The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-04-07
staff Correspondent of the Register.


Charleston, S. c., March &c The opposition
TO Marshal Martin seem 10 have become too
DESPERATE to stop at anything. No mlsrepre-
Sentation or s!auder that ingenuity can IN
vent Is TOO vie to put in circulation owe a
nom de pume-the SHE'D and refuge from
pehind which the annoymOuS writer Launches
his polsoned arrows Heretofore these lrres-
punstble, because uameleSs. writers have con-
lined their work 10 the city press. But DUR
ing the past week, II appears, the country
press has begun TO be lnoculateQ Win the
virus \ report IN the city during the late
unpleaSanLnesS had II that ex-senator Aug
ustine r. Smythe, the brother OF The Mayor,
was the real author OF many OF the editorial
philllpics IN the News aud courier against
Marshal Martin and his department. An
equally tiue Italian hand Is evidently pen
ming articles from this city TO some OF the
more prominent country weeklles. A great
card Is 10 make il appear, IL possible, that
Marshall Martin Is the irlenu 10 tne piihu
tigers and that they flourish mere more than
ever The same local press which represented
the evidence before the grand jury going To
show the existence of blind tigers IN seventy.
two cases as too f1imsy and lnpIooaole 10 De-
lieve finds II convenient TO It's present pur-
pose to represent these animals as aboundlDg
on n hands aud doing rushing business.
Neither OF the two extremes indicated IN this
seeming conflict Is true. There are Dllnu u
gers in CharlestCn-uumbers OF them. But
they are in anything but hourishlng condi-
tions, They are the laukest, leanest animals
ever seen. The police department can only
raid them-it cannot eXtinguish them entire
w, II can only restrict thelr customers ana
force them To DO business behind closed doors
and in dark corners. Ine usual ollnd Tiger
consist of a nip pock flask and glasses. This
is the condition TO wnicn most OF them have
oeen reduced. The department oy Itself can
do no more. When caught In the act. II can
only confiScate the cOntraoand property.
Which of course amount TO little or nothing,
and present tue offender 10 the courts. here
the police power and authority stops. 1t Is
the duty OF the courts TO prosecute me the accus.
,,,,H linn
will not do their duty, Is the olame justly 10
ue lald at the door of the police? And, yet,
this is the position Marshal Mattin's censorS
oc,upy. AT the identical moment when the
yraud Jury during It's recent session was in
Vesligatlug the case of certain blind tiger
when case il threw out-a report came In
that the same place had just oeen raldeu ana
the accused az AIN caught III the act OF viola
ting the law. Is lLany wonder that blind IL
gers which have nothing but a hall emptied
fiask to lose laugh Ut the law? But at the
same time II Is Impossible Tor them 10 Hourlsh
on such small stocks In trade.
Anyone whose Knowledge Of Charleston
IaleS back decade or much less has only TO
use his eyes to mark the contrast between
the present and the past. He has but to walk
along the Bay any evening ailer the SHADES OIL
uight have tallen-to recall the life and hustle
aud movement, the brilliantly lighted places,
the song the ban 10 picking, the dance, the
rattle or the dice, the cllnk OF glasses, the
mirth, merriment and good fellowship, the
quarrel, the curses, the blow, the pistol shot,
the SOrlek Oh Il WOIudut Vic OiJ VI
On the scarcely startled midnight air 10
which such sounds were fainll lar, tne police
mans rattle, the arrest, bleeding figure, the
uuspital van for one and the SLACK Maria
for the other. Yes, these once fami liar scenes
and sounds which once invaded the very pre-
cincts of the exclusive Battery circle and eX.
tended In ripples from there to King street
and the heart of the city have passed away.
This great business thoroughfare which la
dles-fearlul OF sights and sounds tit only for
The ears of the immOdest-were wont TO sbun
Al all honrs o the day or night, and which
the less timid maSculinity were not overfond
Jl truversing when they could avoid II. Is
com mparativeiy deserted now alter business
nours and nigntfall and the tread of the occa-
sional solitary pedestrian along IT aWakes the
echoes for blocks away. NO more the sounds
of riot and madness aSsail the ear on this
street where in the end OF Chief efGolden's time
one fair.haired boy OF a policeman, his mo-
Ihers pride and JOY, fell with a clean red bull
lethole through MS broad white brow. done TO
death by the pistol in the hands Of d drink
:raZed fellow policeman whom 1t became the
poor boys duty 10 arrest.
Oh, yes, the Dispensary law Is being better
ell forced and obeyed, in SO far as the police
department uualded can affect the matter.
And even the very fact that II throws around
the violatols It's restraints Is shows by easily &C
ceSsible evidence TO have resulted In great
moral improvement. The records OF the
courts-ii IL was not established By occular de-
mOnstraIion-Show thut there Is less drinking,
an almost total absence Of the drunk disor-
derly" charges which were wont 10 fill the
cells OF the station nightly with besotted
wretcheS.