The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1899-05-06
TERRORS OF DRINK.
DR.. Talmage breaches of the Evils
of the Liquor Traffic.
In nm Eloquent sermon He Depicts
the Drunknrd's woe-The Rum
Fiend's Mission IL TO De-
stroy All Good

Copyright, 1899. by Louis Klopsch, wash
ington. April 80
At this time, when the evils OF thu
drink traffic are being widely discussed
and the movement for the abolition Of
the degrading and brutalizing canteer
in our military camps is gaining many
supporters, this sermon by Dr. Tai
mage. dealing with the broader aspects
OF the plague of intempcrancc should
cheer and inspire the friends OF tenn
perance everywhere. His text is ENo-
dus 11:G. "And there shall be great
cry throughout all the land of Egypt
This was the worst of the ten plaques.
The destroying angel at midnight
tapped his wing over the land, ana
there was one dead in each house. La
mentation and mourning and woe
through all Egypt. That destroying
angel has fled the earth, but u far worse
has, come. He sweeps through these
= cities. 1t is the destroying angel Of
strong drink. Far worse devastation
wrought by this second than by the
first. The calamity in America worse
than the calamity in Egypt. Thousands
Of the slain, millions of the slain: No
arithmetic can calculate their number.
Once upon time four fleHds met in
the lost world. They resolved that the
people of our earth were too happy,
and these four INTERVALS came forth TO
our earth on embassy Of mischief. The
one fiend sad III take charge of the
vineyards" Another said: "l'll take
charge of the grainfelds." Another
said: "I'll take charge of the dairy"
Another said: "Ill take charge of the
music" The four fends met in the
great Sahara desert. with skeleton fin
gers clutchcd each other in handshaEc
of fidelity, kissed each other good-by
with lip of blue flame, and parted on
their mission.
The fiend of the vineyard came in one
bright morning amid the grapes and sat
down on root of twisted grapevine in
sheer encouragement. The ticnd knew
not how to damage the vineyard, or.
through it, how to damage the world.
The grapes were SO ripe and beautiful
and luscious. They bewitched the air
with their sweetness. There seemed to
be so much health in every bunch. and
while the fiend sat there in utter indig-
nation and disappointment he clutched
Il cluster and squeezed IL in perfect
spite, and 10! his hand was red with the
blood of the vineyard, and the fiend
said: THAT reminds me of the blood of
broken hearts. I'll strip the vineyard,
and I'll squeeze out all the juice of the
grapes, and I'll allow the juices of the
grapes to stand until they rot, and I'll
call the process fermentation And
there was n great vat prepared, and
people came with their cups and their
pitchers, and they dipped up the blood
ofthc grapes, and they drank and drank
and went away drinking, and they
drank until they fell in long lines of
death, so that when the fiend of the
vineyard wanted to return to his home
in the pit he stepped from carcass to
carcass and walked down amid great
eauscway of the dead
Then the second fcnd came into the
grainticld. lie wadcd chin deep amid
the barley and the rye. He heard all the
grain talking about bread and prosper
Gus husbandry and thrifty homes. lie
thrust his long arms into the grainfield,
and he pulled up the grain and thrcwit
into the water, and he made beneath il
great fres--tires lighted with spark
from his own heart-and there were n
grinding and smashing and stencil,
and the people came with their bottles,
and they poured the fiery liquid, and
they drank, and they blasphcmed and
they staggered, and they fought, and
they riotcd, and they murdered, and
the ticnd OF the pit, the tiend of the
grainfield, was so pleased with their be-
hayior that he changed his residence
from the pit to the whisky barrel, and
there he sat by the door Of the bunghoie |
laughing in high merrimcnt at the
thought that out of anything so harm |
less as the grain of the field he might |
turn this world into a seeming pandc-
mOnium.
The ticnd of the dairy saw the cows
coming home from the pasture field. |
full uddCrcd, and rs the maid MIXED |
he said: I'll soon spoil all that mess: |
I'LL add to il brandy, sugar and nut
meg, and I'll stir II into n milk punch. |
ai'h Nlil'iiCH Will uTlHk IL, ana some OF |
the temperance people will drink il, and |
ii cnn do them no more harm I'll give |
them headache, and then I'll hand |
them over to the more vigorous fiends |
Of the satanic delegation" And then
the iicnd of the dairy leapcd upon the
shelf and danced until the long row Of |
shining milltpans almost quakcd.
The fend of the music entered n
grogshop and there were but few GUS
toners. Finding few customers, he |
swept the circuit of the city, and he |
gathered up the musical Instruments |
and after nightfall he marshaled a
band, and the trombones blew and the |
cymbals clapped and the drums beat |
and the bugles called and the people |
crowded in, and they swung around in |
merry dance, each one with n winegless |
In his hand, and the dance became
wilder and stronger and roughcr, until |
the room shook and the glasses cracked
and the floor broke and the crowd |
dropped into hell.
Then the four fends-the flend of the
vineyard and OF the grainfield and Of
the dairy and OF the music hall--went
back TO their home. and they held high