The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-13
PROHIBITION In KANSAS.
THE SIGHTLESS DRUG STORE
MAN.
STORE
The Noisy Phonograph and tho Slot
That Tells No Tales.

| Vhat Tells NO Ihieb
II have been spending my vacation
at the home of my brother in little
| town in middle Kansas" said New
Orleans man yesterday, land during my
stay I saw some funny examples of the
actual workings of prohibition. / don't
drink myself, but L have a number OF
| friends up there who take their nose
paint pretty regularly, so it wasn't long
| before | became acquainted with the
fact that the principal bar of the place
| was located directly in the rear of the
prescription case of the leading drug
| store. Two or three large flagons were
kept standing on the marble ledge be-
hind the ground glass screen, together
with tumbers, ice water lemons and SUI
gar, and in one corner was a barrel of
bottle beer put up in pints. Whenever
an habitue of the establishment wanted
a life preserver he simply strolled back
of the case, helped himself and depos-
| tied the price in the slot Of cashbox
II dare say you have seen the hero
in the melodrama who saunters down
the stage in bissful ignorance Of the
villain crouching in plain view behind
small pasteboard rock. Well, that
was the attitude of the druggist while
ceremonies were in progress in the rear
of the ground glass screen. Under the
| polite conventions of the house he was
supposed to be totally unaware OF what
was going on, and was consequently
able to swear, If necessary, that no IL
| quor was sold on the premises to his
! personal knowledge. / was told he had
| testified on nine different occasions thai
he never saw anybody take a drink in
the store all of which was doubtless
perfectly true. Incidentally he was SUI
perintendent of the biggest Sunday
school in town.
1.-THE arrangement I have described
| would have worked very well had 1t not
been for the fact that there was strong
| prohibition sentiment in the place espe-
cially among the women, who organized
themselves into smelling committees
and We're continually proving around
| looking for evidence of violations of the
law.
THE drug store had large trade In
fancy goods, soaps perfumery ana so
on, and a group of ladies and children
were almost always clustered around
| the soda fountain near the door in easy
earshot of the tinkle of the glasses and
popping of beer corks in the SUB rosa
GROCERY at the other end of the estab-
lishment In order to drown these sus-
picious noises the proprietor kept a Die
photograph constantly grinding on the
front counter. He had supply OF the
most vociferous cylinders in the mar
ket and ragtme coon songs, brass
band overtures, anvil choruses and all
that sort of thing, and the dexterlty
with which he would snatch off one rec
ord and lam on another was wonderful
to behold. AS a piece of sleght-of- hand
II was equal to anything done by Herr
mann. The old customers of the bar
had learned to know exactly when each
cylinder was about to become exhausted
and at that stage of proceedings sud
den hush would fall over the group
They would stand transfixed with their
glasses in the air until the new record
began to below and then jollity again
resumed sway. One prominent citizen
was barred out because he was stone
deaf He was otherwise unobJectiona-
BILE and had a thirst that was without
a peer in that congressional district;
but the poor fellow could never catch
the 'stop-note' and his patronage was
consequently regarded as too danger
Gus.
The only time I ever came near
getting caught the druggist told me
in strict confidence, was about SIX
months ago, when I got in lot Of new
records from Chicago. One of them
was a rafting good recition, loud
enough to loosen the wall paper but
unfortunately there was dead stop
right in the middle. The monograph
people called 1t an "oratorical pause,
but, in plain English, the fellow telling
the story simply ceased speaking for
about five seconds. I didn't know any
thing about the COMPOUNDED gap, and
the afternoon l put on the cylinder for
the first time / had at least a dozen
women at the counter, and among them
the president of our local w. G. T. U.
I started the thing going and they were
all immensely amused, but presently, to
my horror, we struck the oratorical
pause The recitation stopped, stock
still, and at the same time we heard the
voice of old Judge --- saying: well,
boys, | think I'll have about four fng-
ers of good Kentucky bourbon The
women all looked faggers at me, and
thought I'd faint in my tracks. The
episode came mighty near getting me
indicted he added, and I had big
mind to put in a claim for damages
with the record manufacturers. After
the store closed / took an axe and l
didn't do thing to that cylinder.
co-oP rDTRECTORS' MEETING.