St. Paul daily globe., 1884-07-05
AT RED ROCK.

AS a temperance celebration the gather
ing at the Red Rock camp meeting ground
yesterday was only partial success, but as
a go-as-y -you-please picnic it was eminently
successful. Very few of the camp meeting
people remained for the celebration, and st.
Paul, Minneapolis and their suburbs fur
nished majority of the people present, al
though few came from the surrounding
country. The small boy was there with his
fire crackers, and lovers wandered through
the grounds with thoughts intent upon ev-
erything but temperance reform. Severl can
vassers of the temperance sheets took advan
tage OF the meeting to present the merits of
their papers, and every person passed the
time in his favorite occupation. The people
who composed the congregation which gathaa
cred around che stand to hear the orations
were mostly past the prime of life, and not
one looked as if he had been snatched from
the slums Of drunkenness. It was gather
ing of the faithful, and not of those who
needed reforming. At the last moment it
was found that the choir from Minneapolis
had failed to arrive, and one was hastily con-
structed out of the material at hand. 1t mus
be admitted, however, that they rendered ex-
cekent music. The morning papers, con-
tanning the news about the closing of the sa-
looms in Iowa, were in demand, and much
favorable comment was heard upon the SUBJ
ject.
The services of the day were opened by a
prayer meeting at s o'clock. At 1890 pm,
the people gathered at the stand to listen to
the addresses. Mrs. Hobart, president of
the w. @. 7. u, announced that as there
seemed to be large surplus of patriotism
| floating around, and she thought it would be
good idea if some of this could be trans
! ferred to the meeting The services would
be commenced by reading the Declaration of
| Independence, to this end she introduced
Miss Henrietta Moore, of Ohio, who pro-
ceeded to read the time honored and histor
| ical piece of literature. The choir and con-
gregation united in singing sAmerica,
after which Mrs Warner read the scriptural
lesson. After prayer Mr.. G. F. Wells, of
ence.
Mr.. Wells speech was somewhat out of
| the usual order of temperance orations. He
| began by saying he been reared in place
| where liquor selling was considered almost a
| crime, and he had, in his early years, looked
upon the saloonkeeper as one of the greatest
! criminals He might say, however, that his
| views upon this subject had been somewhat
changed of late years. He not only held the
salooRkeeper responsible, but also the man
who bought and used the liquor. He then
proceeded to arraign the members of the
| Legislature for allowing liquor to be sold
| at all. He took his hearers to
| task for licensing the same by their
ballots, and severely criticised the Republi-
can and Democratic parties for not making
prohibition one of the issues of the cam
| pagn. The grafton was conservative and
| dignified in tone, but at the same time con-
demning in unmistakable terms the liquor
| traffic and was well delivered, claiming and
securing the attention of the audience until
the lose.
Mis4 sloon, of Ohio, WIS introduced to the
audience, and Immediately placed herself
upon the best of terms with her hearers by
compimenting the grounds upon which the
meeting was held. She is lady of pleasant
man ners, and her voice is well cultivated
| and controlled, but her grafton, at times,
was trihe flighty. She was frequently in
terrupted by applause, especially when she
! pointed to the flag which waved above the
stand. She arraigned the lawmakers for the
present condition of the liquor traffic, and
claimed it was a crime and should not be
licensed or protected. She thought the voter,
too, was responsible, in part, and held the
saloon keeper responsible for the murder of
the men and the condemnation of their
souls She painted the fate of supposed
drunkard in strong language, and closed by
an earnest appeal to the voters present to
cast their votes for prohibition candidate.
Mrs. George Hazard, of st. Paul, sang the
''Star Spangled Banner" after which Rev. G.
Hobart of Red Wing, delivered an Grafton,
and was in turn followed by Mrs. Hobart.
The meeting was closed with music.