Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-01-11
NUMBER %,

g man as ever made pill or sold live
t pad-was so regarded before the eS
0 citing times am writing about, an
, is so regarded to-day. After the dru
g stores had been gotten rid of, the fir
t was concentrated upon the remaining
saloon. The keeper of this establish
! ment was not wholly bad man, a
/ many ton of coal and load of provi
: sions could testify, that had fount
= their way to the houses of the desti
, TUE. One day, during the exercises
) he was seen to suddenly leave hi
place beside the glass of his door, ant
, never again did he occupy it or give
heed to the meetings. The rumor o.
the time had 1t, that his action wa.
caused by very emphatic petition O
an indiscredit sister who wanted the
Lord to take immediate and vigorous
action in behalf of the women, even i
it occasioned funeral. This may OF
may not have beeu true. It was sc
reported at the time. Possibly the
exercises had become monotonous and
bored him.
The Crusaders found that this pred
atory warfare was not productive ol
results, and a close siege was resolved
upon. So, one morning, when the
early topper came for his four o'clock
nip, he found himself confronted by a
pleasant-faced, mild-eyed, soft-voiced
young lady, with pencil and tablet in
her hand, who requested him not to go
in there. What was left for him to do
but comply? If he passed to the rear OF
tn establishment, the same state OF
affairs confronted him; so he bited
his cash with dime and consoled him
self with the reflection that a dime
saved was a dime made, and endured
| his thirst the best he might for the
time being. This brought matters to
a crisis. Men who wanted nip did
not like to run the gauntlet to get it.,
and the overland jug and bottle trade
fourished apace. The nightly meet
ings were we'll attended, even though
the weather was often inclement. Two
incidents impressed one of these meet
ing very yividly upon my memory. 1t
was held at the Baptist church, and
the holding capacity of that edifce was
| was an attorney-a very able man, a
sincere friend of temperance, moral
and upright in every particular. He
made strong plea in behalf of tenn
perance, but deprecated anything like
lawlessness in the prosecution of a
good cause. He was followed by Aunt
Jane Jones, whose first words were,
II expect that mans lawyer; he
talks like one!" Whereupon she pro-
ceeded to demolish him-at least in
her own estimation. There was auoth-
er lawyer billed to speak on this occa-
sion, who had been somewhat afflicted
with dipsomania, but whom the new
movement was supposed to have rem
dered sound and we'll tor life. This
party claimed there was a law upon
the statute books, the enforcement of
which would wipe out three-fourths of
the liquor in the state. 1t was an en-
actment against the adulteration of
of liquors by which they were to be
confscated if they were found to be
mixed with any deleterious drug, but
no proper provision had been made for
chemical analysis; so it remained a
dead letter upon the statute book. The
managers of the Crusade now resol:ed
to re-enforce the law; but, alas!
'The best laid scheme, O. mice and men
Gang aft agley."
When the chemist was procured, at
no small fee, the analysis proved that
the lowest grades of the saloon keep
er's liquors were adulterated with moth
ing more harmful than water, and that
his higher grades were absolutely
chemically pure. AS a consequence,
the fame of his wares spread abroad in
the land; they were sought by all who
had to have pure liquors. aud his enc
mics found that they had spent their
money only to enhance his trade.
The pickets were kept in front and
in the rear of the saloon throughout
the day and until late hour in the
evening, going on again about four
o'clock each morning. They were re-
lieved every two hours from the church,
and services were held both in the
morning ard in the afternoon in front
of the saloon. People seemed to have
dread of the black list of the pickets.
Those under the ban were left pretty
well to themselves. Those who held
any friendly intercourse with the keep
er of the saloon were marked men.
The Crusading sentiment seemed to
have submerged all the old landmarks,
One day, the negro man usually en-
ployed about the saloon was seen to
leave it with covered basket on his
arm. Immediately a member of the
pioneer corps was placed upon his trail.
Through alleys, over fences, across lots