The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-05-22 00:00:00

BLUE RIBBON ARMY DEMONSTRATION.

The enjoyment and swans of this demonstration
were greatly marred by the unfavourable weather on
Whit-Monday, which effectually precluded anything
approaching out-door amusement. or sport*. An
rale programme of attractions had been arranged
for Stineford Perk, and the rain which fell so pitilessly
all the morning was a cause of inters disappointment
to the young people. Although disappointed, that '
doughty soldier, Mr. Clarke, wee not defeated; • ;
Iraq committee was convened, and it wee
derided,
should the weather improve, the proosesion I
take place, and the tea and after-proceedings be held
in the C Exchange. We are glad to say by noon
the weather was tolerably line, and at half-past two '
the South Walks, which was the appointed rendezvous, '
was crowded with proceseinniste, all gay with blue
ribbon, ashes and medals. They were marshalled in '
the following order :—St. Peter's and All Saints'
Branches and Band of Hope, Holy Trinity
Branch, Esat and West Nordington Branches, Con-
gregational Band of Hops, Primitive Methodist Band
of Hops, Mr. Greentog's Band of Hope, and the
Wesleyan Band of Hope, numbering altogether over
SOO children. This largo procominn, heeded by the
Piddietrenthide Blue Ribbon Brea Band, and
armored by Mr. Clerks, Mr. Foot, and other zealous
Blue Ribbon workers, and with the Temperer* Hall
Dram-and-Fife Band in the rear, paraded the town,
the following being the line of route :—Hp the Core.
wall-road, by the Barracks, down High-street. over
Fordington-hill, skirting the Gaon, up the Wareham.
road, down Klug.street, by the end of Mill-street,
into the Londouroad, ascending nigh East-etreet,
down Trinity-street, and up Eloutle-street, to the Can
Exchange. -Whilst the Church of England Bands of
Hops were being seated in the Corn Exchange, all
the Chapel Breaches macre i round Orchard-street.
It was found impartible to accommodate all the
children in the Corn Exchange. and Mr. Greening'.
Band of Hope sod the two bands took tea together at
the Temperance Hall. The tea was provided by Mr.
Seymour (Fordbutton), and gave the grater satisfac-
tion. The Rev. A. A. Leonard, the Rev. C. F. Powys,
and many ladles and friend. attended to the wants of
the children. The childree thoroughly enjoyed them-
selves, and parlor to the public meeting they were
akin for another walk with the bands round the
town.
At the evening maths( at the Corn Exchange there
was • crowded audience, a large proportion of which
was your people. The proceedings wore characterized
by much brightens,, and a certain amount of holiday
saurian. The Blue Ribbon Band was stationed in
Sit, balcony, and the dram-and-fife band la or of the
mosems. The Rev. H. Everett occupied the chair,
supported on the platform by the Rev. T. W. Knipe,
0. F. POWYS. Bev. T. !fear, Mr. E. J. Day,
Mr. Clarke, radiant in blue ribbon, sash, and modals,
Mr. Foot, his no-worker, also decked with the cerulean
adornments, Mr. Lomb (LO.G.T.), and Mies Peaty.
Before the proneedliers comenonced, the band played
" Welcome Horne."
The Citaraites said as the movement woe founded
on religious prinelplee, be would ask the Rev. C. F.
Powys to pray God's blaming upon the meeting. The
Rev. QT. Pow, offered an splworrietti prayer.
The Onamman, in his opening speech, lOW DO could
not refuge to attend and beer his testimony, and give
his aid towards this grand movement. (4Pplause.l
As they were all doubtless aware the weather that
day had upset the whole programme of arrangements
that was Intended; still,although that had been a very
discouraging thing in many way., yet still be did
think when they saw that procss.ion of children going
through the streets they ought to be very thankful
and encouraged. (Applause.) He believed the children
had bra very well treated, they had had an smallest
tea, and more or lees enjoyed themselves; although of
course they would have enjoyed themselves mach
better if they had gene, r it WM intended. to fitineford
Park. Bat they must look for better look nett time,
and Wove lobo he hoped they would have another out-
ing for them, when he hoped they would be favoured
with better weather. (Criers from the yessegeterel
All through this great movement they had had much
encouragement and much disoooriguthati. They had
had much daily to oncourge them, and make them
exceedingly thankful throughout the country. There
was nobody who raid have read the speech of the
Chancellor of the Enehoineer the other day without
feeling, ii he had any heart in the causes that be had
great reason to go down on hie knees, sad thank God
for what had been dom. Another thing mud amour-
age them very much. As they all blew. Sir Wilfrid
Lawson bad at last sucoardad In the House of
Commons in carrying the Local Option resolution.
He did not exactly keen what it mesa, and what the
effect of it would be, hut he hoped and trusted it
mem* that every ratepayer in his own town and
neighbourhood should have a veice in regulating and
restricting the liquor traffic. (Cheers) That was
what they wasted. (Hew, hem) That they who
were trying to labour for the wahre of the working.
deem should not be coarsened to see an sooratoos
timothy of publichouses thrust down upon them,
when they knew perfectly well that the working-
ammo themselves were the vary ones who were
opposed to than. Only let than have a mete In this
matter, and then a certain amount of reformation
mut he needed out. 4.ppleaes I Their d
Mesta still were terrible; the amount of drintrarZ
still wont on in the land wee fearful ; still they must
bops and trust they bad really made some mark upon
the evil, that they were diminishing it. He certainly
believed they were; still there was an lamer* deal
yet to be done. They knew perfectly well from what
they could gather from statistic* that drinking among
woman was still very great, and on that mama there
was one terrible thing they wanted to get rid of, and
that was those havibi• grocers' licenses. and be looped
before they were very ma* older they would see
something doss there, for it wee oos of the greeted
encouragements a drinking among women. There
::::araeal,amsurtain mama of wary lainewarm feeling
and ladiffereme mom the Mabee and middle dm,"
la this great movement, but be hoped that before long
they would ese many of their friends and asighbosue,
who an. took very little interest in it. sad looked
oddly are it, coming forward to give them their aid
stadhltit:wL—bseallebaitayogidas they were
not under.
bwind " (ha larenfourths of Om mime,
poverty sal the .i.ry a the country
waa ostirely owing to the dunk, Mould etned slags fold
their hands, and take se past In thin movement. 4ny-
body with any heart at an isnot be hoPitoot to re"
forward, and do awaking bv areee oe AM better
b 7 wont% Is libitum me& Omppm)

The Rev. T. W. Krug next addressed the meeting.
r the few words he should spook he would try
andwell with forte and figures, that might be
tb°l436‘hlY rolled upon, because it wa• very necessary
that these meetings should not be merely • stirring up
of feelings, that were already somewhat called out in
this direction, but Should also be a means of acquainting
them with certain facts whereby they might be ready
to give an answer to the many persons who objected
to this 'treat temperance movement, which he, for
else, believed was raining a great and a glorious
victory for Old England. (Cheers) They mot with
°Net:Hons on every ground and on every possible soore,
and people who stood up for this great drink traffic.
Theo people said talk—about large figures, we have •
large population, and, if so, then a great deal of wino,
epirits, and beer Is consumed. The rev. geatlemen
then quoted • few figures which, in these days of
Winnetanea 0,40131014 and big statements, were really
startling. The total rental of land in the United
Rindoen was 60.000.000, and the rental of all the bonus
70,000,000-130,000,000. By • curious coincidence the
amount spinet in strong drink was almost precisely
th° "me- Owing to the zealous exertions of those
Interested in the Blue Ribber' Movement, and the
various temperance moieties, they hal got so far as
this, that they did not quits spend 130,000,000 last
year, but the &mom of the lad eight years was over
that. Another 111T00100t advanced by the opponents
of the Temperance Movement was that there were a
greet many people interested and employed in the
liquor traffic. Some of them of late had beard rather
more than they wished about the sister country
Ireland. They all knew there wan a great deal of
poverty there, and he believed that a great deal of the
crime and the do, and a neat canes of the cruel
tendency to murder would be removed if the people
were better to do; and one of the great causes of
the poverty in Ireland wee no doubt the greet amount
spent in strong drink. To refute the argument above
mentioned he Instanced the cam of • hags distillery
In Dublin which turned over in the yaerl millions
of money. Again, by a 'similar coinonos, the linen
trade, which was a blessing to • great extent in
Ireland. "turned over" precisely the oune amount of
money. How many people did they suppose were
employed in the distillery t—only 150; and how many
In the tin-n trade ?-12.000. (Applause.) He believed
It would be j tot the same if they ran through the whole
story. The vast buildings for strong drink employed it
might be their dozen of hands or so et 'moored with
the hundreds and thousands la the mumfactoriee of the
land. The rev. gentleman then went on from beer to
the kindred subject of theme. It was a had day for
Old Borland when Mr. Beer married that homely and
Pleasant damsel, Mies Breed-and-Meese. (Laughter.)
But he thought they had bees married far too logic, an
d
he wanted to see them divorped on the ricend of
cruelty, biomes Mr. Bea had kreed Mies Bread-and-
Mese* out of bones a great many times. (Math
laughter.) Therefore, on the ground of cruelty. It was
high time they nod for • divans (Menai He (the
snooker) wished no 111 to any man living, he ooeld say
that with all his beset He wee at pesos with all the
world and be wished well to every living soul, but he
did wish that all who were interested in this mieerahle
trade would do " eomething else," and he wished all
the publicans In Dorchester would do something else.
This train not only drove bread-and-theism out of the
house, but it drove charity ont of the heart ; it was •
bed stanothbere ; love was oold, principle was dead, and
fooling and interest in others had weed away where
this traffic prevailed. Some of the arguments were
somewhat amusing—ennui drank on account of a
rising' some on account of • sinking; some because
they feel so very hot; some become they hoped it
would keep out the cold; some were told not to take
the pledge because they were too young; and some
because they were too old to make any c The
last one was the argument that woos especial y made to
him, and he had to resist it for a long time. Be was
told he was ton old, but he took the pledge, and he
might say be had been watching for eons half year or
norelto see what harm It bad one him; and though,
be confessed. he had • human weakling and liked •
rood glass of sherry. be could not for the life of him
find any excuse for taking it. (Laughter.) It wan
very provoking that at the time when he longed for •
ems of something, be felt in his heart be had been
getting provokingly better ever since he threw it away,
and he could not find It had dose him any harm.
(Laughter and applause.) Al for the "too young "
argument, be mentioned against it the procession of
children that day. The old folks, who were going
down the vale, liked to hope that the world would be
better and happier when they were gone, and he was
1101.0 that was his feeling when he saw the many many
little footsteps walking in the way of temperance and
sobriety that day, and it filled him with the hope that
thorn miebt be a glorious, & happy. and blessed future
for Old England yet. (Andante.) In conclusion he
urged hie hearers to keep from strong drink, end there-
by be pc- served from 000 of the strongest of tempt'.
times; under Its influence they were apt to say things
and do things which they would not otherwise do. Let
them be careful to keep unsullied that best and
Indebted of possessions, their fair name, which, if they
lost, they could not recover.
" A flower crushed beneath your feet may not be wholly

blighted, . , _
Thou may'at quench the lamp, that may snip be lighted;
But 11 arm thy harp or lota a mingle atriau be Mph's.
It will never to thy touch agate give book Its former
. . ..

token."
—( Plansitt.)
The Rev. T. Nears, who was the next speaker, I
sail he hoped everyone of those he was addressing that 1
night was • friend of the temperance movement, He I
should be very glad to see how many there were in I
that audience who did not belong to the movement. I
(To ascertain this., the rev, gentleman invited all who
were not, to bold up their hands, to which there was I
not • single response.) All seemed to belong to it, ;
and he 000gratulated the chdrmaa on presiding over ;
such • meeting. If there were any present who were I
not yet pledged in this grand movement, he hoped the I
result of that meeting would be that not one of them I
would Imes the room without corning up to the plat-
form and signify their wish to unite themselves with I
them ; for they were "axiom not only to make speeches
but to do business. (Applause.) He was happy to
say he owed much to it. although it was not long that
he had taken the Bine Ribbon. He would give them
• little bit of autobiography. Some time ago he
thought be might start a Band of Hope, on what
'might be called " temperate " principles; but his
young friend" were far too logical and far too acute for
him. He bad thought all the acuteness and logic
belonged to Switchmen, but he found • fair measure
belonged to the children of Dorchester. (Laughter.)
When he told his Band of Hope to become teetotalers.
although he should not pledge himself, they laughed
at him. He understood the meaning of the laugh. "It
Is useless for you to come here, Mr. Negro, to teach
us teetotalism unless you put on the Blue Ribbon."
(Laughter.) So be said, . All right: I will put it
on." and so he was taken in--(aoplause)--sed be was
very glad he wan taken in. His heart was thoroughly
in the matter now. He bad been disposed to look at
this question from a logical point of view, the dietary
and the scientific point of view, and he found there
was me thing all medical end scientific men seemed to
WOO upon—although they seemed to be a little cow-
peadocate towards thee" who were getting up in years
(although Mr. Knipe had refuted that entirely), yet
to young people not only WWI the drink of no use, but
entirely and absolutely injurious. He hoped no father
or mother in that room would ever again offer their
children beer. They did not need it—their health did
not need it, and their brain did not need It; they
would not be better but worse for it. It was not
simply a question of enthusiasm or zeal, but they
wanted teetotalers to be men of sense—end common
mess. They wasted to bads their arguments
on a solid basis, and they were very glad to
know that this question was now commanding
the attention and the honed verdict of all genuine
enquirers. H. alluded with pleasure to the change
In the legislative aspect, and said the mass of the
people_ must have a voice in determining whether
PnWithouses were required or not. They did not wish
to deal unjustly emu with publicans ; he had no doubt
there were some good and honest men among them, but
they did not dial with the wee, but with the trade
and with the drink. for they believed it to be
altogether injurious to the best interest' of the country,
both Physinelly, politically, morale, and religiously.
(knolanes.) They were all glad that the nation. in
its Imperial Parliament, had lifted no its voice to say
that some restraint and some restriction, for the well-
being of the community, mutt hi placed upon the
drinking habits and peace ces of the people, and the
drinking trade of the country. But he confessed if it
were simply • question of legislation, he for one should
despair of ever making this country an abstaining or
a temperate people. His sincere hope was in con-
nection essentially with the young. They were confi.
dent that if UM movement amongst the young
coethzned at the same rate of promess they might
safely predict that England woold soon be • temperate
nation. (Applause.) He could but look noon that
gathering that clay as • very layout-dale hope and
symptom of the future temperance of the town of Dor-
chester. Quoting from the report of the meeting of
the National Bands of Hope In London, he said that
from the commencement of this movemsnt in 113.-a5
Mere bad been formed no less than 10.144 juvenile
imlnnsfluen nrranimlions, with an agrmatete member-
, ship of 1,167,000. Io conclusion,the rev.icentlemeo said
he looked upon that platform as a splendid symbol of
the unity of that movement. Their religion had not
brought them together, he was sorry to my, as that
movement had don.; bat they were now welded
together, because this question involved all vets and
t parties, the question of the medal, domestic, on I moral
well-being and bappinme of the country. (Appl twee.)
Mr. 5.3. Day wee the next speaker. Heald within
the last day or two the report of the County Asylums
I had bees *mid in his hands, and from it be
, observed that last year there was so less • sum ?ban
; £5OO spent in drink io those institutions. He did not
MOM 03 any it was • great deal, still he mentioned
. the case of two asylums where they did almost
; entirely without it. (Hear, Mar.) Among the causes
, of lassoity in Don't it was stated by the rsp ;rt that
the principal cause was hereditary pre-dimmition.
next epilepsy, and then intemperance and di...it .stion ;
and yet they spent over £5OO worth of beer and spirits.
Hs noticed that half-a-pint was given each male end
. female on every day of the week except Wedoestial.
; There was no not* appended to say why it was ;mated
on that day. and he thought if it was neo—seary for
I them at all then they ought to have it on Wednesday
, as well MP the other days in the wet* end if it Wan
not 0•00•11•17 thee they °mild do without it altogether.
(Applause.) In the course of his speech he remarked
r ma the progress of t•CDP11411000 work by means of the
; London Temperanne Hospital, where he bad been.
I The, had now more than 100 patients treated on the
noo-aloobolic system. He 'Aso stated there woe about
; LOGO medical tees who were abstainers. Referring to
tthe medical side of the question, Mr. Day remarked
; alcohol was undoubtedly injurious to the roan.
r With regard to 'dolts, there might he • slight differ-
; mace of °plebs among the medical men; but if they
r were abernbers they were bound to boon the safe aide.
(Applause.)

. . _
Tl3O C1L111131131 said they had beard the genti.mene
views on the mattee—they would now hes- the ladies'.
hin. Everett. who had beau announced to speak,
wished Ma to any she was in tired In the procession
that she weld not 00030. She eleo exorcised her
detensisatios not to speak on this subject, for she felt
so dishearbiesd tight so few of bar sex came forward
A. to bil her. They did so want ladies to Pune forward
to *et bp this greed isoviment. It was
for MP or any o IMO to exofitoosto the
once 1114 tho vows bad over ibeln•

" D :ui.. our buidage as wit will.
714 WOM in—woman rates us still.
(Laughter.) If only they would °owe and help them
there wet not the elig'itest doubt the movement would
spread still fa.ter than it did at preeent. (Cheers.)
Miss PEATY next addressed the meeting. Though
but a young girl, she appears to pagess unusual
oratorical :dinky ; her elocotion is excellent, and .tyle
! easy and Elective. Sbe said she suppomd they would
think this subjmt too deep for girls, but she did not
know .o much about that, for young as she was she
had seen a great many route drunk, not only men but
1111101•11 tio.l. She itroctwded to speak of the drink as •
person. First of all lie was Mrong, sal one reason she
called him skiing wee that be could throw any one
down who liked t • try him. They read that Said had
slain his thousands au I David his tens of thousands,
but the strou; drink had done more than that; it hied
sant 60,000 every year in Great Britain alone to
untimely gr 1181, snd most of whom he cheated of their
souls. &vont drink was also an arti.t, for he male
peoples' noses re a, and he was • thief, for he robbed
men of their brains anal of their money; it male
widows and orphan., filled the gaols and hospitals,
drew away wetly from the Mnim of God, and the
Sunday school. As drink lii all this she urged her
hearers to let it alone. At the conclusion of an
excellent address Miss Peaty r-clted • pathetic poem,
" The Worth of a Shilling," which was listened to with
intense interest.
Mr. CLAIMS, who was rewired with cheers,
expressed his sincere sympathy with this movement,
and earnest hope for its soricess. l'here was • promise
In the Word of Go I which ran thus—' Delight thyself
In the Lord, and He shall give thee the desire of
thine heart." If ever be saw that blessed
promise fulfilled it wan being fulfilled that
day. He had long bad that .abject in his mind
and he had long had it in his heart to see such a grand
and glorious demonstration of (Impel Temperanoe
people, both young and old, in Dorchester. He
thanked God that it had been such • succes as they
had seen it. (Applause.) Everything had, it was
true, been capsized by the weather, etill it had
WWII a BUCDOOS. (Cheers.) All the arrangements
had been made since 10 o'clock that morning, to they
muit not complain if everything had not b n carried
out to their wishes and destine. As to the prooession.
such • gathering bad never been seen in Dor h-ster
before in oonnection with this movement. Mr. Clarks
eisbed strongly to refute the statement made in the
, Telegrams as to the band sot being teetotalers, for be
had it on the authority of the bandmaster that every
one wee • teetotaler with the exception of one, and
they would not bring him with them. (Cheers.) Is
complimented the bead on their exmlient performances,
and left those present to judge of his own little bend
t mei their splendid drummer, Bro. Starry. (Cheers.)
, The meeting then cosalteled. During the evening
the band played a oepital eel otion of hymn tune., and
, the drum-and-fife band also played 'a tune, which was
, • wane of intense delight to the juvenile..