The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-01-04

three raps Of the initiated The lay was
equipped with all the usual drinks. Mil
waukee beer and whisky straight appeared
to be the favoritcs. Three or four bartend-
ers were just as busy as they could be set
ting out whisky bottles and little glasses,
and uncorking beer. The room was full of
men drinking
what are You takingr asked one of the
ministers OF man with a small glass in his
hand Brandy was the reply
The bartendeIs were too busy to notice
the presence of the vigilance committee,
and the crowd evidently didn't know them.
Thus it was sometime before their observa-
tons on the habits and customs of rum
drinking III Bath were interrupted. Sud
denly there dashed through the door the
form Of the landlord; and there ensued
scene unparalleled in the history of the
Maine temperance law. The landlord was
frantic. His words to the bartenders and
TO the visiting clergy are not recorded, but
IN the twlnkling OF an eye the transforna-
tion scene began.
The men evaporated like a mans dollars
at Christmas time. Some of them went out
through the Office and made their exit at
the front door; some went out by means of
door which opens from an adjoining hall
into the ladies' entrance, and there were
others who gently ghded down a handy
stairway into a dark, damp passage, along
which they CROPPED their way amid barrels
and boxes and heaps of straw, thence
through the subterranean regions of the
hotel along half dozen corridors, across
gloomy rooms, and out through the laundry
TO the open air of back alley.
with the escaping frequenters, the Rev.
M& Remick, being of inconspicuous stature,
made his exit from the hotel unobserved.
The towering form of the Rev. Mr. Hill alb
sorbed the attention of the landlord and his
colleagues, and they held an exciting mass
meeting upon the spot. Mr. Hill was hus-
tied out Of the barroom into the hall and
into another ROOM
"'You will ruin my business said the
landlord. This is the first time l have run
an open bar, and it was only for to-day that
| threw it open. If you will only let me off
this time ! will promise it shall be the last
time | shall be found in this business in
Bath
HE used every argument that he could
summon to his aid. He told of his struggle
to make a living out of the hotel, and
pictured in colois creditable to himself the
good order that had ever been maintained
in this private barroom, which he kept only
for guests of the hotel He passed from ar
gument to entreaty, and from entreaty 10
abject begging, imploring mercy in tones of
anguish.
''Mr Hill turned a deaf ear. He would
not bulge an inch from his purpose, and
then the half dozen men around him be-
came violent in their manner. The way in
which he had been hustled out of the bar
room and imprisoned i'll the small room was
not reassuring. He asked them to open the
door and allow him to pass out. No atten-
tion was paid to his repeated demands.
Finally the affair reached climax. All
measures had failed and Mr.. Hill remained
firm. The men IN the room with him were
intensely excited. They surrounded him
with frenzied language and gestures which
he deemed threatening. He drew himself
to his full height of feet and inches, and
reaching back with his long right arm
placed his hand under his cOattail and in
the region Of his pistol pocket.
Gentlemen, if you mean to use violence
am prepared for you, he said.
The landlord and his colleagues fell back
to respectful distance and this was the
tableau when along the corridor outside
sounded the tread of martial feet. The
now thoroughly frightened hotel men
opened the door and were confronted with
a platoon of police, Mr.. Remick at their
head"
Ibid Mr.. Hill really go there armedT
asked the reporter.
mo, and that's where the joke comes in.
He hadn't a thing abouJ him for defense
He tried the pistol pocket dodge as g
last resort.
The barroom was searched, but nc
| liquor was found beyond few drops ir the
bottoms of jugs and bottles, which had evil
IDENTITY been hastily emptied down the spout
These few drops aud the bottles were
brought into the Municipal Court and the
two ministers told what they had seen
The Judge held the evidence insufficient and
dismissed the case"