DANGER;

OR, WOUNDED IN THE HOUSE OF A FRIEND.

BY

T. S. ARTHUR,

AUTHOR OF "THREE YEARS IN A MAN-TRAP," "CAST ADRIFT,"
"TEN NIGHTS IN A BAR-ROOM," ETC., ETC.

PHILADELPHIA, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO,
ST. LOUIS AND SAN FRANCISCO.

1875

PREFACE.

ALL efforts at eradicating evil must, to be successful, begin as nearthe beginning as possible. It is easier to destroy a weed when but aninch above the ground than after it has attained a rank growth and setits hundred rootlets in the soil. Better if the evil seed were not sownat all; better if the ground received only good seed into its fertilebosom. How much richer and sweeter the harvest!

Bars and drinking-saloons are, in reality, not so much the causes asthe effects of intemperance. The chief causes lie back of these, andare to be found in our homes. Bars and drinking-saloons minister to,stimulate and increase the appetite already formed, and giveaccelerated speed to those whose feet have begun to move along the roadto ruin.

In "THREE YEARS IN A MAN-TRAP" the author of this volume uncovered theterrible evils of the liquor traffic; in this, he goes deeper, andunveils the more hidden sources of that widespread ruin which iscursing our land. From the public licensed saloon, where liquor is soldto men—not to boys, except in violation of law—he turns to theprivate home saloon, where it is given away in unstinted measure toguests of both sexes and of all ages, and seeks to show in a series ofswiftly-moving panoramic scenes the dreadful consequences that flowtherefrom.

This book is meant by the author to be a startling cry of "DANGER!"Different from "THE MAN-TRAP," as dealing with another aspect of thetemperance question, its pictures are wholly unlike those presented inthat book, but none the less vivid or intense. It is given as anargument against what is called the temperate use of liquor, and as anexhibition of the fearful disasters that flow from our social drinkingcustoms. In making this argument and exhibition the author has givenhis best effort to the work.