The Montgomery tribune., 1904-04-01
Good Shelby County.


II you should tell . man from
Kansas or Illinois that tho Lords
vineyard or any considerable por-
ton Of 1. was situated In Missouri
he would probably grin and say |
something to you about st. Louis,
Kansas City, the James boys or
Ed Butler. And yet, according to
the statements of Rev. j. NJ.
O'Bricn the temperance lecturer,
tucked away In Shelby. the county |
that he halls from, there is an
amount Of soberness, orderliness
and respect for law which 1t would
be hard TO find the equal OF In any
community OF tho same size In tho
country. There have been no
saloons In Shelby since sixteen
years ago, when the people, under
the provisions OF the local option
law, prohibited the sale of liquor
as beverage In their county.
"The liquor law" says the Rev.
Mr.. 0'Bricn TO the Macon Repub-
lican, "is rigidly enforced and
believe In order TO get n drink In
any OF the towns II would be abso-
Iutcly necessary for n man to
swear that his life was In danger
without II. don't remember to
have over seen drunken man In
Shclbyvillc, aud have lived there
eight years. In all that time not "A
single case of dostitution has oc-
cured. there II not n man In the
penitcntiary from our county; not
boy In the reform school at
Bonneville, and not a girl In the
Industrial home at Chillicothc. As
rule, our people are prosperous
and all have money In the bank.
There Is not pool or billiard
table In the county as far rs |
know. A year or so ago man
applied for n franchise to run a
bowling alley at Shclbyvillc, hnd
came near getting the consent of
the town board, but when we
hoard OF 1t We got up protest
which was signed by all the wo-
mon and most of the men, and the
bowling alley enterprise was turn
cd down hard"
Tho Shclbyvillians aro too pious
even to dance. "Last year" con-
tinues Rev. Mr.. O'Bricn, "a smart
young man from Macon came over
from Shelbyvillc and told the
young people that they were slow
aud said he would show them how
to have some fun. lie hired hall
and made arrangements to furnish
supper and advertised grand
ball. One girl from the country
came In and two or three boys,
Tho dance was called oil and as
far as ! know that supper remains
uncaton to this day"
1--WE have three young men in
jail, but they don't belong in our
town. They are from Shclbina
and are charged with setting fire
to barns and placing distractions
on the railroad track. All are ol
good families and they have been
objects OF special interest to ouI
church people since they hav,
been in jail. The ladies hold
meetings in the jail every Sunday
, and frequently through the week
! think all OF the boys have pro-
fesscd religion and are now able
to sing gospel songs with as much
vigor and accuracy as their in
structors. II fellow don't wan,
to join the church and be convert.
ed he wants to keep out OF our Jail
| vi just cite these little instances
: to show you the degree OF morality
a community will reach when II
! cuts absolutely loose from the
/ liquor traffic. The people look Al
/ things in a different way. Every
, man feels that 1t is his boundeu
, duty to become interested In his
, brothers welfare and lend him q
helping hand whenever needed.
: Wire nails and staples, at