The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-05-10
DRUNKARDS WOES.
Dr.. Talnage's Strong Denuncia'
tion Of lntemperanoe.
ITS VICTIMS ARE COUNTLESS
Worse Than Any Of the Ten
Plaques That Refell EgyHt.
Gods Grace ths
Sure Remedy.
Sure Remedy.

=
and the movement for the abolition Of
the degrading and brutalizing canteen
in our military camps is gaining many
supporters, this sermon BY Dr.. Tai
mage, dealing with the broader aspects
ef the plague Of intemperance, should
cheer and inspire the friends Of temper
ance everywhere. His text is Exodus
II, 6, "And there shall be great cry
throughout al the land Of Egypt.
This was the worst Of the ten plaques:
The destroying angela midnight tapped
his wing over the land, and there was
one dead IN each house. Lamentation
and mourning and woe through al!
Egypt. That destroying angel has TED
the earth, but far worse has come.
He sweeps through those 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, mil
lions of the slain. No arithmetic can
calculate their number.
Once upon a time four 6ends met IN
the lost world. They resolved that
the people Of our earth we're too happy,
and these four Intervals came forth to
our earth on embassy Of mischief. The
one 6end said, "I'lI take charge Of the
vineyard" Another said, III take
charge of the grainfelds. j" Another
said, "I'll take charge Of the dairy.
Another, "Ill take charge ofthe music.
The four 6ends met in the great Sahara
desert, with skeleton fingers clutched
each other in handshake Of fidelity.
kissed each other goedby with lip OF
blue fame and parted on their mission.
The 6end Of the vineyard came N one
bright morning amid the grapes and sat
down on a root Of twisted grapevine IN
sheer encouragement. The hend knew
not how to damage the vineyard or,
through it, how to damage the world;
The grapes were so ripe ard beautiful
and lusoious They bewitched the air
With their sweetness. There seemed to
be so much health in every bunch!
Aad while the 6end sat there in utter
indignation and disappointment be
reached up and clutched cluster and
squeezed It in perfect spite, and, 10, his
hand was red with the blood OF the
vineyard, and the fend said: THAT
reminds me Of the blood Of broken
hearts. I'll strip the vineyard, and III
squeeze out all the juice Of the grapes,
and I'll allow the juices Of the grapes
TO stand until they rot, and III call the
process fermentation. And there was
q great vat prepared, and people came
With their cups and their pitchers, and
they dipped up the blood Of the 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 6end Of the vineyard wanted
to return to his home in the pit he
stepped from carcass to carcass and
walked down amid great causeway Of
the dead.
Then the second fend came into the
grain6eld. He waded chin deep amid
the barley and the rye. He heard all
the grain talking about bread and pros
porous husbandry and thrifty homes.
He thrust his long arms into the grain:
Seld, and he pulled up the grain and
threw it into the water, and he made
beneath it great ires-6res lighted with
spark from his own heart-an6 there
was a grinding and a MASKING and 8
stencil, and the people came with their
bottles, and they drank, and they bias
phemed, and they staggered, and they
Fought and they riote6, and they mur-
aered, and the 6end Of the pit, the hend
Of the grain6eld, was SO pleased with
their behavier that he changed his resi-
dencs from the pit to whiskey barrel,
and there be sat by the door Of the
bunghole laughing in high me.rimsnt
at the thought that out Of anything SO
harmless as the grain of the held he
might turn this world into seeming
pandemonium.
The Sen6 OF the dairy saw the COWS
come home from the pasture field full
uddered, and as the maid milkcd he
said: s'I'll soon spoil all that mess.
I'll add to it brandy, sugar and nutmeg,
and I'll stir it into a milk punch, ana
children will drink it, and some Of the
temperance people will drink It, and if
I can do them no more harm I'll give
them headache, and then III hand
them over to the more vigorous hends
Of the satanic delegation. And then
the fend of the dairy teaped upon the
shelf and danced until the long row Of
shining milkpans almost quaked.
The Send Of the music entered grog
shop, and there were but few custom.
ers. Finding few customers, he swept
the circuit of the city, and he gathered
up the musical instruments, and after
nightfall be marshaled band, and the
trombones blew, and the cynbals
clapped, and the drums beat, and the
bugles called, and the people crowded
in, and they swung around in merry
dance, each one with wineglass in his
hand, and the dance became wilder and
stronger and -ougher until the roon
shook, and the glasses cracked, and the
floor broke, and the crowd dropped into
hell.
But, whether by allegory or by ap-
palling statistics this subject is pre-
sented, you know as well as that it is
impossible to exaggerate the evils of
strong drink. A plague. \ plague, In
the first place, the inebriate suffers
from the loss Of good name. God has
so arranged it that no man loses his
reputation except by his own act. The
world may assault man and all the
powers of darkness may assault him
they cannot capture him so long as his
heart is pure and his life is pure. All
the powers Of earth and hell cannot
take that Gibraltar. If man is right,
all the bombardment Of the world for 5,
10, 20, 40 years will only strenghthen
him in his position. So that all you
have IN do is 10 keen yourself right.