Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-08-29
1t was a famous jag.

It gave a political party of the |
state blow in the solar pleXus, 1t
set a town in turmoil, and aroused
more interest all over the state than
any other event of the day or week,
it blackened the name of one who has
posed as an evangelist, and the story
of his disgrace was carried all over
the country.
Rev. Sam Small, the Georgia even
gelist who was imported into the state
to help out p. w. Clements campaign
for high license and purity, was
drunk when he tried to speak on the
stage at the Auditorium Monday
night. There are different shades
of intoxication or inebriety, but the
load which Small carried is best de-
scribed by the term jag. He reeled
and staggered, was incoherent and
disconnected in his talk, and finally
had to be led away in his maudlln
condition after making a disgusting
spectacle of himself.
Band Played :" Got Mine"
The Auditorium was packed from
"pit to dome" Small, who had
spoken at Putney during the after
noon. arrived here by team between
7 and 8 o'clock, and after going to
his room at the Brooks House was
escorted to the Auditorium, where he
took seat upon the stage with Col.
C. A. Miles, H. e. Bond, Mayor E. w.
Blodgett. C. o. Robbins, c. W. Puffer,
C. A. Boyden. Gilman E. Warren, and
B. G. Corser.
There was something particularly
suggestive in the last selection which
the band played from the town hall
balcony before Small appeared on the
stage. 1t was 81 Got Mine
C. A. Miles presided. He spoke
for some 10 or Is minutes. defining
the position of the members of the
Local Option club. He said it was
not a Clement club. that its member
ship comprised men who would vote
for Clement, Mccullough and McGet-
trick, but that they were united on
this one common question. He urged
the voters to support DR.. Conland for
town representative, and said it was
not true, as had been stated in a
circular sent out by the Republicans,
that DR.. Conland was bitterly and un-
alterably opposed to the election of
Senator Dillingham;. Col. Miles spoke
with good effect, and the points which
he brought out were warmly applaud
ed. The local option men stood for
temperance and sobriety, he said, and
in closing he expressed great pleasure
in introducing Rev. Sam Small.
Sam stood erect during the intro
duction, then he walked forward
toward the small table, swaying as he
went. His first words were low and
iumbed but some of them were audi.
BILE. At first people thought that he
was acting as an imitator, and that
a point to joke or something of the
kind was coming. Then they began
to wonder. and soon the fact dawned
upon nearly everybody that Sam was
in a very badly befuddled state. Even
then not many people were ready to
believe that he was drunk. They
thought something else was the mat
ter with him. But he went on and
on in his rambling disjointed, numb
ling style and people began to march
out of the hall Sans head pitched
forward on his breast, and he was
more than a good imitation of drunk
ard who has reached the "dopy" stage
The boys in the galleries began tt
let loose yells and cat calls. San
would bring his head up little, lool
toward the gallery, then pitch his
head forward upon his breast as hi
tottered about, trying to keep his
balance. The people kept leaving an(
everything was soon confusion.
Sans Maudin Middle.
Just what Sam said nobody seemed
to know exactly the next day, as there
were only fragmentary sentences tina
hn ht 10 CT rt cd n
saying that he was mo stranger-in-
years ago, and the IA years ago
came rolling out several times befor,
he could let go of it.
"Yer've got prohibition in Vernon
haven't yer? Yer want prohibi
tion in Vermont don't yer? My pee
pie in Georgia say yer don't wan
it. The people in Georgia say-wha
is prohibition in Vermont? | sa
if yer want to know what-prohibi
ton is in Vermont will tell we
i will as he lurched way forward
and nearly lost his balance, and thel
he insisted on telling what prohib
tion is in Vermont. Here it is" h
shouted, as he held up copy of tn
Vermont statutes, and the weight O
the book kept him sagging toward tn
West until the document pitched from
his hands and fell into the pit. One
or twice in the beginning, before h
got too far gone, Sans drunken gig
giles were accompaniment to his slut
tering words.
He tried to unreel his statistics
showing how high license Georgi
compares with prohibition Vermont
He was twisted as usual in what h
tried to say, and at one point manage
to blurt out, I'm Georgia-there-
there-there are-5S0-saloon-k
ers, saloon keep-keepers to one vo-
ter"
Local Option Leaders Sneaked Away
The fact that they were seeing
degrading picture did not seem al
parent to a large part of the aud
ence. Many took the exhibition as
huge joke and treated it accordingly
There was laughter on all sides an
jeers from the galleries as the drunl
en- speaker tried to go on. 1t wa
difficult for anyone to control hi
risibilities on witnessing the action {
the Local Option leaders upon tn
stage.
Their eyes bulged out with aston
ishment, and they hardly knew whf
to do. First Charlie Boyden tip-toe
off the stage, then Mayor Blodget
with very detected air, foilowe