The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-04-01
Another Bad Effect Of the Dispensary
Law.

Law.
EDITOR INTELL1aENCER: La the begin
ming of this article We beg your pardon for
our ~e1croaching upon the privileges of the
publishers in presumipg that ample space
will be given to the views herein con-
tanned. It is with"the hope that those In
authority will give heed to the attractions
OF the law that publicity is asked for the
facts cited below.
In tbs extreme southwestern part Of
Anderson County, on the banks OF the
turbulent Savannah, is located what is
Previous to the iucipieDcy of this grog'
shop the tranquility of the Corner Town
ship was never marred. People pursued
The seven tenor Of their way" little ap-
pretending that any change was to be
wrought that would eventually terminate
the placidity then existing. However, the
cslmness of the Corner has been super
seeded by fagitious %csrousirgs and mid
night marauders.
There being q csuse for every effect, we
shall try to give, in a brief and concise
manner, the most apparent reasons for the
change that has occurred in the Corner
Township during the past two or three
wears. It dates from tho enactment Of the
dispensary law. When this Statute went
into effect some of the whiskey dealers o!
I Anderson, enchanted with the music OF
dispensary bottles and exhilarated with
the %fermenting fumes Of Tillman liquor,
| marched, with bated breath and solemn
| miep, from their abode. to the banks of the
Savannah, there to found q government
distillery which would assist in bringing
disgrace to the State They obtained a site
at Crafts Ferry, where their cherished
plans were put into execution. Under the
indirect, fostering care OF the dispensary
law, this distillery has contributed its
quota of gore to write the history of its
p~aternal protector. It is not our purpose
to discuss the dispensary Act here, for its
record has been transcribed in blood and
the martyrs of the Piedmont Heights are
living testimonials, standing asrride cory
streams and pointing out their own graves
as pantomimic illustrations of the deeds
accomplished under the direction Of this
law. Without DEPRESSING, then, we shall
adhere to our original intention of appris
ing the public Of the atrocity instigated by
this hole OF %ipiquity, located at CRAFTS
Ferry. During the preceding winter every
road that diverged from this liquor plant
hiss been travelled day and night with per.
sons en- route to and from the place. Peo.
pie of every kind, kith, or kin were to be
seen-from small children to those totter-
ing on the verge Of the grave All social
distinction is eliminated there, and black
and white mingle together In celebrating
the Bacchic feast. Daily visitors throng
the highway, Juggling jug and bottle homo
ward. No regard is had for the Sabbath.
II anything, more persons collect there
than during any day in the week. Fight
ing, shooting and everything that 10 mental
and contemplate ia engaged in. There Is
not q person Of any responsibility who
lounges around this distillery. Some come
from q distance of twenty or thirty miles
to %patronize the plant. 1t has done more
evil in the township than was done in the
same locality during the past one hundred
Of the county and q blot upon the escutch-
con Of the State. Another thing this dis.
tillery has been instrumental in doing is
creating places where liquors are illegiti
mately sold. It ia claimed upon good
authority that liquor is sold near this
plant by unauthorized parties. Persons
60 there and get whiskey without crossing
the river. The only logics! 2" is
that some one is selling j. lis State
contrary to law. Of course, you cannot
get the whiskey unless you are a staunoh
friend and frequent %patronizer Of the
"tiger."
There is another place in the Corner
where whiskey is not only illegitimately
also but sold illegitimately distilled. It.,
too, is an off shoot of the government dis
tillery. The place alluded to is between
Mo6attsville and Starr. AS we are situated
$780, A. ,~ lse.z~ Ill ~1o1oo -a
are in q position to know whereof We speak.
months, surpassed Crafts Ferry in base
ness and wickedness. Here whiskey is
sold and distilled without molestation.
Negro houses are visited at night and the
inmates are frightened by the reports Of
pistols. Here, too, the Sabbath is desc.
Grated and made a day of rioting. We can
prove every word that we have written.
We know persons who have seen this
Legitimate still and who know positively
the ones u%nlaWfully engaged in the whis.
key business.
But we now come to what we conceive
to be the most deplorable, yet contempt.
Bile, phase of the entire matter. Those
who know positively that whiskey is ille-
ultimately sold will testify upon their oath,
when arra;gned before the Court, that they
know nothing about these s'tigers." Not
only that. there are some who patronize
these places and when upon their oath
will testify that they never bought from
the illegitimate keeper Of liquors. These
appear to be very bold statements. Indeed
they are, but true, nevertheless, and We
challenge their refutation. The persons
who control, and those who p%atronize,
these places are Tillmanites and will never
tell on one another. So it is seen from a
local standpoint that it Is an insolvable
eradicate the evil, and If the "powers that
be" would only evince q willingness to
ferret out the nuisance the entire thing
would soon be suppressed. If the State
authorities will discontinue their assiduous
attack on the towns and cities and turn
their attention to such evils as exist in tho
Corner, they would come nearer doing
their duty THAI they now are. But failure
to remove this evil by the State authorities
may be due to the fact that the participants
in these unlawful proceedings are followers
of the consecrated Tillmsn. However
that may be, the status of affairs that now
exist in this section must soon change, or
the appellatiop, Ozark Corner" will be a
most appropriate one. AS was previously
said, many youths frequent these places.
They are in that stage when the mind Is
pliable and easily susceptible to the
seductive influence OF evil associates. If
the euticements are not removed many
boys will snccumb and the curse Of inc
briefly will still fill a mothers eyes with
tears and a mothers heart with sorrow as
she watches the last sad obselnies Of a son
who fills q drunkard's grave.
CITIZEN.
hofnHSpiWe. g. O.