Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-03
CURIOUS STATE STATUTES
Great Laws That Have Been Adopted by
Various Legislatures.
Rexas Does Not Care for Bachelors
Tammnny Man Wanted to
Regulate Oyster Stews.
From the Green Bag.

''pure beer law through both houses, and
4. was signed by the governor. This pro-
vides that no person or persons or cor
poration engaged in the brewing or manu-
facture of beer or other malt liquor shall
Use any substance, material or chemical, In
the manufacture of beer or other matt
liquors other than pure hops or extract OF
hops or pure barley; malt or wholesome
yeast or rice" Water is not mentioned,
and as nothing but the above substance
may be used. the people Of Missouri are
wondering whether they will take their
beer in solid form or how. Perhaps some
one will come out with beer tablets.
Down in Texas the lower house passed
what was called a single tax law
which it was with a vengeance. 1t pro-
yided that every unmarried man over
thirty who had not "exerted due diligence
in getting married should pay g. fine Of $50
every year. In order to define due dill
gence'' the bachelors fine was to be re-
nitted II he brought in yearly an affidavit
from some reputable woman that he had
offered himself in marriage to her during
that ye =
The 1897 Missouri legislature also had a
''stngle tax law but 1t took the other tack
and fined widows and maidens mot less
than 500 nor over $500 for rejecting a
man 1t was finally amended to add to
the fine the provision that the fair one
should darn the socks and sew on but
tons for the rejected sutton for six months.
This laughed it out of the house.
But the west is not the only offender.
New Jersey passed a law taxing bachelors
in 1915. and as L never heard of its repeal
1t may be still accommodating dust among
the archives, and is one of those things
the executive swears to enforce, but does
not know of, and practically cannot know.
because there are many of them. But
the 1898 New Jersey legislature sent to be
engrossed law for taxing bachelors. 1t
IS about on a par with the introduced
IN 1896 in the same state. prohibiting the
picking of huckleberries with the feet.
At Albany one Of the Tammany legisla-
tors VINO did not know a bill from a high
wayman's billy was told he ought to have
q law named after himself, so he introduced
measure and secured its passage through
the assembly which made 1t a penal offense
10 put less than thirteen oysters in an oys-
ter stew. This would be hard on church
fairs Another august legislator-I presume
he was from the rural districts this time
introduced a bill making II felony to en-
tice away bees. particularly when they are
swarming, and this was only killed by
city member moving to amend that every
pee should have Its owners name and adj
dress stamped on its business end for iden-
tification-
But this is not worse than the ordinance
introduced into the common council of New
York city, which its mover explained as
follows: "One of the greatest perils of this
big city, he said, rs the danger of being
run down by street cars. Every person hit
by a street car is struck by the front plat
form Am I right? OF course 1 am. You
never heard of man being knocked down
Dy the rear platform or by the side of the
car Now the remedy is simple. My reso-
luton abolishes front platforms"
Another kind Of law, passed in Nebraska
In early days, has an equally funny mistake
In It, A part of il reads: For the viola
ton of the third section of au act 10 license
and regulate the sale of malt spirituous
and syinous liquors. SO. and on proof of the
violation of said section or any part thereof
the justice shall render Judgment for the
md ha tad Eel
the common Jail until the sum is paid" If
this law was enforced many justice in
Nebraska would languish in the common
Jail
Similar to this is bill No 251 of the Ken
lucky legislature. which reads: ut shall be
unlawful for any person to fire discharge
at random any deadly weapon whether said
weapon be loaded or unloaded.' Really
That legislature must have had In view the
damage done by weapons thought to be I'M
loaded
Waite anti-treating law, passed in 1885
which prohibits the purchase of LIQUOR to be
given to another as a treat, and in South
Carolina private dispensaries became so OBJ
noxious that a bill was introduced making
It unlawful for citizen of that state to
wear hip pockets in his trousers, the mimi
mum penalty being $50 and six months
imprisonment. Ye gods and little nshesl
What would the governor of South Carolina
do when he was visited by his brother Of
North Carolina?
authority for the statement I think we
may well believe that the governor of South
Carolina vetoed it when II came into his
august presence. But l would call his
honor's attention to the action of the Ohio
lawmakers in 1898 as worthy Of imitation,
even IL he had to issue a special message
recommending 1t. They defeated the Adams
BILL legalizing the weakening of whisky
with water.
An illustration of one of the tragedies of
our lawmaking Is the effort of the Penn
sylvania miners. extending over years, TO
get a law prohibiting the payment of wages
in store orders. They got such a law
through a year or so ago. But in some COM
mittee or in engrossiIg. the words ION de-
mand' were inserted. so that the law reads:
"An wages shall be paid in cash on de-
mand.' If a miner demands his wages in
cash he is laid of the next week The in
sertion of those two little words has rem
dered the law utterly useless. 1t is real
tragedy
courageous Indiana legislator proposes
10 fine a baggageman every time he throws
a piece of baggage from the car down to
the platform. instead of gently transfer
ring it to a truck only few inches lower
than the bottom of the car.
The lawmakers of Texas have made a |
bid for our foreign travel by bravely pass
ing resolution that the skies of Texas are
bluer than those of Italy. 1t made no diff
ference that perhaps none of them had |
visited Italy; of course. everything about |
Texas is better than anything anywhere
else, even unto the skies
A righteous Tennessee senator would "for-
hid any person to linger or loiter on any
street, alley, road lane in the vicinity
of any young ladies' boarding school. Nei-
Their shall any one try to communicate Sc
cretly with the inmates Of such institution
nor loaf. lur4S and loiter where the inmates
of such Institution are likely to be found"
The last clause is delicious.
Deponent sayeth not whether this loaf.
Turk and loiter'' bill passed. but the
wicked Virginia senate Of 1898 defeated
Senator McCane's anti-firting bill by "a
TO g.
Rhode Island has recently gotten into
peck Of trouble on social questions. One
of the courts has just passed on an am
biguous law of some fifty years ago, ac-
cording to which there has not been legal
marriage in that state in half a century.
Down in Louisville in the winter of 1898
there a terrible hubbub which threat
ened to change the whole course of politics.
Some good people got after the grand jury
about the open saloons and gambling
houses. One of their members fortunately
recollected a law introduced by country
member. and enacted some time previous
ly, which prohibited the keeping of red
birds. martins or other wild song birds in
cages and fined the offenders.
OF course this had never been enforced,
but there 1t was on the statute books. So