Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-08-15
CONDITIONS IN CHEROKEE.
A Well Informed Witness Gives Inter.
estins Testimony.

Editor Yorkville Enquirer:
have lately received so many in
Quiries from Yorkville and vicinity
in regard to the whisky situation here
since we have gotten rid of the &c. M
l." In Cherokee that l have concluded
to ask you for enough space to an
swer a few Of the questions which
have been propounded.
The situation here is such a vast i'm
provement upon the conditions which
prevailed prior to the voting out Of the
dispensary that I scarcely know where
to begin. In the first place the con-
sumption of whisky has decreased In
this county at least 80 per cent since
the closing Of the dispensary. You
might ask how do ! know this? Sim
ply from the fact that / have not seen
a man under the influence of whisky
In two months, and that / have not
seen half a dozen drunk men since last
November, when we got rid of the &c
NJ. l." Prior to last November, we had
mayors court often two or three times
a week and on every Monday morning
there was a regular matinee OF drunks
and disorderly, since then we never
have court except on Mondays and 1t
Is frequently the case that have no
Mondays session, indeed for three
weeks at a time we had no session of
the mayors court. The day before
Christmas Of 1903, I saw at the least
calculation one hundred people stag
gering, drunk on the streets OF Carney,
the day before Christmas of 1904 there
were equally as many people here as
in 1903 and did not see single drunk
man. The dispensary was situated
diagonally across the street from my
Office and / have time and again seen
people go there and spend their money
for whisky whose children were with
out proper clothing and In some cases
without food.
The circumstances of at least half
dozen families (whom have In mind
have vastly improved since the dispen-
sary has closed.
In my opinion the dispensary is a
manufacturer Of drunkards. / am told
that there are numbers Of individuals
in the town Of Yorkville, and in York
county who are drinking whisky to ex-
cess who were never known to drink
before. II this Is a fact isn't that
enough within itself to condemn 1t In
the mind Of every sane man or wo-
man?
My observation has been that the
more convenient you have whisky the
more Of It will be drunk. To illustrate:
Sam Jones who Is not drinking man
lO cAlcIll, OHly lchSo q WA
sionally, comes to town, walking by
the dispensary he feels like drink, he
walks In and buys a bottle. Now. II
Sam had to go to the trouble Of hunt
ing up a blind tiger he would do with
out Speaking Of blind tigers there
is decidedly less blind tiger whisky
sold here than before, and the reason
for ii Is because when a man was
arrested for handling he could dodge
behind the dispensary and say he
went there and bought II for accom-
mediation, but now with no dispensary
to hide behind almost every case is
convicted and the tigers have gone so
deep into their lairs that 1t is seldom
we hear OF them.
have 1t straight on unquestionable
authority that the shipments OF
whisky to Carney are less than one
fourth Of what they were just after
the closing Of the dispensary and
am in a position to know that the
larger part Of the whisky that Is
shipped here now is brought to people
who did not patronize the dispensary.
/ sincerely hope Mr.. Editor that the
people of York county will rise up In
their might and vote out this greatest
evil with which they have ever had
to contend I am fairly convinced
that II we had to vote on the question
again that we would vote 1t out 20
to /. JAMES B. BELL.
Gaffney, s. c., August H. 1905.