The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-11-05

| StfDln tlTluh hiuuits iilE ItSo VI 49,
faster than it puts them out. There
were three taverns. That which cursed
the Italian village curses all Christen'
dom to-day - too many taverhs'
There are streets in some OF oui
cities where there are three OF
four taverns on every block; aye
where every other house is a tavern.
! You can take the Arabic numerai OF
| my text. the three, and put on the
right-haud side Of it one cipher, and
n two ciphers, and four ciphers, and
that reinforcement of numerals VIII
not express the statistics OF American
: rummeries. Even il it were a good,
: healthy business, supplying necessity
I an article superbly nutritious, 1t is a
I business nightly overdone, aud there
/ are three taverns where there ought TO
r be only one.
{ The fact is, there are ia another
sense three tayerns now, the gorgeous
, tavern for the atfiuent, the medium
, tavern for the working classes, and the
tavern OF the Sums, and they stand in
line, and many people beginning with
the first come down through the sec
ond and come out at the third. AT the
first of the three tayerns. the wines are
of celebrated vintage, and the whis-
kies are said to lie pure, and they are
quatfed from cut glass, at marble side
tables, under pictures approaching
masterpieces. The patrons pull of
their kid gloves, aud hand their silk
hats to the waiter, and push back their
hair with a hand on one finger Of
which is a cameo. But those patrons
are apt to stop visiting at that place.
1t is not the money that a man pays
for drinks, for what are a few hun
drea or a few thousand dollars
10 q man Of large income
but their brain gets touched, and
that uneaIaaces their Judgment, and
they can see fortunes in enterprises
sarcharged with disaster. In longer
or shorter time they change taverns,
and they can down 10 tavern the Sec
oad, where the pictures are not quite
50 serapalons of suggestion, and the
Z small table is rousher, aud the castor
stsnaink en- il Is of German silver. and
,he air hiss been kept over from the
night before, and that which they sip
Irs3n the pewter maS has u larger per-
centaSe Of beaziae, ~aaifergis, creosote,
heneAae. strychniae, p~rgAssie acid, CO.
e3tHs todsea>, plaster of paris, copperas
and nlghtsAade. The patron ma be
seen a.unQs. every dag, aud perhaps
many Times the same day, al tais sav-
era the second. bat he is preparing to
graduate. Brain, liver, heart. nerves
are rapidly giving away, The tavern
tne sec0aa has It's dismal echo in his
business destroyed and family scat
tered, aud woes that choke ones
vocabulary. Tune passes on, and he
enters tavern the third, a red light out |
side;a h~lceoughing and besotted group |
inside, He will be dragged out Of doors
about two O'Clock in the morning, and
left on the sidewalk. because the bar.
tender wants to Shut up. The poor
victim has taken the regular course in
The college Of degradation. He has
49, "flANth" itt oh HIS S"UllGu, |
bruised and blotched physiognomy. He
is a regular graduate of the three
taVerns. AS the police take him
and put him in the ambulance the
wheels seem 10 rumble with two rolls
Of thunder, one of which says: Look
not upon the wine when is is red,
when it moyeth itself Alright in the
cup. for a. tie last it biteth like a SER
peut ami stingeth like an adder"
The other thunder roll says: "All
drunkards shall have their place in
the lake that burneth fire and with
birthstone"
am glad to find in this scene of the
text that there is such a thing as de-
cining successfully great tavernian
temptations. eau see from what Paul
sad and did after he had travelled the
following II miles of his journey, that
he had received no damage at the three
tarerns. How much he was tempted
know not Do not suppose he was su-
perior to temptation. That particu-
lar temptation has destroyed many OF
the grandest, mightiest, noblest states
men, philosophers, heroes, clerpymen.
apostles of law and medicine and gov.
eminent and religion. Paul was not
physically well under any circum
stances; it was not in mock deprecia-
ton that he said he was I'm bodily
presence weak" 1t seems that his
eyesight was so poor that he did his
writing through an amanuensis, for he
mentions 1T as something remarkable
that his shortest epistlc. the one to
Philemon, was in his own p%enmauship.
saying: II, Paul, Lave written it with
my W hand" He had been thrown
from his horse, he had been stoned, he
had been endungeoned, he had had his
nerves pulled on by preaching at
Athens to the most scholarly audience
OF all the earth, and at Corinth to the
most brilliantly protiigate assemblage,
and been howled upon by the Ephes;an
worshipers oil Diana, tried for his life
before Felix, charged by Festus with
being insane, had crawled up on the
beach, drenched in the shipwreck.
and much OF the time had an iron hand.
cum on his wrist, and If any man
needed stimulus, Paul needed II. but
with NIL his physical exhaustion. he
got past the three taverns undamayed
and stepped into Rome all ready for tho
tremendous ordeal to which he was
subjected. Oh! How many mighty
men feeling that they must brace mn
after extraordinary service, aud pre.
pare themselves for other service, have
called on the spirit of wine for insnir,.
tion' n in a few years have been sac
rihced on the altar of Moloch, who
sits on a throne Of human carcasses. 7,
would not be wise, or kind, or Chris.
tian, TO call their names in public. b,,
you call them out Of your own memorv
Oh! how many splendid men could MT
get past the three taverns.
Notice that q profound mystery /,
attached To these Italian 49,