The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-10-01
WANTED-A COFFER-DAM
BY 4. NJ. GRIFFIN.

One of the most thriving manufacture
ing cities i'm New England stands upon
the banks of II beautiful river.
The city owes its origin and present
thrift, i'm great degree, toa magnificent
stone dam, which ut this place checks
the current of the river and turns It's
waters aside into artificial channels, thus
furnishing the power which drives the
looms and spindlcs of the mills which
afford employment for thousands OF
hands and millions of dollars capital.
The dam in about 600 feet long, 40
feet high, 50 feet thick at the base, and
II feet thick at the crown. And, as one
stands upon the bridge below and looks
upon that massive wall of hewn graite,
which for more than forty years has sue
cessfullv withstood the force of that
mighty current of water, he is inspired
with a feeling of admiration for the en-
terprise which conceived and the skill
which executed the design of placing II
there.
And how was it placed there?
How could the resting place OF its 3D.
600 square feet of foundation be prepar-
ed in the bed of the river while the river
torrent was pouring over 1t? How conld
those lower courses of stone be LAID Sd
straight, 10 level and 80 plumb; how
could those joints be fitted 80 nicely,
and the whole mass cemented ana an
| chored together in the bottom oil How
ing stream =,
1t was not done i'm that way; it could
not have been done So.
But i'm order that that dam might he
bui,t, il was necessary that the current
of the river should first be turned aside
for n time. in order that the workmen
might be free from the hindrance OF the
water while preparing the ground anu
building the wall. Hence, the engineers
| who had the matter in charge began
| further up the stream and built hrst u
| Temporary dam or coifcr-dam, which
should turn the course of the river into
other channels until the construction ol
the permancnt dam could be effected.
This having been done, the wOrkmen
| erected, with comparative ease, that I'M
movable barrier, which has now, iol
more than generation, withstood the
current of that river.
| That granite dam is IL grand achieve
ment. but it owes its existence and al
its beneiicent results To the simple Golfer
dam which held back the waters and
rendered its construction possible.
Now, there is another kind of flvel
than the one Just mentioned which flows
through the whole land. 1t is darl
and mighty stream, which bears on itl
bosom no blessing for the people, bu
which carries everywhere III Its course
poverty, devastation and death. INA
stream is intemperance.
The people are becoming appalled, a
the mischief which Is being wrought by
IL
hand: What shall be done about it
What can be done to stay this terribl,
tjde2 How shall our homes be shielded
from this food of woe?"
| Various theories of protection hav'
been proposed, and many experiment
have been tried, but the evil is more ex
ltensiye to-day than it has ever been il
the history of the world.
| Experience, however, seems to have
established one thing beyond doubt
and that is, that the only thing whlcl
can eiiectually and permanently stop TIN
stream is To build square across 1t TIT
great dam of universal total abstinence
| When no man, woman or child can bs
found in the land who will drink, theI
this terrible stream will cease to flow
down upon us.
But how can this dam be built?
That is Il herculean task no one who II
acquainted with the fact will deny. Tina
lis achievement is possible, most people
believe, and hence several plans have
been proposed for its accomplishment
| One class of engineers says 1t IL To ID
done by training up the children to siuI
and fear all intoXicahts. Another class
saws it is to he done by educating public
sentiment and persuading all the people
To sign the pledge.
| One of these classes begins on one sid,
of the river and builds out into th'
stream. The other class does the same
ON the opposite side. They plan to NEE
i'm the middle of the stream, and thu
finish the work.
| Both accomplish something, but they
soon discover that the force of the cur
rent is such that it easily topples Owe
whatever they build beyond certain
pont, and that on the whole the stream
increases i'm power faster than theiTdan
grows, so that after a century of faithful
labor i'm this country intemperance Ii
now more prevalent than at any former
time, and the people are spending NOR.
money for liquor than they are for bread
| Now, while these two theories OfOper
Iation are correct in principle ana have
ACCOMPLISHED great good, experience ha
demonstrated the fact that they are no
of themselves adequate to the accOmp
Iisbment of the work to be done; they
need to be supplemented by other meas
Hres.
| The proven insuf1iciency of these
means has brought out u third class o
Icnpineers. These claim that the dam o
total abstinence can never be successful
ly built until something is done to checl
the flow of the stream which so inter
feres with the work of the laborers
They propose, therefore, to prepare tht
way for the building of the total abstin
ence dam 10y going II little further up th'
stream and putting III the coiier-dam o
prohibition, Il measure the wisdom o
which il abundantly attested by reason
and analogy, and its practicabillty Is es
tablished by existing facts.
| The prohibitory dam has been built IL
Main and in Kansas and is in operation
to-day i'm both States, and according Il
| official statements is doing precisely the
work which the engineers claim for 1t
It is holding back the great bulk OF the
stream of intoxicants, thereby giving ,
grand opportunity for temperance work
ers to lay the foundation of the tota
abstinence dam broad and deep.
In Maine prohibition shut off ninety
nine per cent. of the malt liquors, anC
ninety per cent of the distilled liquors
In Kansas there is not Il saloon to bt
found. These figures certainly are wor
thy of the careful consideration of the
friends of temperance, and the PROPOSE
ton which the prohibition engineer
would submit to their fcllow-laborers o
all classes, in tins great work is this: l
the Golfer dam of prohibition will shu
of ninety per cent. of the stream of in
temperance at II single stroke, is il no
worth building?
In the light of modern experience dc
not common sense and the economy o
forces indicate IT as one of tie first steps