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A. WOMAN. (Dedicated to Mrs. Carry Nation.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

191

A. WOMAN.
(Dedicated to Mrs. Carry Nation.)

When Kansas joints are open wide
To ruin men on every side,
What power can stem their lawless tide?
A woman.
When many mother's hearts have bled
And floods of sorrow's tears are shed,
Who strikes the serpent on the head?
A woman.
When boys are ruined every day
And older ones are led astray,
Who boldly strikes and wins the fray?
A woman.
When drunkenness broods o'er the home,
Forbidding pleasure there to come,
Whose hatchet spills the jointist's rum?
A woman.
When rum's slain victims fall around,
And vice and poverty abound,
Who cuts this up as to the ground?
A woman.
When those who should enforce the law
Are useless as are men of straw,
What force can make saloons withdraw?
A woman.
When public sentiment runs low,
And no one dares to make them go,
Whose hatchet lays their fixtures low?
A woman.
Who sways this mighty rising tide
That daily grows more deep and wide,
Until no rum shall it outride?
A woman.
Who then can raise her fearless band
And say 'twas "Home Defender's" band
Who drove this monster from the land!
A woman.
—DR. T. J. MERRYMAN.