Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-12-13

festal occasion with the clank Of mad
mans chain.
Pass down the street and look into
the pawnbroker's window. Elegant
watch, elegant furs, elegant flute, ele-
CANT shoes, elegant scarf, elegant books,
elegant mementos. You sometimes see
people with pleased countenances look
ing into such window. When l look into
a pawnbroker' window, it seems to me
as If 1 had looked into the window Of
hell To whom did that watch belongi
To a drunkard. Towhom did those furs
belongi To q drunkards wife. To
whom did those shoes belong? To a
drunkard's child. take the three bra
zen balls at tho doorway Of pawnbro-
ker's shop and I clank them together,
sounding the knell of the drunkard's
soul. A pawnbroker's shop is only one
Of the eddies in the great torrent Of
municipal drunkenness. "Oh," says
some one, II don't patronize such
things. l have destroyed no young man
by such influences. l only take ale, and
it will take a great amount Of ale to in
toxicate Yes, but tell you there is
not drunkard in America that did not
begin with ale. Three X's-I do not
know what they mean. Three KS on
the brewers dray, three KS on the door
of the ginshop, three KS on the side OF
the bottle. Three KS. l asked man.
He could not tell asked another what
was the meaning Of the three KS. He
could not tell me. Then l made up my
mind that the three KS were an allie
CORY, and that they meant 30 heart
breaks, 30 agonies, 30 broken up house
holds, 80 prospects Of drunkard's
grave, 30 ways to perdition. Three ks.
If 1 were going to write a story, the
first chapter 1 would call "Three KS"
and the last chapter would call 1.-The
Pawnbroker's Shop" Oh, beware Of
your influence.
Winter Temptations.
The winter season is especially full
Of temptation, because Of the long even
ings allowing such full swing for evil
indulgences. You can scarcely expect q
Young man to 90 into his room and sit
there from to II o'clock in the even
ing, reading Motley's Dutch Republlc" "
or John Fosters essays. 1t would be
very beautiful thing for him to do, but
be will not do It, The most Of our
young men are busy in offices, in fac
tories, in banking houses, IN stores, IN
shops, and when evening comes they
want the fresh air, and they want sight
seeing, and they must have it, they will
have it, and they ought to have It. Most
Of the men here assembled will have
three or four evenings Of leisure on the
winter nights After tea the man puts
on his hat and coat and he gees out.
One form Of allurement says, Come in
here" Satan says: 1t is best for you
to 90 in. You ought not to be so green.
By this time you ought to have seen
everything" And the temptations shall
be mighty in dull times such as we have
had. bat which, I believe, are gone, Tor
hear all over the land the prophecy OF
great prosperity, and the railroad men
and he merchants, they all tell me OF
the days Of prosperity they think are
coming, and in many departments they
have already come, and they are going
to come in all departments, but those
dull times through which we have
passed have destroyed a great many
men. The question Of a livelihood is
with a vast multitude the great ques-
tion. There are young men who expect
ed before this to set up their household,
but they have been disappointed in the
gains they have made. They cannot sup
port themselves, how can they support
others? And, to the curse Of modern So
ciety, the theory is abroad that man
must not marry until he has achieved a
fortune. when the twain ought to start
at the foot of the hill and together climb
to the top.
That is the old fashioned way, and
that will be the new fashioned way II
society is ever redeemed. But during
the hard times, the dull times, so many
men were discouraged, so many men
had nothing to do-they could get moth
ing to do-a pirate bore down on the
ship when the sails were down and the
vessel was making no headway. People
say they want more time to think. The
trouble is, too many people have had too
much time to think, and If our mer-
chants had not had their minds divert
ed many of them would long before
this have been within the four walls OF
an insane asylum. These long winter
evenings, be careful where you spend
them. This winter will decide the tenn
poral and eternal destiny Of hundreds OF
men in this audience.
Attractive Homes
Then the winter has especial temp
tations in the fact that many homes are
peculiarly unattractive at this season.
In the summer months the young man
can sit out on the steps, or he can have
a bououet in the vase on the mantel, or,
the evenings being so short, soon after
paslioht he wants to retire anyhow. But
there are many parents who do not un-
derstand how to make the long winter
evenings attractive to their children. 1t
Is amazing to me that so many old peo-
ple do not understand young people. 10
hear some Of these parents taik you
would think they had never themselves
bson young and had been born with
.pectaclss on. Oh, n Is dolofous for
Young people to sii in the house from 2
70 II O'Clock at night and to hear par
euts groan about their. ailments and the
nothingnsss Of this world. The nothing
ness of this world How dare you talk
such blasphemyi II took God six days
to make this world, and he has allowed
It 5000 years to hang upon his holy
heart. and this world has shone on you
and blessed you and caressed You for
these so or 20 years, and yet you dare
talk about the nothingness Of this world
Why. it is a magnificent world. l DC
not believe in the whole universe there
is a world equal TO is, except it be heay
en-. You cannot expect your children tC
stay in the house these long winter even
ings to hear you denounce this star light
ed, sun warmed, shower baptized, dow
or strewn, angel watched, God inhabls