THE OPEN SALOON DOOR
    —­Temperance Day
    —­Destruction

The Young Man Who Enters Therein Endangers His Whole After
Life.

THE LESSON—­That both the soul and the body are threatened with destruction by indulgence in strong drink.

This temperance lesson possesses one of the “surprise” features which are permissible only when they lose themselves in the greatness of the truth they present.  In preparing for the talk, be sure that your guide lines are properly placed.  You must be provided with a sharp penknife to use in cutting the “doors” in the picture.  The dotted lines for enlarging the picture are omitted for fear of confusion, but these may be drawn over Fig. 62, with a hard pencil, and the desired purpose be accomplished.

The Talk.

“To us who realize the terrible results of the use of strong drink, and who are trying to do our part in protecting the boys and young men from the blighting influence of the saloon, there is something most discordant in the way in which these places parade their false attractiveness; for many there are who do not realize that they are a trap which, to enter, may prove fatal to life and hope.

“The great question is, why can they not see the danger?  That is the mystery, for down through the ages has come the thunder of warning against this great enemy of mankind.  ’Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,’ cries out King Solomon.  ’At the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.’  ’Who hath woe?  Who hath sorrow?  Who hath wounds without cause?  Who hath redness of eyes?  They that tarry long at the wine.’

“One look at the saloon door should cause the young man to recoil in horror, for he may see there, if he but heed, the very warning of death.  Let him look upon it.  Let us see what he may behold. [Draw the outline of the windows, the sign and the lower horizontal line of Fig. 62, omitting, for the present, the lettering.] This, let us suppose, is the front of the saloon which invites him to enter its doors. [Draw very lightly the lines indicated by the dotted lines A.] Prominently displayed are the evidences that intoxicating liquors are sold there. [Draw with red chalk the words, “Dealers in Wine, Porter, Whiskeys, Bourbon, Etc.,” completing Fig. 62.  There is no more drawing to do; the remaining step is taken by the aid of the penknife.] Here we have the front of the saloon.

[Illustration:  Fig. 62]

“There is one thing about the drink habit that we can easily understand, and there is one thing about it that I suppose we shall never understand.  We can realize why the man who is bound by this awful curse does not break his bonds; how willingly would he do it if he believed he could.  But, as we have observed, it is a mystery why a boy or a young man, with numberless powerful and convincing proofs before him, will deliberately enter the doorway of a saloon.  But once within, all may seem bright