Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1909-02-11


surban districts, and the country
tavern with bar, in the rural sec
tions.
This was John Brooks, of Cam
eron county. | do not know
whether or not he is still in the
land of the living, but | do know
that when he served as a member
of the House of Representatives at
the sessions of 1877 and 1879, he
was prominent figure at Harris
burg. The general campaign for
the total abolition of the saloon,
which has of late been waged in all
parts of the United States, had
then not yet been heard of, but
Brooks, of Cameron was an anti
saloonist for fair. He was the ad-
vance agent in Pennsylvania for
Prohibition. He was willing to
talk against the liquor traffic in
the House or out of it at any time
of the day or night and he taxed
his persuavive powers to the ut
most in this direction. And many
of his colleagues listened to him in
tently, but the fact must be chron-
icled in justice to the truth of his
tory, that most of them did not
take either him or his tissue" seri-
ously.
Brooks was a man of peculiar
appearance. He was tall and slen-
der, angular in build and the most
striking thing about him was a
long white beard which reached
almost to his waist line and made
him look venerable and impress
sive. At each of the two sessions
during which he represented Cam
eron County in the House, he pre-
sented a bill providing for "Local
Option" throughout the Common
wealth. He supported it with
great vigor and a single minded
earnestness that attracted atten-
tion and to humor him, his fellow
members chaerfully voted to put
the measure through the first and
second readings. But when it
came to the third reading and final
passage, things were different. In
cidentially it may be mentioned
that Brooks of Cameron was an
orator, at least from his own point
of view and that of his enthusias-
tic admirers, and when he made a
speech in favor of his Local OPP
ton bill, it was an event in Har-
risburg. He made two such
speeches, one at each session, in
which he served. The second
sounded very much like the first,
but as two years had elapsed be-
tween them no one paid any par
ticular attention to little thing
like that.
If a sonorous voice, an impas-
stoned delivery and violent and en-
tirely unconventional gestures
could prevail, Brooks, of Cameron,
would have easily commanded a
majority of the House and this he
expected to do without difficulty
when he called up his little Local
Option bill, a day or two before the
close of the session of 1879. There
was a full attendance for the
Brooks performance at the previous
session and his oft-expressed deter
mination to outdo himself this
time in the cause that was dearest
to his heart-"the wiping out of
the rum business'-gave promise
of rare entertainment. Every
member was present and the gal
leries were packed with an expect
ant throng. 1t was the most i'm
, portant occasion of the session.
, The bill at the request of Mr..
Brooks was called up for final pas
! sage, and its sponsor, venerable,
imposing and very serious took
J the floor to advocate his daring
, measure.
/ "There are" he said as u start
{ er, $40, 100000 drunkards in the
! United States" " This startling
statistical assertion made his audi
tors sit up and take notice at once.
And, he went on, "no drunkard
can ever enter the kingdom of
heaven" He had a peculiar
, swinging motion of the right arm,
, which was similar to the action oI
a pump handle when vigorously
) operated, and this gesture he en-
! ployed with much frequency and
great force throughout his entire
remarks. 1t is hardly necessary
+ for me to reproduce his speech
here. Anyone who desires to read
/ it will find it recorded in the Jour
f nal of the House of Representa-
= tives for that particular session.