St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-09-23

only equaled by what she has ON her
back; useless ever since she was born,
and to be useless until she is dead, un.
less she becomes an intelligent Chris
tan. We may admire music and fair
faces and graceful stsr, but amid the
heartlessness and the imitation and the
fantastic influences of our modern wa
tering places beware how you make
lifelong covenants
Another temptation that hovers over
the watering place is that of baneful
literature. Almost everyone starting
off for the summer takes some read
ing matter. 1t is book out of the Ii.
brary or off the bookstand or bought
of the boy hawking books through the
cars. really believe there is more pes.
tiferous trash read among the intelli-
gent classes in July and August than
in all the other ten months of the year.
Men and women who at home would
not be satisfied with book that was
not really sensible / find sitting on
hotel piazza or under the trees reading
books the index of which would make
them blush If they knew that you knew
what the book was. 'Oh," they say.
you must have intelligent recreation"
Yes. There is no need that you take
along to n watering place "Hamilton's
Metaphysics" or some ponderous dis.
course on the eternal DEGREES or "Fara.
days Philosophy" There are many
easy books that are good. You might
as well say: II propose now to give
little rest to my digestive organs, and
instead Of eating heavy meat and vege.
tables I will, for little while, take
lighter food-a little strychnine and a
few grains of ratsbane." Literary poi
son in August is as bad as literary poi
son in December. Mark that. Do not
let the frogs of a corrupt printing press
umpintoyour Saratoga trunk or White
mountain valise. Are there not good
books that are easy to read-books of
entertaining travel; books of congenial
history; books of pure fun; books of
poetry, ringing with merry canto;
books Of fine engraving; books that
will rest the mind as well as purify the
heart and elevate the whole life? There
will not be an hour between this and
Your death when you can afford to
read book lacking in moral principle.
Another temptation lowering all
around our watering places is intoxi-
eating beverages. I am told that it is
becoming more and more fashionable
for women to drink. / care not how
well woman may dress, if she has
taken enough of wine to flush her
cheek and put glassiness on her eye.
she is drunk. She may BE- handed into
$500 carriage and have diamonds
enough to astound the Tiffanys-she is
drunk. She may be graduate of the
best young ladies' seminary and the
daughter of some man in danger of
being nominated for the presidency
she is drunk. You may have a larger
vocabulary than have, and you may
say in regard to her that she is ''con-
viviar' or she is merry" or she is "fes-
tive" or she is ''exhilarated," but you
cannot with all your garlands of YER
biage cover up the plain fact that it
is an old-fashioned case of drunk.
Now. the watering places are full Of
temptations to men and women to tip
pie. At the close of the tenpin or bill
lizard game they tipple.- At the close of
the cotillion they tipple. Seated on
the piazza cooling themselves off they
tipple. The tinged glasses come around
with bright s.raws and they tipple.
First they take light Wines" as they
call them, but light wines" are heavy
enough to debase the appetite. There
is not a very long road between cham
payne at five dollars bottle and whis-
ky at ten cents a glass. Satan has three
or four grades down which he takes
up and through one spree pitches him
into eternal darkness. That is a rare
case. Very seldom indeed can you find
a man who will be such a fool as that.
Satan will take another man to a grade,
to n descent at an angle about like the
coal shoot or the Mount
rail track, and shove him
off. But this is very rare. When a
man goes down to destruction, Satan
brings him to plane. 1t is almost
level. The depression is SO slight that
YOU can hardly see it. The man does
not actually know that he is on the
down grade, and it tips only n little
toward darkness-iust little. And the
first mile it is claret and the second mile
it is sherry and the third mile it is
punch and the fourth mile it is ale
and the fifth mile it is whisky and the
sixth mile it is brandy, and then it gets
sleeper and sleeper and sleeper, until
il is impossible to stop. Look not thou |
upon the wine when it is red, when it |
giveth its color in the cup, when 1t
moveth Itself Alright. At the last it
biteth like a serpent 2hd-stingeth like
an addeF."
Whether you tarry at home-which |
will be quite as safe and perhaps quite |
Is comfortable-or go into the country,
irm yourself against temptation. The
grace of God is the only safe shelter,
in town or country. There are |
places accessible to all of us.
You cannot open book of the Bible |
without finding out some such water |
ng place. Fountains open for sin and |
Wells of salvation. |
Streams from Lebanon. A flood struck |
tut Of the rock by Moses. Fountains |
n the wilderness discovered by Hagar. |
Water to drink and water to battle III. |
The river Of God. which is full of water. |
Water of which if a man drink he shall |
lever thirst. Wells Of water in the val |
cy of Baca. Living fountains Of wafer.
\ pure river of water as clear as crys- |
al from under the throne of God.
These are watering places accessible to
III Of us. We do not have laborious |
backing up before we start-only the |
hrowing away Of our transgress;ons.
10 expensive hotel bills to pay; it is
without money and without price"
80 lorg and dusty travel before we get |
here: j: is only one step away.
In California, in five minutes. l
walked around and saw ten fountains
Ill bubbling up, and they were all diff
rent. and in five minutes / can go
through this Bible parterre and find
-ou so bright, sparkling fountains bub-
,ling up into eternal life-healing and