The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-07-19
Benefits of "The Lid"

St Lodis, where the Sunday clos
ing law against saloons has been in
force since a year ago last May, fur
nishes probably the best example of
the workings of the lid"
For many years prior to 1905 St.
Louis had been a strictly 'wide-open"
town, as far as saloons were concern
ed For years the saloons never clos
ed their doors, day or night, with the
exception of one short period il 1893
and 1900, when they were required to
close from l to o'clock a. m. For
years the City council and the House
of Delegates-the latter in particular
were controlled by the beer and
liquor interests. AT one time nearly
hal; of the twenty-eight members OF
the House of Delegates from
each of the twenty-eight wards-were
saloon keepers, and still others owed
their election to the liquor interests,
particularly the brewers.
Sunday was the gala day of the
week as far as the saloons and the
big beer gardens were concerned. AT
ter Governor Folk was elected and
threatened to put on the lid the
$500 saloon keepers OF. ST Louis
threw UP their hands in dismay- "He
will drive us out business they
exclaimed 1--WE make more money
on Sunday than we do all the rest Of
the week. Others said, "He will
not dare to close MS up. 1t would ruin
him politically" In fact, St. Louis
had so long been stepped in Sab
ath-breaking OF this kind that thous-
ands of respectable citizens who were
IN no way interested in the saloon
business openly declared that the
Governor would kill the town dSa1'
f he should enforce the Sunday clos
ing law.
Sunday drunkenness in public plac-
es was common. The revelry COM
meHced Saturday night and lasted
| till the cold gray dawn OF Monday:
and when the cold gray dawn of Mon
day arrived there were usually from
one to three dead mep in the City
Morgue-shot. stabbed or beaten TO
death in drunken Sunday brawls. In
each OF the several police courts
from twenty-five to $50 cases were
iocketed on Mondays. and the City
Tail. with a capacity of $50 prisoners
vas usually full.
When Governor Folk put on the
| lid" the law-defying element laughed
at him: the law-abiding element
cheered, yet doubted his ability to
hold it down. This thing won't last
wo weeks" sneered the saloon men
TITS only bluff Fake clubs were
or gained to circumvenr the law and
'onrished for a while. since they ha'
lbeengranted pro forma DEGREES OF IN
corpration by circuit judges; but the
Governor. through the city police
over which the law gives him direct
control, crushed them to suspend
Many saloons kept by cx-convict.
we're closed up. Saloon keepers
found guilty of selling liquor on Sun
day suffered the tsvooation of Their
licenses forthwith. "The lid is on St
Louis tielher today than it has exc
ibeen. There is no back door, no slip
ping in The town is as dry a
ldust.
And what is the result In thu
FIRST place. they have quit killing peo
| pie on Sunday to make a ST. Loui
holiday. The coroner has far les
work to do, and the morguc keepe
has chance to read the newspapers
There are now fewer than one hun
dred prisoners in the City Jail
Estate OF affairs not paralleled in year
land recent report of the police de
partment records shows that Grim
has fallen off something like 20 pc
cent in twelve months The fact
are eloquent. St. Louis has come t
know 'the lid" and likes it.-Indiana
polls Star