The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-01-24
Annual Swear.Ons.

1Ou WHdts OuSlHcSS Has UCCn
1t its best to-day" remarked Squire
Il. G.. Reece as he rolled back with
GAVIN in his easy chair. A quill was
perched behind his ear and his hand
was all bedaubed with ink, showing
the reckless manner in which he had
been handling the pen.
"Afidavits are the whole business
now,' continued the Squire '.I guess
| have made out no less than ten to-
day. You see the first of the year is
the popular time for various reforms.
1t 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 a new leaf with the new
year.
"You would be greatly surprised al
the number of people L have put upon
oath of reform in the past few days. i
have been very busy this morning, and
it will increase with each day rs 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 ad-
dicted to drink who want to quit. |
have had such rush of this kind that
fox 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
if had to write out each oath it would
consume too much time. The printed
oaths answers just as well. The blank
space, stating time for which the athant
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 reople
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 hose
red tickets and all is understood, while
an outsider is none the wiser.
''But this is not the only kind OF re-
form that brings trade. Men come here
to put themselves upon oath of abSti-
nence from all kinds of vices. have
made out atfidavits for all kinds OF
queer vows. Nor is the business con-
fined to the trifling classes. Some names
are signed to these little red tickets that
would create tlutter in society If they
were known. | have sworn some OF
our best and worthiest citizens upon
just such cases. A very prominent bus
mess man of this city had me to make
him out an affidavit stating that he
would never engage in a game of cards
or chance of any kind while he re-
mained in Kentucky. He had lost
very large sum of money at game OF
poker, and this is what brought him tc
me- He told me that he wanted tc
limit his oath only to Kentucky, as he
could not confine his conduct in such
narrow bounds when he left the State. "
Not long ago a 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 unrea-
sonable cases. l never will forget the
nice young man that came here one
day and swOre that he would never
visit or speak with a certain young
lady, who, by the way, is prominent in
social circles The young lady by
some means had been notified of the
piece of conduct, and she entered and
made similar oath, only adding that
she would, on no condition, ever be
seen within speaking distance of him.
They were both earnest in what they
swore to, bat it was done in the heat OF
a quarrel, and two days had hardly
passed before they were again as thick
as ever.
''Just about this time last year
young woman in long flowing black
veil came into the office. A young man
of fiorid 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 suf-
fering the reaction. He was in full
possession 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 he had kept the oath and wished
to renew 1t again for 1884. Mothers
have come here with sons, sisters with
brothers and lovers with sweethearts.
They find it to be successful 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 would
rise at seven O'Clock in the morning
and retire with the tapping of the fire
bells at ten at night. In this class of
oaths some specify a certain time for
certain months, generally giving them
selves more latitude in summer than in
winter, while others make constantly
fixed time. stating conditions of excep-
tions in case of balls and dances"
The Squire charges twenty-five cent:
per swear-off, and saws his revenue
from this source annually amounts tc
hundreds of dollars-one year reaching
SS00.-LOutsUiLLe Post.