The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-04-26
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF NTEMPERANcE.

Dry and Prosperous is the Town OF Mount
Blanchard. Ohio-After . Hard F.ghf !
Temperance Won by Six yotes-Resuitn
OF the Victory.
Mount Blanchard, Ohio is q dry
town, and has been so, for two years.
The contest which brought prohibition
into operation was a very bitter one, |
in which personal abuse Of the tenn
perance party was a prominent feat
ure. The results Of the change to no |
license have made themselves mani
fest in a manner and to an extent |
that delights it's advocates. The situa- !
ton is well set out in q recent article |
in a newspa1 : of that town, which !
describes it as follows: /
Over two years have elapsed since J
the beautiful village Of Mount Blan-
chard. situated t77elve miles from the
city of Findlay, in southeastern Han
cock County, decided to dispense with
it's one saloon. A hard contest was
waged for and against the drinking /
place, but the temperance element sue
ceedcd in winning out by the narrow
margin of si2Avotes.
The saloon advocates then began to
make predi> IONS in regard to the dis
astrous results to the local business
interests that were to follow the sup
pressing of the saloon L:siness. A.
number of really god citizens actu-
ally were led to believe that the town
would be worse off from a business /
standpoint. Some even declared that
grass would grow in the streets; that
our population would fall of; that no
large amount Of building would be
done, and that more or less the same
quantity of beer aid whisky would be
imported by the thirsty and consumed
within our corp0i ton limits. The
town would need the whisky tax, and
that in the absence Of said tax the
local lew for municipal purposes
would have to be raised DJ tie village
council, they claimed. The statement
was made that since the liquor drink
ers would have tn cir drinks that nc
was a piece Of utter foolishness to lose
i , tax when. the result for lesseniDg
the liquor consumption was not ar
riv- . at with the closing of the saloon.
However. non, of these dire predic- !
tions have come to pass. Mount Blan-
chard began to boom as soon as the
clinking Of the beer glasses ceased,
and to-day we ha e a better town i'm
any respec: you may be able 20 point
out. Drunken fights IRE NJ more in
evidence, while men who formerly
drank to the uetriment Of their health, !
pocketbooks and their family welfare,
have reformed from the evil habit
and now lead sober and Industrious |
lives. They pay the butcher, the
baker, the groceryman, ETC., where
before their credit was strained to the
limit. Peace has spread a>nantle OF
happiness over our town. 1t has be-
come a model village, and the ribald
sons Of the brawler and the sorr0wfuh
spectacle of staggering men has given
place to the happy shouts Of we'll
clothed and we'll fed children Of those
who once led different lives and
drained the dregs Of the cup that de-
stroys.
Business men say that their business
is better than when the saloon was in
our midst. They say the men who
once got trust at their stores, but al
ways paid their bar bills with the
cash, now pay up regularly, and are
among their best and most desired
customers.
During the past year more building
has been done than ever before in the
same space of time. Many thousands
Of dollars have been spent here In the
erection Of stately ediices, both pri-
yate and public, and the streets are
far from being covered with green
grass. These facts are plain ones to
all who live. here, and the present
prosperous condition o. u town
proved q bar to any lone circulating
a petition to again vote on the ques-
ZION of saloon or no saloon. No one
had the nerve to try it. The people
are satisfied.
Taxes are no higher than when the
saloon was here, but property values
shave risen nd men are using their
money more freely in u%pbuilding the
town. She has no use for It,
True. once in a while some fellow
brings q small amount of liquor here.
but it is safe to say that not one per
cent. is now drank here as compared
win the amount consumed when we
had the open saloon. Not an arrest
for drunkenness has been made for
over q year, and since the saloon lett
us the number of arrests have fallen
off.at least seventy or eighty per cent.
There is little in a criminal way Tor
the mayor and the marshall to look
after in this place. /
Before we voted against the saloon
we endeavored to learn how other dry
towns were :aring. Now We have
had the experience ourselves, and we
recommend the dry town in every 4
way, shape and form. The business
here is done by sober men.
Bad Results OF q Liberal" Law.
The increase in CRIME and the d.
minution of public health have become
SO serious during the past twenty.four
years of the present ''liberar' liquor
@ nha+ AZ G,norin ranantlv |