The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-05-10

n makes the selling of wines, liquors, beer ant
aes lawful business for anyone To follow
, who shall have first gwen good bond viii
sufficient surctes, and have paid INTO the city
treasury the sum Of fifty dollars, Any saloon
keeper who is Of good moral charactcrand has
compiled with the national, state and city laws
that is, having paid his government and city
license and given good and sufficient bonds
which have been approved, has The right u
| sell liouor in less quantities than one gallon,
and We have no right To hinder or Obstruct
! him We have no right To block up the en-
trance to his door or to Obstruct ingress egrcss
to his place OF business by prayer meetings or
singing psalms. But we have a right to I'M lure
his trade in the most effective way that human
ingenuity can dcvisc-that Is by not patroniZ.
ing him and dissuading all Others from visit
ing hlm.
There is perhaps another method which
might be pursued, which if enacted into "A law
would, if rigidly enforced, stop his revenues :;
that Is, to make it unlawful for any man to
drink intoxicating liquor Of any sort in a sa-
loon or drug store. Why punish the poor
saoon-kecper for everything? lie has not
only paid government tax for the privilege
of selling intoxicating drinks, but has had to
furnish bonds IN the sum Of $4,000, has had to
pay special license tax, and on top of that
the regular state, county, town, city, school
and all other taxes the same rs you ON your
property. Why not divide some of these risks
and burdens between the saloOn-keercr and the
man who drinks, Pass such Il law to take cf
feet al u given time month or two ahead, fix
ing Il penalty of fine and imprisonment upon
any man who enters saloon or drug store and
drinks liquor, and not topper IN the state but
would know It's cvcrv provisions enforce it
and the Saoon.kccper's occupation would be
gone
There is another law that would be bcne-
fetal to the cause OF temperance, and that Is to
entirely prohibit the custom of treating. For
the information of the ladies and those who
are not familiar with this perniclou> and alb
surd American fashion, for such 1t Is, it being
unknown IN Europe, will endcayor to Illus
tratc its workings:
A IS thirsty-lct A stand for your humble
servant if yOu wish--and goes into "A saloon to-
get u single glass Of bccr-wr0ng, OF course I'M
A, but he has often done it, Entering the al
precincts he finds his friend b, who
has a glass of doubtful compound, consist
ing of fusil OIL red pepper srychninc, &c,
called whisky for short, At his lips, while
the little finger of the hand which holds the
glass containing this dclcctablc fluid stands
pointing upward nj AN angle of AZ b, seeing
his chum \, putting down his glass, cxcalms,
"IIcllo, \, Just in tlme-takc a SMILE" Al
responds, Just came in for glass
of becr-don't care if ! do" Beer" con
echoes b, that's too thin-takeI
suth'n bindlng-suth'n with body TO it-takel
whisky A, mind you, started out in the!
morning to taper of and intended to get along
all day on glas, Of beer His resolution
fades-it generally does when there's whisky
around and so they drink. They chat awhile,
when \, not 10 be outd@nc in generosity by 3,
SAYS: " Less take another" Scarcely have
they prepared To swallow when in burst, their
particular chum &, who has been out Of town
for fully twcnty-four hours He is Overloyed
to see his friends ana they all drink, when G,
still dry, insists on setting 'em up" and all
imbibe once more. This performance Is still
incomplete when ID enters with Il halt dozen
and ID and each of the strangers treat, and A |
begins TO feel rather too numerous to mention,
rs il were he having entered the saloon to get
4 single glass Of beer, and instead. having
yulpcd down about ten glasses of Kissing hot
fire water. No wonder poor a end Il are drunk, |
nor that the saloon keeper comes out from be
hind the bar, and looking AS amiablc rs an an
cry pOrcupine, eXclaims; See hayer, you
young vellers, it vas better vat you gone oud
buy mine blaze Drunken mans dem got no
pizness haycr."
Enforce strictly the law already ON The stat,
ste book; see that no druggist sells or gives
away the fiery fluid; make it a penal oflense
or one person TO treat another, and add to 1t a
aw filming and imprisonng the drinker who
ipples in a saloon, and lastly withdraw all
your patronage from the saloons-do not prac-
ice at their bars, ,,liu ,uihk you Will succeed
IN making il so lonesome and binding On these
dispensers of alcoholic bcwilderment that they
will gladly abandon the business and seek 9th
n employment
At the tender age Of ten years had learned
something of whisky by actual experience.
NV father was a farmer and is yet Being g
public man he was absent from home much OF
he time. The farm was mainly managed by
llcd men, all of whom were addicted to the
whisky jug. As it was forbidden to keep the
yilc stuff about the house or anywhere, in fact,
. it'll my fathers knowledge, the men used to
)ring ii from town in jugs and hide them IN
he fields, woods or meadows, or convenient to
wherever they Nigh. bo at work. My keen
yes and boyish Curiosit vas not lone in find
ny reason for Sudden ii, pafturcs OF the men
| half dozen times n day, dropping their scythe,
" axe, or hoe, OF stopping the pillow TO dlsap
lear behind mysterious hooks and corners. |
'oon discovered the cause of these otherwise
l.accountabe performances, and as penalty
or nv inuusItivencss and in order to seal my
mouth to my parents, partly by threats, bland
shmcnts and cntrcatlcs, | was forced to take
nv first drink Of liquid damnation--l know
If no milder name that will do the subject JUS
ice. From that day, over twenty-five years
ago, until April the 10th, 1879, | have been al
most constant incOrac-an habtual drinker
If intoxicating liquors, with only slight inter
,als of sobricty-so slight as to be scarcely
worth mentioning
When about twelve years old | was sent to
Morris To school There | was surprised to
ind that liquor was not kept in jugs and hid
len in outoithc-way hooks and corners, but
kept conspicuously for sale III ornamental bot
les and fancy cut glass dccanters, There
saw gcntlcmcn-l knew they must be for they
wore white shirts, plug hats, very lofty oi
,rowr and farm" sc hrin, blue coats with
swallow tails u;I Orlgnt buttons patent lcath
n shoes partly hidden - ,oil-uIOu;hcd shaped
pants, made Of stuff loud with gay stripes, and
gorgeous diamond shItiront pins and enor-
noo> gold iiugerrings. Ia my boyish inno-
GENRE what did kn,,, ,lnItic, of the ,,Ot III