bourne
whence none returns, but l am
content, 1 see her standiugon the
other side, and the smile OF for
giyeness is stamped upon her fea'
tures, while the love look Is once
more IN her eyes. And my child,
too. on her breast, is stretching
out its hands to me with joyous
aud happy laugh. | am ready to
60 as soon as my mission here Is
ended"
He ceased speaking AMI slowly
lett the room.
For a moment nothing was said,
and then one of the reyelers in a
| firm voice remarked:
"Gentlemeu, l have taken my
last glass;
"And Ip "And Iw came from