The daily gazette., 1882-09-26
y; aA;Lsfosr A DEAD IErrER.

II
The Lseaa Opsaspl lE.nw IN CecaI County
Hats rFlmwrant vA0iasAens Have Taken
place and Been Wank&d at " the TeEn-
psrance People.
Especial correspondencs Of the Gaxette. ]
ELKToN, MD., Sept. 28s-4-The indictment
of eight whisky dealers In the western Por-
tion Of Cecil county, in and around Port
DeIosit, for violations Of the Local Option
law, has caused quite little ripple 0f 4sx-
element, and win suFprissT many people
tiving inithe county as well as out Of IT. who
did not know that any thing Of the kind was
soing on to such a wide extent. When the
Local Option law went into effect last May
Is a year and the shutters Of the tayernsI
were put up they. did not go up to stay by
any means. In less than six months You
could purchase whisky at dozen places IN
the county If you wanted It. Unless you
had q throat that was copperlined and .
stomach that could hold vitxsqA y0n. wonldpt
want Il, Violations soon becaEpe frequent
and the offenders, while acting secretly, we're
fearless and confident, 5,..s. 5..s.
OF the county lying upon the Susquehanna.
A man in my presence the other day counted
of on his fingers oiess than niue places In
Port Deposit, the t-bed of temperance SEN
timent, where whisky cOnli be bought. At
Conawingo were more Illegal dealers; at
RowIandsyille one or more jng tavern
keepers piled their trade, and four miles
below Port Deposit, at Frenchtown, there
was another man who sold whisky-there Is
a strong suspicion he made 1t himself-and
evei one who asked for 1t got It without
much ado. S's'4 'fst H' ~ 4" -I so q
Just why ahis is 90 ID not hard to explain.
| On the other eide of the river-frOm all these
| places-is Hartford county, which at that
| time was not under the Local Option law.
| The number Of taverns there almost doubled
| when tho law went into effect In Cecil, and
| for quite a while all the whisky loving por-
ton of the county would clip acroee the
river In boats in the dark of the evening and
get their thirsty cravings amply satisfied.
| Thus, great many people dFank 40 mnep
| after prohibition as before 1t. Soon another
difficulty presented itself All the work
men In Port Deposit took to going to HaTre
de Grace, q rival town in Hartford, and here
they would not only get their liquor but
make all their purchases In dry goOds,
groceries. provisions, etc,
l. THAT" said well known citizen TO rae
yesterday, "was what gave the death-blow
to prohibition in this section"
.'How WIS that z" / asked.
''It was this why. You see we have In
oPoit" about 500 or 600 laboring men
Some of thelIr work In tho fOundries, some
in the quarries and others along the wharvet
and in the coal yards. These men makt
from $40 TO $IS week, and nearly all o
them like drink and are bound to have 1t
It is only free trip across the Susquehanni
bridge 10 Hayre de Grace, and you can g.
and return for 30 cents. Now what hap
pened was this. Nearly every man. O
these five or six hundred workIngneI
took to going 10 that rollickinl
place. Here they could get the whisky
they wanted, and dealers In provisions, etc.
took to encouraging Port deposit customer
by deductlng from their bills the amount o
, the railroad fare TO and from town, 80 0cents
| This was good move and Il neariy rune
the stoFekeepers IN our town. The busines
!, men soon saw that this would not do,and II
| little while some of the hotel keeper
= opened out and commenced TO sell whisk
! IN upstairs back rooms. Nothing was sal
. or done, and these people got bolder an
: | soon any one could get that which intoxicate
: | even lift did not cheer at half-a- dozen place
. In the town. The tile To Hayre de Grac
( 4 was turned, and the labOrers resumes
|. | spending their money at home, got thei
! grog as usual, and the town did nOthase IN
: scenes OF disorder and drunkenness tina
! characterized II under the license law"
I "Can YOU tell me how that can beP
: "Simply that the dealers used diseretio
,, as to who they sold to. Quarrelsome partie
OF the lower classes could not get apythin
> to drink The town has been orderly 40
! there is regret among majority Of tn
9 people that the indictments have bee
/ found" tat
: Among those indicted by the grand 1ur
!, Is the eoachman Of the Hon. Jacob Tome
= the richest man in the county, whose bus
= ness was only petty one. For month
: past some of the most earnest advocates {
!, local option In the county have winked I
!. the violation Of the law.