Health and Temperance by John G. Wooley

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 30, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 50.

Health and Temperance.

By John G. Wooley

THE MOCKING DEVILS OF DRINK.

How the mocking devils of drink transform a man! I have seen a man of pure life become profane and dirty. I have seen a man who loved his wife and child so debauched by drink that he was mortally offended because his wife did not look cheerful when he came home drunk. I have seen a man debauched by drink look coldly at his wife when she wept, and sneer at her sobs, and then shoot off to the nearest saloon. I have heard her cry, "Where are you going, my darling?" and heard him reply, "You'll find me at the morgue in the morning." I've heard her cry, "Oh, come back, and I'll not complain; I'll be cheerful!" and no answer was vouchsafed but the brutal ringing of his retreating footsteps.

I have seen a man who idolized his children sneak through an alley and try to get into the house without their seeing him. I have seen a man who enjoyed good pictures and good books, when debauched by drink prefer the society obtained in a low dive and playing cards with thieves for partners. I've seen a man who loved and idolized his mother so sunk and debauched by drink that when she knelt and clung to him, and asked him to stay in for one night, he tore her hands away and left her prone on the floor. I have seen a noble man die in an inebriate asylum, howling like a wild beast. Forty of my own personal friends have so died. Twelve such have died since I began speaking. There are 300 who have died by drink in this twenty-four hours. It's awful, awful! The holocaust of 1889 will number 3,000,000. I have been told that I reasoned like a woman when I said that the liquor traffic ought to be destroyed root and branch. I believe that it's on its way, and more rapidly than many of us think. I hope the country will soon get right and stay right. I hope that it will no longer be a partner in producing the most utter misery of the world.—J. G. Wooley.