The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-04-19

lnatlOQ Is very SuCCeSslul. Aho pSi
sonnel of both houses was very credlta'
BILE, and the speeches heard were able
and pertinent. The speaker of the
House and the president of the Senate
were arrayed in richly-colored robes
custom we have not seen in any
other commonwealth. The State
House is cherries and unattracttve
building, looking more like railroad
station than anything else.
Columbia has a population OF
twenty-five thousand people, but the
city as whole is disappointing.
There are spacious streets, but they are
unpaved, and the sidewalks, II there
be any worthy the name. even on the
main business streets, are perllous.
Southern cities are very poorly lighted
in evening". 1t is difficult to under
stand how the people, with so fine a
location and a city so well laid out,
can be so Indifferent to improvements
which, at slight expense, would add
so much to its beauty and conven-
ience.
But we are here to study the.
DIspENsARY LAW,
and so devote our time to it, mainly.
The next morning, with an apologetic
air (for no one is supposed to 60 to a
dispensary except to buy liquor, and
it cannot be purchased elsewhere), we
asked to be directed to a dispensary.
It was few doors from our hotel. We
recognize it because the word, 'Dis-
pensary," is painted across the front
window; and this Is all the sign or in
dication which is allowed. Il is q
little after 6 o'clock in the morning,
and when we enter we find no other
person there except man behind the
counters. And here we are, at last, in
a dispensary! What sort of place is
it? Certainly not an inviting room in
which to linger. There is not a pic
ture on the naked wall, nor is there a
chance to sit down, not even on a
three-legged stool. There are no re-
freshments of any kind to attract the
drinker such as are advertised by the
So oons of our cities, And, as if to pre-.
vent any social relation or conversa-
ton between buyer and seller, the
manager is shut in behind his high
and wide counters, fenced away from
all close contact with his visitors.
Nothing is to be seen in this store,
which is perhaps thirty feet deep and
twenty feet wide, in addition to what
has been mentioned, except bottles on
the plain shelves on either side of the
counters. We commence our inquir-
les, which are respectfully answered.
The dispensary is open from sunrise to
sunset, never evenings. Any adult
can purchase LIQUOR, if he is not
known to be drunkard or husband
whose wife has requested the manager
not to sell to him. No minor can pur-
chase liquor in dispensary. The dis
pensary is not open on Sundays, holi.
DAYS or evenings. Every particle OF
LIQUOR bought in the State must be pur-
chased at the dispensary under these
and other more eXacting and lnvlol-
able conditions. Every bottle OF
liquor is sealed, and the seal must be
broken outside the dispensary, and in
no instance can it be tested or drum k
on the premises. There are four dis
pensaries in this city of 900 people.
We are not arguing this ca.e, but
reporting it. We are anxious, how
ever, that our readers should catch the
full significance of what it means to
strangle the liquor trade and crowd it
into such confinement and restraint as
it is done in South Carolina. How
would it seem in good old New Eng
land if there were no saloons and no
enticements to drink, no treating, and
no opportunities for going into place
to purchase liquors and drinking it
there? How would it seem if no boy
to our shame be it said-girl could
go into any place in our cities and
purchase wine or other intoxicants ?
How would it seem If there were no
selling of liquor among us in the
evening or night, when carnivals OF
hell arr carried on in our very sight ?
With us the laboring man is enticed in.
to the saloon in the evening, and
wastes there his substance and himself
in riotous living, only to 60 to his
home, late, drunken, robbed and ugly.
Nothing of this kind can take place in
South Carolina. The manager of the
dispensary is put under $1,000 bonds,
and his bond is good for two year-
after he resigns or is removed from the
office and if he violates single one
of the many conditions under which
he acts, his bondsmen are liable. In
the half hour that we remained in
that dispensary four people came IN to
buy liquor-three Negroes and one
white man, one of the Negroes being a
woman. A record was made of each
sale. The purchasers each bought a
half-pint of whiskey, put it into their
pockets or in some way concealed it,
and quickly slid out Of the place as if
doing something they did not want
seen. To show the operation of this
law; There was a regiment Of SOL
diers there few weeks before, and
when it was known that they would
remain a day in Columbia, the dis.
pensaries were ordered closed. AS the
soldiers could not obtain drink, they
were peaceable and inoffensive. The
next day they were in neighboring
State where license prevailed, and
they drank to beastly excess, looted
the town, got into brutal fights, and
one or more We're killed. That is the
best commentary we heard on the
effect of South Carolina Law.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE DISPENSARY.
From this local dispepsary We went
to the State dispensary-a large, two
story brick building in this city
where the whole liquor business of the
State is done. Here all the liquors
furnished the dispensaries throughout
the State are stored, chemically exam.
ined, bottled and sealed. Here large
number of men and women are KEEP
busy. The visitor is cordially welcom