The record-union., 1895-09-23
SUNDAY In INDIANA.
Puritanical Crusade by a Coed
Citizens League"
The Mayor Tried to shut Off Gas for
Sunday Cooking-No Lights, Milk
or Medicine-Desperate Measures
to Close Down Charlottesville.

| the ROoseyeltian kind can do When the
law is strictly enforced on Sunday il
beautifully illustrated in Charlottesville
Ind. That quiet Hoosier town narrowly
escaped being "closed down" tight on {
recent Sunday, so that not only would NJ
stores OF saloons or news and cigar stands
have been open, but the Charlottesville
babies would have had TO get along with
out milk, the sick without medicine, the
Sunday diners without ce-cream dessert
the housewife without gas to cook the
Sunday dinner or light for the parlor il
the evening, and the electric lights fol
evening service III the churches woulC
! have been shut off and the circuits cut
This uaheard-of condition of affairs
was the climax OF the Puritanical crusade
and waged by them so relentlessly that
they hunted up an ancient statute which
prohibits all the citizens from pursuing
their usual avooaIions" on the Lords
Day, except in cases of sickness or ne
cessity. The Charlottesville Roosevelt
was her Mayor, who. il happens, runs a
cigar store aud objected to closing 1t.
Rather than close il he sought to tie up
the whole town, and almost succeeded.
| The Mayors name is Fred e. Bandle.
The Good Citizens League was organ
! lied by ministers and citizens TO cloAe the
saloons on Sunday. They partially sue
ceeded at first, and then the saloon men
did back door business on the quiet.
! The league made war on the back doors,
the Mayor ordered them closed, and for a
time they were closed. Finally the Sun
day liquor trade grayitated to the drug
stores. The medicine e-mlxers COM
pounded all sorts OF mysterious fluids Tor
chills, that tired feeling" gout, rheu-
mates and other ills OF the flesh.
| Charlottesville became strangely sick
on the Sabbath. The church pews con-
tanned ten women to one man. The cpl
demic of ill-health WAS noticeable on
Saturday, and alter the regular Sunday
treatment disappeared Monday morning
as strangely as il had come. This is on
the authority OF the league members
themselves. Then the Legislature made
a new law, which was strict enough to
close up all the saloons and to cause
druggists to refuse 10 sell liquor without
a prescription.
But this did not satisfy tile league
They demanded the enforcement of the
iron clad law of 1893. This law makes it
a mlsdemeanor TO follow PERSONS usual
vocation on Sunday except in cases OF
y
gan the agitation OF this matter last win
ter, and tried to get the Mayor to en-
force the law by arresting the guilty
parties.
Now, the Mayor of Charlottesville has
O cigar store and newsstand himself. 1t
pays him we'll. AS il was kept open on
Sundays he could not consistently force
others TO close their places of business.
| The league, however, demanded that be
Shn nFll6 mo Y ms ri nf hItsAl a he
interest OF good government. They
circulated an agreement for signatures
among me grocerymen and neat-marke ct
owners that they would close their places
of business on Sunday. Finally they so
signed their names, and then the league
appeared before the Mayor with lnis
agreement and asked that he enforce the
| law in other directions. The saioonmen
also demanded that the Mayor should do
his duty, inasmuch as they had closed
up, and other parties were doing busi-
ness on Sunday and reaping harvest of
| shekelS.
Three weeks ago last Sunday the league
| held mass meeting and heard the report
OF the committee that bad made the
rounds among the storekeepers. The
meeting unanimously demanded that the
Mayor enforce the law. The Mayor now
took a bold step. He was thoroughly
mad, and he made up his mind TO enforce
! the law in such q way that 1t would in the
end Kill the entire movement. lie issued
| a vigorous proclamation and ordered all
citizens 10 obey the law in all particulars
In this proclamation be did not state
| what business would come under the
head OF necessity or mercy" Questions
as to this point were asked OF the Mayor,
but he refused 10 reply. He served notice
upon all men in every kind of business
in Charlottesville not to open on Sunday.
under penalty OF arrest and fine. Nat
urally the grocerymen and meat dealers
were sure that their business could be
carried on without violating the law, The
drugstore owners set up the claim that it
was necessary for their stores to remain
open, because medicine had to be pur-
chased for the sick. Then milk dealers
wanted to know if delivering milk came
under the head of necessity or mercy"
| The restaurants with regular boarders
protested that their business was OF a
necessity" kind, as their bo2rders must
eat on Sundays. Then the hotel keepers
began TO wonder how the law was to
affect them, and their hired help were
afraid to work and perform their usual
vacations" for fear of arrest. Thus mat
ters in the town got very much mixed,
! because the Mayor did not want to close
his cigar store.
10 be explicit, he then ordered the po-
lice to inform every groceryman. drug
glst, restaurant man, hotel manager,
milkman, livery-stable keeper and news
dealer and all others doing any kind of
business on Sunday to close up tight.
The hotel men were particularly excited.
They must either obey the law and starve
their boarderS and thus drive away trade,
or run the risk OF arrest.
The Mayor, who is Dutchman, even
served notice upon the employees of the
artificial gas plant not to work on sum
day, but the receiver told his men to
work right along, as be was protected in
! the matter by the United States Court.
He declared that if his men were to stop
! the works would blow up and many peo-
pie would be killed. The men kept on
| working, and their names were secured
! for prosecution.
The water-WOrks men were also or
dered To cease their labors, which would
have cut the city off from water and pro-
lection against fire. But the men refused
to stop and their names also went upon
| the black list. The water-works and the
artificial gas plant are virtually CONSOLE
! dated and are owned by New York par
| ties.
The Mayor was now convinced that he
! could get even with the preacher, and so
he served notice upon the employees OF
| the city electric light plant that they must
not run the dynamoS on Sunday. Thus
| he sought TO cut the light off in the
churches and prevent night services. AS
| the electric light plant was owned by the
| city the Mayor had an idea that be was
| supreme boss in this instance, and he
would get even on one score at least with
| the preachers in the league. This would
have been so were it not for the Electric
Light Committee, appointed by the Mayor
and clothed with full authority in all
m