The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1902-07-04
SUNDAY TIPPLeRS.

of the fact that the City Attorney.
acting with the knowledge and consent
of the Mayor Of Columbia. has seen tt
in open court TO dismiss certain cases
in which i was one of the arrestlng
officers. think il not improper to give
to the public a brief. though fairly
complete. history of the cases.
On July 81. 1901. Messrs. Mel Butts.
CHARLEY Dodson and myself arrested
Messrs. Barley Peyton. Leonard AdcOck
and Otey Dockery for violating the
Sunday law by selling whisEey on
Sunday. These parties were all tried
before Judge +. E. Erwin and found
guilty. Peyton ana Adcock in two
cases were fined each in the first S25
and in the second $50. Dockery was
fined S25 Prior to this time Mr.. j.
NJ. Dedman had been arrested for
violation of the Sunday law and fined
$50, and once since for violating the
closing law and fined $50 All of these
cases were appealed to the Circuit
Court. and they have all since been
dlsnisseo by the City Attorney, the
city paying the costs in all cases except
one against Mr.. Dedman, he paying
the cost in this one; Notwithstanding
tina: officers Theo. Lipscomb, Charley
Dodson and myself were the officers
making the arrests, and were eye-wit-
nesses to the transactions and our
sworn testimony was positive in all
the cases, and the City Attorney knew
it.
1t will be seen that these fines al
together amount to two hundred and
fifty dollars. And | wish to say here
that | was an eye witness to all these
~ AGAINST
Dedman officers Lipscomb and Dodson
being the witnesses in this case; ana
if these men were not guilty as charged,
never carried guilty man to the
City Court. The city was just as much
entitled to these fines as it ever was
to any fine imposed on a negro crap
shooter or poor drunkard picked up
off the Streets who had been made
drunk by their nefarious business. But
the Mayor and some of the Aldermen
in their request and direction to Mr..
Smiser, stated that these men had
been punished enough, and that the
bset interest of the city demanded
that these cases be dismissed. How
have they been punished2 They have
never paid one cent to the city or
been incarcerated single day. And
what 'best interest of the city pray,
demand their released
The City Attorney said in his talk
before the Judge, when the cases were
being tried, that the proof showed the
parties guilty, but he didn't like the
way by which they were caught. Per
haps Johnny Sticks way of watch
ing these Sunday tipplers has fright
ened away some of their best Gus
toners, for fear they might have to
appear in the city court some Monday
morning as witnesses and it be found
out that they were Sunday drinkers
Maybe they have been punished by the
loss of some trade.
will explain later on some OF their
ways of doing BUSINESS on Sunday,
and see what the people think OF them
| suppose the consclences OF the
Mayor and City Attorney, whose oath
of office is the same as ours. are easy
in regard to what they have done in
these cases. That is with them; but
had done less than have DONE l feel
that would have had to compromise
my manhood, my honor and my oath OF
office: and before / would do that for
the friendship. or favoritism of any
man or set of men, for either personal
or political purposes, / would rather
starye and be buried an honest pauper.
While l and my brother officers are
practically certain that the law against
selling whiskey on Sunday is violated
more or less every Sunday, we find it
most difficult thing indeed to catch
the offenders. We do not doubt that
nine out Of ten 60 uncanght and I'M
punished to every one convicted. Yet
because it is our sworn duty we keep
on watching and catching them when
we can, and will continue to do 80 as
long as we are in office, althou gh
recent transactions are very discourag-
ing to us. We are not blind or one
eyed officers. Thank the Lord l
have two pretty good eyes and when
it is my sworn duty to see thing,
either at the front or back door, in
tend TO do SO; whether negro crap
shooter, Sunday tippler, or three
story, fifty-three, fifty four, fifty six
or fifty seven, kid glove society gamb-
Ter be the offender. They all, through
my official eye. look alike to me.
That the public may understand, [
will explain some of the obstacles in
our way. Take Mr.. Bailey Peyton s
case His restaurant adjoins his
saloon, and both open out on narrow
back alley about three feet wide. In
his restaurant there is, or was a
small back room with door leading
into it from the restaurant and a
window opening into the alley right
close to the back door of the saloon
the alley itself being partitioned off
from the back yard, thereby prevent
ing any intruder like police otficers)
from seeing or entering that way.
With these breastworks thrown out to
protect their Sunday business, and
with picket guards to the front and
rear on constant duty, there was only
one possible way for the officers to dis
cover them, and that was to get into a
vacant house opening on the same
little alley and look down on them
from an upstairs window. SO Mr..
Charley Dodson and myself, on that
memorable Sunday morning last July
ut 3 80 O'Clock, secreted ourselves in
the upstairs room of the house now
occupied by Mr.. g. G. Gross, from
which vantage ground we had plain
~ No.,