Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-12-16

A. remarkable sermon delivered at
the funeral of Clyde Liler at Oakland,
Md, by Rev. r. G. Williamson and
printed in the Blue Ridge News at
Leesburg Va.
I endeavor to approach the task be-
for me, which is by no means pleas
ane one, with sense Of justice to both
living and dead. A man who himself
must stand before the judgment bar
of God to give an account OF the
deeds done in the body" surely can not
afford to do on an occasion like this
anything that would embarrass him in
the great day. This funeral talk can
not be delivered without taking into
account the living as well as the dead
The dead can't talk back. the living
can. and probably will. so will say
as little of the dead as possible, and
speak directly to and OF the living.
First, Clyde Liller. the man. 1t Is
needless to say his sun has gone down
while it is vet day. When he should
have been at his best in the prime OF
manhood's powers, the supporter and
defender of his family. taking his place
| as citizen in great republic. bear
| ing his share Of life's burdens sud-
denly the light went out, and the spirit
| went back to the God who gave 1t"
Clyde Liller, when at himself. was
generous. large hearted man. His wlre
has said more than once to the SPEAK
err that When Clyde was sober one
could not wish for better husband.
better father" But when whisKey
goes in the man goes out. Social lie
in America is such that the man with
a weakness for alcoho! has tremen-
dous battle to fight, and in most IN
stances is the loser. At some time IN
his life, know not when, ne tasted the
poison and later found the scriptures
| true. cat last 1t biteth like a serpent
and stingeth like an adder" The haolt
once contracted, it's effects felt. his Will
power weakened. Il got beyond ms
control. until the finished product, the
legitimate fruit of the American sa-
loon, lies helpless. pitiless corpse be-
fore us A woman has been made a
widow, three children made orphans,
because the liquor traffic pays revenue,
and some men will sell It regardless OF
the Widows cry and the orphans van!
Some one is saying. He ought to
| have let it alone when he saw he could
not control II. O yes, now easy to say
that and how little il means That
strong man who boasts that he can
| take il or let it alone. usually takes 1t.
ard sooner or later becomes hopeless
wreck himself Another says. Let
whiskey alone and II Will let you
alone" This is another assertion as
| false as Satan himself These innocent
children let il alone. but 1t did not let
them alone. This heart broken widow
| let it alone. but it did not. 1t would
not lei her alone. Either directly or in
directly this horrible monster. the
liquor traffic, has his satanic clutches
around the throat Of every man, wom-
an and child in our fair land.
I want to say here that to my per-
sonal knowledge Clyde Liiler did make
a struggle, and a brave one. to stem
the tide and free himself from tho
menacies that bound him hand and
foot. When he would go TO work in
! the hope that he was victor, on his
| way to the shop his nostrils were greet
ed with the stencil OF this foul poison:
boon companions were ready to lure
! him away from all his good resoiu-
| tons; men were ready to take his last
! nickel and sell II to him regardless OF
1 the protests OF MS INNOCENT VIE. ever
fiber: OF his being was cry
| ing out for alcohol. He fell time
and again only to get up and make a
brief struggle and fall again, until. a
| hopeless, helpless wanderer. away
! from home and friends, the tired body
| lay down to sleep the dreamiess sleep.
Such is the picture, the awful tragedy.
o. one human life. But we make in
this country 100000 drunkares' graves
a year. 27I each day. During this fun
eral hour. eleven other fellow citizens
will go In the same way and thus the
/ miserable work goes on from year to
year.
| Clyde sought the comfort and help
of religion. He had religious ma
ture have PRAYED with him in my
own home. and witnessed with pro-
| foundest pity his hopeless struggle.
Ny predecessor, Rev. ]. p. Work
man. told me he had never worked as
hard to save a man as he did to save
C-lyda {ller Rfff fhe. miserable grOg