The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-10-23
INSISTS f|REMtN
were DRINKING
Rev. J. NJ. Rowland Repeats AS
sertion OF State Fair
Incident.
He WILL NOT PROSECUTE
Would Not Undertake Identifi-
cation, and Will Not
Attempt 1t.
he WILL NOT PROSECUTE

No prosecution OF fremen drinking
at the Fair Grounds will be conducted
by Rev. J. NJ. Rowland. he asserts in
an open letter addressed TO Captain
Charles +. Taylor. president OF the
Board Of Fire Comm !ssioners. Mr..
Rowland. with others. was summoned
to appear before the board to give evl-
dence concerning d statement ne has
made for publication. to the effect that
, nc saw nrcIneH IN uniforms drinking
at the State Pair.
In his letter, Mr.. Rowland says he
VIII not undertake TO PICK OUT the
men he saw. Further. ne seems to I'm
pute bad faith to the beard. asserting
tnat Captain Taylor proposes TO have
him as a witness because ne knows
he Will De unable TO point out the
men But ne renewS mis- assertion tnat
nremen were drinking, and ADDS mat
|, ne has evidence 10 prove tnat at least
one was intoxicated. His letter il as
follows:
Letter to Captain Tsylsr.
Richmond. Va, October u. 1912.
Captain Charles r. Taylor. Richmond.
Sir have just seen the commu-
nication you have given to the press
In which you express your purpose 10
summon me before the Fire Depart
ment to pick out the six men l saw
drinking at the state Fair.
In reply to this l desire to say first
OF all II Is not my business to prose-
cute iremeh who violate the rules, or
see that they obey them. I presume
you are competent to do that or you
would not hold the position you do.
desire to say further # has not
been, is not now, nor shall It ever be
my purpose to prosecute or injure men
who are led into temptation do
not desire to do anything that will
cause these men to lose their positions
or to suffer at my hands. honor
the hremen. In their service to the
people they are second to none. Many
OF them. doubtless the most Of them.
are men OF high moral character, and
some OF them are my warm personal
t thisnos, ! am not after rejecting on
them or the Fire Department / am
not after prosecuting any man I saw
drinking at the fair. am after show
ing what vile and iniquitous tempta.
tion the Fair Association put under
the noses OF the fremen YOU send to
the fair to serve the CITY. h,ve
sympathy for them and all who face
the temptation. but / have none FOR
the men VINO for dollars put this
temptation in their way and thrust this
Not Street Car Men.
Inc iacts are shese: Rev G. T. For.
roster. pastor OF Decatur Street Meth
Saist Church. and myself went to the
~ SSS - tue lliuCF business would
be run on the high plane we had hean
assured 1T would be run on. Amon1
the tnlngs We saw and then and there
re o IN our notebook was the fact
Ing at the bar. 1t is manifestiy I'M
lair to try to load 1t on the car men
who were busy hauling the crowds TO
the Fair Grounds They were not car
ihen' poilcemen or railroad men nor
were they members of a brass band
They were firemen. We remarked on
! their boldness and carefully noted the
uniforms We recorded this as a fact
them.
Since you have publicly expressed
your oouot OF my truthfulness in the
two ladies to prove that at least one
fireman was not only drinking. but
arunk at the ". T. L. A. booth. Also
MI NJ r. Pace. OF this city. on Wed
almost down. When these persons saw
your communication they came to me
with this informs ton. and offered to
give IT at any time you called US. Rev.
have published. l could produce 9th.
ers. but this. I: seems to me, will con-
vince the public am not talking down
the wind.
any salary to run the Fire Department,
and am not trying to do It, but am
merely trying to show you and the
public the evils put in the way Of your
men. and I again repeat I do not de-
sire TO do anything to injure a single
man on the department.
Draws COmDaFio0ns.
OF course. you feel sure I will be
confused and uncertain. and will be
unable to point out the men. This is
the reason you pi oppose 1t. No fair
minded person would expect me to do
such a thing. To see strange men l
had never seen before In uniforms and
Identity them a month later would be
a rare achievement Ny failure to
identify them would not make me Q
liar when I say. along with several
citizens whose word no one can doubt.
that firemen were drinking If you
you might have noticed some rose
comb white Leghorns. You might 60
to a poultry pen to-day and pick out
some rose-ccmb white Leghorns, but
you would be slow to swear they were
the ones you saw at the fair. You
could identify the uniform and the
rose comb. but not the chicken.
while / think could recognize some
Of the men. I would surely give them
the benefit of the doubt and would not
say they were the ones I saw We
We didn't want TO observe any Of their
numbers OF identify them. We were
not there tc detect fireWen-that 10
your b,IsineSs-we were Snere to OBJ
serve the result OF whiskey selling AZ
Iuasmuch as your interview was pub
,ished in two Richmond papers. ! shall
hand this to them requesting that u
be published. J: IL R0MkANO:-