The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-04-12
NEAL DOW.
[ From a Photograph

G. T. u, and the picture of General
Dow as he appeared in 1851 when
he was Mayor of Portland, Maine,
when the prohibitory law was
adopted in that State, and another
picture representing him as he now
appears are to be seen displayed in
all the temperance resorts through
out England today.
Lady Henry Somerset, Miss
Frances Willard, Sir Wilfred Law
son, Rev. Hugh Brice Hughes and
others sent through the Associated
Press the following message TO
General Neal Dow to be read at
the celebration today at the City
Hall, Portland, Me-:
To General Neal Dow:
A mighty throng gathered in Ex-
eter Hall to crown your 80 benificient
years with love and gratitude, for you
can truly say: "When the ear heard
me, then it blessed me, and when the
eye saw me it gave witness to me.
Because I delivered the poor that cried
and the fatherless and him that had
none to help him. The blessing of
upon me, and / caused the Widows
heart to sing for joy. [ put on right
eousness and it clothed me; my judg-
ment was robe and diadem. / was
eyeless and blind and feet was to the
lame. was a father to the poor, and
the cause which knew not searched
out. "-JOb XX-x:ll-15.
The meeting this evening in
Exeter Hall to celebrate the nine
tieth anniversary of the birth of
Neal Dow was an immense success.
A speech was made by Lady Som
erset, also Miss Frances Willard.
PORTLAND, Me-, March 2O.-The
birthday of Neal Dow was cele-
brated today. The old temperance
reformer was present. Up to 2
o'clock over 1000 congratulatory
kilograms and letters had been re-
ceived.
In spite of his advanced age General
Dow is in the enjoyment of excellent
health and says he has no reason to be-
ieve he will not live to be 100 years old.
He is evidently ambitious to pass the
century mark and is as great an advo-
cate of prohibition as he was in 1851,
when he persuaded the legislature of his
native state to pass the celebrated pro-
hibition act that has gone into history as
the ''Maine law" Dow was mayor Of
Portland at the time and drafted the
bill himself, emitting it "An act for the
suppression of drinking houses and tip
ping Shops.
or In
der it liquors intended for sale were con-
fscated and destroyed, and those who
sold or kept them for sale were fined or
imprisoned. The places where they were
kept or sold were declared public nui-
sances, and officers were empowered to
search suspected premises. The bill was
introduced on the last day of the legisla-
tive session, and under the influence of
BOWS persuasive eloquence was passed
within "a hours without the change of
single word. That it suited the people
of Maine was made evident in 1884, when
a prohibition amendment to the state
constitution was adopted by three
fourths majority of all the voters of the
state.
In 1854 Mr.. Dow was again elected
mayer of Portland, and subsequently he
served two terms in the legislature. He
entered the army in 1861 as colonel Of
the Thirteenth Maine volunteers and
was commissioned brigadier general by
President Lincoln. He served through
out the war and at one time commanded
the department of the gulf. He was
wounded twice at the battle Of Port
Hudson and after being taken prisoner
was confined for eight months before be-
ing exchanged for General Fitzhugh Lee.
In a recent letter to John Chandler,
New York temperance advocate. General
Dow thus summarizes the results Of pro-
hibition in Maine:
The people of Maine by regular system of
public tee chings were fully convinced just 43
years ago that the liquor traffic was injurious
to the general welfare, that it was in deadly
hostility to every interest of the state, and
they were fully resolved that the experiment
of prohibition should be tried upon it to see
what the result would be. On the day OF the
enactment of the Maine law the liquor traffic
was carried in Maine extensively in the
same manner as it is now conducted in those
law.
Quickly all this was changed. The effect of
the law was almost instantaneous. Stocks OF
liquor were sent out of the state, and in every
case the small stocks of the retail dealers were
carefully concealed The favorable result OF
this policy was felt very soon. and have lived