The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1909-04-08
PROSPERITY in
A DRY TOWN
LETTER IN INDIANAPOLIS
NEWS ON DRY TOWN
GIVES PROOF.
Special Correspondent Says Business
is Better and Gives Some Alleg-
ed Facts and Figures.

lnasmuch as Marshall county has
voted out the saloons, the following
article by Special Correspondents
:.vugett of the Indianapolis News
IN that paper of recent issue, will
be interesting:
That the saloon is not needed in
the successful government of a city
or town, and that there is no need
of permitting blind tiger" to skulk
in any community has been shown by
this town North Manchester OF g.
400 population.
The people of this town first put
the saloon out OF business, and it
was a long. hard fight before victory
came to them. They were opposed
by every method known to the liquor
interests. The brewers, the saloon
keepers, the politicians and the advo-
Gates of personal liberty fought
them, but at the end the saloon had
TO go. There were seven saloons here
Even whsle the saloons existed
There were three blind tigers" here,
and, if anything, they were worse
than saloons. just as soon as the
saloons were voted out by remon-
STRANGE the citizens went on guard
to see that the blind tigers" did not
operate.
Persistently the members OF the
Anti-Saloon League went after the
blind tigers. They watched the Ship
merits into North Manchester and
whenever a shipment arrived at its
destination there was a search war
rant looking after it.
Not Bad for Business.
The assertion that dry town
makes bad business town will not
apply to North Manchester. The
leading book dealer of this place said:
At first I was somewhat in doubt
as to a dry town being good bust
ness town, but | am convinced now.
One instance has satisfied me. AT the
opening of the schools the mothers
OF children whose fathers spent them
time about the saloons used to come
to me and beg for time in which to
pay for the school books, saying that
they would settle as soon as they
could save little money from the
washlngs they were doing to HELP
support the family. | had to listen to
all sorts OF hard luck stories from
many OF those who wanted school
books for their children Now it is
different The mothers come in and
pay for the school books. The money
is not going over the bar Of some
saloon. asked one of our bakers
ii he could notice any difference. He
said he could, that where he used to
have many bad debts because the
women could not pay for the bread.
he is getting cash for his bread, and
they buy five and six loaves at a time
instead of buying one loaf as they
used to do"
The taxes. have been decreased.
There is not a vacant store room in
town and business is better than it
ever has been. One business man told
me that he is compelled to pay $50
a month more rent for the room he
occupies than he did when the sa-
looms were running.
What has happened to North Man
chester can happen to every dry
county in Indiana All that is needed
IS for the officers to do their duty.
| see my good friend, John Hoy,
mayor of Lebanon makes an objec-
ton to my statements concerning
bootleggers and blind tigers in his
town. | do not say that John knows
that these things exist in Lebanon.
but lie could hr.d out whether they
do or not.
There is a general air of prosperity
and thrift about the town that is no.
ticeable as soon as you get into it.
and more hospitabie lot of people
cannot be found anywhere.
So North Manchester is a splendid
example of what a town can make OF
itself when it starts in TO do business
and really wants to get rid of the
saloon and the blind tiger.