The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1886-08-28
CIDER THAT MAKES MEN CRAZY

CIDER THAT MAKES MEN CRAZY.
How the Eastern Shore Local Option Law
is Sometimes Violated.
| Specidi cor Of Bdito. Aneii.aa.
EAsToN, August 2l.-During various
| pills rimases through the Maryland PENN
snla the american correspondent has
| found opportunity to examine with no
little interest the effect produced by To-
cal option. 1t has upon the whole, been
il salutary effect. In some instances the
| contrast presented has been markedly in
so great Yet the Jealous supporters of
local option have much reason for self
congratulation, in that peninsula towns
| lead far more decent and SOBER eAls-
tence than was thought probable de-
| cade ago In counties where every dis
trict has closed its saloons the good re-
suits have been manifold; but, as is the
case in several counties, where one half
the districts have declared i'll favor of the
law, and the other half against it, very
little good is discerned. 1t is not Il mat
Ter of much moment to one who wants
| drink OF whiskey very badly to drive into
a ueighboring district and get it. in
those counties where the law prevails
universally, 1t is amusing to watch the
,,rtaI ~ N order tn ay:Il
and circumvent it. There are people
who possess IA craving for alcoholic stimu-
liant, aud who. as the law now stands,
cannot conveniently obtain even the adul-
terated and drugged wnlshey that IN
ante -lucal-option times used to be sold III
the average country liquor stores, or
handed over the bars of the cheap class
OF saloons. Since prohibitory laws have
known existence in Maryland much i'll
genuity has been exercls- d in connecting
"a liquid that will produce the exhilara-
ton peculiar to whiskey, and yet not be
amenable to the law. In some of the
counties, Talbot and Queen Annes es-
pecially, this is hardly possible, SO strict
and conclusive are tue terms of the law;
the market in some way, and are eagerly
devour,d by those whose alcoholic crav-
ing is stronger than their love of health
1t is a matter of universal comment that
| the inbibers of these beverages get
| drunk more quickly. and are far more
noisy and quarrelsome than was the case
when they could procure the rye of for
mer days. The base of these compounds
is probably absolute alcohol. disguised
| somewhat with drugs that add their dan
gernus qualities and poisonous effects
When the local option law went into
| effect the country stores fell back upon
cider. Now, pure and wholesome cider
| the product of the farmers presses
| is a thug of delight and JOY forever
| But country cider and city cider are as
widely different as the poles. Country
cider comes fresh with the delicious
aroma of crushed apples; city cider
we'll, probably Mayor Hodges can dilate
upon its mysteries. The consequent in
crease demand for the beverage exhausted
| the capacity of the farmers presses, and
the country dealers would have to draw
| on the city market Tor their stock. The
imported article was lightning i'll its eff
tects and results. Amusing experiences
are related concerning this mixtures
method of dealing with consumers. A
country merchant i'll a remote part of
Talbot relates an experience that aptly
illustrates its characteristics. AS his
business competitors dispensed cider
among the multitude of other incon
gruouS commodities enc meets with in a
country store he determined to follow
their example. Home made cider was
not to be procured for love or money, aud
he was compelled to send to Baltimore
for IA barrel. The day it was preached.
two friends, farmers residing in the vi
entity who had gathered their crops to-
gether year in and year in out
for a quarter of century, and into
whose friendly intercourse no venom had
ever been distilled, happened in the mer
chant store. The storekeeper was glad
to see them, and told them so. Alter
crops weather and politics had been dis
cussed, he proposed to drink IA toast in
glass of cider, to which the two farmers
readily assented. Cider, to these quiet
inotfensive men of the acre, meant the
delightful. tranquilizing liquid that they
had slpped around their hearth sides
Little did they wot of the lurking imp
within the glass each was handed.
I'm three minutes, to quote verba
tim the merchants language, "thoSe
men had quarrcied and were fighting.
The way they acted you'd thought they
had been sworn enemies all their lives
Later i'll the dava highly respected man,
Mr.. A, prominent church member. and
noted for his cleanliness of speech, was
in the store, and accepted an invitation
to IA glass of the same beverage. The
good man had never drank anything but
the product of his own and his neigh
bors' presses. 'And,' says the store
keeper, lin IA few minutes after the cider
got IN him, he was cursing and yelling,
and using such awful language that the
people thought Mr.. A. bad lost his mind,
and were inclined to have HIM i.carce
rated as a crazy man After several
moie similar incidents had happened,
and the stuff had destroyed the peace of
mind of several good people, who, pro
badly, had never done anything worse
before in all their lives than get mad
over politics and mosquitoes, the mer-
chant becaIne convinced that it was a
trou blesone and dangerous fluid to han
die and shipped it back to Baltimore,
with several very caustic comments to
the dealer of whom he bought it.
1t was the sale and use of Just such
poisonous compounds that procured the
dultbutHcuG W Iuc local law pro-
hibltiug the SAFE of cider in small guam
titles, and which, in the Judgment of
many, is oppressive and unfair. Home
made cider is innocuous and putting it
under the same ban and in the same class
with the manufactured article is con-
sdered the essence of injustice by those
who have orchards and presses. Pear
CIDER is the innocent title of drink in |
a certain town in tlourishing Eastern
Shore county; but woe unto the unfortu-
nate mortal vino so far forgetS his coun-
try and himself as to lmbibe 1t. 1t trans
forms. infuriates and craZeS What its
ingredients are. few except the manutac
turer know. Your correspondent has an
indiStinct remembrance of having once
seen the formula for it's compromising,
but beyond an inc ,uceivable horror he
yet retains he has lost all recollection of
it. Suffice it to say that one had better
live sober for lifetime than make its
acquaintance once.
A CASHIERS DOWNFALL.