Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-10-02

roOms Hleu WIN Ine COlllng S"rpontS
Of dellrium tremens. We lind many Of
our statesmen paralyzed by the glance
OF this addcr's eyes. as n poor little
frightened sparrow might tremble and
crouch until she falls into the open
mouth OF the blacksnake which has
charmed her. We find that even few
Of the ministers who fill the pulpits Of
the gospel of Jesus Christ are terror.
lied by the sight of the serpent of in
toxication. because the rich brewer
may be the president of the board Of
trustees or the wealthy distiller's fam
lily may be the largest contributors TO
the financial support of the church.
The curse Of sinful intoxicants is uni
versal; therefore all Christian people
and that includes you and me-should
band themselves together for its OK
tinction. We should deal with the ser.
pent of strong drink in the same way
the travellers over the western prniries
deal with the rattlesnakes. There It
is a universally obeyed law that every
man shall kill every rattlesnake he
may see. 1t ought also to be n uni
versally obeyed Christian law that ev-
cry Christian should strike at the hid
eous head OF the Satanic adder OF in
toxication whenever IL reveals itself
or lifts its fatal poisonous fsngs to
strike.
There are four distinct reasons for
hating this serpentine evil OF intoxi.
cants. four distinct reasons to wage
against it unsparing and relentless
warfare. The first is because the ser
pcnt OF intoxicants destroys a mans
brain. dethroning his reason and utter
~ running his mental capacity for any
Kind of important work. AS mer.
chant he will enter into wildcat spec
uations until often his whole fortune
, Is swept away. AS physician he Will
/ unfit himself for the sickroom AS 4
lawyer he will ruin his practice, be
cause he can no longer plead in the
| courtroom as he once could plead And
| everywhere the cry will be raised
/ about this poor. drunken mental wreck
/ no matter in what sphere Of life he
may live: Make way. Make way!
/ Leave him alone, He drinks. He
drinks
| When man begins to drink intoxi-
/ cants, his mental usefulness is inevita-
bly, weakened. The temperance lectur-
ers sometimes neglect to press home
this appalling fact when they dwell
upon the vast amount of money which
Is annually spent in national liquor
bill They tell us that one seventy-hfth
Of all the American race is every year
engaged in the manufa cture and tho
sale Of intoxicants. They assert that
$500, 100000 is spent annually for &C
cursed drink. They affirm that great
army Of over $4,000 men and women
living in the city of Chicago devote
their entire time to running the places
of evil resorts which are chiefly kent
open through the influence of strong
drink. The amount spent every year
upon national liquor bill is appalling,
but that is one Of the least of the evils
to spend $1,000 or SO, 900 or even 500
600 annually for liquors IL the evil end
| ed there. But no man, not even John
d. Rockefeller, rich as he is, can af-
ford to drink intoxicating liquors.
When a man Is addicted to. strong
drink, he is heading toward mental as
well as physical depletion and annihi
lation.
Farreaching Results of Drink.
The evil results of mans mind
long weakened by into1icants are very
farrea ching. We read with amaze
ment how boa constructor can swal-
low down a calf or kid or deer APP
parently five times wider than the
natural size Of the serpent's throat.
But every country boy has seen the
same phenomenon upon a small scale,
A snake with a throat hardly larger
than your little finger will give chase
to large. fat toad. 1t will then gather
together the two hind legs of the toad
and by suction slowly draw the whole
body down its throat and into the
stomach Then, if the country boy
will pick up the snake by the tail aud
snap him as he would a whipcord. the
serpents mouth will open and the toad
will be elected. alive and well, as was
Jonah when thrown from the mouth
of the big fish after he had been
voyaging for three days in its internal
| cavity. But. though the student Of
serpentology may wonder at the size
of q big toad which a small snake is
able to swallow, his wonderment ought
to be as nothing compared to the utter
establishment with which he sees the
huge meal which the serpent of in
toXicati can swallow after the brain
of its victim has been wrecked by
strong drink. Without any apparent
effort it can swallow down the mer
chants store, the minister's pulpit, the
lawyers office, the surgeons operating
table, the mechanics bench, the en-
Eineers engine. the sea captains ship
And, mark you, In order that the Sol
omonic serpent may accomplish this
gastronomic feat its victim does not
have to be intoxicated all the time
All that the minister has to do TO lose
his pulpit is to reel as a drunkard-
just once. All that the engineer has
to do TO wreck his train is TO be drunk
just once All the physician has TO
do to make wrong diagnosis and Kill
his patient is to be drunk-just once.
On account. therefore. of the becloud-
ment Of mans intellect and the un-
seating OF the human reason through
the influence of the wine cup | hate
the Solomonic adder with an intense