The Portland daily press., 1897-05-10
ESPECIAL TO THE rREss.1

Saco, May 9.-In addition to the one
regular patrolman who is usually deemed
capable of holding down the peace in this
law abiding city on the Lord day, there
were on duty today the three regular
night patrolmen and seven special officers,
beside. City Marshal II. M. Burns was
also on duty during part of the day.
This unusual array of brass buttons.
which caused many devout church goer
to rub his eyes in wonder, was a precau-
tionary measure taken by Mayor Samuel
L. Lord, in anticipation of trouble on ac-
count of his tilt with Sheriff Thompson
and Deputy Sheriff Miles. Had there been
any attempt on the part of the sheriff to
close the drug stores, restaurants and
newsIstands, as some of the dealers ex-
pected there would be, in view of the
sheriff S recent order, Mayor Lords force
of police officers would have set about
stopping the trolley cars, arresting motor
men and conductors, holding up milkmen
and otherwise enforcing the "blue laws, y
as the mayor had threatened to do in his
novel proclamation last Friday.
Notwithstanding all this preparation,
there was not the least suspicion of ex-
citement about town today Sheriff
Thompson forsook his home at Newfield
in order to pass the Sabbath in Saco. He
partook of an early breakfast at the Saco
house in the morning, and was shortly
afterward joined by his Saco deputy,
James H. Miles. They made few trips
up and down Main street, but took no ac-
tion that would give the enlarged police
force any chance to retaliate.
Sheriff Thompson declared that on the
occasion of his recent visit to Biddeford
he was favorably impressed with the en-
forcement of City Marshal Harmon's or
der against Sunday liquor selling, and he
made up his mind to enforce similar
rule in Saco. With that end in view he
instructed Deputy Sheriff Miles to notify
all the druggists and others that no sell
ing of liquor on Sundays would be toler-
ated. He says he had no intention or
thought of stopping the sales of Sunday
papers or closing the restaurants or drug
stores, and he believes that Mayor Lords
Interpretation Of the order was influenced
by desire to score political point.
But Mayor Lord still adheres to the be-
lief that the sheriff did originally inten d
to shut up all the drug stores on SUNDAYS,
and that Deputy Miles intended to convey
that information, and nothing else, when
he made his rounds of the druggists and
restaurants, Thursday.
1t looks to me- said Moyor Lord to
the PRESS correspondent, this afternoon,
"as if the sheriff was taking this method
OF backing down from an unwise move.
cannot see wherein it is any more illegal
to sell liquor on Sundays than on the
other six days of the week. The sheriffs
seem to display no desire to put stop to
the liquor traffic on week days
1T is no use for Deputy Miles to say
now that he did not order the drug stores
closed on Sundays. We all understood
him. am not the only one who got that
impression from his notification. It is
true did tell him, as he said yesterday,
that the order against illegitimate trade
did not affect me, as my drug store was
oPOh du Oil UuucS lOf ulle SQoF1u S lnSpec-
tion, but after had made that reply to
him he made further reference to the
matter of Sunday closing"
Asked if he had made any move toward
stopping Sunday traffic, the mayor re-
piled: "No, 1 did not intend to unless
the sheriff and his deputies attempted to
close the stores. Our police officers were
under orders to make list of all con-
ductors, motormen, milkmen, bicyclists,
pleasure riders and others who come with
in the meaning of the section of the Re
vised Statutes containing the so-called
blue law. Such a list has been made up
and if tomorrow the sheriff arrests me or
anybody else for keeping open store today,
we will fill the court room with violators
of the same statute under which this
warrant is drawn"
Every drug store, news stand and
restaurant was open the usual length of
time today Sheriff Thompson is con-
vinced that there was no selling of LIQUOR
in the city today, but in this opinion all
the people do not coincide. However.
there was no evidence of intoxication
about the streets.