The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-19
INTERESTING HISTORY.
How the DistiEIers Invaded Advance
and the Result.

4
! in the town and 1t distillery two
miles away The whiskey men gen
orally did not approve of the incor-
! poration, and there was much disor-
der for awhile. Drunken men would
drive through the town in wagons
cursing and swearing. But the mayor
was a brave man and had many or
| the offenders arrested.
In less than a year he tried "a per-
| sons, the fines and costs amounting TO
| $169.
From 1893 to 1903 there was some
| Improvement In the morals Of the
! people due to the Influence Of the
Sunday schools, the preaching Of the
| gospel and the godly lives Of some
| of the people.
| In 1903 the Watts law went into er-
feet and the distillers in the county
had to either gn out Of business or
move into some town. They tried 70
| get the legislature to incorporate
| Smith Grove and Pennington, but dtd
not succeed. They could not enter
Mocksville because Il large majority
Of the citizens there were opposed to
! them. Advance was the only place
| they had any hope of entering. But
! there were difficulties in the way here.
! The officers Of the town were Demo-
Gratis. and therefore opposed to dis
| tiIleries. (The lines here are distinct
/ ly drawn. The Democrats arc OPP
posed to distilleries and the Republi-
cans favor them. There are but few
| exceptions to this rule.)
The Democratic officers intended to
/ pass by the time for holding an cleo
! ton and simply hold over, but the
| distillers secured d mandamus and
compelled thef holding of an election.
| The whiSkey men worked hard--the
| wealthiest and most influential among
them, living out of town, came In
and used all his influence TO elect the
Republican candidates. The result
was the Republicans elected a ma
jority of the commissioners by one
vote. This election was considered
by some a matter of party politics and
it was generally understood that a
few who voted for the Republican
candidates for town officers would not
vote for diStiilerics.
Il was noticed soon after this that
men were moving into town VINO
would vote for the manufacture OF
whiskey. and the dry men, seeing
their opportunity. on July 1st petit
toned the town commissioners to call
an election on August 5th to deter
mine whether the Manufacture of I'M
toxicating liquors should be allowed.
(Thc sale of whiskey was already
prohibited by tho incorporation of the
Methodist church0
The town commissioners refused TO
call an election at that time saying
they would do so when they saw fit
The mayor and one commissioner
(who were dry mend proceeded TO
call an election anyway. Only the
dry men voted This election was
doubtless illegal.
Sometime III October the wet COM
lnissioncrs had an election in when
ONLY the wet men voted. Since then the
disiilleries have been running. At
present there are eight i'll the town
though all of them are not in oper-
alton. One, which was closed up by
tie revenue officers few months
age has not yet started up again, and
two others are standing idle.
Now what has been the result Of
the capture Of the town by the dis
tillers? one of the town commission
ers, Dr.. Baxter Byerly. an excellent
physician, and one of the finest char
acters ! have ever known. left the
town. / heard his wife say that She
could not afford to raise her children
in Il town filled with distilleries. Mr..
H. r. Smithdeal, the Democratic
manor, seeing he was ignored, re-
signed. and his son, q disuller. was
put in his place. y man faVorinS
the whiskey business was chosen to
removal The policeman also re-
signed, saying that he was unwiliina
TO put himself UP as target for
drunken men to shoot at, besides
there was no salary attached to the
position. (Thc policeman preceding
him had been shot and killed by Il
drunken man on the street) "A
drinking man was then elected police
man. The diStillers now had every
thing their own way. The license tax
was fixed at fifteen to twenty-five dol
lars per year. The largest diStillery
paid into the town treasury the mag
nillcant sum OF So.
The effect of the distillerics on the
morals of the community has been
marked. We have had drunkenness,
disorder. fighting and murder. a
were one day five drunken men in
his store at one time. Another mer-
chant countedfiye drunken men in his
store one day this month.
l aavc frequently seen drunken men
staygering on DC strcetS-havc seen
them in the stores and came near
stumbling over d man ono night Who
was lying partly in the door. us / en-
tered the post Office TO get my mail.
Sometimes young men drive by nay
home at night curSing and using foul
language
Last November We stopped having
regular services II the church at night
on account OF the difficulty we had in
keeping order. A number OF men and
boys full OF wiliShcy would come 20
these services and misbehayc-and ON
their w9y home would shoot off thci1
pistols Ii became common TO hear
pistol shots on SIndag night. Tina
of course frightened the people and
come We're afraid to attend church OK
copt at the morning service. a boz
and his two sisters were going home
from church one night when "a
drunken man drove into their buggN
and crushed one wheel. FortunateIy
they had q gentle horse and we're not
hurt. but they were badly frightened.
Their father told mo that he did not
consider it safe for people to attend
church in Advance at night. Last
wear there were several lights and
some of them came near reGulting Ia
talk. The colored barber was cut
acrcgg The neck by al employee OF
one If the distilleriee. The doctor
who acwed III the wound was 1T first
doubtful about his recovery He did
however finally get well Another
man got into fight with a distiller-