Omaha daily bee., 1889-01-22

court and into veritable bar
room, always kept under Jock
and key. One dlngy coal oil lamp illumin.
ates the gruesome interior. a bartender
pops from rear closet and you pays for
what you wants and takes your choice"
Across the street at the Windsor hotel you
can get either whisky or beer. Also on the
northeast corner of the same square. At
night, although in the heart of the city. this
locality would remind you of the Seven
Dals Of London on miniature scale. Vine
street, narrow alleyway, with an aban.
doned market on one side and a row of
"boot leggers'" dens, cheap lodging and
eating houses on the other. The "lvy Leaf
is spirituous bonanza here, and then there
Donohuc's and a half dozen other
places too insignificant and too tough
for mention. The Gait house is on
the corner of Fourth and Vine; Benson's
further up on Fourth; then there is "jointn
just south of the Aborn house, and in the
Aborn house itself and beneath it, are sew
eral more fountains that constitute the bette
noir of the Iowa propagandst's life.
o. p. Page runs liquid cigar store, corner
Of Fourth and Court avenue, and further up
street is Harry Hugle's drug store. AT the
corner of Court avenue and Third street is
Bakers, and McCormick's is back of this.
There are several more 'close" places on
Third and Second streets, and on Court ave
nue. j. Hugle runs a regular bar room, with
everything invisible.
On Walnut street pretty well down is
Henry Neason's restaurant. You drop in
here and ask for beer, and you will receive
the answer that they have none. But slip
into a little rear apartment and it is dollars
to doughnuts you will find bottle with the
cork drawn, and glasses handy. No one ap-
pears, and you drink and deposit your money
on salver and decamp.
There is grocery store on Walnut street,
between Third aud Fourth, you will find very
accommodating, and in the basement hard
by "coon" runs crap game with liquid
accomplishments.
On Second street there is succession of
Irish dives where the could STUFF is served
with n lavish hand. Doc Jones is on the cor
ncr of Walnut, and Elscy's restau rant flour
ishes at the corner of Sixth and Locust.
AT all these places thirst is allayed in spite
of state law and city ordinance. And this
prescribed territory covers but three blocks
north, south, east and west, and the proba-
bilities are that in this scope l
have not located more than two-thlrds of
them. Liquor is to be had in private houses,
green groceries, bakeries, restaurants. bar
ber shops, and in fact almost anywhere.
South of Vine street, across the Des Moines
and north of Coon river there are at least
twenty of these "stills''-run by private
parties with no other visible means of gain
ing livelihood.
Increased Drunkenness.
An old police officer, and one of the most
efficient members of the present prohibition
force, informed me that there was twofold
more drunkenness IN the city of Des Moines
at present than before the passage of the
prohiDitory law He said there were hun
dreds of "bootleggers," and that almost every
business man of the city kept his private
demjohp for the regalement of himself and
friends. The arrests for intoxication were
double what they used to be, and the city is
very pest house of petty thieves, "gon-
iffs,'' "gunsn and ''sneaks." In this the
records of the police court fully bear him
out Young boys and clerks. who might
possibly take glass of beer under any cir
cumstances now buy it by the case, and take
it to their rooms and get gloriously drunk.
He sees this in his nightly rounds, and de-
plores his INABILITY to offer q remedy. The
police force that is the regular force, does
nOu UldkS pTuCIlCC VI dtTcSJluB d uTulheH
man, unless he is noisy and boisterous and
disturbing the peace. They are cautioned
and steered towards home. The constables,
however, and there is a horde of them, make
no such discrimination; they get fee out of
their arrests, and they "pull' everything in
sight unless the offender affords remuner-
atlve "shake-down."
l dropped In at the Kirlswood house
,hnr ,,,,itb a fri ,ybo pf
not on to the nature of my mission, to get
"nip." The obligng prescription clerk di-
rected us to the seclusion the prescription
case grants, and out OF an Opaque blue bottle,
marked "Tinct. Opi," we succeed in extort-
ing really elegant brand of old rye.
A City of "Invalids."
These little incidents are only mentioned
to show up the many phases and idosyncri-
cies of life in a town where Governor LARA
bee estoems it u physical impossibility for
man to get drink of whisky except for
medicinal purposes and without great jeop-
ardy.
C. w. Rogg runs a tony drug store
on Walnut street, between Fourth
and Fifth, and he furnishcn all the invalid
bloods and swels of the city with those re-
vivifymg patent medicines known in
Omaha as 'MummS s Extra Dfy," upper
Heidsic," "Pomery Sec" "Cognac,"
"Hunters," "Willow Springs" and so forth
to the end of the chapter.
the only really temperance organization of
a social character in Des Moines is the Des
Moines club. Here the boys are unable to
get anything that is not made in this country
or imported to it,
A Red Slab In the Wall.
This is u city of surprises, drug stores and
prestidgitateurs, Heller, were he living,
could get valuable pointers here, and go out
into the world and garner rich harvests of
shekels. There are number of dark base
ments here man can go down into
and by rappng thrice on tiny red slab in
the wall, it will disappear, and IN ITS stead,
protruding out is small shelf, on which is a
dainty glass of the distilation of maize or a
foaming mug of Gambrinus' favorite appe-
tier. OF course it costs money to witness
this miraculous feat of ledgerdemain, and
you deposit the price in "A small receptacle for
the purpose, and in a twinkling of the eye,
empty glasses and depleted depositary van
ishe and the mhammatory slab alone stares