One evening, I had a respite from my employment, and amused myself by my favorite recreation, the theater. As I returning quite late, and was passing through a narrow, dirty street, a boy asked me for some pennies, in a piteous tone. He said he wanted them to buy bread. I thought the voice was familiar- and scanning the lad’s features, discovered my little acquaintance who had so often brought the jug. Of late, however, I had missed his accustomed visits to the bar. I spoke kindly to him- and the poor fellow, no doubt unaccustomed to such treatment, burst into tears. More and more interested, I inquired of him what distress had sent him forth at that hour; and he acknowledged that, instead of wanting the pennies to buy bread, he wished to purchase liquor-and for his mother!
Franklin Evans, 44
This is an example on how intemperance not only affects the drinker but the love ones around him or her. This is a re-occurring them throughout the novel. The poor boy wanted to buy liquor for his mother. Franklin Evans followed the boy home to further assess his situation. To his horror, he found a wretch of a mother dying in her bed while two children are helpless and unsupervised.