Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-02-24

| honey manufactory. Honey gathered in
the hollow of the trees until 1t had over.
flowed upon the ground in great profusion
OF sweetness. All the army obeyed orders
and touched it not save Jonathan, and he not
knowing the military order about abstin-
ence dipped the end Of a stick he had In
his hand into the candied liquid, and as
yellow and tempting 1t glowed on the end
of the stick he put it to his mouth and ate
the honey. Judgment fell upon him, and
but for special Intervention he would nave
been slain. In my text Jonathan announces
his awful mistake: 81 did but taste little
honey with the end of the rod that was In
| my hand, and 10, must die." Alas. what
multitudes of people in all ages have been
damaged by forbidden honey, by which l
mean temptation, delicious and attractive,
but damaging and destructive.
Corrupt literature, fascinating but dread
full, comes in this category. Where one
good, honest, healthful book is read now,
there is hundred made up OF rhetorical
trash consumed with avidity.
| Corrupt literature is doing more to-day
for the disruption Of domestic life than any
other cause. Elopements, marital in
trigues, sly correspondence, fictitious
names given at postoffice windows clan
destine meetings in parks, and at ferry
gates, and in hotel parlors, and conjugal
| perjuries are among the ruinous results.
When woman, young or old, gets her
head thoroughly stuffed with the modern
novel she is in appalling peril. There is
wealth of good books coming forth from
our publishing houses that leave no excuse
for the choice Of that which is debauching
| to body, mind and soul. Go to some intel
1igent man or woman and ask for a list Of
books that will be strengthening to your
mental and moral condition. Life is 30
short and your time for improvement 80
abbreviated that you cannot afford to fill
up with husks. and cinders and debris.
Stimulating liquids also come into the
| 0f nfa faf dali ht,f h.
| full. You say, II cannot bear the taste OF
intoxicating liquor, and how any man can
like it is to me an amazement." Well,
then, 1t is no credit to you that you do not
take it. Do not brag about your total alb
stinence, because 1t Is not from any princi-
pie that you reject alcoholism, but for the
reason that you reject certain styles OF
food-you simply Gv.;'t like the taste OF
them. But muititudes OF people have
natural fondness for all kinds Of intoxi-
them smack their lips to look at it. They
are dyspeptic and they like to aid diges-
| tion; or they are annoyed by insomnia,
and they take it to produce sleep; or they
are troubled, and they take 1t to make
| them oblivious; or they feel happy, and
begin with mint julep sucked through two
| straws in the Long Branch piazza and end
in the ditch, taking from a jug a liquid
half Kerosene and half whisky.
! Ouo WOulu SuppOSe Iuut neu WOulu take
warning from some of the ominous names
given to intoxicants. and stand off from
| the devastating influence. You have
noticed, for instance, that some OF the res
| taurants are called "The Shades,' typical
of the fact that it puts a mans reputation
in the shade, and his morals in the shade,
and his prosperity in the shade, and his
wife and children in the shade, and his inn
mortal destiny in the shade. Now, l find
on some of the liquor signs in all our cities
the words "Old Crow" nightly suggestive
of the carcass and the filthy raven that
| swoops upon it. Men and women without
number slain of rum, but unburied and
| this evil is pecking at their glazed eyes,
and pecking at their bloated cheek, and
! pecking at their destroyed manhood and
womanhood, thrusting beak and claw into
the mortal remains OF what once was glori-
ously alive, but now morally dead. "Old
Crow!'' But alas! how many take no warn
ing. Remember Jonathan and the forbid
den honey in the woods at Bethaven.
Furthermore, the gamoster's Indulgence
must be put in the list of temptations de-
licious but destructive. You who have
crossed the ocean many times have noticed
that always one of the best rooms has, from
morning until late at night been given up
to gambling practices. / heard of men
who went on board with enough for an
European excursion who landed without
money to get their baggage up to the hotel
| or railroad station.
State Legislatures have again and again
sanctioned the mighty evil by passing
laws in defense of race tracks, and MANY
young men have lost all their wages at such
SO called meetings" Every man who
voted for such infamous bills has on his
hands and forehead the blood of these
souls.
Safeguarding comes into the same cat.
alogue. 1t must be very exhilarating to go
into the stock market and, depositing q
small sum Of money, run the chance of tax.
ing out fortune. Many men are doing an
honest and safe business in the stock mar.
ket, and you are an ignoramus IL you do
not know that it is just as legitimate to deal
in stocks as it is to deal in coffee, or sugar,
or flour. But nearly all the outsiders who
go there on a financial excursion lose
all. The old spiders eat up the unsus.
pecting flies. had friend who put his
hand ON his hip-pocket and said in sub.
stance: 81 have there the value Of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars" His
home is to-day penniless. What was the
matter? Stock gambling. Gambling is
| gambling, whether is stocks or bread
stuffs, or dice, or race horse betting.
Exhilaration at the start, but raving
brain, and shattered nervous system, and
sacrificed property, and destroyed soul
Mt the last. Young men, buy no lotterp
| tickets, purchase no prize packages, bet
on no baseball games or yacht racing,
have no faith in luck, answer no mysterious
circulars, proposing great income for small
Investments. drive away the buzzards that
hover around our hotels trying to entrap
strangers. Go out and make an honest
living. Have God on your side, and be a
candidate for heaven. Remember all the
paths OF sin are banked with flowers at the
start, and there are plenty of helpful hands
to fetch the gay charger to your door and
hold the strrup while you mount. But
further on the horse plunges to the bit in
| slough ineXtricable.
| The best honey is not like that which
Jonathan took on the end of the rod and
brought to his lips, but that which God
puts on the banqueting table of mercy, at
which we are all invited to sit. When a
man may sit at the Kings banquet, why
will he go down the steps and contend for
the refuse and bones Of hounds kennel?
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