Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-05-28
THEBA WITH HOLES
DR.. TALMAeE'S SERMON ON IMPROv-
lDENcE AND ALCOHOLISM.

turies-A Plea For Christian Prudence
Christ as an Aid Against Temptation.
WASHINGTON, May 23.-This sermon
of DR.. Talmage is an arraignment Of
improyidence in all classes, and of al
coholism as the greatest enemy Of the
working people. The text is Haggai j,
6, He that earneth wages earneth
wages to put it into bag with holes. "
In Persia, under the reign of Darius
Hystaspes, the people did not prosper.
They made money, but did not keep it..
They were like people who have sack
in which they put money, not knowing
that the sack is torn or eaten of moths,
or in some way made incapable of hold
ing valuables. As fast as the coin was
put in one end of the sack it dropped
out Of the other. 1t made no difference
how much wages they got, for they lost
them. "He that earneth wages earneth
wages to put it into bag with holes. F"
What has become of the billions and
billions Of dollars in this country paid
to the working classesf Some Of these
moneys have gone for house rent, or
the purchase Of homesteads, or ward
robe, or family expenses, or the necessi-
ties Of life, or to provide comforts in
old age. What has become Of other bill
lions? Wasted in foolish outlay. Wasted
at the gaming table. Wasted in intox-
icants. Put into a bag with 100 holes.
Gather up the money that the work
ing classes have spent for drink during
the last 80 years, and / will build for
every workineman a house and lay out
for him garden, and clothe his sons in
broadcloth and his daughters in silks,
and place at his front door a prancing
span of sorIels or bays, and secure
him policy Of lie insurance, so that
the present home may lie well main
tanned after he is dead. The most per
sistent most overpoweriDg enemy Of the
working classes is intoxicating liquor
1t is the anarchist of the centuries ard
has boycotted and is now boycotting
the body and mind and soul Of Amer.
ican labor. 1t is to it q worse foe than
monopoly and worse than associated
capital
A Strike Agninst Strong Drink.
It annually swindles industry out Of
o large percentage Of its earnings. Itl
holds out its blasting solicitations tOl
the mechanic or operative on his way
to work, and at the noon spell, and on
his way home at eyentide; on Satur
day, when the wages are paid, it'll
snatches a large part Of the money that
might come into the family and sacri-
fees it among the saloon keepers. Stand
the saloons Of this country side by side,
and it is carefully estimated that they
would reach from New York to Chica-
go. Forward, march" says the drink
power, land take possession Of the
American nation.
The drink business is pouring its Wit |
riolic and damnable liquids down the
throats Of hundreds of thousands Of la
borers, and while the ordinary strikes
are ruinous beth to employers and en- |
ployees l proclaim a strike universal
against strong drink, which, if kept up, |
will be the relief of the working CLASSES
and the salvation Of the nation. l will |
undertake to say that there is not a
healthy labOrer in the United States
who within the next ten years, If he
will refuse all intoxicating beverages
and be saving, may not become a cap
italist on a small scale. Our country in
q year spends 81, 500, O5O, 600 for drink.
OF course the working classes DO great |
deal Of this expenditure. Careful statis-
tics show that the wage earning classes |
of Great Britain expend i'll liquors
400, 600, 900, or $500, 600, 600 year.
Sit down and calculate, oh, working |
man, how much you have expended in
these directions. Add it all up. Add |
up what your neighbors have expended |
and realize that instead of answering
the beck of other people you might have
been your own capitalist. When you
deplete a workingman's physical ener-
gy, you deplete his capital The stim-
ulated workman gives out before the
unstimulated workman. Ny father
said: II became a temperance man i'll
early life, because l noticed in the har
vest field that though was physically |
weaker than other workmen, could |
hold out longer than they. They took
stumulants, 1 took none" A brick
maker in England gives his experience
in regard to this matter among men in
his employ. He says, after investiga-
ton: 1.-THE beer drinker who made the
fewest bricks made 600, 900, and the alb
stainer who made the fewest bricks
TAG, 900. The difference in behalf of the I
abstainer over the indulger, $1,000.
The False Strength of Liquor.
When an army goes out to the battle,
the soldier who has water or coffee IN
his canteen marches easier and fights
better than the soldier who has whisky
in his canteen. Drink helps a man TO
fight when he has only one contestant
and that at the street corner, but when
be goes forth TO maintain some great
battle for God and his country, he
wants no drink about him. When the
Russians 60 to war, corporal passes
along the line and smells the breath of
every soldier If there be in his breath
taint of intoxicating liquor, the man
is sent back to the barracks. Why? He
cannot endure fatigue. All our young
men know this. When they are prepar-
ing for regatta or for ball club or
for an athletic wrestling, they abstain.
Our working people will be wiser after
awhile, and the money they fling away
on hurtful indulgenceS they will put
into cooperative association, and so be-
come capitalists. If the workingman
puts down bis wages and then takes his
expenses and spreads them out so they
will just equal, he is not wise. know
who are in perfect fidget
until they get rid Of their last dollar.
The following circumstances came
under our observation: A young man
worked hard to earn his 5000 or 500 |
yearly. Marriage day came. The bride
had inherited $500 from her grand
father. She spent every dollar of it on
the wedding dress. Then they rented