The Ocala evening star., 1910-03-17

Several more people could have been
accommodated with seats at the court
house when DIR. z. l.. Eaton OF Chicago
began his talk on the subject Of pro-
hibition. but IL the congregations Of
the various churches Of Ocala had
been as much In evidence as were their
pastors, there would not have been a
vacant seat in the house. as every
pastor Of the city with one exception)
was present.
Rev j. w. Bigham acted as chair
man and after the singing OF Nearer
My God to Thee" and prayer by Rev.
w. II. Coleman, the worthy doctor in
troduced the speaker in the pleasant
and happy manner that seems to be
part Of his mission on all public oc-
casions Of this kind.
DR.. Eaton Is a fluent, pleasant speak
er with an earnest, quiet method Of de-
livery that carries conviction to the
hearts and minds OF any audience. He
is the superint endent of the National
Prohibition Alliance. and has been In
the state for several weeks delivering
addresses before the various chautau
quas
He confined his remarks last night
to the various objections against the
duced by the liquor interests and their
friends. He touched on the oft-repeat
ed argument that it was right and
proper to indulge in strong drink be-
cause the Savior set the example when
he turned the water into wine, but the
speaker quoted from the Hebrews the
word which meant unfermerted and
the word for fermented wine. The for
mer being used 3S times in the Bible
and each time with commendation.
while the word for fermented or in
toxicatinS wine was used 40 times
and each time with condemnation. He
spoke Of the objection raised. that
prohibition would bar the use of al
coholic liquors for medicinal purposes,
and brought forward a mass of evi-
dence to show that alcohol had no
place or part In present day medical
practice. He illustrated by telling of
two men who had exactly the same
kind Of an attack of erysipelas. One had
never tasted liquor in his life. He re-
covered, while the other, a moderate
drinker, died. In speaking Of the ef-
feet of alcohol on the human system
he mentioned the various drugs tina,
form a part of cheap whiskey. but the
inducement to indulge in the drink
habit was not produced by either OF
them but directly by alcohol, and that
alone was what men craved and why
they drank the dope coca-cola and
some forty other patent medicines. the
principal ingredient Of which was sim
ply alcohol
He touched on the personal liberty
also the advocacy Of high license. Ask
ed what became Of the personal liberty
OF the drunkard's wife. when to keer
from starving she had to make hel
living over a wash tub while the child
rem supplied the fuel by picking cind
ers from the railroad track.
In speaking of Chicago's 1000 ga
looms each paying yearly license o.
one thousand dollars or seven million
dollars in all, he said that for ever,
legally licensed saloon in that cit!
there was at least one blind tiger ana
that the saloon men dare not make an.
effort to abolish them as they them
selves ware so corrupt that the illici
men xonld turn on them and get then
into trouble. He gave. an interesting
account OF the fight for prohibition il
Kansas. City, tho one half the cit,
was In. Kansas and the other in Mis-
souri,, with only a street to divide then
and while the Missouri side JUS
swarmed with liquor saloons, just on
and one-half years after the Kansa
half went dry the bank deposits in
creased one and one-half million dol
lars. Speaking of the revenue fror
the sale Of liquor he quoted Carroll L
Wright. the commissioner OF labor, a
saying every dollar of that revenu
cost the state twenty dollars. In re
fering to the tactics Of the liquor me
to stop the wave OF prohibition h
mentioned one town which had but l
500 registered voters and yet the
gave a majority of 1900 against loca
option. He gave the number of death
each year directly and indirectly caus
ed by drink, and said II they wer
placed In a line with one step betwee
each the line would reach from Ocal;
Fla, to Cincinnati, Ohio.
There were many other point
brought out by DR.. Eaton which wer
highly educational and interesting, b.
the above tho merely an outline wi
give some faint idea Of the lire Of al
gument he used so ably.