The Savannah morning news., 1903-01-26
HELLS OF CITY LIFE.
DISCUSSED BY REV. A. VI. WILL
LIAMs AT TRINITY CHURCH.
CLUBS ARE AS BAD AS BARS.
GLAD THEY'VE BEEN TAXED AS
LIQUOR DEALERS, HE SAID.

of the Evils of city Life and the
Paths That Lead to Them.
Preached Particularly on Extrav-
aEance, Gambling. Drinking and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Next Sunday
VIII be THE Heavens of City
Life"
Rev. A. NJ. Williams preached to a
congregation which occupied every
seat in Trinity Church last night His
subject was THE Hells of City Life
and the Ways That Lead to Them"
In discussing the hells of alcoholism,
he paid his respects particularly to the
clubs of Savannah.
"The sorrows of hell comprised me
about" was his text chosen. In dis
cussing his subject he made a special
reference to the bells of extravaganza,
gambling, drinking and immortality,
drawing scant distinction between the
drinking feature of the club life and
the sale of liquor at public bars
And there's the club" said he, after
speaking at some length of the evils of
saloons; and, understand me, l refer
alone to the drinking feature of these
organizations. 1 understand that by
recent legislation, clubs which sell
liquors are subject to the general tax
imposed on liquor dealers. I believe in
total abstinence; but if there is to be
tax, l am glad that clubs, where the
sale is carried on privately to an eX-
elusive class, are put on the same foot
ing as the bar which sells to the gen
eral public.
The Name "CIub."
II understand that some of them OBJ
ject to being designated as liquor deal
ers, but rather would be called social
clubs dispensing liquors. They don't
like the name. 1t has been said that a
rose by any other name would smell
as sweet, and 1 think the opposite is
true. The distinction which they would
draw is one which it would take a very
learned man to understand. 1t is a dis
tinction without a difference.
They are selling liquor, not to the
general public, but to their bosom
friends; selling in secret, where the
habit is being quietly and secretly ac-
quired. Call it a barroom, or call 1T a
club, or call it a saloon, but so long
as that liquor which fires the brain,
dethrones the reason. thwarts ambi-
ton, induces crime and brings man to
there will exist little, if any, distinc-
ton between them"
Alcoholism Not New.
The subject, alcoholism, Rev. Mr..
Williams said. is an old one. but it's
subjects are new and original. Nor are
they confined to one class, for, he said,
one can read in the newspapers of the
pity elected by the appearance of
drunken women on the streets.
"Oh, these salcons-how enticing they
are" exclaimed the preacher. The
free lunch. the sparkling liquor and
the good fellowship-all these induce
ments are held out that men may
come and spend their time. their mon
ey and their character-where every
day some young man takes that first
drink which almost inevitably leads to
a second-to intemperance, drunken
ness and the drunkards hell"
The speaker said that he did not
wish his hearers to think he main
tanned that such hells exist only in
the city. Such hells there are, he said,
| in the country, but there the sober SEN
| timent and quiet daily life forestall
| the existence of such vices in the same
measure as they exist in the city,
| where the ingenuity and enterprise of
the money seeker and the general en-
| vironments augur these desires.
Referring to extravaganza which, he
said is induced more readily in the city
than in the country, he said that a
| failure to resist that inclination which
| is natural where enterprise and thrift
| find home, often results in a hellish
state of mind, and leads sometimes to
vices of a baser sort.
The Gambling Evil.
The gambling evil, he said, is one of
the outgrowths. oftimes, of extrava-
| gance. A man who, by his eXtrava-
| gance, has made of himself a finan-
cial wreck, hearing of the fortune of
some friend, or a story of some I'M
usual winning, and hoping to retrieve
his lost fortunes by counting Dame
Fortune, takes the first step on the
road to desperation, peculation, en-
bezzlement, ruin, and, mayhap, sui
eide. He warned his hearers against
| the flrst step in the acquisition of such
inordinate and unnatural desires.
The fourth hell he declared, was
nameless, because a shameless, one
| It's invasion in the most beautiful sec
tons of Savannah had he said, caused
those streets of the city where some
times business calls one to have the
air of the abode of lepers. Nor has
the vice confined itself to any partic-
ular locality for, he said, it exists I'M
| der the very caves of the church it.
| self.
There are" Rev. Williams said.
many other hells which encompass
man. To avoid them and fight tempta-
ton in its stronghold, walk with God
that God who brought Daniel safe
from the lions jaw-who led the Hn-
brew children through the fiery fur
mace unharmed-will lead you through
all alluHments and sophistications
which man has devised that you might
| be led in the wrong way Live close
TO God. Do good and you'll not do
eVll. walk near Him and you'll reach
| unto heaven"
AT the conclusion of the sermon
there were several confessions of
faith. On next Sunday night Rev.
MI. Williams will speak of the
Heavens of City Life"
For Over Sixty Years
Mrs. Winslows Soothing Syrup has