The story
“Deacon Prim is as prim as his name, and a shining light in the cause of temperance. His son Tom, however, thinks along different lines. The deacon tries, without success, to get Tom to sign the pledge. One evening Tom goes out with some of his fast friends, while the deacon attends a temperance meeting and is quite the star of the evening. On his way home, however, the deacon has the misfortune to fall, and breaks his eyeglasses. He also gets his clothing rather dirty. As he blunders along the street, half blind, he meets with one disaster after another. He bumps into a lamp post, blocking his eye. Robbers despoil him of his belongings, and smash his hat. The man against whom he stumbles, beats him. Finally, a friendly drunken man pours a gallon of whiskey over him. So when the deacon arrives home, he looks as if he had been having a very gay night. His explanations are received with scorn, and his wife insists that he sign the pledge, which he finally does. But good comes out of evil, for Tom is so affected by his father’s supposed fall from grace, that he signs the pledge himself, being sure that he will never want to drink again, after seeing his father in such an awful state.”
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 8 June 1912
