t saloonkeeper, an honest man who made or sold
whisky?"

"There are thousands of them. Thomas Daly, one of the largest distillers
in this country, Belle Vernon, Fayette County, Penn., is a man who
stands as high morally as any in his section.

"Martin Casey, who lately passed away in Ft. Worth, Texas, a wholesale
dealer in liquors, was a friend of mine for thirty years. He was a
friend of your nephews, Jim and Clarke. He was beloved in the community
where he lived and died. No charity, no public or private work for the
betterment of mankind, was without his support. The widow and orphan did
not appeal to him without receiving. In fact, it was not necessary for
the poor to appeal to Martin Casey. His friendship would have honored
any man.

"You will say these men were too far away. Tom Swift, a saloonkeeper,
stood as high among those who were intimate with him as any man in this
city. Joe Hirsch is another, and there are hundreds of others."

"Then, Alfred, you are against temperance?"

"No, sir. I'm for temperance. If there is anything I can do to
ameliorate or decrease the evil effects of intemperance, I will
willingly take my place in the ranks and add my strength to the fight.
Ninety men of a hundred are in sympathy with those who are battling for
the alleviation of the evils of intemperance. But there are not ten men
in a hundred that have faith in the means employed. The only practical
temperance work that has come under my observation was that of Father
Matthews and Francis Murphy."

"Well, Alfred, what do you think of Sam Jones, and Billy Sunday?"

"Sam Jones is dead and nearly forgotten. As to Billy Sunday, I have made
it a rule not to talk about a business competitor. Talk is advertising.
Billy Sunday is running a show. It's bigger than mine, but it's not as
good because it's not an honest show. It's run under the guise of
religion. Religion, as I understand it, is your life work from day to
day and not the inspiration or the evolution of a week, a month or a
year. Billy Sunday has four or five advance agents, or promoters. I
employ only two. Billy Sunday has promoters the slickest in the
business: men who have had the experience of years in all sorts of
schemes. His show is a sad reflection upon the ministers and church
members of any city that falls for his methods. The preachers simply
admit that they are not equal to the labor they are engaged in. They
must have a buffoon, a mountebank, whose method