The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-15
Prohibition Law Is En-
 forced. BLIND TIGERS CHASED
 FROM COUNTY BOUNDS Prohis Arc in Good Majority at
 Brewton. sGood Fellowsr Company Enjoyed only . short Life owing to the Extreme Activity of the V ~Dry- Representa-
 lives.
BY CHARLES l.. HAROLD.

0keWtOn, MATCH ls.-blinu tiscis have had their tribulations in Escam- bia County.
 Since prohibition went into effect here over twenty-seven years ago, they have been chased from the county bounds.
 A few of the tigers" like some hares whom horns and hounds pur- sue." have panted back to the places whence first they new," but they are always on the hot foot. And such is the sentiment here in favor of prohibi- ton that all efforts at illegal sales of whiskey are set upon with averaging swiftness. The effects too, of such rigid enforcement of the law have been wholesome and movement to undo the "dryness" of things would be scoff- ed to death here before started.
 Sooner talk of snstituting witch craft than legalizing beer or whiskey sales in well-behaved Escambia. The Prohlbitioniste. in good majority al Brewton, declare they will not re turn to the wallowing in the mire;t they will not open anew the "nood- gates that give way to every form of vice known to man." Once they talked the dispensary in this city, a lot of well-intentioned folk, but they were laughed down or actually snamed to silence. The criminal court records here which Probate Judge M. F. Brooks former Circuit Court Clerk) has on hand tell eloquently of reduced crime by prohibition. Hundreds of the last generation reared in this pine belt strangers to the taste of intoxicants. augur little promise of saloons in the future.
 First Social Club.
 While old Escambia boasts of it's lawfulness and its aridness. 1t has one htnla | ha given credit. Brewton, it's county seat, witnessed the organization of the first social club" in the history of Alabama. By this is meant. the first "soeial club" organized for tiger pur- poses.
 About January. 1890. when the of ficers would give no rest to the com mon garden variety of tiger the in- genuity of tombstone" lawyers and avarfcious saloonists began working. The half-open bars of the first year of prohibition fared Ill as did the se- rret boot-legging and rear-store sales men. Something heavy" but brazen was in demand.
 It was this craze that brought an met with signal success. The captain of the device was wisely chosen. He was influential and well connected, so much so that he embarrassed close members of his blood in undertaking what he was.
 Good Fellows Company.
 The scheme was to organize the "Good Fellows" company of Brewton, on the stock plan. The leaders would capitalize "good fellowship" not un- mixed with the proper amount of bit- terness, and ask for subscriptions. It was openly advertised that Its purpose was to imbibe other than artisan finds that abound so well here-to imbibe without the fateful presence Of town marshal or deputies. Those who had prohibition scruples were given the "curbstone" lawyers constitutional guarantee that as no man can be made to testify against himself on trial no one could appear to convict the defend- ant as each member, being stock holder. was equally a part Of the de- fense.
 The investment had appealed to no less than a half dozen citizens when retributive justice. accommodating through a decade of "dryness." arose In all its might The earth of Brew ton throbbed in indignation, a mass meeting of Its best citizens assembled to "denounce and wait upon the law less and they did all that was call ed for In ringing phrases. the cum ming of the tigers was branded as no less than a villainous unity. The best lawyers pronounced the device illegal and called 1t a subterfuge. Then with this as a preamble resolutions were drawn calling for a committee to be appointed to inform the "lncorporat- ors of the Good Fellows Club" that If they did not dissolve at once their rented place would receive the touch of the torch and they themselves dealt with as bold violators of the law.
 Baked at Service.
 The committee was appointed but luckily 1t contained the name of leading attorney of Brewton who baked at the service, averrinr that the tigers were better tanned than destroyed. He counseled pause among the hesty, saying that violence was a poor weapon to fight with in this in stance. arguing that the committee should try to reason with their preda-