The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-07-05
CHILD DRUNKARDS.
A Crusade Against Wicked Rock-and-
Rye Drops.

A Crusade Against Wicked Rock-and-
Rye Drops.
"NO more rOck-and-ryc candy, or
drops or wine cordial confectionery. a"
Is the cry Of the different branches Of
the Woman's Christian temperance
Union. The crusade has begun. and
IL will be relentless warfare. II
started at West Chester. and a big
constable intends 10 seize all the rock
and-rye drops, and the dealers will be
prosecuted for selling liquor withols .
license.
In an interviow the president OF the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
said: eli we can do any thing, either
legally or otherwise, 10 stop this per-
nicious practice, il shall be done. We
have gone 90 many Of the small retail
candy dealers lately and requested
them 20 stop the sale OF rOcH-and-rye
candy. Many Of them complied with
the request but 10 is still manu-
facturcd and sold in large
quantities. Even small bottles OF
rock ana rye are also vcndci. We
certainly do obi ict TO this feature OF
the candy business Why, all our
children will become premature drunk
ards II IL shall De allOEc] 10 continue.
When once they get In the habit OF
purchasing such articles at candy
stores, they viii then take n nip on the
sly in some secluded beer saloon.
"Only the other day lady friend ~
mine, who has couple Of children,
was terribly shocked by seeing them
come from school their eyes all airc,
checks inlamcd and cutting the most
curious pranks. In great alarm Mt
seeing them so dcmOnstratiye and un-
steady she asked them the cause OF
their oxuberant feeling. They blub-
bcred out. laughiugly: "Wo'so been
eating rock aud rye. There Is great
amount Of whisky in this rock-and-ryo
candy, and it is Of such an in
ferior quality that IL easily al
fccts those who essay TO eat IT,
II il n lamentabc fact that even
candy can not be manufactured with
out placing some strong drink in IL.
Just look at those wine cOrdials that
are sold daily to the young by unscru-
pulous dealers. There is pretty little
one, there Is the sherry drop 20 please
tho taste Of another, aud 50 on ad i'm
hnitum. These cOrdal5 ought also to
be suppressed. The question to be de-
cidcd however. is whether the sale OF
such candies without license can bo
proved illegal If it can VIC will fight
against 1t grimly."
"No one can estimate what evil those
perncious drops really have on chill
drcn.n said another mcmbcr OF tho
Temperance Union IL have seen them
after eating IL behave very unsoemly.
Do you think we can win n We take up
this fghtP Well, perhaps we can; but
still that remains TO be seen. The law.
like men, is somewhat licklc, and eX-
tremcly pliablc."
The manufacturers Of cordials and
rock-and-rye candy claim that such ac-
tion upon the part Of the temperance
ladies Is II species Of fannticism. "Why,
If IA child could cat ten pounds OF rock
and-ryc candy said n woll-known con-
fcctioncr Of this city yesterday, 'it
would not make him or her intoXicat-
cd I'm the least | admit that there is
some little Of Intoxicating spirits in
such candy, but it is very small. ] do
not suppose there is onc-quartcr of n
thimblcful OF whisky in twenty-five
rock -and-ryc drops These people can
not do any harm 10 us, and all thcir
talk is mere twaddlc."
IL is said that tho members OF tho
union intend TO investigate just how
much spirituous liquor is contained in
the different kind OF drops, and will
begin n series OF experiments as to tho
effect that n pound Of rock-and-rye
candy will have on II person. .-Phila-
delphia Record.