The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-02-10


land tomorrow if | had a chance.
'In Ireland to-day there is not a
county or town or a parish that
has not it's Temperance society.
mo young man is ordained a
priest in Ireland without taking the
pledge for ten years.
Il must say as a descendant of an
Irishman that great deal of the
poverty and want of that nation is
due to the excessive drinking of the
people"
These and similar statements ELI
cited prolonged applause from the
large audience who crowded the
Court House room Monday night to
hear Rev. j. j. Curran, rector of the
Roman Catholic church of the Holy
Saviour, WilkesBarre, address the
general mass meeting held under the
auspices of the Pennsylvania Anti
Saloon League on Temperance"
Following the opening invocation
of Rev. William H. Swift, d. D., who
prayed for a revival of Personal and
civic righteousness. Rev. Thomas
NJ. Hanley introduced Father Curran
as one who has been for very many
years interested in the work of tenn
perance and total abstinence.
Beautiful HOnesdale.
Father Curran speedily got into
the good graces of the crowd by COM
plimenting them upon the beautiful
little town in which they lived. 1T
reminds me-" he said, "of those pic
lures we see in books and works of
Art, representing towns in England.
| think that Honesdale is an ideal
town as far as beauty is concerned
and its buildings represent a great
deal of taste"
He confessed that he was born in
Hawley 81 years ago, mentioning
nicknames applied to Hawleyites by
outsiders, such as Bridge Dodgers
and "Canalers.' He expressed his
pleasure at being native of Wayne
County.
Father Curran confessed that he
had never yet told "jokable" story
and that he never could joke in the
presence of an audience, and then
proceeded to show that he could by
relating several laughable incidents
Father Curran's Address.
THE question of temperance has
been treated so often and from sc
many points of view that it is diff
ticult to say anything new on the
subject, or to throw any side lights
on the situation that have not been
used more than a thousand and one
times before.
However, since the vice of in.
temperance exists and threatens the
destruction of family and nation
there will be found good men and
good women everywhere to stand vi
for the cause and against the vice
which has brought so much misery
and sorrow into the world.
THE word TEMPERANCE in its
relation to drink has a more re
stricted signification than it former
ly had, as now it stands for total alb
stinence from all intoxicating liquors
whereas formerly it was applied tC
the moderation in the use of strong
| drinks. Hence temperance and tota
abstinence are now considered iden
tical and the great temperance
| movement which is sweeping
this country today is none other thar
! the total abstinence movement
Observing and well thinking people
have come to the conclusion tha
I moderation in drink for the college
man is an impossibility, and thence
the effort to bring about a reform
in society in favor of out and ou
total abstinence.
History of Temperance.
No matter how far back we gC
into history, we find that temper
ance was more or less advocated il
the civilized state, because from the
! very dawn the vice of drunkenness
had set in and threatened the safety
and stability of the family and the
nation. History records that exces
sive drinking prevailed in Egypt
| 5000 years ago when it was pictur
ed on the tombs of the Egyptians
how men and women were carried
from their feasts to their homes by
their slaves.
1--WE also read in the Old Testa
ment how Lot became drunk OF
wine and how, while in that state
he committed one of the foulest anC
most revolving crimes ever recorded
in history. And it may be stated
here that like in the case of Lot
drunkenness seldom comes alone
it brings many other crimes will
itself, one worse than the other Sc
that the vice of intemperance il
only secondary in itself to the helm
Gus crimes which it generally leads
to. No wonder, therefore, that
among the best people the worlt
over, there are to be found men ant
women who give much time anC
talents to the total obliteration o.
that potent and fruitful vice. NJ
wonder that in nearly all civilized
nations today strenuous efforts are
being made to abolish by law IL
whole, or in part, the manufacture
and sale of these vile and poisonous
drugs. While the temperance move
ment made but little headway unit
] the beginning of the 18th century