The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1885-02-11
FIGHTING SATAN.
The Ordeal Through Which
y,nrff0nd il PusstN0.

II
rather hasty examination into two rather
extraordinary efforts, now being made to
beat the devil 10 that thriving town. The
readers of the REPORTER bave already
heard that Rev, Mr.. Munson, formerly OF
this place, was at the head Of an organized
body of men who are determined to sup
press the sale of liquor 10 their city. The
society Is known as the Law and Order
League, of Portland, and 1t Is composed
of many most excellent gentlemen but from
words we heard dropped by some, we fear
that there are In the society, those who
care more for the little notorety they get
thereby than they do for the enforcement
Of law against dram shops. From reports
that have been sent out from the city, some
have been led to believe that the work
undertaken by Mr.. Munson, was causing
perfect panic among those engaged In the
LIQUOR traffic. This proves not to be the
case up TO the time OF our observation,
and in erite of all that has been done, the
suppression Of the traffic Is as yet an I'M
solved problem. Mr.. Munson says, and
making it Improbable and in order to do
this he says 1t is absolutely necessary to
have more law. The great trouble now Is
he says, to fix the propIietorship upon any
one The officer will enter a shop and the
signal having been given by the Waterman
who stands at the door, the proprietor spills
his liquors and steps from behind the bar,
and becomes one Of crowd OF careless
lookers-ou. He wants authority to arrest
anyone found on the premises. He also
wants the fpes increased
As has already been indicated, we held
conversation with Mr.. Munson at his office,
and be kindly went over his work, telling
us what mad been done and what he hoped
to do. He commenced this work January
9Th and up to last Wednesday had signed
276 warrants Out of this number, he es.
rfTateu tnar zvu seizures nau peen mace
and out of the 200 seizures there had been
only II convictions, the 1879 escaping
through the loop-holes Of the law. There
had been less than so persons arraigned for
the same reason. He intimated that the
crusade had cost the dealers $1,000, which
far more than paid the costs to the county.
He also informed US that the liquor seized
and destroyed is not lost by the retailer,
but that the brewer or wholesaler comes in
and bears the loss, the retaie simply pay
ing Tor the vessel which contains 1t. He
is informed that the loss of single retailer
is shared equally by his brethren. An or
panization of 800 members 10 Portland pro.
tecting each of the 1870 dealers. II such
an org anization exists, Mr.. Munson's cru
SADIE has only impoverished each of it's
members 81, according to his own show
ing, and we have the best reasons for be-
lieviug that he has exaggerated the havoc
he has made in the ranks of the enemy.
For instance, after he had showed US
about his Office, he took US to the store
room for condemned liquors, in the city
building, where there was, as there always
is, perfect wilderness of barrels, bottles,
jugs, kegs and everv conceivable vessel for
holding the ardent. Then we passed into
the police court where His Honor, Judge
Gould, was earnestly engaged on a case
against an old Irish woman, charged with
liquor selling. When the case was conclud-
ed, We began to examine the records and
found that in only one case out OF the elev
en- CONVICTIONS, had u fine actually been
paid, 30 In reality, instead Of the County's
receiving Sll00 In fines, they had only re-
ceived &lOO-a difference Of $1,000, or, to
be more exact, only 8 Ill per cent. AS to
the item of $500 for the sale OF beer bar
r4la W
bu: if that Is no nearer right than the fines
re are sorry. He said that greatly exag-
geraied reports had beer sent out as TO the
opposition he meets with. The story that
he cooked his revolver on man found in
his coal bin, was untrue, but he said be had
repeatedly found men lurking In the vicin.
ity of his office at Light. He Is an ener-
getic gentleman and 1t is easy 10 imagine
his action If he was cornered by crowd
of roughs. A busness-like revolver laying
on his desk gave an impression that Mr..
Munson was prepared for all sorts Of call
ers.
The work Is going on at great cost to
the county, but then, that is small matter
for Cumberland Coun can afford to en-
force its laws, even If 1t does not pay d-
rectly. But as will be seen by the figures
given above, 1t Is not accomplishing the
avowed object, which Mr.. Munson declares
to be to cripple the dealer financially. We
are willing to risk our reputation as pro-
phet 10 statement that the raid will COM
pletely fzze out unless some change Is
made in the mode of warfare. To judge
of Its effectiveness, one has only to COM
pare it to the crusade put into opsr alton by
E. N. Perry, when he was Sheriff and
Matt Adams was bis deputy. They did
more TO cause liquor famine 10 Portland
10 one week than Is being done now In
month. The present movement pales into
insignificance beside 1t, and yet the men
who are pushing the crusade to day are as
earnest as were Messrs. Perry and Adams,
but the trouble is, they ''don't seem to
know how"
The traffic is carried on much different.
ly in'Portland than In Bangor. You might
be in Portland many years and never see
an open bar, not even at any of the hotels
but In Bangor, liquor is sold rs open and
free as groceries are.
But let Us turn our attention from the
legal means used to beat the devil, to those
of more moral suasion OF der. The Sec
ond of the unusual means taken to de-
throne his satanic majesty. which attract
ed our attention, was the Salvation Army
now encamped 10 the city doing valiant
service. 1t may as well be said right here,
that we were as much disappointed at what
they are doing as we were with what the
crus aiders are not doing. In the first
place we expected to fnd the rum traffic
for the time o3ped. In the second place,
we expected to find lot of low lived hu.
mans going through sort Of mock wor-
ship which to them, had no meaning or
Significance. As we have intimated, we
were disappointed 10 each instance. On
Middle street below the Post Office we cav
sign reading:
SALVATION ARMY Barracks.
Ascending the stairs we came to large
room, formerly used for the manufacture
- .h1a, II Ia now Allad with n.0nle nd