The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-06-04

1t almost extinguished his eyesight
Why did he add evening employment
to the day employment? To get
money. Why did he want to get
money? To lay up something fol-
a rainy day2 No. To get hi:
life insured, so that in case Of
his death his wife would not be a beg
gar? No. He put the extra evening
work to the day work that he might
get $50 to get his wife sealskin coat
The sister of the bride heard of thi:
achievement, and was not to be
eclipsed. She was very poor, and she
sat up working nearly all night for &
great while until she bought a seal
skin coat. / have not heard of the re
suit on that street The street wa:
full of those who are ON small incomes
but l suppose the contagion spread
and that everybody had a sealskir
coat, and that the people came out and
cried, practically, not literally
Though the heavens fall, we must
have sealskin coatw
1 was out west and minister of the
Gospel told me, in Iowa, that his church
and the neigh borhood had been impov.
erished by the fact that they put mort
| cages on their farms in order to send
their families to the Philadelphia cen
| tennial. 1t was not respectable not tC
! go to the centennial. Between such
evils and pauperism there is a very
| short step. The vast majority of chill
dren in your aims houses are there be-
| cause their parents are drunken, lazy,
| or recklesSly imprOyident.
| have no sympathy for skinflint saw
ing, but plead for Christian prudence,
You say it is impossible now to lay up
anything for a rainy day. know it,
but we are at the day break of national
prosperity. Some people think it is
mean to turn the gas low when they
go out of the parlor. They feel en-
barrassed if the door bell rings before
they have the gas lighted. They apollo
| gize for the plain meal, if you surprise
them at the table. Well, it is mean if
it is only to pile up a miserly board.
But if it be to educate your children,
if it be to give more help to your wife
when she does not feel strong, if it be
to keep your funeral day from being
Mortified beyond all endurance, be-
cause it is to be the disruption and
annihilation of the domestic circle-if
it be for that, then it is magnificent.
There are those who are kept in pow
erty because of their own fault They
might have been well off, but they
smoked or chewed up their earnings,
or they lived beyond their means,
while others on the same wages and on
the same salaries went on to cOmpe-
tency. l know man who is all the
time complaining of his poverty and
crying out against rich men, while he
himself keeps two dogs, and chews and
smokes, and is full to the chin with
whisky and beer. Wilkins Micaw Der
said to David COpperfeld: ''Copperfeld,
nv boy, one pound income, expenses
20 shillings and six pence; result, mis-
cry. But Copperfeld, my boy, one
pound income, expenses 10 shillings
and sixpence; result, happiness" But,
Oh, working man, take your morning
dram, and your noon dram, and your
evening dram, and spend everything
you have, and you insure poverty for
yourself and your children forever.
If by some generous fiat of the capi-
lists of this country or by new law of
the government of the United States,
% per cent. or so per cent. or 100 per
cent. were added to the wages of the
working classes of America it would
be no advantage to hundreds of them
unless they stopped strong drink. Aye,
until they quit that evil habit the more
money the more ruin, the more wages
the more holes in the bag.
Il : ~ l.
who are in a discipleship to the whisky
bottle, the beer jug and the wine flask.
And what l say to them will not be
more appropriate to the working
classes than to the business. classes,
and the literary classes, and all classes,
and not with the people of one age
more than of all ages. Take one good
square look at the suffering of the man
whom strong drink has enthralled, and
remember that toward that goal multi
tudes are running. The disciple of
alcoholism suffers the loss of self
respect. Just as soon as a man
wakes up and finds that he is
the captive of strong drink
recklessly he acts. He may say, Il
don't care;" he does care. lie can not
look pure man in the eye unless it is
with positive force of resolution.
Three-fourths of his nature is de-
stroyed; his self-respect is gone; he
says things he would not otherwise
say; he does things he would not other
wise do. When man is nine-tenthS
gone with strong drink the first thing
he wants to do is to persuade you that
he can stop any time he wants to. He can
not. The Philistines have bound him
hand and foot, and shorn his locks, and
put out his eyes, and are making HIM
grind in the mill of great horror
He can not stop. l viii prove it. He
knows that his course is bringing ruin
upon himself. He loves himself. If
he could stop he would. He knows
his course is bringing ruin upon his
family. He loves them. He would
stop is he could. He can not. Perhaps
he could three months or year ago,
but not now. Just ask him to stop for
a month. He can not; he knows he
can not, so he does not try.
| had friend who was for l5 years
going down under this evil habit. He
had large means He had given thou
sands of dollars to Bible societies and
reformatory institutions of ali sorts.
He was very genial, very generous, and
very lovable. and whenever he talked
about this evil habit he would say: II
can stop any time" But he kept GO
ing on, going on, down, down, down.
His family would say, Il wish you
would stop" Why" he would
say: Il can stop any time if
1 want TO" After awhile he
had delirium tremens; he had it twice;
end vet. after that be said: ~ could