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Show FRANCIS MURPHY. The death of Francis Murphy at Los Angeles last Sunday took from the world one of the strongest strong-est advocates of temperance this country ever had His lectures on the evils of the liquor habit, which he delivered in nearly even- village and town in America, were a strong protest against the indiscriminate indis-criminate ve of liquor as a beverage and a plea for reformjjx) those who had already acquired the habit. Pr ibly no one knows how many people., young andSd, including the innocent and sodden, were impelled to "sign the pledge" by the eloquence of Mr. Murphy, and the ardor of his pleading. His methods at times may have been spectacular, but that they brought happiness to thousands through the reformation of victims of drink there can bp no doubt. The press dispatches announcing the death of the famous blue ribboner said it was Mr. Murphy's Mur-phy's desire to live a hundred years, because he felt that he wa3 helping lo do God's work in his efforts to get men to abstain from the liquor habit. He died at 71 years of age, so his wish was not realized. re-alized. But his memory will be blessed by thousands thou-sands whose lives have been brightened and in whose homes the blight of a drunken husband and father was removed, and tears of sorrow and despair de-spair and hopelessness gave way to the smiles of. hope and three square meals a day before the magic of his eloquence. Francis Murphy might not have been a great man as the world measures greatness, but the cause to which he devoted many years of his life is & great cause, and he did much to further it. |
