Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1883-10-03

Grand Meadow. 20 Sergeant.
Grand Meadow WILL. = uaolpho.... ..........:
Lansing village. IL waltham. .............
i0RMA;N2Z1o? ALLEN, Chm
Central Com. $. J. SANBORN,
II. A. BROWN.
H. c. ANDERSON.
Dated Austin MIMI, September 18th, 1883.
STARTLING FACTS.
Food for Candid NIinds---$7O,O0O Wasted
in Austin Annually---Truth Stranger
than tiction.
By the request of numerous friends OF
good morals and of the best interests OF
Austin, we print this week resume OF
the sermon of Rev. G.. +. Wright, preached
in the NJ. f. church, Sunday evening
September 90. We commend it as IN I'm
vanished. moderate statement of startling
facts. substantiated by documents anG
witnesses available to any one who viii
consult them, to the candid, thinking,
burden bearing citizens of this commune
ty. This question of dealing with the
traffic in strong drink is an import
ant issue now before the American people
and is rapidly pushing its way to the
front Read carefully every word we
udSc pllutcu pClo"
propose. this evening. to show YOU
whether it is true or not that the traffic III
strong drink is financial benefit to the
community Whether we have our wealth
or our poverty by this craft.
On two successive Sunday evenings we
have listened to excellent addresses on
other phases of this subject. To night l
desire to call your attention to this phase
of it: To exhibit the financial cost to us,
as a community, of the use of Intoxicating
drinks. When we are told that Il thous-
and millions of dollars are spent each
wear in the United States for liquor. we
do not comprehend that; l have thought
we might realize it better, if we bring it
nearer home, and consider the cost OF. the
traffic to us here in Austin.
Said DR.. Willard Parker of New York
City, recently in speaking of the physio-
logical effects of strong drink: ''Once let
the people know what ALCOHOLICS and what
it does, and they will put it away from
them" And so think we may say with
reference to the financial cost: Once let
the people know what alcohol is and what
it is doing, and they will put it away from
them" And. although the financial as
pect of the subject is, perhaps, the least
important of any yet it is OF very great
importance.
| have aSccrtaincd from the books Of
the railroad company the exact amount
of liquors, of various kinds, which have
been received by the liquor-dealcrs in
Austin during the past year. do not in
clude in this estimate the liquor received
by the drug stores, which is not very much
and which, suppose, is used almost en-
tirclv for medicinal and mechanical pur-
poses.
The amount of spirituous liquors rccciv-
ed by the saloon keepers of Austin in one
wear beginning Aug 1st, 1882, and ending
Aug. 1st, 1888, was 1923 barrels about
80 barrels of it were whiskey, and the
balance were brandy, alcohol, wine,
gin, &C., altogether making 1879
barrels of distilled liquors. A gen
tleman who has been in the saloon
business here for several years, and is as
familiar with it, probably, as any man in
Austin, told me that there had sometimes
been rs high as $50 barrels Of spirituous
liquors received here in a single year. So
that 1923 barrels is not a high average. But
think of 1870 barrels of whiskey being i'm
in single year. An ordinary barrel of
whiskey contains As gallons, which would
make 5,sO5 gallons. One gallon contains
81 drinks, and in 5,8O5 gallons there
would be @64, 400 drinks.
Iexpected, when undertook the collec-
ton Of these figures, that the result would
astonish some people, but when reach
ed this point, was myself astonished.
thought that must have made some great
blunder, until had verified the figures by
a careful review. The actual amount of
whiskey consumed by the people of Aus
tin and vicinity each year is 464, 400
drinks At the rate which it is sold, viz. {:
10 cents drink-it would amount to
$780,
But this is not all. We drink beer in
Austin, as we'll as whiskey. Not only
have there been imported 1919 barrels of
whiskey during the year ending Aug. 1st,
1883, but there have been imported 1,4OO
barrels of beer. am told that about 400
barrels of this are sent away by a whole
sale house in this place, to other towns
along the road. That would leave 1000
barrels to be consumed here. In one bar
rel of beer there are 600 ordinary drinks,
which would make 600, 600 drinks At 5
cents drink it would amount to $780, 900.
This added to the amount paid for whis-
key, gives us total of SIG, 440.
have gone on the assumption that this
liquor is all sold by the glass. I am told
that little, perhaps about one tenth, is
sold by the flask or pint, or key in case
of beer. This would not make any diff
ference in the amount drank, but it would
make little difference in the amount
paid for it. 1t would make differ
ence of about $4,000 in the amount
paid for whiskey, and about the
same in the amount paid for beer. De-
Quoting this from the SIG, 440 and we have
$72, 40 paid for liquor in this little town.
1t would be incredible to me, if I could
see any way to avoid the conclusion, but
Icannot. More than ,000, 900 drinks
of liquor sold in this place in a single
year, is statement so incredible that I
could ask no man to accept 1t on faith,
and therefore have shown you the
ground on which have based the calcu-
lation to enable you all to judge for your
selves as we'll rs can. have not tried
to make it large. l have shown you the
materials and the processes by which
every result has been reached, and you
have seen that we have the enormous sum
of $72, 44O paid directly for intoxicating
drinks in this town in single year. Of,
saloon keeper is watered about one third,
the above amount must be increased in
the same proportion; how that is l do not
knOw.)
Is there not need of temperance
movement? Ought we not to use every
means for lessening this enormous waste!
But this 81, 440 is not all by great deal
that we pay in Austin in year, for the
luxury of drink. The men who have
drank that liquor, have not only wasted
the money that they paid for it, but many
of them have wasted their time because
of it, assume that there are 10 men in
this town and near vicinity-1O men be-
longing to our COMMUNICATIVE waste
all Of their time because of 'liquor-habit-
ual drunkards, broken down and worth
less, who add nothing to the productive
industry of the community. This is 10
years time wasted in q year. I assume
that there are 20 more men who waste
half their time in drunkenness, or in idle.
ness on account of whiskey and whiskey
associations. That is 10 years more.
assume that there arc 80 or more who
waste quarter of their time. And 40
others who waste a fifth of their time in
the same way. This is moderate, only 100
men indulging in drink and wasting from