Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-01-11
THE wONDROUs Room IN ARKAN-
SAA.


at is no longer old Arkansas, but ney
Arkansas" is now frequently said of tina
State, formerly so noted for rough manners
freebooting adventures and general back
wardness of civilization. A wondrous change
has come, and Arkansas is taking rank az
one of the most progressive and wide-awake
among the Southern States. As the Fort
Smith Independent says: "The fint-lock rifle,
the coon-skin cap, the yellow dog, the billed
spurs and the quirt are remembered only as
the past-good stock, good farms and refined
manners have taken their place." But a
still further change is going on in Arkansas,
and going along so extensively and so uni
versally that it has all the consequence
and vastness of what modern slang
calls "a boom;" and that change
is in the direction Of temperance.
Gas drupk as an Ark ansas coon-catcher"
can be said no longer, for Arkansas is at this
moment making strides forward on the path
of temperance such as no other State in the
Union is equaling. AS the columns of the
APPEAL have already told, the ladies in some
parts of that State some months ago took
advantage of the law forbidding the sale of
liquor, outside of towns, within three miles
OF place OF education, to urge the suppress
sion of the liquor traffic within the forbidden
localities. They got up petitions, in some
cases they presented their petitions in person.
They crowded into the courthouses, and with
anxious faces, painting hearts, and eager eyes
they watched the proceedings of the magis-
trates to whom they appealed. How could
these men do otherwise than administer the
law as they had sworn to do, when all that
is earnest, and brave, and good in the
better sex were overlooking their
every action, and attentively mark
ing every word. The liquor dealers
did not give up without a struggle, however
Every recourse that legal practice permits of
was drawn upon to defeat the law, or to upset
it altogether. The right of woman to pc
tition at all was contested. In the end the
women proved too much for the lawyers
They gained everything, and the simple,
modest heroism with which they conducted
their cause won the generous and chivalrous
support of lovers, husbands, brothers, and
friends and neighbors. The consequence is
that to-day a wondrous revolution is going
on in Arkansas. County after county is
banishing the liquor saloon from every where
in its territory. Those who have read the
grand pages of George Eliots Romold are put
in mind of the strange results conquered by
the genius, earnestness and devotion of
Savonarola, as portrayed in that great work.
1t is the ueni, rid, riei of Cesar over again. |
Every newspaper published in Arkansas is
telling of the defeat of the liquid legion. |
Says the Van Buren, Press: 1.-THE Logtown |
whisky-drinkers are in mourning. Not |
drop can be had short of Van Buren," The |
Augusta Vidette exclaims: "Now those who
whisky hope to have happy time for a year
at least" The Searcy Beacon says, speaking
of the popular sentiment in favor of prohi-
bition and other changes: THE dawn of a
brighter day to Arkansas has .roken upon
U.S." Another paper chuckles as it tells how
"a whisky drummer struck the town a day
or two since who was not aware of the clos
ing of the Saloons" and left dry and in dis
gust Another relates how an Osceola Off
rial walked all the way to Hearne's landing
and waited there an hour for The steamboat
expecting to get what he wanted
at Ter bar. The barkeeper, however know
ing his official position, looked upon him as
rying a trick to catch him selling liquor
within the prohibited limits, and the town
,hcer, disappointed and enraged, had to
valk back again and to rejoice the heart of
lis wife by going to bed sober. The Osceola
Times states that the County Court had issued
riders of prohibition for Clear Lake and
rocked Lake and all residents within three I
niles of their churches, and adds: "Not I
aloon in Osceola! The people have said, No
icensep 1t is the people which make a
county, and to judge of improvement look {