The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-01
MR.. SULLIVAN TALKS
ON PROHIBITION BILL

WASHiNGION, March 1I.-Mr. D
Sullivan appeared today before the
committee which is considering the
: prohibition bill for the District OF
Columbia. Mr.. Sullivan said he rep
resented about $4,000 persons directly
connected with the business of serv-
! ing the American people with liquid
| refreshments. Mr.. sullivan was also
quick to sound the cry of. prohibition
does not prohibit" and he backed ur
; his statement with some highly anus
, ing. comments on blind pigs "blind
Il tigers and Kitchen hells,'' which he
said flourished in prohibition commu-
mites, and sold line of wet goods
that would make a man bite himself
on his own leg.
Mr.. Sullivan then pointed out in
similarly original and. entertaining
| Iangua ge-the committee seemed to
like it all right-tf1at the jail force
in Maine, the original home of abso-
lutte prohibition, was treble the Jail
force of Minnesota, where things We're
| wide open.
why" said Mr.. Sullivan, scorn-
fully, "one of them prohibitions said
the other day that out in some Kan
sas dry counties they haven't no need
for jails. I'd like to know more about
| that Them statements don't sound
| good to me.'P
Don't you believe in legisIating
against gambling, Mr.. SULLIVAN" ask
ed Mr. Sims, with a smile.
Mr.. Sullivan chuckled. You and
me amt got the same definition for
gambling" he replied What / call
gambling is gambling in stocks and
futures and such. But if a man wants
to play poker and has got the time
and the money to lose, why let him
go to it quick, say /.
Asked about conditions in Europe,
with which country Mr.. Sullivan
seemed as familiar as with little old
New York, he replied;
Say, / saw more booze drank over
there than anywhere in the world and
the only jags was some visitors-like
myself But the booze certainly is
punished in Paris. Why they drink
lust as much real booze over there as
they do here in Washington"
Continuing, with a face as grave as
an image and with language more
lightsome than was ever directed at a
congressional committee ere this bright
day in March, Mr.. Sullivan said he
had been asked to tend bar at an
American bar in Paris, but had de-
clined.
but I told 'em,'' he remarked,
that I could send 'em a thousand |
bartenders from New York that could
mix anything from a-but no matter.
Anyway, we've done more for :, the /
cause of temperance in the last few /
DAYS than all the prohibition societies
will between now and kingdom come /
And that's no joke. Just leave us
alone and in ten years there won't be
any need for any of the prohibition
gatherings. You people can't make
other people good with a club and you
can't legislate wings onto me-
Mr.. Kahn wanted to know II :. the {
Intoxicating liquors sold in a licensed +
bar weren't far better than the stuff
sold under cover in a prohibition COM
munity.
You bet" blithely responded Mr..
Sullivan, that blind pig goods is
fierce"
What is blind pig?'' inquired Mr..
Sims, looking soreiy puzzled.
fsWhat?" cried Mr.. Sullivan in tones
blind pig?'
Il have not" answered Mr.. Sims,
with considerable dignity.
WELL remarked Mr.. Sullivan, ex-
aiming Mr.. Sims with the air of a
botanist viewing a rare specimen,
you've got an experience coming to
you. Why the whisky you get in those
places would clean carpets. On the
level. I'm not kidding.
And the Indians get whisky, too
Mr.. Kahn, although it is
under heavy penalties, to
sell it to them"
sure the irrepressible Mr.. Sulli-
van came back, sure, they get it.
And a plain drunk is bad enough, but
an Indian with a jag is fearful.
Mr.. sullivan and Mr.. O'Brien, the
latter having already been mentioned
as an agent of the national prohibition
party, had something of a setto con-
the presence or absence of
Kitchen helIs' in Washington. A
kitchen hell, it may be explained for
the benefit of the uninitiated, is
blind pig under another name, the
irewater usually being served IN
kitchen out of tin dipper.
MI. ~ Ditch Stlu lAlC1S oSA~
places right here in Washington and
Mr.. Sullivan said there were not. 1t
looked for a minute as if the battle
of the Boyne were about to have
historic reproduction, but Chairman
Smith interfered. He couldn't stop
Mr.. Sullivan from remarking to Mr..
O'Brien. however, that if he knew any
such places he'd batter show how good
a citizen he was by reporting them to
the police.
Then the clock struck noon and the
committee adjourned.
Would we believe it," commented
Mr.. Sullivan as he departed, "a man
named O'Brien working for, prohibit
tionists? 1 wonder where he got the
name. 'Tis no Irishman he is at all,
at ALL
--e.% S----