The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-06-10

1ssc Saloon h Being Restricted More
and Moro--Wil soon He Confined
% the Large Cities.
WOES OF DRUNKENNESS" !"

vine sno tnrough strong drink are
out Of the way; the priest and the
prophet have erred through strong
drink. they are swallowed up of
wine. they are out Of the way through
strong drink; they err In vision. they
stumble In judsmsnt.-Isiah 81: z.
Isaiah. most brilliant of the Old
Testament poets. left many bright
sayinss on record. but nothing supe-
sior 10 his denunciation Of the drink
habit This was the fsrst temperance
fssrmon ever delivered and Isaiah was
the nrse prohibition aSitator. The
Israsliscs. - their history shows. suf-
tered much from the vice Of intoxi-
cation. Noah was scarcely on his
ark until he became beastiy drunk.
Fine fsllcw, to start . new race with.
n was because Of their dcbauch at
snfstim with tho Mosbite women
that 'Jshovah's wrath was klndied'
sgainse the rioters and to this drunk
On orgy was due the subsequent ex-
termination Of the Mosbites. This
Ara '-seioon row' a. II may we'll be
csllsd. wss the prime cause Of the
most brutal. cruel and insxcusable
usr recorded In the history OF the
"ehesen people," After they had set
eIsd - Pslsstins. grape raising was
~ principal agricultural industry.
aal they drank entirely too much of
fDsir own wine. BY the time Of
Isaiah. which was In the eighth CEN
tury, =. c.. II 10 evident that drunk
snn>ss IN its worst form was alarm
inely prevalent. II win be noticed In
the extract above that not only the
people. but the priests and prophets.
we're addicted to strong drink and
severely denounced, by the old tenn
psranos rsformer.
Twsnty-ssven svsnkful centuries
have passsd since Isaiah delivered his
ssrmou on the "woss OF Drunken
nssa" and We are stili hghting the
sauss awful curss. The twentieth CEN
tury ssss = battle royal in progress
bstvssn the people Of the United
States and the sntrsnched forces OF
intoxieeaing liquor. Never before was
the crisds % acuts. and never before
we're The prospscts 90 bright for VIC
tory over the "demon Of the still"
rhs coils Are being clossd around the
monsesr In svsry state of the Union.
and u = hoped IN time that the life
mnS - eheks1 out OF him entirely.
Tae eempsrspcs lave grow more and
nsovs drss&ic. and the determination
Of shs massss Of ths people for their
sn1orssmsnt becomes stronger anil
stronesr every day. Within the last
1sw nonshs three circuit court judges
IN Indiana have decided that the sa-
loon y . nuisance. . foe Of peace AMI
morslA and that the state has N,
right 70 license II any more than Il
would have . right 20 license murder.
what is stili more remarkable. two
boards of county commissioners have
refused 70 license saloons on the
ssras ground.
II 10 pleading to note that farmers.
~ . class are Overwhelmingly on the
side Of sobriety In this titanic strug-
Gle against the chief foe OF mankind
and principal obstruction In the path
way of civilization. The rural dis
sricts are practically all snti-saiooa.
and have either driven Il out or are
prsparing to do 20. Soon these abom-
nations viii be confined exclusively
TO the large cities. There. we are sor-
~ to say. the vice still fingers in It's
worst form. Go to any fashionable
hotel between the hours Of IL and
3 o'clock and you will ind we'll
drssssd men and women In the cafes.
eating and drinking. There around
the midnight table. enthroned be-
tween Baochus ana Venus. drunken
men hiccough out immoral arguments
and obscene jests. There sharpsrs
and buliies and hard-hearted. impu-
dent debauchss nightly hold forth for
the edincation Of the rising genera
ton. Here may be seen beardless
yeuths. still In college, reeling around
the wine glass while women OF ques-
tionabie character indulge In weak
laughter and maudlin applause. Here
the .nightrounders. "men OF the
woriS." the rake. the iibertine and
the roue. lie In wait for the victims
that are to be baited with wine.
There are many Evelyn Thaws who
are not found out. who do not get into
the courts an the result Of murder.