The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-19
WILL SELL NO SUNDAY DRINKS
OGLETHORPE CLUB TAKES THE
LEAD IN OBEYING LAW.

/
Supreme Court Decision-The Law
| VIII BE Observed to the Letter.
Club Wen Discuss the Effects of the
Law on Their Institutions - The
Locker system Proven to he
Worse Than the Open Bar An
Arid Prospect for Sundays in 1899
The board OF managers of the -Ogle-
thorpe Club held an important meeting
yesterday at which they passed reso-
luton providing that no liquors should be
sold or consumed within the club from u
o'clock Saturday night until after u
O'Clock Sunday night.
This action was taken on account of the
recent decision of the Supreme Court,
which brings all clubs, whether chartered
organizations or not, within the meaning
| and operations of the law against keep
ing open tipping houses on Sunday. The
action of the board of managers viii I'M
doubtedly be a surprise to many members
of the club some of whom have been in
the habit of dropping in for a Sunday
morning cocktail. President Walter G.
Charlton of the club was asked yesterday
about the action of the board and said:
The membership of the Oglethorpe Club
| However strongly and honestly we may
dissent from the decision of the Supreme
| Court, il is, at last the ultimate express
| ion OF the law of Georgia and we accord
| 10 1t our instant obedience. Up 10 this
| time the opinions of courts of last resort
have differed in constituting the rights of
| a purely social club in this regard. But
| of all organizations we can least afford
| to alien ourselves with breakers of the
bf 10 an
ample of order, and not to furnish a pre-
| cedent for disorder. There viii be no Ii
| quor sold or consumed in the Oglethorpe
| Club on any Sunday, and this determina-
| ton is without reservation of any char
| acter or description
| None of the other clubs of the city have
| as yet taken any action with regard to
the Supreme Courts decision, but the
! chances are that all of them will consid-
| er the matter at once, and it may be here
| after that club members will have to hunt
some side door of an ordinary barroom
| if they feel the need of any liquid refresh
ments on Sunday.
A well known club member in speaking
! of the decision, said that the closing of
the club bars will not be such very ser-
| Gus matter. "Only a small proportion of
| the members visit their clubs on Sundays,
! anyway" he said. Experience has shown
that members do not flock to the clubs on
| Sundays simply because liquor can be OBJ
| tanned there. OF course 1t will be iucon-
venient when you take a friend to your
/ club on Sunday not to be able to order
bottle of beer or anything else you wish"
Another well known club man said the
| adverse decision was undoubtedly due to
/ the general abuse of the club privilege by
| people who only used it as a blind to evade
the Sunday closing laws, these so-called
| club rooms being merely bar rooms In dis
- T., l., l-I,s
| legitimate clubs. The result will not be
in the direction of temperance should the
! law be enforced, he said
Several years ago, Mr.. McDonough,
when as Mayor he was conducting his
Sunday closing crusade, undertook to re-
quire the clubs to close their bars on Sun
day. Representatives of the clubs ap-
peared before Council and presented their
side of the case. One of the arguments
used was that. some time previously one
of the clubs had closed it's bar on Sunday.
| The result was that the members pro-
Vided for their thirst on that day by lay
ing in supplies of liquid refreshments,
which were stored in their lockers. The
| consequences were very demoralizing 1t
! became the custom for the young men to
supply themselves in this manner, and
having procured the supplies they felt
themselves bound to dispose of them, alone
or with the aid of friends.
The result was highly demoralizing and
the consequence was that the club aban-
doned the Sunday closing rule and return
ed to the open bar, 1t being found that
! there was less tendency to intemperance
when a member could obtain a drink at
his pleasure than when he was forced to
resort to a bottle provided from the day
before.
Club members have generally held that
a mans club is on the same footing as his
home, being private and exclusive place
! where only a favored few are admitted,
and al liquor is not sold there for a profit,
but for the convenience of its members,
it can, in no sense, be considered as con-
Quoting \ barroom.
| The Savannah Yacht Club is one of the
favorite institutions which would be seri-
ously affected by the enforcement of this
law The yacht club is a favorite resort
of many Savannahians on Sundays as
well as during the week. There is no more
| pleasant place to spend an evening and
il is unnecessary to say that it is one of
the best conducted institutions of the kind
to be found anywhere. Liquid refresh
| ments are as much in order at such
place as air and water, and the inability
to procure them would be a serious draw
| back to the popularity of the club
The seaside resorts will also be likely to
! feel the effects of this decision. Though
1T does not directly effect them, the result
OF a general closing of all places or this
kind on Sunday would react upon them.
Malt and alcoholic liquors have been re-
tailed freely on Sundays at the seaside
hotels by sort of general consent that
this was a necessary feature of such
places, but with clubs, as we'll as saloons,
debarred from furnishing liquid refresh
ments in the cities, 1t Is not likely that
! the seaside hotels would be left TO reap
| their profits in peace
With the possibility of reform admin
istration next year. with Sunday closing
as its chief slogan, enforcing the law
against clubs well as saloons, and even
the Sunday resorts debarred from selling
the host of thirst cultvatoTs, who have
heretofore found Sunday a very pleasant
day might as well be in the desert of
Sahara.
TO ENTERTAIN RICHMOND BLUES.