Atlanta semi-weekly journal., 1912-08-23

on a camp ground or a political rally
there are some who hear nothing the
speaker says and let few of those
around them listen, but on this occa-
sion 1 was impressed by the close at
tention.
The presiding elder, Rev. Mr.. 8udd,
drew some pictures that will hang on
memory's wall as long as life lasts. He
said why not call the so-called best
friends or boon companions of man
I to minister to him in his last sickness
and official at the grave7" Imagine
man who curses and swears and tells
smutty stories being told that death
was near and his saying, We'll. this is
my last chance to hear So and So tell
his latest. Send for the crowd and let
them give me a good send-off." Imagine
"the crowd" going to that dying man
and polluting the very atmosphere wiEl
their oaths and obscenity. the man dy-
ing and "the crowd cursing over pre-
pairing him for burial and swearing be-
cause the coffin was too short. This is
all a vivid picture and one that win
never materialize, for people Of .ehat
sort are afraid OF death and no money
could induce them to see death, much
less handle a dead body. / must tell
you of the tombstone this preacer said
YOU of the tombstone this preacher said
he was puzzled a long time for Mt
ting emblem. but finally thought of
buzzard. a loathsome bird that feasts
on carrion; a bronze buzzard cast hol-
low with a head that would allow the
poisonous fumes Of sulphur to pass
out OF beak and nostrils, and let 1t
represent the life of such people.
other vices were as vividly depicted
and the deathbed and burial made as
clear but 1 won't take you through such
scenes, I will only ask you if your time
should come today. or next week, and it
was the custom for ones associates to
nurse one and officiate at the grave who
would be yours?, Would you. be satisfied
TO send for the people you see oftenest
and call your friends to smooth your pill
low and hold your hand as the shades Of
death blotted out earthly scenes?
Did you ever have the misfortune to
see death overtake a wicked man? 1
pray you never may, for the agony Of
listening to the walls of such man will
never leave you. They send not for
their companions in wickedness, nor for
the scoffer who turned the minister's
sermon into ridicule, but for the minis
ter and church people. and with tears
and lamentation beg for their prayers.
On Mount Zion camp ground. as every
where else that Gods people meet, Satan
had his emissaries. These DEVILS agents.
for that is all that any tempter can be
called, had their bottles of whisky. and
thought IL funny TO give boys enough
TO make them silly. Some one is always
ready to do the dirty work for their
master, and this occasion was no ex-
ception. but there was much good done
there and the tares that the enemy
sowed among the good seed will one day
be consumed.
l have been hearing a good deal about
thi futility of prohibition, but let me
give you some figures from the brewers
year book. In prohibition states the
whisky drank is an average of a gallon
and third per capita. In local option
counties il is three gallons to the per-
son. and in the states where there are
no restrictions, where the saloon is ram
pant, the amount goes to twenty-three
gallons per capita. Can't you see why
the whisky men fight the prohibition
movement and favor local option? OF
course they prefer to sell three gallons
70 one. If they were allowed their way,
the saloon would be on every corner.
When they say they sell as much in
Georgia as they ever did, ask them why
they are trying so hard to get IL back?
1 know some communities are seeing
hard times through blind tigers. and
the women and good men must unite and
anRihilate the beasts. Remember that
there was a time when every man was
expected to keep it, but that day is
Npsst. and so will the day OF the so-called
blind tiger. There is so much in the
Bible against the stun, yet so many read
their Bible in such a way that they have
never heard Of the denunciation against
''whosoever putteth the bottle to his
neighbor's lips" nor the fate of the
dTunkard.
Plenty Of people sneer at summer
time revivals. but many seed are then
sown that bring forth their fruitage OF
forty. sixty and an hundred fold.
Are you doing your part? Are you
letting your light shine or are you liV-
ing so that when the summons comes