Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-03-18
w, G, T. u. COLUMN.
OUR YOUNG MEN.

ambition to make a worthy name for
himself. inherits evil tendencies which
be cannot resist. One of the best and
most devoted Christians I ever knew
was a heart broken woman, because
three of her bright, promising sons
suffered from the drink curse, that
for long years had wrecked the hap
piness of her entire family. The
mother could trace all her sorrow to
the fact that, in those early days be-
tore the temperance question was
hardly known, her friends, in mis-
taken kindness, advised her, prior to
the birth of her sons, to drink brandy
for which she had an irresistible de-
sire. These innocent children thus
inherited the appetite which shadow
ed their future lives.
A petted belle of one of our eastern
cities, an only daughter living in a
large home where wine always stood
on the sideboard, never dreaming of
her danger, was accustomed to sip the
beverage. In her twentieth year she
married one of the most gifted and
irreproachable men of our country,
whose name is now honored in Europe
and America. Wealth and fame and
an exalted position belonged to them.
Five lovely children came to bless
their hearts, but alas! scarcely before
the husband realized it, the mother of
his children had become possessed
with a constant craving for drink,
and the once proud man was humbled
to the dust, as his wife sought every
opportunity to obtain Intoxicating
drink. Finally he took her to the
safety of an inebriate asylum. Then
the heart broken father found that a
terrible Inheritance had fallen to some
sons soon followed in their mothers
footsteps. One by one, the idols
of his heart, weakened by disease,
slowly faded away. The last and eld-
est son, brilliant and talented, for
whom his father had hoped and pray
ed, gave signs of the fatal appetite.
He was warm hearted, loving son,
who worshipped bis father and longed
to be a comfort to him, but the trail
of the serpent was blasting all his
ambitious hopes. He fought and
strove against the curse, but it at last
overcame him, and, desperate and
discouraged, he wrote an affectionate
farewell letter to his father and took
his young life.
The mother has very much to do in
forming the character and influencing
the whole future life of her son. Boys
who learn to take even sweet apple
cider will soon want something a little
stronger and gradually the appetite is
formed for drink. Ere the fact is
realized, they are on the downward
road that leads to the drunkard's
doom. Teach men from infancy to
"touch not, taste not, handle not"
the accursed drink.
Side by side with the whisky curse
stands the tobacco habit. Recently
a boy of our city, seventeen years of
age was sent to the State reform
school. | visited him at our Jail sew
eraI times and took him papers to
read, but he could not read. He said,
81 read SO poorly. [ always had to go
to school with the little children and
that made me ashamed, and SO I quit
school," I urged him to try and read
and offered to help him: but his
senses were so dulled he had no wish
to make the effort. Meantime, he
was constantly chewing tobacco. I
begged him to give it up, showing
him the evil consequences; but he
said, "Why, 1 have chawed terbaccer
ever since I was four years old and I
just can't STOP"
In the course of many years, from
time to time, I have visited the jail
and have talked with the prisoners
and given them literature. Almost
invariably they have told me that they
were the victims of the drink or Gig
aret curse.
A mother should make home just as
delightful for her sons as for her
daughters. They should be just as
much cat home" in the parlor as the
daughters should be. If company be
entertained, the mother should see
that her sons dress in their best and
be introduced to strangers and have
to listen to the CONVEX
sation of cultured men and women.
Thus when the sons grow to manhood,
they are unembarrassed by awkward
ness and, in course of time, are ready
to take their places among superior
people. Boys who are thus tenderly
and discreetly cared for, do not de-
sire the society Of the ignorant and