The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-04-10
TIE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF NTEN1PEIANCE.

That Drags the Halter"-Mod-
crate Drinking the Chain That
Binds Strong Liquors Victims.
Somewhere, quite a number of
years ago, when a good deal younger
than now, the writer heard the ex-
preston at the head of this article,
and it made q deep and lasting i'm
preston upon his mind. There is a
world of meaning in that short SEN
tence, "That horse is not clean es-
capped that drags the halter" Pic
ture to the mind a grand, noble
horse; he has. been tied up for days
and weeks IN his stall and is ready
for a run. By some means his halter
becomes loosened from where it is
tied, he finds. himself loose, the door
Of his stable Is open and out he
bounds, and up and down, all over
the field, he races. How free he
feels himself, and how he scorns the
puny efforts Of his master to catch
him. He realizes his strength and
his speed. How weak and slow is
human strength and motion COM
pared to his! Is he to be caught and
confined again? Not much! If he
could speak, how he would boast Of
his freedom and of his strength and
agility to keep forever free. But he
drags a halter. That halter will
eventually lead to his capture. Eth
er the owner will steal up gently
when he is of his watch and grasp
the dragging end, or it may get
torr1nl or1,,nl hfo 1n0c ord pnffnr
him. Could that halter have been
left in the manager; could he contrive
to slip it OF entirely, then he would
be indeed free; but, poor fellow, he
drags that which, DON Of later,
leads to his capture. So, true 1t Is,
THAT horse Is not clean escaped that
drags the halter" Now, what is
there in this simple but true picture
from life for US all to learn? Simply
this: There is no middle ground be-
tween bad habits and absolute free
dom and safety. Yet how many peo-
pie think they r perfectly safe to
take a drink once in a while. They
know that drink car eve catch and,
conquer them. They know when to
stop and how much they can stand.
They can quit at any time. This con-
fdence, this once in a while, Is the
dragging halter that by and by will
lead to capture. Changing the words,
that man is not clean escaped from
the powers and chains of strong drink
that drags the halter Of moderate
drinking. Two young men stood on
the sidewalk and saw a. man In mid
die life go staggering past. They
looked at him for a moment and then
at each other, when me remarked,
what a fool that man is to make
such a beast Of himself; he ought to
know enough to stop when he has
enough!" A few minutes afterward
I saw those two young men go past
me in the hotel and go to the bar
and drink. Oh yes, they know when
to stop. My observation is that no
man is so positive that he knows
where to stop and that he will do Sc
before he gets full, al the man that
has two or three glasses in him al
ready. Before he takes any he is
very doubtful whether he dare take
one glass; by the time he has two
he begins to feel strong and knows
he can take another and not show it;
can stop there; but, when, three are
down he is stronger yet, he can drink
three or four times and stop right
there, but he doesn't do it. The
dragging halter captures him. No,
brothers, slip the halter entirely ove
the head; leave it, drag it no more,
and then you are free; you can't get
caught. How many bright young
men I have seen dragging this halter!
Talk with them and they flush up at
once: What You think 1 will
ever let liquor get the best Of me?
No, never; I can stop any time"
Why didn't they? That halter caught
them; they got tangled up in it.
Home Herald. ',:'.s