Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-01-19

give four or those nights to the I'M
provement and entertainment Of my
family, either at home or in good
neighborhood; l will devote one to
charitable institutions; l will devote
one to the club" I congratulate you.
Here is a man who says, 81 will make
different division of the six nights.
l will take three for the club and three
for other purposes" I tremble. Here
is man who says, "Out of the six Sec
ular nights of the week, will devote
five to the club house and one to the
home, which night / will spend in
scowling like March squall, wishing
was out spending it as had spent the
other FIVE" That man obituary )
written. Not one out of ten thousand
that ever gets so far on the wrong
road ever stops. Gradually his health
will fail, through late hours and
through too much stimulus. He will
be first-rate prey for erysipelas and
rheumatism of the heart. The d" rtor
coming in will at a glance see it is not
only present disease he must fight, but
ySoi . VI ldoI liNihS. nC ClCl Sy
the sake of the feelings of the family,
on the funeral day. will only talk in
religious generalities. The men who
got his yacht in the eternal rapids will
not be at the obsequies. They will
have pressing engagements that day.
and send their wives to utter words of
sympathy, but they will have engage
ments elsewhere. They never come.
Bring me mallet and chisel, and will
cut on the tombstone that mans cpl
taph, 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" mo" you say, that
would not be appropriate" Then give
me the mallet and chisel, and I 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 dissipating club
houses. People coming up from hum
bier 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 establishments
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 full possession of it: but the willy
ancestors, 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 unworthy
descendant but his grandfather's name
and roast beef rotundity. And yet how
many steamers there are which feel
honored to lash fast that worm eaten
tug, though it drags them straight into
the breakers.
Oh, my heart aches! see men strug-
Cling against evil habits, and they want
help. have knelt beside them, and ]
have heard them cry for help, and
then We have risen, and he has put one
hand on my right shoulder, and the
other hand on my left shoulder, and
looked into my face with an infinity OF
earnestness which the judgment day
will have no power to make me forget,
as he cried out with his lips scorched in
ruin, God help me" For such there is
no help except in the Lord God AL.
mighty. l am going to make a very
stout rope. You know that sometimes
rope maker will take very small
threads and wind them together unit.
after while they become ship cable
And I am going to take some very
small, delicate threads, and wind them
together until they make a very stout
rope. will take all the memories OF
the marriage day, thread of laughter
a thread Of light, thread of music,
thread of banqueting, thread Of con-
graduation, and twist them together,
and have one strand. Then l take
thread of the hour of the first advent in
your house, a thread of the darkness
that preceded, and a thread Of the light
that followed. and thread Of the beau
tiful scarf that little child used to wear
when she bounded out at eventide to
greet you, and then thread of the
beautiful dress in which you laid her
away for the resurrection. And then ]
twist all these threads together, and
have another strand. Then / take
thread of the scarlet robe of a suffer.
ing Christ, and thread Of the white
raiment of your loved ones before the
throne, and string of the harp cheru'
bic, and a string Of the harp seraphic,
and I twist them all together, and ]
have a third strand. "Oh" you say,
either strand is strong enough to hold
fast a world" No. l will take these
strands, and will twist them together
and one end of that rope l will fasten
not to the communion table, for it shall
be removed-not to the pillar Of the
organ, for that will crumble In the
ages, but l wind it round and round
the cross of sympathizing Christ, and
having fastened one end Of the rope to
the cross, / throw the other end to you.
Lay hold of it,! Pull for your life! Pull
for heaven!