The National tribune., 1907-03-07
VETERANS AND TEMPERANCE.
Alcohol the Greatest Curse to the
Country.

! VETERANS AND TEMPERANCE.
Alcohol the Greatest Curse to the
Country.
| Editor National Tribune I, too. wish
to congratulate you, as Comrade ]. H
Perrine has done. in regard to the
stand you took in regard to the liquor
traffic. Comrade J. p Shoemaker, ir
his grand kick in The National Tribune
of Jan. II. 1907, thinks you have bitter
OIL more than you can chew. I wisI
to say that what you have bitten off i:
but small mouthful to what might
have been bitten from the loaf and
chewed. He thinks that you should no,
judge liquor sellers by editors. Now,
think he should not Judge editors by
liquor dealers Our streets already con-
tain too many staggering and reelina
people, and others lying in the cutters
while many more are begging for a nick
Ell or dime to get something to eat.
as they say. but really for beer or rum
We do not think the editor is to blame
Tor this evil, neither do a thousand ed
itors cause as much misery as the 81 10
gallon that is paid as revenue to the
Government. / like to hear such slang
as that of the editor of The National
Tribune better than the slang of liquor
Iic SdyS Soitit VI MS DtSt Gus
toners talk like you. / think 1t is not
right to judge temperance man by
the jug-in-a-bag man, who does more
harm, in my opinion, than the drunken
sot. know something about the jug g-in-
the bag business. After the war | was
in the express business 81 years, COM
mencing Aug. 10, 1865, and leaving in
1898. / have delivered jugs in bags.
boxes, trunks tubs. etc. I worked both
driver and q
chance 10 learn som ching of the liquor
traffic. / handled thousands of barrels
of liquor and beer in all kinds Of
shapes: l have got mixtures for some of
my customers, with which TO fix up
liquors. and it was talked that they
could take ten gallons out of a barrel
and put in ten gallons of water. and
then bring it up to the test with the
mixture. / brought three barrels of
liquor to one of my customers cne dag.
and there was no one but the bartender
and his friend and myself present. The
bartender asked his friend If he wanted
a drink of good whisky. The friend
says Yes" They tapped a barrel and
had drink. The next day ] was there
again, and / saw the same man come in
with jug and say. George, I want
that jug filled with the same kind of
whisky l had yesterday"
The bartender did not move to fill
the jug, but shook his head 1t was
too late. 1t had been doctored. He
did not want to disappoint his friend.
The liquor traffic is the greatest curse
in this Nation. COmrade Shoemaker
seems to lay the cause of his being in
the business to the Government be-
cause they pay him only $S a month.
/. the same as Comrade Shoemaker, en-
listed in August, 1862. and served to
the end of the war. and ! get only Sc
month. and ! have had that only a
short time. I think that our Govern
ment has been good to us all. and feel
thankful for what / receive now, but It
looks now as though we shall soon re-
ceive more. 1 think COmrade Shoe
maker shows too much temper in with
drawing his small subscription of one
dollar because you speak the truth.
am sorry for the poor comrades whose
subscriptions ne has paid heretofore If
they want the paper and are not able
to pay for it. Really. / hope that it is
not his business that has caused those
comrades not to be able to subscribe
for the paper themselves.
| have received circulars from a Ken
lucky distillery asking be to try a quart
of its whisky. and that only. so much
would be sent to any one person at the
price named They wanted me to send
ten names of my friends. etc. / wrote
them that / had no use for their goods
and asked them not to send any more
to the public. and that I thought too
much of my friends to send their names
20 distillery. Yet they have sent me
another circular this Winter There is
nothing that can outdo the cheek of a
liquor mani After ] quit using it the
dealers used to ask me to treat when
went around on nav delivery. told
them that I was there to do expressing
NJ n Irir M hnt II frt,r
10 others what / would not drink my
self. One of our men had the delirium
tremens and died, and it set me to
thinking and I resolved to stop.
When our State had a prohibitory
law 7 had chance to learn something
of the liquor business. / think it was
about 1874, or near that date, that
used 10 drink the most. ! was with
the express then, and got 10 per cent
on all liquors ] could sell, and so cents
on every barrel of beer. / did not use
enough to interfere with my business,
but was good fellow well met 1t was
not until that law was repealed and
began to look over what ] was doing
that / quit.
I have seen G. A r. buttons in our
Prohibition Conventions, so I think
that all old soldiers do not drink LIQUOR
| look back to the time when l was
young and WAS using liquors, with the
boys, all good fellows, and see what has
become of those that used il. and il
makes me feel bad to think that some
ill suicides graves and others drunk
ards graves, and / thank God that I
stopped. 1 do not think much of the
principle that Comrade Shoemaker sets
forth: that is, If our Government would
give him s4 month more pension he
would quit the sinful business Now,
the pastor of the church here says that
If the comrades for whom Comrade
Shoemaker paid subscriptions do not
use their money for drink and want
The National Tribune, he will pay for
one, and l will pay for another and re-
new my own subscription. 1 will try
TO make up what you lose by the com
rade the best / can.-Elish r. Watson