Evening star., 1900-09-18

saloon came in as its successor, ana now
the eminent citizen stops there on his way
home and the theory being estaDllSneo
that he must not drink, and, with the per
yerseness of human nature, being now 1ully
determined that he will have a drink, ne
takes one, meets friend and takes another
one with him, and then with the fear or de-
lection fastened upon MIN ne resorts 70
coating Of the stomach) or to cachous OF
some kind (Which are terrible on the teeth)
This turns him into constructive mar Ih
that he appears before his family in sup
posed condition of perfect sobriety, when ne
is not
The work of the Woman's Christian Tenn
perance Union has been grand II at times
a discouraging, one. AS L understand IT.
they propose to take the rising generation
and educate them against the use or lquor
in any form. In schools, in chufches, III
their gospel meetings, everywhere, they
talk of its injurious effects from hyglenlc.
physical, moral and monetary standpoint
and they have rescued many thousands OF
young men who do not today even know
what the taste Of liquor Is. BY constantly
bringing before the public the fact that In
accidents in distressful circumstances.
where innocent women and children had 10
suffer, that the fault was due to drunken
engineer or father and husband, they
have so aroused the public conscience that
corporations are demanding sober employees
and society Is closing Its doors against
drunkards.
ThuS 1dr PUBIC opinion lS With THESE WO-
men, but when they take this ridiculous,
blasphemous. idiotical stand against one OF
the purest men who ever lived, one whose
whole life has been nothing but carrying
awake then 1 wish to tell them that they
are going too far and are sounding the
death knell to all further usefulness. They
are nauseating the public with their silly
twaddle and insulting the Almighty with
their impious petitions.
JAMES w. LONG.
A WOman's View.
A letter recently published in the Detroit
Free Press from Mrs. Thos. H. Handbury.
president of the Manila Aid Society Of De-
troit, presents the same view Of the can
teen:
There has been SO much discussion in the
newspapers lately about the army canteen,
pro and con, that resolved this morning to
make a personal visit to the nearest can
teen. which is at Fort Wayne.
After leaving the exchange rooms I asked
to see some OF the wives of these men that
1 might learn from their lips what effect
the canteen had on their husbands. Three
request and 1 give verbatim their opinions:
Mrs. - said her husband had been twen-
ty-eight years in the service and she was
the mother Of six children. DO I believe
in the canteen? Indeed l do. It's a good
thing for the soldier and his family in every
way. If my husband wants glass Of beer
he can get it without going to the saloons.
outside the gate. 1t would make me very
unhappy to have it done away with. No
women are allowed there and the beer Is
not drugged. I have never known of any
thing but beer being sold. A man cannot
drink enough to harm himself there, and
he cannot carry drop away. l buy my
butter and eggs and many things very
cheap. l find it hard to live with my family
without the exchange.
Another soldiers wife told me that her
husband had been eighteen years In the SER
vice. Il think the canteen great thing to
keep the men sober and straight. A man
does not get in trouble there. The saloon
keepers have no use for a soldier. They
make him drunk with bad liquor and then
kick him out. When I know my husband
is at the canteen, l know that he is all
right and he comes home sober, but II there
was no canteen, he would want his beer and
be off to the saloon to get 1t. and l would
be worried to death about him. sure
The third woman l talked with was born
husband likes a glass of beer sometimes,
but never gets drunk. Citizens do not real
ize the good the canteen does for our men.
The saloons have music and low women to
entice the soldiers and get their money.
No, ma am. there is not a married woman
In the whole regiment that does not stand
up for the canteen. It's fine thing for
our men,"
AS / bade them goodbye I could not but
contrast in my mind what I had seen in-
side the exchange rooms, with the saloons
outside the gate, many Of which fringed the
street near the army reservation. holding
stronger than coffee and beer.
The army Is not a reform school or q
pen1tentiary. The men are all over twenty
one years Of age. free agents in many re-
their craving liquor. but with the canteen
system they can restrain them, surround
ing them with good influences 1t is ap-,
parent to my mind that the post exchange