Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1908-04-16
Ingersoll on, ',Alchehol.

COlOutl ltOUcIo VI luScioOii, III
addressing q jury in acase which
involved,the manufacture OF al
cohol. made the following terri
BILE arraignment of the demon:
81 am aware thatI there is a
prejudice against any man who
manufactures alcohol. l believe
that from the time it issues from
the coiled and poisonous worm
in the distillery until it empties
into the jaws of death, dishonor,
and crime, 1T demoralizes every
body that touches it, from its
source to where it ends.
Il do not believe anybody can
contemplate the object without
being prejundiced against the IL
quor crime. All we haye to do
gentlemen, is to think of t h g
wrecks on either bank OF the
stream OF death, of the suicides,
of the insanity, OF the ignorance.
of the destitution, OF the little
children tugging at the withered
and faded breasts ofweeping and
despaiting mothers, OF wives ask
ing for bread, of the men OF geni-
us it has wrecked, the men strug-
Cling with imaginary serpents,
produced by the deyelish thing;
and when you think OF the jails,
of the almshouses, OF the asy-
lums. of the prisons, of the scat
folds on either bank, | do not
wonder that every thoughtful
man is prejudiced against this
damnable stuff called alcohol.
|
"Intemperancec cuts down youth
in it's vigor, manhood in it 8
strength, old ageinits weakness.
lit breaks the fathers heart, be-
reaves the doting mother, extin-
guishes natural affection, erases
conjugal love, blots out filial at
tachment. blights parental hopes
brings down mourning age in
sorrow to the grave. 1t produces
weakness, not strength; sickness
not health; death, not life.
"It makes wives widows; chill
dre1 orphans; fathers fiends; anc
; all OF them paupers and beggars
1t feeds rheumatism, invites chol
era. imports pestllence and e,h
braces consumption. 1t covers
the land with idleness, misery,
crime. 1t fills your jails, supplies
your alms-houses and demands
i, your asylums. 1t engenders con
troversies, fosters quarrels and
, cherishes riots, 1t crowds syou1
! pehitentiaries and furnishes vic
: Tins for your scaffolds. it is the
life-blood OF the gambler. the ele
ment OF the burglar, the prop O
= the highwayman and support o
the midnight incendiary. 1tcoun
9 tenances, the liar, respects TIN
, thief, esteems the blasphemer.
2 "It violates obligation, rever
, ences fraud and honors infamy
/, It,defames betievolence, b q te
Y love, scorns virtue and slander
innocence. 1t incites the father tt
butcher his helpless offspring
helps the husband to massacr
his vile and the child to grint
the patricidal axe. 1t burns vi
men, consumes women, detest
II life. curses God, despises heaven
: 1t suborns witnesses, nurses per
! jury, defiles the jury box an
n taints the judicial ermine.
u st degrades the citizen, debo
&c &c ses the legislator, dishonors tn
statesman apd disarms the pc
y triot. 1t brings shame, not hor
: or; misery, not safety; despair
=, not hope; misery, not happiness
ID and with the ma1evolence Of
= fiend it calmly surveys its fright
N full dissolution and unsatiate
K havoc. 1t poisons felicity, Kill
peace, ruins morals, blights col
n. fldence, slays reputation, an
at wipes out national honor, the
e. curses the world and laughs c
=. ita r1lin.