The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1908-06-25
THE TEMPERANCE PROPAGANDA
CONCERTED ATTACK ON DRINK
WINNING ALL ALONG LINE.

ous Power--It Drives Away Sor-
row and Brings Back Laughter.
The following remarkable editorial
was written bv Arthur Brisbane for
the New York Evening Journal:
woman walked along the north
side of Twenty-eighth street, near
Fourth avenue, at noon yesterday.
Her walk was a little unsteady. her
carriage not quite natural. She was
neither young nor old-perhaps nifty.
perhaps only thirty---one OF the many
women of thirty made to look old by
poverty and worry.
The woman's dress was black,
faded and rusty.
Her face was good, honest face;
It. too, was faded Her head was
bare, and the hair was gray The
hand that loosely held her skirt was
wrinkled. the veins stood out. Many
a hard days work that hand had
done.
The woman looked old. But her
manner, her actions were for the mo-
ment those of young woman.
Her walk was a little unsteady.
Only that walk betrayed the womans
condition at first. AS she walked she
looked about her gayly, like girl of
fourteen. She walked along hum
ming to herself. She dropped her
skirt for a second. and, bending far
over, seized the dress impatiently and
lifted 1t, with laugh OF almost gen.
uine mirth, smiling at the passers by
as she did SO.
That laugh told the story.
Men passing by had glanced care
lessly at the faded working woman.
1.o A1Is he
steady walk Fatigue might have
caused that unsteadiness.
But everybody who heard the care
less, ringing laugh turned to look
And Immediately every man knew
that the unhappy woman had been
drinking to excess. II she had been
young or we'll dressed, If her clothing
or her face had been that of happy
woman with a decent chance in life,
the laughter would have seemed
quite natural, it would have caused
no surprise.
But coming from that faded face,
everybody knew that the laughter had
behind 1t some cause other than nat
ural mirth.
Some who looked at the woman
laughed; others scowled at her con-
temptuously; few looked with pity
and sympathy.
Laughing, the woman gathered up
her skirt, looking about with her poor
faded eyes, hoping for sympathy and
friendly appreciation of the little in
cident that seemed ridiculous and
mirthful to her poor brain. And
then, unsteady but able to take care
of herself, and, let us hope, able to
get home safely, she passed on out of
sight.
OF those that saw her, a majority
probably said later, 81 saw drunken
woman this afternoon" and said
nothing more. This newspaper would
like to say little more. And we
would like to say 1t especially, and
earnestly, to the prohibitionists, the
moral reformers, and the other good,
well-meaning men and women that
fight drunkenness throughout the
country.
Drunkenness is repulsive: it is ut
terly shocking and dreadful In wom-
an exposed to public contempt on the
street
Drunkenness should be fought.
Everybody engaged in the fight is
doing a noble work, and a useful
work. when the fight is made intel
ligently.
Alconol does Tor ltS victims certain
things. And those things must be
done for the victims, on a higher and
better scale, II drunkenness is to be
conquered.
That poor woman was born like
other human beings. with laughter in
her soul. But how deeply that laugh
ter had been buried, probably from
her early childhood
1t was buried under worry, under
poverty, under hard work. Long
hours, worry over children, worry OF
every kind and sickness and suffering
had buried laughter, mirth, cheerful.
ness deep out of sight.
Alcohol dug up the almost for
gotten laugh and brought it to the
surface. And the poor, tired, faded
face, for second at least, regained
part of the cheerful old expression
that ought never to have left 1t.
If you want to fight alcohol, try to
do In noble way what alcohol does
In an ignoble way.
Alcohol makes the poor forget their
poverty for a moment.
Fight It by relieving the poor of
their poverty.