The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-02-09

swell, Susan, feel terribly discouraged
with the turn things have taken" what
10 you refer TO, my dear? asked MrH' b.
Refer 70? Why to this Temperance non
sense, of course, What else would reieer
tor And the poor nan clRsped his hands
over his stomach az II suddenly seized
with gripes, Recovering himself, he re-
sumed: " thought these fanatics were
real bold and impudent in undertaking BY
moral suasion to damage and destroy Q
business made legitimate by the laws Of
the land, but / did not care 80 much Tor
that, for l knew with all their singing and
praying and reading the Bible and
speaking, so long as Thlaky and
beer were made, It would be drank;
But failing 10 ruin our business by moral
suasiOn, they are now after the Legislature
for q Constitutional Amendment, going TO
break down the most tlourishing business
in the State by law"
"Do you think they are liable TO sue
coed in this moVement2 asked Mrs,
BEandybeer.
"succeedP II looks nightly that way
Just now. They are flooding the Legisla-
ture with petitions from all parts OF the
STRAIGHTFORWARD upon Thousands, Meet
ings are being held every night, and great
crowds are attending them, We had
council Of the Rnti.temperapce men, and
tried to devise aome plan to prevent this
thing passing the Legislature; for we
know II the people once get chance 70 vote
we are ruined. We must kill 1t In the
Legislature, and l tell you, Susan, Its going
to take lois ofmoney and hard work. You
see the way the question Is presented to
the Legislature leaves US but little chance,
because the man who votes Tor 1t don't
commit himself either way, but says the
people have asked for this amendment,
and let them have 1t, and take the re-
sponsibtlity.
prospects by giving the string into the
hands OF the people, while the man who
votes against It does commit himaelt %
opposed 10 temperance, and, further than
this, by opposing the measure he puts Q
gag upon the people and refuses to lel
them vote their sentiments, aud takes the
string into his own hands.
~ tell you, Susan, things look blue toI
us. We tried to get Bridge Oracratt to
manage for us, but he wouldn't hear US,
and the next best thing we could do was
to employ another lawyer, who Is hard at
work for Us. AT least that 10 the under
standing, Bridge CrRCrafE and Judge Fer.
guson, and Others among the lawyers, and
the ministers OF the city, are haranguinR
the people, and telling them that about 90
per cent OF the crime Is attributed directly
or indirectlY:to the liquor traffic; and what
Is the worst feature about 1t, they've gath.
cred together statlsLiCssirom the criminal
courts, the iails and penitentiaries and
aims houses, and show the people that
whisky, or intemperance, Ia the great feed
or Of all these places, and we can't deny
1t.
"They tell the people that,lSO,00O wild.
ows and orphans are left such in our
country annually by intempersnce; that
over 5000 persons are rendered insane
every year; that over 100000 die every
year from drink, and that $1,000 persons
are kept in q state OF disease and intirmity.
We thought we would hold meeting-l
mean a public meeting-and discuss the
question before the people; but we gave
that up, for when we began tO consider
what could be said to help our cause, we
found that material was very scarce. Our
Krupp gun, viz: the great revenue de-
rived from the liquor business, has been
spiked, for these fanatics" have nosed
around until by mathematical demonstra'
ton they can show that our business Ia O
source Of heavy loss annually to the Gov
eminent What to do we can't tell,
"We are trying to make.it appear that
these petitions amount to but little; but
tell you they have scared US awiully, and
we are determined to do everything to
keep the foolish people from voting on
this question. The reason why we find
1t 80 hard to make head with the members
OF the Legislature Is this: A good many
Of them expect to ask for public favors by
and by, and from the rising tide OF tenn.
peranCe sentiment 1t seems as II party dis
tinctiops and lines are going to be obliter.
ated and swallowed up, Consequently
the man who stands on record against
temperance will stand slim show for Of.
flee. / think I'll dispose oil my stock In
the liquor business as soon as possible, Tor
don't believe we can prevent the tenn
peranCe sentiment from taking this coun-
try. The crash Ia coming, and am
going to arrange my business so that the
buildings and machinery used in the man
ritscture Of liquors will be owned by 9TH
ers When the death blow falls. 'vemade
lots Of money out oil this business, and l
wish these fanatics but minded their own
business and let US alone, All this talk
about wrecked lives and blasted hopes
and broken.hearted wives and starving
children don't annoy me. Mine have
plenty and I've got rich out oil the bust
ness. That's all 1 care for.n
Here the conversation ended and Elder
Brsndybiers slowly aud sadly retired, feel.
ing that cloud had gathered over their
akY. Il.