The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1881-09-30

My friend tool, The empty glass and
drew from the same lancet half n glass
of whisky. If l was puzzled before,
| was now thunder strnck, and after
laughing at me awhile the trick was
explained. Ii was simple: Press
down tho button and water runs;
press up with the thumb from below,
while you appear to press down with
the forciinger and you get whisky;
open the cooler and you find it full of
ice water. The whisky CONES from n
cask in hidden closet up stairs, and
flows through n small pipe which dc
sends III the partition, and passes
from the wall into the bottom of the
cooler, and connects with the faucet.
Before we left, party of five or six
gentlemen came in, and i was told that
they were all town and county officials,
and one was justice before whom
many of uie cases of drunkenness and
violation of the liquor law were tried.
a gentleman told me that ut st.
Johnsbury he saw poor devil sent to
the work house for liquor selling and
drunkenness by justice and prosccu-
ting attorney who were both striving
to overcome an all-night dcbauch, and
who wero taking drink together
within five minutes after the officer
went out with his prisoner.
Upon Lake Champlain, which lies
between Vermont and New York from
the Canada line to Ticondcroga, are
floated number of barges which are
fitted up as whisky saloons and to these
come the thirsty Green Mountain boys
from all along the border and away
back in the interior of the state on
midnight trips, and 90 away with
casks and demijohns under the buggy
seats, or at least stomachs and TASKS
filed. Much liquor is thus procured
from boats which float on New York
waters, and is carried by sellers back
to taverns in the Green Mountains, and
the bad men of the villages organize
'fishing expeditions 10 the mountains,
which turn out to be big sprecs.
In Vermont the government AFRO
gates to itself the right TO sell liquor,
and there they have peculiar official
who is called "The Town Agent"
His duty is to sell for the town all
kinds of liquor, distilled or malt, upon
the order of physician, the liquor to
be used only for medicinal or mechani-
cal purposes.
This gives the poor physician q
chance to turn an honest dollar, and at
the same time relieve much consuming
thirst. In nine cases ont of every ten
where liquor is sold by the town agent
thus, the prescription of the physician
is fraud, and the physician got two
dollars for writing it. AS long as a
man uses whisky discreetly, don't get
drunk or get into trouble so as TO in
vove the doct IL, he can get all the
whisky he wants from the town agent,
and at the same time be putting money
into the Doctors pocket and the town
treasury.
Whisky being contraband and not
recognized by law as property, ii is
stolen with perfect IMMUNITY all over
tho state.
The papers contain an amusing &C.
count of performance of this sort in
the town of Middlebury, which is very
straight laced and the center of a com
paratlvclv strong temperance region.
The whisky place in town is an inno-
cent dining room, with private rooms
up stairs, and the railroad passes by
The rear. The proprietor has his bar
rcs and casks of liquor dropped at the
freight depot, half mile up the track,
and 4 man wheels them down after
dark in q barrow. Tho chad men" OF
the place found this out, and one night
about three weeks ago, dozen OF
them laid in wait for the whecl-bar-
row, captured a kcg of beer and cask
of whisky, took them down to a grove
on the river near the town and put in
Sunday OF wild and reckless dissipa-
lion. Fifty or a hundred men and
boys got wind Of the affair and went to
the grove for free drinks, and there
were several fights and disgraccful
sconos. Yet all tho papors treated it as
big joke and even angular temper
anceitcs laughed about it.