St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1909-10-09
CLOSING down THE Lid
TIGHT And FAST.
Orainsnss Bslors CITY Caunea Prehlhlllup
Even the CarTyIau IL Flasa.
LAID OVER FOR REPAIRS.
Bsllsf that ths CaaneII VIII Nsi Pass Tie
samptuaFg Haasurs Drastic
II fhs ExiFsme.

II the ordinance which Alderman
John W. Lewis is farthering passes
muster before the city council, it will
henceforth be- unlawful to have whis-
in your private residence. It viii
likewise be a violation TO carry about
your person a "topette" or any con-
tainer having within alcoholic, Vinous
or malt liquor. Again, it makes the
proprietor Of a building occupied by
a blind tiger as guilty as the keeper
thereof, and includes ii the dragnet
everything down to the bottle washer.
It also provides that any officer
upon afidauit Of a reputable citizen,
has the right to summsn a posse and
raid any place where it is suspected
any liquor is within, and the finding
Of the liquor is prima facia evidence
that he is conducting d blind tiger.
The law is a copy Of the law now
in force at Ruston, La, and has the
sanction Of the Supreme Court
There some months ago a
man was arrested on the
streets, and flask Of whiskey
found on his person. The City Judge
fined him 500, and upon appeal By
the defendant to the Supreme Court,
that tribunal sustained the fine.
The ordinance was offered By Mr..
Lewis at meeting of the Board Of
Aldermen held last Tuesday evening.
The legality OF the ordinance was re-
ferred to the city attorney, who was
present, and be said he had not drawn
up the ordinance, he would not vouch
for it until he examined into it.
Hence it was deferred until future
meeting, and it is said that an early
session of the council viii be called
To consider ii.
It is believed that the ordinance
will fail Of passage, the majority Of
the Board considering 1t too drastic il
scope.
The ordinance provides that blind
tigers be declared nuisance, and
that offenders shall be fined a mini
mum Of $25 and a MAXIMUM of 500,
or thirty days in jail, or both. After
the tiger is ordered to abate, the of
fender shall be amendabIe to j separ-
ate offense fer every twenty-four
hours that he shall violate the Law.
The law includes in IFS scope the
owner of the house, place or shop in
which tiger il operated, together
with the keeper, clerk, hirelings or
lessee.
Section 3 provides that Whenever
the Mayor or City Judge is informed
By the oath Of ) reputable person,
made before d competent officer, set
ting forth that be has good reason to
believe alcoholic, Vinous, malt or any
other intoxicating liquors is beng IL
licticallY kept ii any house, store,
room or any other place within the
corporate limits Of the city Of 0pe-
lousas, for the purpose of ilIicitly
of same, and describing the
place and naming or pointing out the
keeper, owner, or lessee thereof, ii
shall be the duty of the Mayor Of the
city or City Judge to at once issue a
warrant directing The City Marshal
OF any other city or parish officer to
summon a posse and go into such
place or places and ascertain the
truth. and if the officer shall find ev-
idence of such illicit business he shall
arrest All persons found Id charge Of
said house or place, and the owner,
keeper, or lessee of said premises,
and the owner Of said liquor, and
carry them before the Judge, who
shall investigate the charges By trial.
Sec. 4 IS the one which authorizes
the arrest Of q person having on his
person any liquor. II provides that
When alcoholic, Yinous, or malt
liquors are found IN the searched pre-
mises, or ii The possession Of any
person, or On the persons upon whom
Oh ii whose possession the illicit gooda
are found, it shall be considered
prina facia evidence of the guilt Of
The owner. keeper, lessee, or premises,
Or person, upon which the goods are
found, that it is for Illicit purposes,
and FOR the maintaining Of d public
nuisance.
The City Attorney places the con-
struction mentioned IN the introduc-
ton to this article, to the ordinance.
In fact, as said before, tbs Supreme
Court upheld 4 decision coming from
infictinq q fine Of s100 for
having on BIS person 3 flask of Whis-
key, under the very sama ordinance
which ID now before The 0pel0usaa
Board Of aldermen.