The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-01-19
QUEER DRINKS IN KANSAS.
"wets'' and .'Drys' Battle at the Polls
Amusing Subterfuges.

/ Al4G pAVllAbAGA04A laws Va AASsASe1S
have come to grief. In one case the
state has confiscate5d liquor shipped in
electric light bulps, and in the other
Uncle Sam has filled indictments
against agents Of several wholesale IL
quor houses and dme express agents
doing business in 1.-THE state, alleging
that the liquor was sene i'll sealed pack
ages, addressed TO fictitious names, and
then sold by the agents of the express
companies for express charges" Mil
lions of cases of iiqucr have been sent
into the state by this latter method.
and for each case so disposed of the
agent received fifty cents.
| The result of all this is that some new
method of eyading the law must be in
vented, for in spite of the fact that pro-
hibitaon is a part of its laws, and that
its political parties stand pledged to its
support, any man who wants a drink in
Kansas can get it. The know-h0w ma
be more complicated in some places
than in others, and it may require more
knowledge in certain dry towns than in
certain wet ones, but if he has time and
wants it bad enough, d man may get a
drink wherever he may happen to be,
from one end of the state to the other.
In the old days when the prohibitory
law was in the new broom stage, only
druggists of good moral character were
permitted to sell intoXicants, and then
the person purchasing had to swear
that the liquor was actually needed as
medicine. The price charged was ex-
nd thr ~ l,A ,~aH
limited. go
But the new broom stage has long
passed, and for nine months out of eve
ry twelve Kansas joys contentedly
along, ignoring the law when it can,
and enforcing it when it must, The
three other months in the year the
state is torn by municipal strife, for it
lis in municipal elections that the Vets
and Drys fight out. hammer and tongs,
the whole prohibitory question all over
again. ~. D.
Prohibition in Kansas is to-day entire
ly a matter of local option, and every
year at the spring elections the battle
is waged. If the Drys triumph the law
is enforced as well as it can be; if the
Vets. as little as can be, But in either
case the man who knows how can get
his drink.
The Drys, as rule, consist of the
Ewomen, who have the right of franchise
at municipal elections; the ministers
alliance, and those men, usually Of the
older generation, who believe in the en-
lforcemcnt of the law for the laws sake.
THE VETS include the remainder of the
population. s.-
The candidates chosen are selected
entirely on account OF their attitude on
this question, and the campaign Is con-
ducted entirely from that standpoint
The methods have the virtue Of being
honest. +&3
The Wet candidate gives keg parties
to his adherents and addresses joyous
street meetings from the back seat of
an open hack. The Dry candidate adj
dresses gatherings Of club women, and
holds his meetings In halls.
The election is a tWelve-hour spasm
in which every man, woman and child
in town participates. When it is over
the losing side settles back to throw
every possible obstacle III the way of
its successful opponent, and to grid UP
its loinS for the next time.
Topeka, the capital, has yibrated be-
tween the Vets and the Drys until TIL
willy joint keeper. never sure of what
the spring election may bring forth, has
prepared himself for emergencies by
having double. set Of fixtures, one
suitable for the strenuous use devolv-
ing on it when the Drys are in power,
and one fitted to the peaceful and pros
porous days of the Vets. IL
OF course, there are no saloons in
Kansas: no one would dream OF calling
them by that name. They are all
JOINTS whether the drinks are passed
over a polised counter by white
aproned attendant or showed through a
hole In the wall by a dirty fist; and in
!. stead of saloon-keepers. they have
'.jointists."
When the Drys are in power the life
of a Topeka jointist is hard. He is liza
BILE to arrest at any times His arrest
win mean a fine, which appeal to the
district court may remit. But at any
rate it means the corfiscation of his
stock and the suspension and conse'
quent loss to his business, to say moth
ing of the inconvenience Of being in
continently bundled into a patrol wag-
on and hauled off to the police station.
Under such circumstances 1t would
obviously be very poor policy to have
an expensive and elaborate establish
ment and large stock. Therefore the
iointist reduces his business to basic
principles.
He chooses his location discreetly.
His furnishings depend entirely on the
temper of the administration he has to
! deal with If it is just moderately dry,
discreetly dry, he does not have to OBJ
serve the same caution he otherwise
would.
In such case, in an obscure ROOM
} in an obscure alley or up an obscure
stairway he places two kegs and
across them a board. Under this board
is a small key of beer and a bottle oil
two of bad whiskey. On the board arc
} three or four thick mugs and as many
, whiskey glasses.
This is his establishment. II he is
pulled, his loss is slight, especially if he
himself manages to get away, which he
| usually does, having chosen his location
with that end in view.
Rut when the Owed lin the wool Drys