Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-10
The Little Town of Sharpsburg In
tested With Dozens of Flour
ishing Speak-Easies.
FATHER SCHWAB'S EARNEST TALK
To the Men Of His Congregation, Some o
Whom Are Running These Illegal
Establishments.
OFFICERS KNOW, BUT THEY DO NOT ACT
Appeals of the Mothers Of wayward Boys May Hav
Some Good Effect

The license court in its wisdom this yea
allotted to the borough of Sharpsburg 6v,
iegalized whisky shops. With one excep
tion, these are large, well-arranged estab
lishments, capable of supplying more ex
tensive patronage than any of them hav
yet received. But, somehow, the bibulou
Sharpsburger prefers, as rule, to procure
his liquid refreshments from other sources
As result, there is to-day, in that villag
of less than 5000 inhabitants, more illega
liquor selling done than in Pittsburg ant
Allegheny. This statement is made, takin!
it for granted that the police officials of th'
two cities are correct in their estimates O
the number of speake-asies in their baili
wicks. But everybody in Sharpsburs
knows of the illegal business going on there
Any business man you meet will, if re
1uested, give you the name and location O
the most thriving of these dram shops. AL
most any man in the habit Of taking drink
occasionally or otherwise, will admit to vol
that he cftener drinks in the speak-easie!
than in the saloons, as more convenient
there being more of them.
| The Wall OF Saloon Keepers.
Any saloon keeper you meet will bewail
| to YOU the loss of trade he suffers on &C
count of the speak-easies, which pay moth.
ing for their privileges as against his $500
license, and vet do as large or larger bus.
| mess, as several of the illegal dealers un-
| doubtedly do.
Fathers and mothers complain to the Dor
| ough officials that their minor sons get drink
= IL hasn
strict on the matter of age and refusing to
! sell to them. But the boys positively re-
fuse to tell where the liquor is procured.
Even the ministers of the town know of
the prevalence Of the illegal traffic and
receive frequent complaints from the parents
in their congregations. But they have no
power to bring to bear to put stop to it.
Last Sunday afternoon Rev. Father Schwab,
pastor of st. Mary's German Catholic
Church, at a meeting of about 900 male
members of his church, took occasion to
admonish them severely for aiding and
patronizing the illegal houses. Father
high license law. He declared to his con-
gregation that it was an excellent regula-
tion and should be obeyed to the letter by
every good citizen.
Many of Them Church Members.
He realized that the largest speak-easv
proprietors of the town were members of the
German Catholic Church, and it panied and
grieved him that his wishes were so
fagrantly disregarded on this matter. He
told of parents coming to him and beseech-
ing him to take some action looking toward
closing up these places, but he had not the
power. He had listened to tales of sorrow
from mothers whose sons had come home
drunk night after night, young men, yet
in their teens, who could get no liquor
from licensed dealer, but who could not
be induced to tell the name of the party
who had served them. The minister depre-
Gated the patronage of these places by
members of his congregation, and appealed
to the men to discourage further the illegal
business in every way possible.
Burgess A G. Lloyd, who bears the same
relation to the borough corporation that
the Mayor, Controller, City Clerk, Superin-
tendent of Police and Chief of Public
Works, combined, do to city, has gravely
considered the advisability of proceeding
against the speak-easies But he is hamp-
cred by the lack of proper laws and
public support Several times he has been
consulted by Father Schwab as to the best
method of procedure. But the burgess is
Democrat elected in a Republican town,
and, while he is endeavoring to give the
had, and up to date has succeeded, he can
not without damaging seriously his politi-
cal friendship, take an active part against
the illegal dealers, though he promised the
priest to cooperate if the former would
take the initiative.
Surrounded With Speak-Easies.
Within radius of four or five blocks of
Father Schwab's church there are five of
lou io1o of ha
town, all members of that church. The
frequenters have supplied names for each
of these places for the two-fold purpose of
giving vent to their humor and of averting
suspicion of the uninitiated in casual con-
versation where it might be dangerous to
use the proprietor's name, though it looks
as though everybody knows all about it.
''The Yellow Dog" is the name applied
to one of these places, so-called because of
a big yellow canine belonging there. The
"Gray Goose" is the name of another,
ing suggestive of pecnliarities of the
proprietor. ''Shove in or Shove Out" is
the peculiar title of probably the most sue
cessful place in the borough. Two fat men
one day met in the doorway, one going in
and the other going out. They filled the
space so tightly that they stuck between
the doors and neither could move. They
stood glaring at each other in despair for
moment until the proprietor seeing their
predicament yelled
''Tommy, you shove in, and Jake, you
shone out. "
They did so and were released, and the
house has borne its singular title ever since
The "Rose Bush" is applied to house
back of the town and takes lis name from
flower garden in front.
Many More Peculiar Titles.
The ''Top House" the "Rolling Rock"
the 'Last Chance" the "Now or Never
the 'Floater," and the ''Pole Inn," are all
names given to certain speak-easies by their
frequenters, each having some peculiar
oyigin, as indicated in those first mentioned,
The 'sFloater' is a shanty boat that is
moored along the river bank and can be
moved to convenient place up the river
on Sundays, or on other occasions, as re-
quired. The "Rolling Rock" is on the
hillside near the St. Mary's Cemetery, and
has caused considerable indignation among
the more devout members of the church.
The proprietor has been informed against
recently, and, it is said, is now under bail
for hearing.
Two speak-easy proprietors who do the
largest business make no special secret of
it. They have the regulation saloon front,
with frosted windows, and the front door is
open to whoever may desire to enter. The
difference from licensed saloon in their
exterior appearance is that no gilded sign
proclaims their business and no collection
of bottles of liquor fill the show windows.