Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-10-03

Drain, dethroning his reason and utter
~ running bis mental capacity for any
kind OF important work As mer-
chant he will enter into wildcat spec
ulations until often his whole fortune
is swept away. AS physician ne will
unfit himself for the sickroom. AS
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 VIII be raised
about this poor. drunken mental wreck.
no matter in what sphere of life he
may live: "Make wayl Make way!
Leave him nlonel He drinks. He
drinksp'
When a 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-fifth
OF all the American race is every year
engaged in the manufacture and the
sale OF intoxicants. They assert that
S9Oo.O00.OO0 is spent annually for ac-
cursed drink. They affirm that a great
army Of over $4,000 men and women
living I'm the city OF Chicago devote
their entire time to running the places
OF evil resorts which are chiefly kept
open through the influence of strong
drink. The amount spent every year
upon a national liquor bill is appalling.
but that is one of the least of the evils.
Many n rich man could easily afford
to spend $1,000 or $4,000 or even 500
600 annually for liquors if the evil end
ed there. But no man, not even John
ID. Rockefeller. rich as he is, can af-
ford to drink intoxicating LIQUORS.
When man is addicted to strong
drink. he is heading toward mental as
well as physical depletion and annihi-
lation.
Farrenching Results OF Drink.
The evil results OF n mans mind
long weakened by intoxicants are very
farreaching. We read with amaze
ment how q boa constructor can swal-
low down a calf or kid or deer ap-
parently five times wider than the
natural size of the serpents throat
But every country boy has seen the
same phenomenon upon small scale
a snake with n 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 aud into the
stomach Then, IL the country boy
will pick up the snake by the tail and
snap him as ~ would n whipcord, the
serpent's 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
voyaSing for three days in its internal,
cavity. But. though the student OF
serpentology may wonder at the size
of big toad which small snake is
able to swallow. his wonderment ought
to be as nothing compared to the utter
astonishment with which he secs the
huge meal which the serpent OF In
toxication can swallow after the brain
OF Its victim has been wrecked by
strong drink. without any apparent
effort ii can swallow down the mer-
chants store, the minister's pulpit the
lawyers office, the surgeons operating
table. the mechanics bench. the en-.
gineer's engine. the sea captains ship.
And. mark you. I'm 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 70 reel as q drunkard-
just once AL that the engineer has
to do 10 wreck his train is TO be drunk
Just once. All the physician has to
do to make n 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 So!omonie adder with an intense
hatred. I hate K with unutterabIe
loathing. / hate IL as God wants ev-
cry Christian TO hate sin.
The serpent of intoxicatIon can de-
stroy mans heart as well as his head.
We read of a bridegroom who took his
young bride to n cabin upon the hill
sides or the Rocky mountains. The
young husband unknowingly built his
home over den or snakes. After the
married couple had retired for the
night the fire they had lighted on that
cold winter night warmed the dormant
serpents into life- They came forth
into the room of the sleeping couple.
They crawled up upon the bed. They
buried their cruel fangs In the flesh OF
man and woman alike. and the nuptial
couch became the bed OF death. When
a husband looks upon the wine when
IL IL red, he always builds his home
over den OF vipers. He lets the mol
sonous serpents crawl up into his bed
and not only STAY his body, but also
poison his love FOR his wife and his
for his parents and his broth
ers and sisters. for all who ought to be
near and dear to him and whom he
ought TO love better than his own life.
The Heart of a Drunkard.
n drunkard's heart through the touch
or the adder of intoxication not only
becomes poisoned heart, but the mer-
CHESS heart of an inhuman monster.
In order TO drink drunkard is willing
to so TO any extreme. He
is ready TO let wife and children starve.
A~'S hHCNA lWO WHO
were willing to sell their own flesh and
blood into life OF crime in order that
they might get liquor with which to
satisfy their diabolical thirst. These
two drunkards were not men OF the
lowest social rank. They were men
who We're born In as good families as
yours or mine. But why continue in
this strain? Is there any need of nv |
longer describing how the serpent of |
can destroy a. mans love |
FOR his wife and his children? No. In |
The rags OF the factories we see 1t; In |
The scandals OF the divorce courts we |
read 1t; in-the horrors OF the reforma-
-ory schools we can prove it. Let us |
pass on in our Indictment of this coil |
ng serpent OF the wine cup.
The Solomonic serpentine evil de- |
'troys mans soul as well as the tenn
'oral usefulness OF his brain and the
owing power OF his heart. This is not
| pleasant subject TO touch 1t is not
pleasant because many OF us have had |