St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-11-12
JOINED IN A ROAR
MASS MEETING AT MIDWAY To
PROTEST AGAINST EIBLIND
PIGS.H
REV. MORGAN AND OTHERS
DECLARE LIQUOR CAN BE PUR-
CHASED AT DIVERS AND
SUNDRY PLACES
SAMPLES OFFERED AS PROOF.
Several Political Speeches Dressed
Up and Presented as Purely
Temperance OratiOns.

The people of the Midway district
are up in arms against the blind
pigs" which seem to abound and do
a thriving business out in that local
ity, Notwithstanding the reputation
of the residents for sobriety. The
''blind pig" was the subject of con-
siderable discussion and much warm
denunciation at mass meeting held
in the Congregational church on
Prior avenue last night, and the
grand jury and executive officers of
the city government came in for sew
eral hot roasts for not taking ac-
ton to have exterminated their hor-
rible breed of pigs" Several sam
pies of whisky and beer, said to have
been secured at these unpopular and
popular places, were submitted in
evidence as conclusive proof of their
existence. The samples were all Sc
cured by Charles W. Dade, a young
ministerial student at the Macales-
ter college, and Charles A. Briggs,
a resident of the district. Dade was
employed by the committee Of min
ute men" for the purpose Of getting
evidence against the bling pigs"
and this was shown to the grand
jury, but apparently without results.
Judge A. c.. Hickman presided at
the meeting last night, and after
the purpose of the meeting was ex-
planned briefly, Mr.. Dade was called
upon to submit the results of his
investigations. Mr.. Dade went into
the details of the manner in which
he secured the various samples he
took from a valice, there being some
half a dozen bottles in all. Two Of
these, he said, he had secured from
Frank A Luhrs, who has charge of
the Midway driving park. me of
these. he - ed IThrs So to
stuoent, who is a minor. He bought
another sample, according to his
statement, from Arthur L. Woolsey,
a druggist; one from William de
Frenchy, and one from grocer
named Anderson, who runs store
on Lexington avenue.
Mr.. Griggs said his samples were
secured from Edward R. Greenwood,
who is under indictment by the
grand jury for selling liquor without
a license; one from De F'renchy, and
one from hotelkeeper named Brown
at the transfer.
Rev. David Morgan was then called
on for a speech, and said that there
we're "blind pigs all the way from
Smelling avenue to Bedford street. He
did not know whether the police We're
familiar with the fact or not, but
it was strange if they were not. He
had talked with Grand Juror Strong
as to why the grand jury had taken
no action on the matter, and the re-
ply was that the only evidence sub
mitted was by the Prohibitionists, TO
which Mr.. Morgan replied that If
they had been Democrats or Repub-
licans, of course they would have
been much more capable of telling
the truth He had seen the same
thing In Waseca county, and when a
fight was made against the blind
pigs there, and he wanted to lay
the matter before the grand jury, E.
St. Julian Cox, who happened to be
on the bench there on account OF the
illness of the presiding judge, in
structed the jury not to admit him
without the county attorney saw fit
to cali him, and the county attorney
was a notorious drunkard. But the
grand jury saw fit to take the mat
ter into its own hands, and investi-
gated, with the result that the
''blind pigs" were heard of no more.
Mayor Smith had told him he was
opposed to "blind pigs" in the Mid
way district.
Rev. William C. Covert, pastor Of
the Presbyterian church, indorsed
what Mr.. Morgan had said, and
thought something ought to be done
to make an object lesson Of one of
these vtolators of the law. AS to the
means employed to secure evidence
against them, he thought the end
justified it, The citizens ought to
rise up and go before the grand jury
in a body, and no: send a boy and
one or two others. He hoped some
definite action would be taken to
force attention at the hands Of that
body.
C. A. Magnusson said that in every
city there was some district in which
saloons were not allowed to exist, and
in ST. Paul this district had been in
vaded by the ''blind pig" 1t was
simply a matter of the citizens going
down in their pockets and furnishing
the means for carrying on the warfare
until these places have been extermi-
mated. If the mayor was sincere, he
could have it stopped by just instruct
ing the police to that effect. They
knew where every one of these places
were. He was willing to go down in
his pocket and contribute his share
toward fighting it.
Samuel L. Howell said the people felt
discouraged when the grand jury paid
no attention to the array OF evidence
that confronted the audience from the
chairman's stand-on which stood the
sparkling samples referred to. eff you
want the law enforced, just demand
it and it will be-" he continued. TT is
not question of whether the people
want liquor sold here or not. That
question has been SETTLED. The Dis
patch belittles this movement and re-
fers to it as a spasm of reform, the
object to bolster up the lawbreakers-
But Mayor Pratt, of Minneapolis,
comes out ard adopts this self-same
method of posing himself on the MAN.
ner in which the saloons of his city
are conducted. According to a news"
paper item in one of the papers the
other day, he is going to have a
smelling committee-three officers to