The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-09-15
THE GREAT
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE.
The Dog. or the Wife and Children.

The Dog, or the Wife and Children.
Hueber had drawn his wages for
the week, now $3.50; formerly it
was $50. But Hueber had fallen into
evil ways and gone down gradually,
until he was unfit for anything but
the commonest and most unskllled
labor. He had moved from his
former comfortable home to a
wretched little shanty on the out
skirts of the city. Saturday meant a
half-holiday to Hueber, a great spree,
and the wasting Of all his wages. 1t
meant dread and grief to his family.
It was March, a cold, pitiless day,
with the biting wind from the north
west. After drawing his $3.50 Hue
Der made a Decline for the saloon,
paid UP for last weeks drinks and
then filed up full on the poison they
willingly gave him. With a few pen
MES in his pocket, he started for the
butchers. His brain was beginning
to whirl and his feet to stagger. He
asked for ten cents worth OF soup
bone. Three small pieces of the
poorest and cheapest were given him,
being wrapped in a piece of brown
paper, but not tied. Then Hueber
started home, growing colder and
more bewildered at each and every
step. He tried hard to hold on to
the three small pieces Of soup bone,
but his hands were very cold. He
had no mittens, no overcoat, a
wretched old hat, shoes badly worn.
Just as he passed the church: that
stands for all that is good and ele-
waiting in the community, his legs
gave out and he fell to the pavement.
The pieces of soup bone went with
him, one piece in front of him. n
on each side of the cement walk in
the dirt. He tried and tried again
to rise. but for a long time he could
not. Then a beautiful child, a little
boy about four years old came to
where he was, stood and looked at
him a minute. while the man looked
up at the child. Finally the dear lit
tie fellow took in the situation, evil
IDENTIFY thinking the man was sick.
and so he gathered up the pieces of
soup bone, while the man staggered
desperately to regain his footing.
when he had done so, the child
handed him the pieces of soup bone
and tripped merrily on. Hueber
blundered forward two blocks far
Their and again fell to the cement
sidewalk. Again the meat was scat
tered here and there. This time not
a child, but a large dog came upon
the scene, and thinking, no doubt,
that he had more right to the bone
than the PROSTATE man, he seized the
largest piece and trotted off, while
poor Hueber looked on in helpless
confusion.
Some time later Hueber managed
to regain his feet and his remaining
two pieces of soup bone and reached
home, where the wife and children
had been anxiously waiting for him
many hours. When the wife saw the
two tiny pieces, with not enough meat
upon them for one person, her heart
sank and she fell into a chair Sob
bling.
20 John! John! Is this all we are
to have from now until Monday morn
ing? What have you done with the
paper that was wrapped about the
meat?"
d. dun know. Guess it bowed
away, an'-an'-the cur-he took the
biggest piece. / seed him run of
with it-but-bur-I couldn't catch
him!"
And 50 the poor Hueber family had
to manage on less than five cents
worth of meat for their Sunday
meals.
That same afternoon the saloon
keepers wife went downtown with
six dollars of the wages of Hueber
in her pocket. She purchased a nice
roast for eighty-fve cents and a bet
ter soup bone for her yellow dog than
John Hueber had bought for his wife
and children.
Somebody had voted to give the sa-
loonkeeper the right to rob John
Hueber and his wife and children.
Somebody had voted to make it pos
sible for John Hueber to get so drunk
that he could not walk and for the
dog to run way with his soup bone,
and somebody in q little while will
have to help support the Hueber wife
and children, for John will not last
long at this rate. Someone Is help
ing to kill him. Nobody arrested the
dog for stealing the meat, for every
body was sure the dog was not to
blame. But somebody was to blame
and / have been asking who 1t was.
Can any one tell?-C. w. Stephen
son.