The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-08-07
T!he " heeiins--We llsbure Railroad
franchise Is Granted Afte- Or
dinauce Had Been Amended.

VIZ The feature Of the meeting Of the
Ohio county board OF Commissioners
yesterday was the communicationf from
\ the Wheeling federation OF churches,
n In which the board Is caiisd upon TO
revoke thelllquor license Of the wheel
8 ing Park Association. After the com
manicatlon had been read and dis
Z csission had followed. # was referred
toSthe boards committee on finance.
~ The communication which was pre-.
scented on behalf of the federation b.
Reys. Samuel schward. pastor OF tbs
First English Lutheran Church, and
e. A.. oliphant, OF the First Christian
Church, was as follows: e
Wheeling Park.
TO the Board OF County Commissioners
y, Of OHIO County, w. Va. Z
SIRs:-Since theN Federation OF
Churches began its efforts for the bet
aterrnentt OF the. moral condition Of this
community. asking for the enforce
: ment OF laws with reference to gam
bling, Sunday selling and Sunday base
ball, and especially since the council
s.Sof. this city has turned down the. IKE
sb otEls, denying them the. license 10 cell
4 liquors In connection with houses where
I many girls have been ruined, many cit
LIENS have repeatedly told us that we
Z never touched the fountain-h head OF all
this iniquity.
81 Loudly and severely have the good
citizens Of Pleasant Valley been crIti-
s7clzed for having been instrumental In
bringing pressure to bear upon the off,
Scers Of bthat village, leading them TO
4 deny ilctsise to the proprietors OK the
sPleasanta,Y Valley Park. and especially
has deterioration OF Churches been
cfjucized for having stopped Sunday
y base ball. and at the same time max
Ing no protest against far worse evils
constantly in operation in Wheeling
i; Park on the Sabbath day.
~ Hundreds Of citizens have come TO US
and said IN you are going TO ask Tor
the enforcement 10 law against one OF
these evils. why not ask the same
against al 2" = -
I've have been informed time and
= again that Wheeling PARK IS the great-
ese9 Sabbath breaking institution any,
4 where to be found within 100 miles OF
that the laws with reference
10 Sunday selling are openly and fla
GRAVITY violated there every Sabbath
8 day; that there are excursions from
nc!ghboring cities pouring Sabbath
brcakers into this community by the
Z hundreds. thereby giving our city 4 had
lame far and wide: that, while women
+ crciIlot allowed TO drink IN the saloons
,isof Wheeling with men, they are al
lowed to do so In Wheeling Park: that
\ men and women may be seen under the
. influence OF drink in this park almost
/ any Sunday during the summer season; !,
that the merry-go-round and billiard
: ta b!es are In full blast on the Sabbath.
4 but tne worst OF all. We have been in
Z formed that under the cover of night
d ia The. dark places OF the Gark the 30
/. tclalScvil is being pract!ced.
81 Now: these reports have come TO us
= fr0rt the mouths OF people whose truth
frlne3s and verncity We have no reason
70 ddubt, but, dehfrlnS to be thoroughly.
convinced 1of the truth or falsity OF
y these rejiorts, we thought It best to
make thorough investigation. Accord
tnGly we chose men from all parts OF
2 the city Of Wheeling and from Fulton
and Elm Grove toIvisit the park on Sun /.
. day, July s, 1900, and they reported as
follows:
x The beer garden and bnr were wide
open. and men and women were buying
Stfwine. beer and soft drinks. Between
80 O'clock p. m. and S y. m. la men and
70 women bought and used liquors. six
men werc seen intoxicated. and one
woman was so badly under the influence
of drink that she was put out OF the
beer garden: thirty orr forty minors
were buying and drinking. On this day
there :Yere nine walters and ten bar
tenders, on active duty. Vulgar and
profance language was heard, but yet
our investigators were told that this
was an off day with the park.
We therefore determined TO continue
y our Investigations when things were In
/! ,fllhblu in the park. Accordingly on
Z SGbbath,s July Is, 1900. we sent men to
: make further Investigations. They re-
ported the bar room and beer garden
crowded; counted 800 men and 100 wo-
Etmen buying and drinking. and gave 1t
cup. not attempting to count all. Minors
We're drinking, some OF them With their
parents: billiard tables and merry-go-
s round were doing biz business: twenty
Z men were more or less Intoxicated
:, - Another feature was that out
~ side OF the beer garden enclosure tho
park was without lights, save along
: two roads leading to the beer garden
md In the locality OF the merry-go-
round. From this 1t viii be seen that