84 THE WONDERFUL HOUSE THAT JACK HAS 



liquors at all is dangerous on account of our influence. 

 Persons who drink intoxicating liquors only once in 

 a while are often of strong character and good stand- 

 ing in the community. Among their friends are some 

 of weaker wills who may be started in forming the 

 habit, because their stronger willed acquaintances, 

 respected perhaps in church and society, drink an 

 occasional glass. On this account, educated Christian 

 people who now and then visit places where liquor is 

 sold, drink it at private or public dinners, or allow 

 it to be used on their own tables, lend respectability 

 to a traffic they abhor. By so doing they often un- 

 thinkingly help others to misfortune and disgrace. 



Young men and even young ladies sometimes par- 

 take of liquor at an entertainment for fear it might 

 seem puritanical or impolite to refuse. But what a 

 mistaken idea this is ! No such refusal made in a quiet 

 way but inspires the deepest respect. Why will not 

 all young ladies, with due regard to their sex, make 

 this one of their most sacred rules of conduct? It is 

 the wife and the mother who are the innocent but often 

 the greatest sufferers from the strong drink habit. If 

 young ladies would never taste strong drink them- 

 selves, and would exclude from their companionship 

 young men whom they know are not total abstainers, 

 the influence of their action would be most salutary. 



The law, recognizing the dangers of alcoholic drinks, 

 makes it a misdemeanor to sell them to minors (persons 

 under twenty-one years of age). We do not hear 



