Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1905-11-30
LAND OF THE LID.
INDIAN TERRITORY n ALWAYS
HELD Down BY IT.
II II q Country Where Lovers Of
Alcoholic Drinks Resort 10
varnish. Red Ink,
Etc.

land Whcre IL u ON every ueJ ~ 80
week. sC5 days In the year. says TUT
n Il. IT, report In the Chicago Inter
OCEAN.
Ever live In a country where the
punishment for being under the innu-
sncs or the products Of stills. vine
yarua. breweries and cider mills u
dollar and costs and the punishment
FOR having liquor In your possession II
from 30 days TO six months In q fed
eraI prisony
This Ii the condition In Indian Ter
ritorx.
Uncle Sam puts his stamp on the
products OF dlstilleries. breweries and
kindred institutions. but he puts his
STAND OF disapproval on the sale OF
these goods In Indian country.
Hs has no objection to granting o
license 10 sell liquors In Kansas, where
the state laws are against II. and the
''biind tiger" does q big business.
There are no "blind tigers" In the
Indian country. but the federal govern
ment. In Its suppression Of liquor traf-
&c. has to deal with.a far more dan
gerous parsonage In the 'boot-legger."
who peddles the worst kind OF whisky
TO the negroes and Indians at big
profts.
When the government began to make
treaties with the Indians It found that
the greatest foe to the country and to
the natives was the natural addiction
Of the red man to whisky. So In the
treaties II was written. witnessed and
sealed with the great seal Of Uncle
Sam that so long as he exercised q
guardianship over poor 10. he would
prohibit the sale of liquor Of any kind
or character in what IL known as the
Five Civilized Nations. For more than
q quarter OF century he has been do
Ing II. and to-day II probably costs the
government dollar q minute to live
up 10 that agreement.
To satisfy thirst for thing that
cannot be had bad men who are ad-
dicted to the use Of alcohol will 60 to
any extreme. Many have lost their
lives In trying to quench their thirst.
Some have been shot down by United
| States marshals, while others have re-
sorted to patent medicines. lemon ex-
| tract. red ink, extract Of ginger. or any
compound that had for It's base alco-
hol. Hardly week passes without
some poor man, and occasionally q
woman. leaving the world by one OF
these routes.
n certain sections Of the territory
permits are given to dealers to sell
Q drink that is known under various
titles, being q low grade beer. This
has made the dealers rich. Patent
medicines are good sellers. especially
u they are part whisky. Varnish,
vhare corn alcohol Is used. Is favor
its drink, especially among the paint.
era the drink being prepared by the
precipitation Of the body, which leaves
the alcohol standing alone.
Lemon extract. where II Is composed
largely OF corn alcohol, Is another 70.
vorite.
Often some citizen will make q trip
to the states. He returns home with
his grip heavily laden. II he gets past
the force of United States marshals
who usually meet the trains, there
ARE things doing"
n the marshal suspects him he usu'
ally suffers arrest. his liquid refresh.
ments are emptied into the gutter and
he Is held under bond to appear before
the United States commissioner, who
binds the prisoner over to the grand
Jury. Conviction usually means half q
year in jail. And the jails are con
stantly filled.
Not long ago q man was arrested fol
introducing" He carried his stock
In the iron axle Of wagon. He had
fooled the officers for months. but wa
finally captured. He Is now serving q
tsrm In prison.
Perhaps the most prosperous place
In the world Is the Indian Territory
There are fewer bad debts here than
In most countries. and certainly less
lawiessness when II Is taken into con-
alteration that until year or 10 age
Il was the borderland and the home Of
AL escaping criminals from the states
"The lid" when II Is as nearly abso.
lutte as here, is breeder Of prosperous
| times