New Britain herald., 1917-12-01
GO FROM SALOONS
FED With TURKEY
Salvation Army Woos Willing
Weary WilieS From BarroomS

New York. Dec. 1.-Here's| the
latest:
Tom Gray lay down on the barroom
Having drunk so much he could drink
no more.
So he fell asleep with a troubled
brain
And dreamed that he rode on tho
hell-bound train.
Amen" groaned the boozers in the
Salvation Army barracks on Four
teenth street as Major winchell Of
Jersey City tore off the first verse of
his merry little Thanksgiving anthem.
True. many Of them had been picked
by him and Col. William Mcintyre
from their favorite corner, of their
favorite "skelly." where they had
been waiting all day for some one to
buy them drink, but that didn't
matter. They just hated booze when
they thought of that turkey down.
stairs waiting to be eaten.
1t was the annual Thanksgiving
roundup Of the boozers by the Saliva
ton Army. and despite the high cost
of liquor it was just about the same
crowd as 1t always had been-dtrty
dAu uukcInpl, crushing IQS1T caps III
their hands. They waited jerkily in
their seats until they got the word to
go down and stuff themselves
Not So joyful.
There wcrc Just about as many OF
them as the year before, TOO hut ex-
pcrienced observers noted that they
weren't quite so drunk. The major
started again:
n 3Y1vo f4p fs,nV c1o
Which roared and cracked with
thousand groans.
The boiler was filled with lager beer
And the devil himself was engineer
Then the major, who Is quite a per-
sonage in the Salvation Army, having
gone to Belgium for that organiza-
ton on relief work, told them how
he had tended bar in Jersey City for
fifteen minutes the other night and
had showed those leaning on the brass
rail the way people drink whiskey
in Belgium these days. He half filled
their glasses and then put in water
half emptied them and filled again
with water, until it was mostly water.
with coloring OF whiskey.
That's the way to drink 1t, If you
must" said the major.
Billy tombstone, an old convert, who
used to be a pickpOcket in the good
days of the old Fourth ward, and a
baseball umpire later, then got up
and told the crowd how much better
it is to hit the trail and behave and
get three square meals a day than to
follow the Demon Rum about and
live on handouts. Billy appealed to
them in the argot they all knew. and
made a great hit.
Nickel Jack. whose real name is
Jack B. Brokaw, natty looking
middle aged man. told the crowd how
four years ago on Thanksgiving night
the Salvation Army picked him out Of
a barroom on the Bowery and made
man of him. Now he is a depart
ment head in large grocery store
and happy as lark.
The Water Wagon.
That is the way the Army gets its
crowd for it's Thanksgiving booze
party. Oficers go about in buses
down the waterfront and the Bowery
and through Hells Kitchen, yanking
panhandlers and worse out of saloon
back rooms, offering them a good
dinner as well as kind words. After
the meeting they are invited to re-
form, and the big hall is filled with
men kneeling before their seats, Sal
walton Army workers beside them
with arms about their shoulders.
After that comes the dinner, at
which they have all the turkey and
other good things they can hold, and
then take part in the water wagon
parade through the neighboring
streets. Many of them come back
year after year in the same condi-
ton and others don't. but whether
they do or not they are all welcome
You have to appeal to them in
the way they feel the most" said the
major IF that way Is through their
stomachs what difference does it