He
went to his business on Monday sober. That was three years ago, and he
has held out well. He has been advanced twice, with a raise in salary,
and comes down to help me in my work on the Bowery. God has blessed him
wonderfully, and He will any one who has faith to believe.
JIM THE BRICKLAYER
Where I meet so many men every day and have so many confessions and try
to lend a helping hand in so many places, I do forget some of the men,
for it seems as though there was an endless procession of them through
the Bowery. But some cases stand out so prominently that I shall never
forget them. I remember one man in particular who used to come into the
Mission. He was one of the regulars and was nearly always drunk. He used
to want us to sing all the time. He was a fine fellow, but down and out,
and every cent he could earn went to the saloons. I would talk to him
nearly every night and ask him why he did not stop his drinking. He
would listen, but the next night he would be drunk just the same.
There was good stuff in him, for he was a good bricklayer and could make
from $5.00 to $6.00 per day. He told me he was married, and his wife and
two children were in Syracuse, living perhaps on charity, while he,
instead of making a living for them and giving them a good home, was
here on the Bowery drinking himself to death.
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