The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-03-25

HE'LL. FALLth the baghted hopes frustrated ambitions crushed
: aspirations, broken aeaFs-aa Of the suffering aud
sorrow which excessive drink has caused In this world could be gathered to-
gether reduced to- liquid and poured into tie Pacific ocean. 1t would make
every aobale an Infinite hell every air on a storm center Of distinctions
every gaDor a breath Of DEATH every animalcule a tortured aend, and cause
the mighty basin to burst its bounds wash down the law Of gragtaton and
deyastate the universe. Strong drink Is the greatest curse that ever be6r
mankind. It's worse than p@dence-equaly as bad $ poyerty-more
.hearlas than war and makes every soul that lives in it a ye1table
lend in he'll. Would to God that every drop on earth wofe-we like to
have said in perditou-but we would not be 50 uuktud to the spirits of the
damned We hardly know where to put II, unless 1t be IN the back yard
of some outcast shade, a million miles from the confines Of creation. And
we are not an ogereaous rantanEeFous prohibttonst, either But we are
against it. It does no good-and it does an Infinite deal Of harm. It is
ureing more young men to the shores Of ruin today than all the other da-
boical agencies in the world combined. They start out with the social
drink, taken for the purpose Of getting Jolly and to layea good time and
often end in broken health, shattered hopes, crushed hearts-wreck, ruin,
see The danger and avoid the consequences Of 50 terrible a snare The fol-
lowing which we take from the Scranton Chronicle presents a most pltiful
example Of such life:
sProbably no more eloquent or dramatic sermon on the sin Of drunken
ness was ever delivered than to which a small gathering Of drinking men
listened to In New Orleans bauoom recently. The drinkers group Of
wen-dTessed young men with plenty Of money-wete standing at the bar,
when apoor miserable specimen Of a tramp pushed open the swinging doors
and, with bleared eyes, looked at them appealfngly They ordered q drink
for him, paid for it, and then bosterousy demanded that he make a speech.
After swallowing the liquor the tramp gazed at them for an Instant, and
then with a dignity and eoquence that showed how far he had fallen In
the social scale, he began to speak.
Gentlemen, he said, Hook tonight at you and myself and it seems
to me | look upon the picture Of my lost manhood. This bloated face was
.OHCe az young dHu ldhuSono as fUuIs. 4us saiIlolnB inquire oue RaNkeu
as proud as yours, aman in the world of men. / too once had a home,
and friends and position. / had a wife as beautiful as an artists dream,
and I dropped the priceless pearl Of her honor and respect in the wine cup,
and Ceopatra-ike. saw it dissolve, and quafed It down In the brimmtng
.draught. Ihad children, as sweet and lovely as the flowers Of spring, and
NJ awthem fade and die under the curse of a drunkard father [ had a
home where loYel the flame upon the altar and mlnistered before It. and
I put out the holy fire and darkness and desoaH6n relgned In It's stead. q
had aspirations and ambitions that scared as high as the morning star,
and I broke aud bruised their beautiful wings, and at last sranJod them
that I might o tortured with their cries no more. To-day / am a husband
without wifi, q father without a child, a tramp with no home to call his
own, q man in whom every good impulse is dead. All, all swallowed up in
the maestrom Of drink
1.-THE tramp ceased speaking. The glass fell from his neryeless fingers
and shattered in a Thousand fragments on the floor The swinging doors
pushed open and shut to again, and when the little group about the bar
looked up the tramp was gone. He had gone out In the dark December
night to wander, no doubt TIL dawn, but he, o0tcast though he was, had
made an impression They felt that they had received a lesson which they
would remember while they lived, and when they left the barroom the
words Of the poor wandemr still sounded in their ears Ike a note oil
warming"