p. 68 | Generous Fellows

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Feb 9, 1882

Generous Fellows.

If there is anything a liquor-drinker or seller prides himself upon, it is that he is a "generous fellow." A sprightly fellow jingles his few silver dollars in his pocket, walks up to the bar, turns around, addresses the loafers usually congregated in a saloon.

"Step up, boys, what'll you have?"

All drink, and he slaps down his change with the utmost freedom and nonchalance. He takes his change and walks out, very likely with a ten cent cigar between his teeth. The barkeeper or one of the loafers speaks, "He’s a generous fellow," and the rest chime in, "You bet he is; there’s nothing small about him." That is the usual verdict. But that is only one side of the question. In nine cases out of ten, if you follow that fellow to his home, you will find that his wife and children are denied many comforts that could be purchased with the money so foolishly spent, and which has won him the name of "generous fellow." We know from actual observation that the wife is frequently and cruelly denied money to purchase those things much needed, or if her request is granted, it is done grudgingly.

This "generous fellow" when at home doesn’t sing out to his wife and children, "Step up and have something." Oh, no, not he. He swallows his supper and walks down town to have a game of billiards, and returns to his home after all the family have retired, generously full of drinks, and more than likely alarms the whole family in his efforts to get in the door or take off his boots. Oh, he’s undoubtedly a "generous fellow." We know quite a number of such. After a few years his money is spent; he is down, and when he walks up to the bar for a drink, the saloon-keeper waltzes him out of the door. His money is gone. —Missouri Temperance Advocate.