Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-09-14
THE GOOD OF IT.

\ paper by Mrs. Inez Small, of south Deer
Isle union.l
These temperance folks, these white
ribboners, have been telling you for a
long time that beer, cider, rum, whisky,
and all alcoholic drinks, hard and soft,
are very bad things. They would make
you think that old King Alcohol was
very bad sort of fellow and not good for
anything at all. Now there are two sides
to every story-I know lots of things that
he is especially good at.
First. There is money getting. No one
can beat King Alcohol at getting money.
Why he will take the last cent poor
drunkard can beg, borrow or steal. 1t has
been shown by figures that man may
smoke away his thousands in life time,
but that is nothing to what this old king
will get away from the fellow that drinks,
il he has it. No cent will burn the pockets
of the boy who has an appetite for liquor.
The drunkard's wife wears rags and his
children cry for bread because King AL
cohol gets all the drunkard's money. oh,
the old fellow is good money getterl
Then his perseverance is something
wonderful. If he once gets a hold on
fellow he only lets go when he sees
cha4ce to get a better hold. The cries of
wife and h,tle ones, the entreaties OF
friends, the DOOR drunkard's own earnest
desire often cannot make the old king re-
lease his victim. Oh. his perseverance is
only equalled by that of the prince of
all evil.
Then he is good health destroyer. No
need to call in the doctor, if you want to
lose your health, just follow King AL
cohol little while, drink his poison, and
you will become pale, puny, blear-eyed,
and weak. What if you cannot run or
jump, eat or sleep, if you can crawl
around with cigar in your mouth and
drink your glass with the rest of the
topers, what more is to be desired?
Then he is good mind destroyer.
Some men and some boys are noted for
their intellect, their good sense and judg
ment; but these are not the men and boys
who loaf round following King Alcohol,
for he will shatter the most brilliant in
tellect in an incredibly short time, and
doctors tell US that more insanity is caused
by alcohol than by any other thing.
What is there left? The old king has
persevered and got the poor drunkards
money, health and mind. Well, there is
character but that soon goes. Sometimes
it goes first, and sometimes there is not
much TO begin with. But whatever he
has in that line the old king appropriates.
He will make the poor victim of his own
appetite lie, cheat, steal, even commit the
awful crime of murder; which reminds
me of something else that he is good at.
He is the greatest crime producer the
world has ever known. Our reform
schools, iails, penitentiaries and prisons
are tiIled with his subjects. If they had
been half as faithful to their own inter
, Is as they have been to him they would
have been good, law abiding citizens.
And the old king is able. He does not
need any help to do all these things.
Sometimes just at first he has it little
hard to get started in. If he does he calls
the tobacco king, and he, with his pipe,
his cud and his cigarette, gladly furnishes
all the help he needs.
There may be lots more things that you
can think OF, but l have said enough to
show just what kind of a king he is. And
now how many want to enlist in his ser
vice, serve him faithfully, and fill drunk
ard grave?