The sun., 1902-01-12
sHow II a rARsoN-sHERrrr



BANooh. Me-, Jan. 1.-THE Rev. Samuel
y. Peerson, Cumberland county's parson-
Sheriff, has received two invitations to leo
turo on prohibition a. he enforces 1t In the
city Of Portland. one from New Zealand
and one from Chicago. He has accepted
the latter.
When Sheriff Pearson goes to Chicago
he win take with him the wonderful colleo-
ton Of 'liquor hides gathered In Portland
by his deputies In their raids in 1901. and
with the aid Of these he viii illustrate to
Chicago people how the liquor sellers OF
Portland seek 70 evade the law. II will
be by far the most novel and interesting
show ever given In this line. and there
Ii no doubt that the Sheriff could make
his everlasting fortune were he TO take IL
on the road.
An illustrated lecture on prohibition was
given by Sheriff Pearson In the Gospel Mis-
sion, Portland, last Sunday night. He
used these hides TO show the people how
the liquor war was fought In Portland,
and the lecture was declared to be the
funniest thing that ever happened In Main Q.
The Sheriff had q platform, from who h
the pulpit had been removed. covered with
various devices captured from liquor sellers.
and he explained the uses Of each Of the m
In the course Of his talk. There was big
cane. followed out 30 that It held ten drinks
Of whiskey, with q stopper In one nd
The cane was taken from a pocket pedler.
A tin tank, semi-oiroular In shape, had
been worn by a woman pocket pedler In
place Of hustle. Another tank had be en-
worn by thin man, giving him an appear
anoe OF portliness. Both OF these tanks
u 4 AI~I IA
which their wearers supplied whiskey
to customers picked up In the street.
The Sheriff strapped the tanks to his own
person and drew liquor from them TO show
the audience just how It was done. He
also put on a woman,s long IS stocking IN 70
ried In tho top.
He exhibited chocolate cans which had
been found filed with whiskey on the
shelves OF grocery stores, and medicine
bottles that had been eeized, fun OF liquor,
In drug stores. He displayed s!xty-four
small, fiat bottles known as sand peeps,
that had been taken from tho person Of
one pocket pedler.
Various Ingenious and costly arrange
ments Of tanks. tubes and com binstion
ing In Portland liquor establishments,
were exhibited and explained. Much in
terest was manifested In the workings
Of tho combination faucet, a remarkable
piece OF mechanism from which elther
water or whiskey could be drawn bv q
person understanding the arrangement.
BY far tho most interesting as well as
comical feature of Sheriff Peerson's exhi-
bition, however, was his graphic llustra-
ton OF how his deputies had seized whiskey
from the bed Of a supposed smallpox pa
tent and from the cradle OF a supposed
dying infant. He had upon the stage
bed, fully made up, and q cradle OF the old
fashioned kind.
He got into the bed and covered himself
up to the chin 70 represent a man whose
house was searched for liquor, and who,
a his wife informed the officers, was ter
rible sick.' The Sheriff got up and went
10 the foot OF the bed, from which he pulled
dozens of bottles OF whiskey. remar king
as he did II that the more whiskey the officers
pulled out the sicker the man in the bed
became. The officers had been told that
this man had smallpox, but they went In
and got the whiskey, while the man got
four months In jail.
Coming to tho cradle incident, the Sheriff
put on an apron and cap and sat down
beside the couch Of an imaginary sick
infant, singing a lullaby and rocking the
cradle with one foot. Then, as he rocked,
he related TO the audience how the depu-
ties had gone 10 woman's house to search
for liquor and had found the woman rock
ing the cradle She said the baby was
very sick, and. really. II looked sick; but
they were after whiskey, and concealed
under the infants bedclothes they found
thirteen bottles of It,