The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1908-07-12
GOV. PECK ON PROHIBITION
CONDITIONS NOW IN MAINE

hell" said one of them. There Is
more whisky sold in Portland than
there is in Louisville Ky. and not a
/ saloon in town could not believe
, it. but we wandered around the streets
| and the frequency with which We had
/ to side-step to escape a collision with
/ a drunkeu man was mOnotonous
| We'll. where do they get it2'
asked. and the boys told me that there
were several hundred boot-legging
| joints in the town, and kitchen
+ speakeasies' asked what kitchen
, speakeasy' was and my companions
/ told me TO come on and they would
/ show me. We went up the steps of
| rcspectab BILE e-lookiug midd,e class
/ house, not two blocks from the old
/ home of une poet Longiellow, which
Is kept as show place by a society
/ which has bought It, and keeps 1t ~
/ lust as Il was when Longfollow lived
In IT, and rang the bell. The lady OF
, t1c house came to the door, one Of
my friends asked If the husband was
nome. and was told that he had gone
out to store. nut step into the
| kitchen. said the good old Maine
! wife and mother and she showed us
: In and closed the door The man
4 who had been there before said. Give
me a bottle of Johns beer, and the
old lady said she guessed John had
a little left in the ice box and he
told her II any Of his friends dropped
in to let them have a bottle. and she
went out Of the room. The beer was
good and cold and when we left one
OF my companions left haR a dollar
on the kitchen table. and we went
out. the lady opening me door for
MS and remarNng that she couldn't
take anythin from us. as II would be
against the law and one OF the boys
said, why, of course not. This Is
on John. from his private stock" and
as we went ont she returned to the
kitchen and no doubt put the half
dollar i'm the teapot. That was a
Kitchen speakcasv.' and there are
huudreus OF such In Portland kept by
respectable families. who would keep
few boarders ~ they couldn't make
more money giving away a little pri-
vatc stock TO those who know where
n Is. and who leave the price on the
table. mis- woman mat | met looked
hrivht and intelligent. as a farmers
wife might look but | thought she
looked a trine ashamed OF her calling.
As We walked up the street an express
wagon came up and unloaded several
cases of beer. direct from Boston. and
nobody turned a hair as IL was un-
loaded I'm the kitchen. On the way
back TO the hotel four little girls,
from ten TO fourteen years old came
up beside us and asked I'm whisper
If We didn't want them to show MS
where we could get a bottle OF nice.
fresh beer. That was new one on
me, and | asked my commercial men
what It meant They said these girls
could make more money getting n
rakeoff on ihe beer they brought
customers 10 buy than they could by
working in a factory: that the chill
dren were respectable, and all they
did that was wrong was To act as
caprers for a kitchen speakeasy." I
could not 20 10 sleep that night from
- thinking OF the Maine method Of
bringing mp children to act as agents
for the sale Of liquor I'm a prohibition
state During the night dozens OF
drunken sailors passed under my win.
dow. on the way to the docks, singing
sailor songs, and in the morning
, empty pint and half-pint bottles 1T.
tered the street. The next day | went
10 an engine house where there is a
e city agency, where liquor is sold by the
, city for medicinal, mechanical or
scientific purposes. where a citizen
may by signing the proper affidavit
secure bottle OF fairly decent liquor
q but II ne swears to lie to get IL, he
may be fined from twenty-five dollars
up, or sent To Jail, and nobody not a
, citizen can get any liquor there
though he may need II scandalous, for
medicinal, mechanical, or scientific
purposes | remained at the agency
for an hour. and only saw one citizen
buy a bottle, but while that bottle OF
decent liquor was being sold | doubt
? not five hundred bottles of the vilest
stuff ever concocted was sold In diff
ferent parts OF the town, To eat out
the vitals of the poor working class
of people.
, visited Biddeford where great
? factories cover block after block oi
4, the streets. ana whore thousands ol
p factory girls and boys, men and wo
. men are employed a part OF THE time
< and where cotton goods, ginghams
D and so forth, are made, as well as
y many other kinds OF goods for ship
j ment over the world. On account o.
2 occasional labor difficulties, and the
: uncertainty OF being able to sell goods
G Overproduction etc, the factories d,
= not run so regularly, and the employees
d are not happy and not very healthy
e and they are always hard up, ant
4 frequently in debt, and II is not al
q inspiring sight 10 witness thousands
5 upon thousands OF these tired and dis
,, gusted laborers on the street, seek
d ing amusement, and trying TO seen
! contented when they are not Man!
n OF them would like an occasional glas
e OF beer, or ale, which they could gel
, pure and for a nickel, ii saloons wer
o permitted, but If the working MAJ
y wants a glass OF beer he has TO hid
II out" as they say in the south, am
It when he finds a joint where he ca