The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-02-17

stimulus. He will be first-rate prey
for erysipelas and rheumatism of the
heart. The doctor coming in will at
a glance see it is not only present dis
ease he must fight, but years of fast liv-
ing. The clergyman, for the sake of the
feelings of the family, on the funeral
day will only talk in religious general.
ities The men who got his yacht in
the eternal rapids will not be at his
obsequies. They will have pressing en-
gagements that day. They will send
flowers to the coffin lid. and send their
wives to utter words of sympathy, but
they will have engagements elsewhere.
they never come. Bring me mallet and
chisel, and will cut on the tombstone
that mans epitaph: blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord
No. you say, "that would not be
appropriate" Let me die the death
of the righteous, and let my last end
be like his" "No," you say, that
would not be appropriate" Then give
me the mallet and chisel, and l will
cut an honest epitaph: "Here lies the
victim OF dissipating club house," l
think that damage is often done by
the scions of some aristocratic family
who belong to one of these dissipat-
ing club houses. People coming up
from humber classes feel it an honor
to belong to the same club, forgetting
the fact that many of the sons and
grandsons of the large commercial es-
adjustments of the last generation
are now. as to mind, imbecile; as to
body, diseased; as to morals, rotten
They would have got through their
property long ago if they had had full
possession of it; but the willy ances-
tors, who earned the money by hard
knocks, foresaw how it was to be, and
they tied up everything in the will.
Now, there is nothing of that UNI
worthy descendant but his grand
fathers name and roast beef ratundi-
ty. And yet how many steamers there
are which feel honored to lash fast
that worm-eaten tug. though it dra gs
them straight into the breakers.
Let me say to fathers who are be-
coming dissipated, your sons will fol-
low you. You think your son does not
know. He knows all about it. have
heard men say: II am profane. but
never in the presence of my chill
dren." Your children know you swear.
l have heard men say: II drink, but
never in the presence of my chill
dren." Your children know you
drink. l describe now what occurs
in hundreds of households in this
country. The tea hour has arrived.
The family are seated at the tea table.
Before the rest of the family arise from
the table the father shoves back his
chair, says he has an engagement,
lights cigar, goes out, comes back
after midnight and that is the history
of s65 nights of the year. Does any
man want to stultify himself by saying
that that is healthy, that that is right,
that that is honorable? Would your
wife have married you with such pros
poets?
The revolving Drummond light in
front of an hotel, or in front of a loco
motive, may flash this way, and flash
that, upon the noun tains, upon the IA
vines, upon the city; but l take the
lamp of Gods eternal truth, and I
flash it upon all the club houses of
these cities, so that no young man
shall be deceived. BY these tests try
them, try them! Oh, leave the dissi-
pating influences of the club room, if
the influences of your club room
are dissipating! Paid your money,
have you? Better sacrifice than your
soul. Good fellows, are they? Under
that process they will remain such.
Mollusca may be found 300 fathoms
down beneath the Norwegian seas;
Siberian stag get fat on the stunted
growth OF Altian peaks; IIedysariun
grows amid the desolation of Sahara;
tufts OF osier and birch grow on the
hot lips of volcanic Sneehattan; but q
pure heart and an honest life thrive in
a dissipating club house-never!
Oh, my heart aches. l see men
struggling against evil habits, and
they want help. l have knelt beside
them, and l have heard them cry for
help, and then we have risen, and he
has put one hand on my right shout
der, and the other hand on my left
shoulder, and looked into nv face
with an affinity of earnestness
which the judgment day will have
no power to make me forget,
as he has cried out with his lips
scorched in ruin: God help me.'
For such there is no help except in the
Lord God Almighty. l am going to
make very stout rope. You know
that sometimes ropemaker will take
very small threads and wind them to-
gether until after awhile they be.
come ship cable. And 1 am 60
ing to take some very small, del
icate threads and wind them to-
gether until they make very stout
rope. l will take all the members of
the marriage day thread OF laughter,
a thread of light, thread of music, q
thread of banqueting, thread of con-
graduation, and l twist them together,
and l have one strand. Then | take
thread of the hour of the first
advent in your house, a thread of the
darkness that preceded and a thread
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