Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-08-04
A PROHIBITION REVERE
From the Fort Scott Monitor.


In the gray dawn Of American civiliza-
ton the saloonkeeper was not. In those
DAYS, halcyon only in the results which
simple minded people pursued
the gregarious Goldfish, freed the sagacious
coon, and cultivated with delightful negli-
gence that noble and indigenous cereal
from which in more recent times so much
happiness and misery have been extracted.
Let us revisit those days.
The sports we find are athletic. 1t is
true we find some one from New Amster-
dam has introduced an innOvation-thel left
bower-intO the game of uechre; but laps |
and slams, jambones and jamborees are |
yet to be invented The game of seven-up |
still lacks artistic finish, and the game OF
American poker sleeps like jewel in |
the Golconda of the future. But railing
for turkeys has been reduced to science,
and shooting for beef vies in interest with
the fist-fight and the foot race. 1t is true
that there be thoughtful men, who sitting
around the store careless Of athletic sport,
yearn for the recreation of the mind, telling
the weird narrative of aborigine and cata-
mount, and rOmances of fish and snake;
but they be dreamers; the world is athletic,
and in the store is mOlasses, and whisky,
and vinegar and rum, all sold upon CON-
mon fluid level The rum and whisky,
pure and nutricious, is largely wanting in
the elements of discord and disturbance.
Taxes are light and men prefer to use
money in betting on horse races, rather
than wasting it on government. And IN
every house there is some bacon, some
whisky, some bread, some happiness, and
some rum, and the geniuses and heroes OF
the age love them ALL
But in the evolution of ideas there arise
men who say: Let us Danish rum and
whiskey from the side board and cellar,
and place it where it can be regulated and
taxed, so that an example be taken away
from youth, and revenue obtained. And
the saloon was.
The first saloon-keeper was reasonably
decent and honest man, he sold ar al ticle OF
food, and played the fiddle But as years
went by and the cellar and side-board fur
nished diminished opposition, business aug
mented. Treating was invented and be-
coming prevalent spread rapidly. Saloons
being the only place where spirits could
be purchased became frequented, and there
in developed that great American trait OF
antipathy to furniture and fixtures. Devel-
opment demanded new men, and the saloon
keeper became an athlete, with big neck
and a bad Jaw. He became the protector
of furniture and fixtures, at thirty dollars
per month, and his strong right arm was
sufficient, for in those days the harmless
pistol with its geological flint lock merci-
fully spared its victim.
One sombre morning in February a
youth, a mere innocent, dreamy youth pry-
ing into the alchemic mysteries OF nature,
invents the American cocktail, the days OF
innocent bibulosity vanish like New York
alderman and the gates OF perdition travel
back upon their rusty hinges with SOUND
as harsh as the notes of a corrugated con-
certina. 1t is not the object OF these para
graphs to treat upon the rise, progress and
decline of the great American cocktail, 1t
must be the subject of separate theme.
By the first of May seven of the leading
farmers of Kentucky have died OF whisky
and grass. A new era has come. 1t Is the
era of invention. 1t demands new men.
An artist being demanded the saloon keeper
becomes an artist He ceases to be an ath
| lete and becomes an aesthetic. With ma
MIA for invention he compounds thousand
drinks. His profession begins to have
literature Travelling artists teach
scientific ''spoon work. lie learns
"spoon work" and upon his
| spoon work and his miXups he trusts him
self in con1idefice to the generous impulses
of an appreciative public. He wears white
APRON he gets a breast pin; he affects the
Adonis, and drawing a large salary becomes
generous and popular, genial and authorl-
tative. He holds the stakes. tie umplres
the disputes. He becomes the nlslprlus OF
newly created realm, and he knows how
MANY votes Mr.. McGinnis would have got
in the Third ward if he had not had the
opposition of MIR. Killholland.
In an hour i'll fated only to himself the
saloon keeper goes into politics.; here dates
his downfall. He begins to be factor. He
picks out his men. He attends the prima
ries and the caucus. He becomes JAM
zary. His slperiors become afraid to use
him. and vet dare not dsband him. Can
didates are obliged to be phlebotomlzed
or downed. The saloon becomes sewer
of politics. and the churches fill with unbe-
levers in organized antagonism to the sa-
loon
Then comes Nihilism. 4 few say let us
regulate in a sensible manner for the ti-
ture: the mob says lets punish for the past
and cruelty in the future. The standard
of political revolt is raised against the
| fetdalism of saloons; the whole business
must go-the saloon, saloon politics, saloon
keepers, saloon drinks, and amid the iun.
mel shaped cloud of politics the retainers OF
the saloon are swept away in the vortex
| Over the purple painted sarcophagus OF
the saloon keeper we need indulge In no
frantic exultation Of success. He was
the product of an idea. He was
not born ruler; he ought to
have been regulated. He was allowed to
rule and then he was crucified. His name
! is Dennis; he is Renaissance. Now
when we see the original packages creeping
back into the cellar and arranging them
selves upon the sideboard we feel that the
whirligig of time is bringing US back to
those halcyon days when the saloon was
not
When we. the pigmies of today, that are
to figure as the heroes of the centuries 70
come, have slumbered long in our hallowed
grades. some reformer may arise and ssay
LET us Danish from cellar and sideboard
that which tempts our youth at home, and
let us have it in places where we can con
troll, regulate and tax it. lRoSo0iLL.
MATTERS IN WESTERN SEDG