Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-05-04
FOLLOWING FILING OF PETITION
NONE OF THE BARS OPEN
THIS MORNING.
sALooNIsTs' ATTORNEYS
GET READY FOR CONTEST
Steps Taken at Once to Force the Issue
and Attack the Revocation Petition
Bars Remain Open Several Hours
Tuesday Night After Petition is Filed
-Egermayer Ready to Act

Following the filing Of the revocation
petition late Tuesday afternoon, the
city went dry during the night. None
of the twelve saloons opened this
morning, it being apparent h a none
of the owners wanted to take the
chance, at least at present, of keeping
| open il the face of the revocation.
Bright and early this morning the
saloon owners and their attorneys set
about to take the first steps to test the
petition. During the forenoon n Of
the well-known saloon attorneys was
busy copying names from the petition
in the county auditors office. while
three saloon owners were engaged in
taking names of voters from the poll
lists.
Attack Will Come Soon.
Just how soon the attack on the petit
ton will begin, can not be foretold, but
it will u~nquestionably be begun just as
soon as the liquor forces have their
ammunition ready and are primed. This
may require several days. Just what
form the attack takes will probably not
be developed for a time at least. 1t is
likely that the petition Will be at
tackled by opening one or more of the
saloons, which will result in the arrest
of the owner. The contest of such a
case will be a contest on the validity OF
the petition itself.
Esermayer Ready to Act.
County Attorney j. H. Egermayer
said last night. and he repeated again
this morning, that he stands ready to
act on the instant to do everything
necessary to enforce the law. SO long
as the saloons stay shut there Will be
nothing to do in this respect. but Eyer
mayer said that he was ready to set the
peace officers on the first s~aloonist who
| opens his bar before the petition is de-
| clared by the courts to be invalid. ii
| such a time should arrive.
Saloons Open Last Night.
None of the saloons closed late in the
afternoon or within a short time after
| the petition was filed. Later in the
evening all of them were making pre-
parations to shut up. Some did not
| stay open until 10 o'clock, but all of
them were open up to 9 o'clock or
whereabouts. In staying open in the
evening all the saloon owners made
themselves liable to prosecution.
To get rid of the more p~erishable
stocks, some of the bars marked down
beer to bargain counter prices and at
some places quantities were given
away free. Some Of the saloons prac-
tically emptied their places of perish
able liquors, by having large quantities
hauled away and placed in storage.
Petition Jolts Saloon Men.
That the revocation petition LANDED
like a bomb in the liquor camps
scarcely expresses the furore the news
of the filing created. 1t was a distinct
sensation. for many of the saloon men
had begun to cease to fear the petition,
believing. that it never was to be filed
The petition caused more Wailing and
cursing and gnashing of teeth in saloon
circles thar any other thing that has
happened to the liquor interests in this
city in years.
It was a morose dry. and thirsty
bunch of saloon men, bartenders and
bar hangerson that hung around this
corners not fa< from heir favorite
haunts during the day. Some Of those
with an especially awful thirst put il
a supply for the dry spell" last night
but the time to do so was necessarily
short, after the word was pleased
around tina the saloons would not be
open this morning.
Effect on Alcohol Plant.
There is considerable speculation to-
day on the effect the revocation peti.
ton will have on the d%enatured a1coho
plant which has a permit to manufac.
ture commercial alcohol. Some of the
a~nti-saloon people believe that the pc.
titton. if declared sufficient, will re.
suit in prohibiting the manufacture O
commercial alcohol as well as the sal'
Of spirituous liquors, and ". c. Barber
of the State Anti-Saloon League, j!
quoted as saying that such is the case
On the other hand, however, J. M
Alexander, vice president Of the Ma
tional Denatured Alcohol Company
said today that his company had inves-
tigated this phase of the case long ago
and had received a written opinion
from one attorney. and verbal opinion
from several other lawyers of repute
in which all declared that the remon
STRANGE. even if fled and declared suf
ficient. would not affect the manufac
ture of commercial alcohol.
County Attorney Egermayer said to
day that in his opinion. given offhant
without looking carefully into the law
the petition would not affect the manu-
featuring company, which would oper
ate under a separate provision of tn
law permitting commercial alcohol t
be manufactured in cities of over 5000
even tho the sale of intoxicating liquor
could not be carried on in such cities