The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-17

SeEong drink snail re bitter to them that
drink it.-Isaiah 24sg
Whisky was responsible for another
death a few days ago, this time up in
Jewell county. In the little town of
Ionia lived William Digger. When he
was sober Digger was a good average
citizen, but Digger was not always
sober. He sometimes went to the
railroad tOwns-Ionia is not on a rail-
road-and then he came home drunk
and abused his wife so that life was
burden to her.
About two years ago, during one Of
his sprees, the people of Ionia made
up purse to enable Mrs. Digger TO
get away from her husband and go to
the home of her parents. They got
Charles Jones. an employe Of a livery
barn. to drive Mrs. Digger to a rail-
road station where she caught a train
for her old home.
Jones had nothing to do with Mrs.
Dugger's going away, except to drive
with her to the railroad as a neighbor-
" act, and at the solicitation of Mrs.
Dugger's friends. but when Digger
found out what Jones had done he be-
came enraged. Later, because of her
love for her erring husband, Mrs.
Digger returned, but whenever Dug
ger became drunk he was filed with
wrath at Jones and wished to kill him.
A few days ago Digger got on one
of his sprees and made an attack on
Jones, but Jones got away from him.
Then the drunken man turned on his
wife and drove her from home. That
night Digger, according to Jones
story, suddenly confronted Jones and
attacked him with a knife. Jones. in
self-defense, shot at his assailant, but
only wounded him slightly. Again
Digger attacked Jones, and the sec
ond shot by Jones took deadly effect.
Whisky had wrought its ruin.
Stories like this, with variations, find
their way into the newspapers every
day. In the big cities they are so
common that little attention is paid
to them. There was another right
here in Kansas within twenty-four
hours after "Bill' Digger was killed.
A bullet fired in a drunken row in a
Seneca joint carried death with it, but
this time the victim was an innocent
third person. Whisky is not always
discriminating in the ruin it brings.
How many criminal news items close
with the statement, He had been drink
ing referring to the criminal They
are so common that the telegraph news
bureaus do not handle them unless they
possess unusual features. Crimes with
out number are direct results of liquor.
Men who are peaceful when sober. men
who would abhor the thought of muir
dering another when in their right
minds, become murderous demons under
the influence of a few drinks of whisky.
Yet men continue to drink it,
But not all drunkards come to some
violent end, by any means. Many die a
worse death that did poor "Bilr' Dug
ger of Ionia. There are those who sink
not only all of their wealth in liquor
but also their manhood. their self-re-
spect, the happiness and welfare of
their families, the respect of their
friends, only to be tormented in the end
by a thousand devils, dancing around
them in their deliriums. Verify strong
drink is bitter to them that drink it!
It is said that a hundred thousand
men in America go down to drunkard's
graves every year, leaving behind them
broken hearts, ruined homes, suffering
wives, weeping children and disappoint-
ed friends. "BilI' Digger was only one
of a vast multitude. And yet as they
go down in disgrace there are no gaps
in the ranks. Others, many of them
bright young men. come forward to
take the places Of those who fail. to
replenish the supply of victims for the
drink fend. Why do men do it?