Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-04-13
1T Is SUCCESSFUL.
Enforcement Enforces Over in
County Of Androscoggin.
So Says Rev. c. S. Cummings, the
High Sheriff.
Bar Rooms Have Been Closed and
Drunkenness Stopped.

Lewiston, Me-, April 12.-Rev. c. S.
Cummings, high sheriff Of Androscog-
gin county, has been in office since Jan.
i. He has just been interviewed as to
the present condition of the liquor traf-
fic in the county and says:
when | took Office there We're, be-
sides the many kitchen barrooms, 103
places where liquor was sold over the
| bar. There has not been an open bar
| in this county since Jan. /. Predic-
tons that there would be more drunk
| enness if the saloons were closed have
proven false.
| There used to be an average of 10
commitments to Jail per week for in
| toXication before l closed the barrooms.
This made more than 40 a month. In
the first three months after I took the
Office there were only 80 DRINKS sent to
1 Jail for the entire time. Under the old
system there would have been 100.
When l came into Office there We're
81 prisoners in Jail, mostly drunks. To-
day there are IS; of these IA are bound
over to the grand jury and 10 others are
| from other counties. So have "a SEN
| fenced prisoners from Androscoggin
| county
'Of the total number, 20 will go out
| by expiration of sentence this month.
Unless many more come, we shall be
| short of help in the workshop.
I'm December the food bills amount
ed to $4,000. They have fallen off
every month slnce, so that in March
| they We're $2l4.27. The prisoners are
| better fed.
II have four special liquor deputies.
They are on duty at all hours, day and
night. They visit all incoming trains
| Those who try to sell, keep but little
| on hand. Eut few ever have anything
| where the sales are made. They go
| out for it or have it in the pocket of
some loafer. Many have been caught
| and are under heavy bonds to appear
| at the April term of the supreme Judi
| cial court.
some are working out sentences in
| Jail. All sorts of ways are taken to
evade the officers. Liquors will be kept
in a pitcher and sold from q sink The
| pitcher is emptied and something else
are caught in the act. Traps to hide
| liquors are found in various places-in
| walls, in pianos, in refrigerators, in
| stairWays, in water closets, under the
| sidewalks. in floors, etc We have
| found liquors on persons in pockets,
stockings, hidden under dresses, etc
But little comes addressed to parties
| who are to sell. 1t comes from Boston
| to fictitious1name, or to a we'll known
respectable tcitiZen who knows nothing
about it, and is delivered to someone
else. We have taken a large amount of
liquor thus addressed by finding that
the party whose name was on the
package had not ordered it,
Comparatively little comes into the
county to sell. Men are fearful of the
law when it is in operation. When a
raid is made and liquors found, the
parties selling are taken to the station
and locked up at once.
but little beer Except the small
beers is brought into the county to
sell. The officers never disturb any
thing that is for private or family use
Our purpose is to stop the illegal sale of
liquors and to break up places where
men resort for drinking purposes, and
punish the guilty.
THE deputies have many amusing
ana exciting experiences. Sometimes
women faint dead away when the dep
uties appear The pocket peddler' fears
to have liquor in his pocket. We find
it hidden in sheds, concealed in brush.
buried in sand. etc, etc. He has to do
small business and run a great risk.
+ h1yva Y,ur,,ha1lpcc latt
| nation. These came from wives, chill
dren and fathers. All information is
strictly confidential. All liquors seized
are libeled, and if forfeited to the coun-
ty are shipped to a rectifer who ex-
tracts the alcohol and it is sold for the
county. Beers are spilled on the
ground.
There is remarkable change on the
streets OF Lewiston. The old resorts
are closed or are doing another kind of
business. The streets are quiet and or
Derby A man who had been out of Jail
a month met one Of the deputies one
day and told him he hadn't drank a
drop since, that he couldn't get it with
out 'sneaking,' and he wouldn't do
that; that he had S26 in his pocket and
that he wished the saloons had been
closed 10 years ago.
My experience SO far proves to me
that all men fear the law when it is in
operation, that they respect an impair
tial enforcement Of the law. that an
honest, vigorous and impartial enforce
nent will stop the illegal sale of liquors |
as much as it will stop any other crime,
that resorts can be broken up, drunken
ness reduced very much, and the ex-
penses of running jails, etc, lessened |
nearly one-half, with prospect of more
reductions. Il
I'VE have raided several clubs and
gambling resorts. Some of them have
been raided in the night. The deputies,
from ladders and fire escapes, have at
tackled these places on all sides at once,
smashed in windows, and those present
have lied through traps arranged for
S,lob ar,aropfcieS - III