Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-05-24

man overcome Dy liquor excited only
sorrow and sympathy; now 1t commands
nothing less than adherence. I and nv
surviving contemporaries started in life
under the old system. You. my dear boy,
are more fortunate in having begun with
the new. Among the old soldiers there are
still some few votaries of Bacchus who
have to count their cups most carefully
or risk their commissions. Among those
under 40 our army has far more total alb
stainers than all the others in the world,
and such soldiers as Grant, Crook Merritt
and Upton, of our service, and Kitchener
Of Khartoum, are on record as saying that
the staying powers Of the teetotaller exceed
those even of the temperate man, ana
staying power Is thing to cultivate.
LAS you know, I have never banished
wine from our table. my boy. Both your
mother and had been accustomed to see-
Ing 1t in daily use from childhood, yet she
rarely touches it. even at our dinners But.
Sanford. sent John Barleycorn to the
right about the day your blessed mother
promised to be my wife, and though al
ways kept 1t in the sideboard for old COM
rades whose heads and stomachs are still
sound. and who find 1t agrees with them
better than wine. I never offer 1t to the
youngsters They don't need it, Sandy, and
no more do you.
But you come of race that lived as
old their fellow men-to whom cards, the
bottle and betting were everyday affairs.
1t would be remarkable IL you never de-
veloped tendency towards one. or all
OF them, and 1t was my duty to warn you.
before. I mourn every hour wasted over
cards and every dollar l ever won from a
comrade more than-much more than-the
many hundred dollars l lost in my sew
eral years apprenticeship to poker. It's
Just about the poorest investment of time
q soldier can devise.
"KnOwinR ALL do and lookipp bac k oyor
the path of my life. strewn as 1t is with
the wrecks of fellowmen ruined by whisky,
/ declare if / could live it over again it
would be with the determination never to
touch a card for money or glass for liquor.
And now, my own boy, let me bear the
blame of this-your first transgression.
You are more to us than We have ever told
you. You are now your sisters guardian
and knight. for, though she goes under the
wing of Mrs DR.. Wells, and, owing to her
intense desire to take a woman's part, We
could not deny her, both your mother and
are filled with anxiety as to the result.
10 you We look to be her shield in every
possible way. We have never ceased to
thank God for the pride and joy He has
given us In our children. (You yourself
would delightin seeing what tip-top little
soldier Will is making.) You have ever
been manful, truthful, and, I say 1t with
pride and thankfulness unutterable, square
as boy could be. You have our whole faith
and trust and love unspeakable. You have
the best and fondest mother in the world.
my son. And now have not one more word
to urge or advise. Think and decide for
yourself Your manhood under God will
do the rest
"In love and confidence.
FATHER"
When Marion came tapping timidly
at the stateroom door there was for
moment no answer. Sandy's face
was buried in his hands as he knelt
beside the little white berth. He
presently arose, dashed some water
over his eyes and brows, then shot
back the bolt and took his sister in
his arms.
ITO be continued