The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-08-22

him that he did not care whether b.
went home or not.
At first Nell took it for granted
that he was kept at the office on som,
matter of business and she did not sa,
anything. But as he came home
later and later each evening and be
came so unconcerned about her ane
the little ones, she became alarmed
and gently demonstrated with him
but he would just put her off with al
unsatisfactory reply, and she became
more and more alarmed.
At last, when he drank so heavily
and remained out SO late at night, he
began to show the effects of his dissi.
patton the following morning, and
finally his employers began to notice
it, but they said nothing, thinking
that perhaps he had sickness at home
and that might be the cause of his
seeming SO "broken up" in the morn
ing, and they partly synpathized with
him in his supposed trouble.
Gradually, however, their suspi.
cions were aroused and they began to
investigate matters. When the true
state of affairs was revealed to them
they were far from being pleased at
having been so completely deceived.
They said nothing though and let
matters continue as they were for
several weeks, but one morning when
Will arrived very late and had a flush
ed face, the result of too much in
dulging the night before, he was call
ed into the general managers office
and then and there told that if he did
not attend to business better and be
more punctual at the Office his services
would be no longer required.
He promised to do better, and for a
week or so he Stunned his compan-
ions, and he was changed man.
Nell began to have hope that he
would become his former self again,
but before the second week was end
ed he again fell in with them and
soon returned to the same dissipating
habits. 1t was then that his employ
ers became entirely dissatisfied with
him and he was notified that at the
end of the following week his position
with the Grand Central R. R. would
end. When he went home on the
evening of his being discharged from
the Office and told Nell that he was
without work, she realized what
caused his downfall and her heart
sank within her. She plead pitifully
with him to try and do right after
this and to not forget her and their
little ones, but instead of mending
his ways he began drinking so heavily
and got so reckless that even his fast
est friends gradually dropped off one
by one, until there was not one per-
son in the great city of New York
whom he could call a friend, although
several months before he had scores
of them who would have done any
thing reasonable for him. But now
degradafion, T and even Vent those los with
whom he spent the money that he
managed to get by selling piece after
piece of household articles, Stunned
him On the street and were only
pleasant to him when he would treat
to drink. 1t was in this condition
that we find him at the beginning of
our story.
When, as the time went on, her
husband did not get any work and
the money which they had saved be-
gan to disappear very rapidly and
Nell could see no other way to take
care of her babes, she secured some
sewing for an uptown shirt factory
and thereby managed to gain scanty
livelihood for herself and little ones.
Will Larkins continued in the same
way to stay out during the day and
until late every night, drinking heav-
lily and returning home seldom before
midnight and very often after, and
many a time did Nell sit and shed
tears when she thought what had
been their happiness in by-gone days
and of their misfortune now. She
became so accustomed to her hus-
bands unsteady step coming through
the hallway when he was stumbling
in at night that she could recognize
it at once.
One evening when Will Larkins
was nakiug his way towards the sa-
loon where he would pass the evening
with his companions, he saw a build
ing on the Bowery, which was bright
ly lighted and in which he could see
that a public meeting of some kind
was being held. He entered and was
hardly seated when he realized that
he was in temperance meeting.
Out of mere curiosity he decided to
remain for awhile.
In short while a man arose, who,
in every way presented an appearance
of refinement and sobriety, and ad-
dressed the audience as follows:
"My friends, 1 am here this even
ing to speak in the interest of Our
temperance work, and to show in a
way the vast amount of wrong doing
the cursed habit of drink will accom-
plish. How many men, young and
old, are stumbling blindly along in this
world today, staggering under the in
fuence of drink and wrecking many
home in which there was happiness
and contentment until Satan and the
vile drink stepped in and took pos
session of the husbands will and soul
and wrecked everything in its path.
There are thousands of men today in
this great country of ours who have
not only spent the money they could
earn for whisky to appease their crav-
ing, but who are taking the morsel of
bread out of their family's mouth,
the clothes off their back and the
shoes off their feet in their mad &C.
tions."
Will Larkins sat there in a real
seat and listened to the words of this
accusation as if he were in a stupor,
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