The sun., 1900-10-07
PROHIBITION ~ KANSAS.
The SlEhtless Drug Store Nan.the Noisy Phono-
graph and the slot That Tells No Tales.
From the Nsr Orleans Tumts-Democrds

From the Nsu Orleans Ttrnts-DemocrdL
81 have been Spending my vacation at the
home of my brother in a little town IN middle
Kansas" said a New Orleans man yesterday.
"and during my stay / saw some funny ex-
ampIes of the actual workings Of prohibition.
don't drink myself. but | have number OF
friends up there who take their nose paint
pretty regularly, 50 II wasn't long before be-
Camea acquainted with thciact thut me pIincll al
bnr of the place was located directly in the rear
of the prescription case OF me leadlng druY
store Two or three large ingons were Kept
stuuding on the marble ledge behind the ground
glass screen, together with tIfnblers, ice water
lemon. and sugar and In one corner Mas a bar
rel OF bottle tecr putup IN pnls. whenever
n N habitua Of the establishment wanted a LIE
pre.pryer he simply strolled back Of the case.
helped himself and deposited the price In the
slot of cash hoN.
ruclodrama who saunters down the stage in
bllssful ignorance Of the yilluln CrouChing in
plain view behind small rastepoard rock:
Nell that was the attitude OF he druggist
while ceremonies were in progress In tho rear
OF the ground-gya5e screen. Under the polite
conventions Of he house he was SUPP Osed to be
totaIlv unaware Of what was going on. and was
consequently able tO swear, II Necessary, that
no LIQUOR was sold on the premises 70 his per;
sonaI knowledge ] was told he had testified
ON nine different occasions that he never saw
ANYBODY take a drink In the store. all Of which
was doubtless perfectly true. Incidentally. he
was superintendent OF the biggest sunday
".Thr Arrangement | have described would
have worked very well had II NOT oeen Tor the
far, that there was a strong prohibition senti-
rncnt in the place. especially among the women,
who organized themselves into smelling COM
nitteos and were continually prowling around
looking for evidence Of violations OF the law
The drug store had large trade IN fancy goods
SOAPS pcrfumcrv and 50 on. and a group OF
ladies and children were almost always clustered
nrnuud the soda fountain near the door. in easy
earshot Of the tiuEie of the glasses and Popping
OF beer corks in tho sub rosa groggery a. the
other end of the establishment In order 70
drown these suspicious noises the proprietor
kept big phonogriph constantly grinding
on the front coun,GT s had iba SnpTg oiS
rsgtime coon songs. brass band oyertures,
anvil choruses and all that sort Of thing. and
tho dnyterity with which he would snatch on
one record and lam on another wa. wonderful
10 behold kS piece Of sleght OF hand Il was
equal to ANYTHING done hy. Hermann, The old
clistomers Of tho bar had learned to know eX-
actly when each cvlinder was about to become
exhausted ana at that stage OF proceedings a
sudden hush would fall over the group. They
would stand tTanshNed, with their glasses in
the mir until the new record began 10 below
and then jollity again resumed sway. ono
prominent citizen va Vas barred out because cause ,a ne
tionahle and had n thirst that was without a
peer In that Cong lonal district, but the poor
fellow could never eaten the stop-h2le ana nus
patronage was consequently regarded as too
The only time l ever came near getting
caught, the druggist told me IN strict con,
fdence was about six months ago. when l
RGt in a lot Of new records from Chicago.
one Of them was q rattllng good recitation,
loud enough to loosen the wall paper. but un-
fortunately there was dead stop right In the
middle The phonograph people called ttan
"oratorical pause. but, in plain English, the
fellow telling the story simply Censed speaking
for about five seconds. | didn't know any
thing about the confounded gap, and the after
noon put Oh the cylinder for the first time
had at least dozen women At tho counter;
aud among them the President OF our local
W.C.T. L. started the thing going and they
we're all immensely amused but presently, 10
The recitation stopped. stock still, and at the
same time we heard the voice Of old Judge -
saying. Well boys, | think III have about
four fingers OF good Kentucky bourbon" The
women all looked daggers al me, and thought
I'd faint in my tracks. The episode came
mighty near getting me indicted. he added,
and had big mind 10 put iu n claim for dam
ages with the record manufacturers. After
the store closed | took an axe and didn't do
a thing 20 that cylinder