Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-05-05
PLAGUE OF ALCOHOL.
REV. DR.. TALHAGE DISCUSSES THE
LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
In an Eloquent Sermon He Depicts
the Drunkard's Woe The Rum
Fiend's Mission IL To Destroy All
GOod-A Call to Christians.
Icepyright. Louls kIopsch. -

Fiend's Mission IL to Destroy All
Good-A Call to Chri~tians.
ICopyright. Louis IIIopsch 1891
WASHINGTON, April 30.-At this
time. when the evils of the drink traffic
IRE being widely discussed and the
movement for the abolition Of the de-
grading and -brutalizing canteen in our
military camps is gaining many sup
porters, this sermon by DR.. Talmage.
dealing with the broader aspects of the
plague of intemperaDce should cheer
and inspire the friends cf temperance
everywhere His text Is Exodus Vi, c.
And there shall he great cry
throughout all the land Of Egypt
This was the worst of the ten plaques
The destroying angel at midnight flap
ped his wing over the land, and there
was one dead in each house Lamenta-
ton and mourning and woe through all
Egypt That destroying angel has fled
the earth, but 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 10y the first. The calamity
in America worse than the calamity in
Egpvt Thousands of the slain, millions
of the slain No arithmetic can calcu-
late their number.
Once upon time four fiends 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 said, ''Ill take charge Of the
VINEYARDS. Another said, III take
charge of the grainfields. " Another
said, IN take charge of the dairy.
Another said I'm take charge of the
music The four fends met in the
great Sahara desert, with skeleton fin
gers clutched each other in handsbake
of fidelity, kissed each other goodby
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 Oh root of twisted grapevine in
sheer Encouragement The fiend 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 10
be so much health in every bunch, and
while the fiend sat there in utter indig-
nation and disappointment he clutched
q cluster and squeezed it in perfect
spite, and, lol 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 I'll squeeze out all the juice of the
grapes, and I'll allow the juices of the
grapes 10 stand until they rot, and I'll
call the process fermentation. And
there was 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 fend 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.
Laughter of the Fiend.
Then the second fiend came into the
grainfield He waded chin deep amid
the barley and the rye. He heard all the
grain talking about bread and prosper
Gus husbandry and thrifty homes. He
thrust his long arms into the grainfield,
and he pulled up the grain and threw it
into the water, and he made beneath it
firaS-firaS lipl,+oI with
from his own heart-and there were
grinding and mashing and stencil,
and the people came with their bottles,
and they dipped up the fiery liquid. and
they drank, and they blasphemed, and
they staggered! and they fought, and
they rioted, and they murdered, and
the fiend of the pit the fiend of the
grainfield, was SO pleased with their be-
havior that he changed his residence
from the pit to whisky barrel, and
there he sat by the door of the bunghole
laughing in high merriment at the
thought that out of anything SO harm
less as the grain of the field he might
turn this world into a seeming pande-
monium.
LiS At4Id vi saw NON5
coming hcme from the pasture field,
full uddered, and as the maid milked
he said, I'm soon spoil all that mess;
I'll add to it brandy, sugar and nut
meg, and III stir it into a milk punch,
and children will drink it and some of
the temperance people will drink it, and
if | can do them no more harm III give
them a headache, and then I'll hand
them over to the mere vigorous fiends
Of the satanic delegation. And then
the fiend of the dairy ieaped upon the
shelf and danced unit! the long row of
shining milkpans almost quaked.
The fend of the music entered a
Brogshop. 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 Il
band, and the trombones blew and the
rymbals clapped and the drums beat
and the bugles called and the people
crowded in. and they SWING around in
merry dance, each one with wineglass
in his hand, and the dance became
wilder and stronger and rougher, until
the room shook and the glasses cracked
and the floor broke and the crowd drop
ped into hell
Then the four fiends-the fend of the
vineyard and of the grainfeld and of
the dairy and of the music hall-went
back to their home, and they held high
carnival because their work had been