Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-02-20
THE lATHRoP CRUSADE.
The Town of Lathrop and Clinton County
StiIl Excited by the Crusade Incident
The Ladies Meet and Issue an Address
to the Women of the Country.

Stin Excited by the Crusade Incident
The Ladies Meet and Issue an Address
to the Women of the Country.
The little town of Lathrop, in fact all
of Clinton County. has been greatly eX-
cited for a month by crusade inaugu-
rated by the ladies of Lathrop against
saloons. There were several unlicensed
places in the town, and whisky was
sold openly and above board The
women, a hundred strong. held meet
ing, and marching in a body to the sa-
looms, broke in the doors. rolled the
whiskybarrels into the streets, knocked
the heads in with axes, and poured tho
liquor into the cutters. \ number of
| boys secured cups and thought they
would save some of the stuff, but one
| lady. who had come prepared for such
an emergency, scattered salt in tho
brook of fire-water, making the drink
ing of it impossible.
a few days ago the ladies met and is
sued the following address:
To THE WIVES, MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS
OF OUR OWN COUNTRY-It is with the deep
est feeling and cow lotion of right that we
address you asking you to work for tho
cause of temperance, to take stand
for the right and help put down
ana DANISH from our country the a"-
full whisky curse. Where there is
unity there is strength, as our success in La
throp illustrates. We unit in this
work. We have put aside all other feeling !;
all feeling of party jealousy; all political
differen ccs; all religious contentious, and
stand one solid body for temperance reform,
and in marching against the unlicen Sed
drinking places of this town, did it in the
name of right and without fear. OF all the
women it seems that there was none to think
! of that word fear, and there was no cause
for fear
awe were not mo1ested. Not a hand was
raised against US. No profane language was
addressed to All did the work for which
we were organized and quietly returned to
our homes and picked up the thread of life
where it had been for the moment dropped,
little thinking of the intense feeling, the
sympathy and enthusiasm which we were to
hear of afterward.
When we had emptied the whisky and
promised to do so again if any more was
brought here, all supposed the matter was
ended. What then was our surprise to hear
the ladies of other towns call on us to come
and help them, some even promising to
come and help us. But the ladies of LathrOp
feel equal to any emergency and are expel-
ing whisky quietly and effectually. Seeing
the general rejoicing over it by the women
of the county and State, we feel our ability
to protect our town from any further viola
lions of the liquor laws, and We have no
beautiful Friday afternoon when we, with
one heart and one emotion, empted the beer
and whisky of the dives into the streets.
Where men are weak women are strong,
and it is woman, and woman alone. who can
conquer the demon rum, and drive it from
the land.
We ask the women of the United states
who have suffered as we have suffered and
waited we have waited, and vet stand
without redress, to do as we have done
and end the matter How can viola
tors of the law call for the prOtec-
ton of the law? We consider our
selves the avengers of violated law. It was
unlawful for those saloons to be there.
This we have heard for years. No one could
close them, we had often heard. We knew
of no one who was trying to stop the sale Of
liquor. We daily saw the evils of intern
perance. We felt that something must be
done and must do it. We used all fair
means within our power. We asked the sa-
loon keepers to ship away their
goods, to sign a contract to sell no more
whisky here This they would not do. though
we represented the large majority of the
people. We offered them our patronage if
they would go into respectable business.
They would make promises, give no
pledges. We did not wish to empty the
liquors, but there was nothing else left us to
do. 1t was our only recourse. We had gone
to close these dens and they had to DO
closed.