The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-02-09
ANNUAL SWEAR-OFFS.
How People Make Good Resolves by
Affidavit Before Magistrates.

81 tell you what, business has been
at its best to-day, remarked Squire
H. c. Reece as he rolled back with
yawn in his easy chair A quill was
perched behind his ear. and his hand
was oil daubed with ink, showing the
reckless manner in which he had been
handling the pen.
"Affidavits are the whole business
now" continued the Squire. IL guess
have made out no less than ten to-
day. You see the first Of the year is
the popular time for various reforms.
II has got to be the fashion, you might
say, and every fellow who has any fault
or vice of any description swears that
he will begin new leaf with the new
year.
"You would be greatly surprised at
the number of people have put upon
oath of reform in the past few days. |
have been very busy this morning, and
1t will increase with each day as the
new year advances"
"Who are the people who swear Off"
"The majority of those who come be-
fore me on such errands are men adj
dicted to drink who want to quit. !
have had such rush Of this kind that
for their accommodation | have had
several thousand oaths printed. Some
times, you see, there are three or four
men in the Office at the same time, and
ifIhad to write out each oath il would
consume too much time. The printed
oaths answers just as well. The blank
space, stating time for which the affiant
wished to abstain, is all that has to be
filled out The date is affixed, together
with his and my name. He is then
sworn to the affidavit, and the whole
thing is over in less time than it takes
to tell it. This can be done so quietly
that the room might be full Of people
and not one of them would know what
had transpired. The majority of these
fellows are regular customers When
they come in they call for one Of those
red tickets and all is understood, while
an outsider is none the wiser. a
"But this is not the only kind of re-
form that brings trade. Men come
here to put themselves upon oath of
abstinence from all kinds Of vices. l
have made out aifidavits for all kinds
OF queer vows. Nor is the business
confined to the trihing classes. Some
names are signed to these little red
tickets that would create fiutter in
society if they were known. / have
sworn some Of our best and worthiest
citizens upon just such cases A very
prominent business man OF this city
had me to make him out an affidavit,
stating he would never engage in
game Of cards or chance Of any kind
while he remained in Kentucky. He
had lost a very large sum of money at
a game Of poker, and this is what
brought him to me. He told me that
he wanted to limit his oath only to
Kentucky, as he could not confine his
conduct in such narrow bounds when
he left the State"
SOME FUNNY STORIES
"Not long ago very prominent
drummer from Chicago had me admin
lister him an, oath, that he would never
be seen again in this State He had
gotten drunk and was robbed. There
Is always some reason for these I'M
reasonable cases. l never will forget
the nice young man that came here one
day and swore he would never visit nor
speak with certain young lady, who,
by the way, is prominent IN social cir
Giles. The young lady. by some means,
had been notified OF the piece of con-
duct, and she entered and made q SINH
lar oath, only adding that she would,
on no condition, ever be seen within
distance OF him. They were
both earnest in what they swore to-
but it was done in the heat of quarrel,
and two days had hardly passed before
they were again as thick as ever.
"Just about this time last year a
young woman in a long flowing black
veil came into the office A young man
Of horiu complexion leaned on her arm
The uneasy and excited look in her
eyes and the tremor Of her lips bespoke
/, the trouble. He was Just recovering
from protracted drunk, and was sui
fering the reaction. He was in full
possessions Of his faculties-I never
swear them unless they are. He signed
one Of these red tickets to keep sober
for twelve months. This morning they
returned. His wife-for such she was
said ....... +..
TIE HAD KEPT THE OATH,
and wished to renew it again for 1884.
Mothers have come here with sons,
sisters with brothers and lovers with
sweethearts. They find it to be sue
cessful in binding the affiant, and this
mode Of reform is becoming highly
popular
THE day before yesterday one young
man swore that, beginning with the
first Of the year, and for twelve months
following, during good health, he woulc
rise at z o'clock 10 the morning and re
tire with the tapping of the fire bells a
10 at night In this class of oath
some specify scertain timeafor certain
months, generally giving themselve
more latitude in summer than in winter
while others make constantly fixe,
time, stating conditions Of exception
IN case Of balls and dances" o
The squire, charges % cents pc
| Swear.ON. and hso royan,,o frov