Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-10-22
DOLEFUL TRAGEDY OF DRYS
Holy Cause of Prohibition Beaten
by a Horse Race.
HARD CIDER LURES THE VOTES
"Dry" sports Follow the Nag 20
rsttagumpus Fair and Then
strip the wet Crowd
HandiIy.

HandiIy.
IT, as Secretary Of state Davis claims,
Maine has gone wet" by about two
dozen votes. then the blood OF prohibition
stains the hands Of Alanson J. Prouty,
owner. and hosts OF friends. admirers
and hackers OF the roam mare Hard
cider. For upon the very Monday, Sep
TENDER II. when the fate OF prohibition
was hanging in the balance. with all the
cities and big towns voting against II
aud the rurnl regions depended upon to
save It. Hard cider was entered In the
$50 class az Pattagumpus fair and the
entire delegation Of sports and turfmen
who frequent Prouty's tavern at Passa-
dumkeag together with all OF the Prouty
male connection and half the crew OF the
spool mill, iourneycd 20 Pauagumpus
fair TO root for the mare and risk any
where from $50 to 81 on her chances.
Pauagumpus had been canvassed care
fully by the Civic league and all the
other law and order associations, and
there had been speeches by two profess
sional prohibitionists from out west not
20 mention big time az the town hall
where. besides speeches showing that IL
cense would bring scores OF saloons TO
rnoisten the parched areas Of Passadum-
keag they had negro Jubilee singers and
served coffee and sandwiches. The can
vass showed that OF the 12i voters In
town ITO would vote dry" and only two
would be so reckless as to invite the de-
mon rum to come and squat down in that
peaceful spot 20 compete with split
and well matured apple juice. Prouty.
the tavern keeper. was prohibition TO the
backbone because he was doing very well
with few bottles tucked under the barn
floor and didn't want any open compe-
tition. The voters were for prohibition
because they were friends OF Prouty. and
because they knew that even II the tav-
ern should run dry they could set all
the liquor they wanted from Bangor. But
when election day came all hands fol-
lowed the mare Hard Cider TO Patta-
gumpus race track arguing that their
votes wouldn't be needed. anyway. cause
Maine would 80 dry by 1900 majority.
ReveIry and Thrills.
At Pattagumpus fair the excitement
was intense. and reveiry ruled the day.
There weno pulling contests between big
oxen and three-iegged races and a bal
loon ascension. fellow from Bangor
was giving away dollar bills with every
Io-eent handkerchief be cold. Another
man from Bangor was selling a new kind
Of lemonade. that Impaired a wonderful
feeling Of opulence and general citation.
There we're dancing girls direct from the
grand opera in Vienna. who actually
winked az the men, and wild man who
hOwled inccssantiy for raw meat and
man who ate glass as n he liked Il. All
Of theae wonders kept the people busy
until the 7sso class was called. and then
there was a rush for the fence along the
track.
Five horses appeared-Hard cider
hitched to a. bright red suIhy. with Prouty
himself driving; Slater May, a Malta
wasnkeag mare. Honest InJun. an Old
Town selding; Dr. Cook. Passadum-
keag stallion. and a slick-Iooking bay
mare from hanger. called Sure Thing
driven By a man named Crowley. Every
body roared when DR.. Cook drew the
pole. and many a Josh" was handed 20
hts driver. The others received serious
consideration. and when Hard Cider came
down IN third place she got a big hurrah
from the PAssnrumkeag delegation, who
had an aggregate of nearly 500 on her
u was noticed that Prouty was acting
rather 'skittish" and not sitting very
steadily in his seat. He shouted gayly 70
his friends In the stand and along the
fence. guyed the other drivers and cut up
all sorts OF antics, with the result that
Hard Cider began 20 act badly and got a
poor start. finishing the heat In last place.
barely inside the flag. The Bangor mare.
Sure Thing, traiied the bunch till opening
into the home stretch, and then she sailed
past them as " they were all anchored.
winning by three open lengths.
Wonderful Lemonade.
The Passadumkeag delegation took a
long drink Of the wonderful lemonade and
raced over 10 the stalls 10 see what was
the trouble with Hard Cider Just as they
reached the mares stall they saw Prouty
and the Bangor mares driver Crowley.
IN close communication. each with a big
mug IN his hand.
well. here's luck" Crowley was say
ing. Il don't take anything hard myself,
but this lemonade Is coolln' and Il don't
hurt n man at ALL
Prouty fiourished his mug on high and
drained II at one long gulp. but Il was OBJ
served that Crowley emptied his into the
straw. Prouty presently became more
cheerful than ever. Mare acted bad that
heat" nc said 10 the delegation. shes a
green one an not used to eomp'ny. but
watch her next trip. You fellers needn't
get anyways worried-them bets Is all
safe"
One Of the hackers OF Hard Cider saw
that she was checked up too high as she
was hitehed in for the second heat and let
the rem out little. Almost Immediately
when no one was looking. Crowley stepped
along and set Il up again.
When the horses came out for the sec
end heat Prouty sent his brother Cy into
the crowd with 500 70 put on Hard Cider
al even money. Crowley spoke 70 a man
az the fence. and Prouty's 500 was
quickly snapped up. The horses scored