Omaha daily bee., 1911-02-12
Prohibition Communities

the only precauuon taken being that it
was served In cups. soft drink places sold
leer under various namcs-1nd the vilest
grades. Locker clubs and clubs Of legiu-
mate kinds served drinks 1 think that at
first the officials madc an effort to en-
force the law. hut within a few months
the liquor interests adjusted themselves to
new. conditions. and one has no moro
trouble buying drinks In Atlanta than in
New York. oddly enough, many who had
urged prohibition grew Disguised and urged
the restoration of the old conditions and
high licenses. This movement was met
with hot and vicious opposition by the
owners Of the law-vioating soft drink
places This phenomenon II the eN-saloon
element fighting for prohibition is ex-
remeN common. In New England after
mo license" term one usually finds that
the strongest temperance advocates are
men who sell mtoxicuuts They support
the rcformcrs because they can make more
money selling cheap and adulterated
tntoNicants without license than by selling
openly.
Cause oF Reform wave.
Another strange condition is this: that
whenever one investigates a wave Of re-
form" and arrests of law violators in pro-
hhition places he usually finds that the
/ reform wave" is the result of rival liquor
interests attempting 70 drive each other
/ out Of a rich field.
The ingenuity Of those who live by evad-
. ing prohibition laws is almost beyond belief
and II makes less wonder that the prohi-
biuon forces cannot balk the sale Of liquors
even after they have scored trlumphs at
the polls. This f. regardless Of the efforts
of the authorities TO enforce the laws. AS
bury Park n j.. is much advertised for
It's temperance and other reforms. l
wanted a drink there and was directed to
n place. The man in charge led me to a
small room i'm a place which was one
OF five such rooms. In the room
were small table, glasses and
other drinking implements but apparently
nothing to drink. Ring once for whisky
twice for beer" the man said as he stepped
out and closed the door. I rang twice. I
waited. No one appeared l rang and
waited again. Finally l got up and went
out The man demanded pay for two
drinks. Finally I got up and went out.
/ Tho man demanded pay for two drinks.
! protested, refused to pay and declared
/ had waited twenty minutes without drink.
| The man suddenly became suspicious. I ex-
| planned that l was a stranger and showed
! credentials that satisfied him. Then he led
!
ends OF which showed through the wall at
one side, Rims twice and turn the second
! faucet" he said. I did and drew a glass
/ Of beer.
Conditions I'm So. JOhnsbury.
! It has been a number Of years since I
was at St Johnsbury VI. and possibly con-
ditions existing then have changed. In
| those days the town was extremely dry,
and a person had to be known or TO be
we'll recommended in order TO get a drink.
! The supply was limited although one could
so TO his room and have whisky sent up.
! once or twice n report would go through
/ the village that there would be something
doing at the hotel that highland Saturday
night usually was the one chosen, All the
drinking men Of the town knew what was
to happen and most of them congregated
in the basement OF the hotel that evening.
They knew that the manager of the hotel
had received a shipment OF intoxicants.
| The crowd which assembled was locked in
the basement room and they drank until
the supply was exhausted. BY midnight
dozens, even scores of men were Keeling
drunkenly homeward and the temperance
people were aRhast over the condition OF
affairs. An attempt to raid the place usu-
ally followed one Of the orgies, but not
even a trace OF the debauch was to be
/
hotel man proclaimed the next whisky
day"
Head Waiter Handy Chap.
Birmingham. Ala. was stringent for few
weeks after voting for prohibition. l knew
no one there, but approached the head
waiter of one OF the principal hotels lie
evasively said he would let me know within
a short time WHETHER or not he could show
me where to get a drink. lie examined
the register of the hotel, satisfied himself
that l was stranger and guest OF the
house, returned with a key and gave me
directions telling me TO go to a certain
room in building on a corner opposite the
hotel. | unlocked the door and found seven
other men sitting at tables. An icebox was
filled with beer and whisky, glasses, sph-
ons and other things were ready. on a
table was a small bank and each person
who drank deposited the money to pay for
the drink in the bank. There were two
other places OF the same kind in operation
/ il is the same everywhere. / have pur-
chased drinks in at least fifty dry
GOWNS and never have encountered serious
difficulty anywhere. The only real trouble
] ever had was at one place where / was
detected pouring the vile whisky they
served into a cuspidor Suspicion fell upon
me and ] could not buy another drink in
that town.
Look Hopefully to Future.
one Of the favorite arguments Of pro-
hibitonists is that even II they cannot
prevent drinking men from getting drinks
the next generation VIII not be tempted
and therefore wll not know the curse OF
liquor ] Rugged this idea to my breast
and hoped that # was true. Observation in
dry places does not bear out the theory.
In almost every hidden den and blind
pig ] visited J found that a great propor-
ton Of those drinking were minors
found that the boys were drinking whisky.
and not beer ] found in many cases that
the prohibitory laws aroused the antogon-
Ism ana the curiosity OF youth and brought
boys 10 the places
Admittedly In this article the evil is re-
vealed and the good IS neglected Prob
ably tho good that prohibition laws accom-
pliah outweighs the evils arising from the
system.