The Oskaloosa herald., 1913-12-04
THE SCENE OF BATTLE
Supreme Judge Preston Will Decide
Stay Order Tomorrow.

Scene OF battle in the legal scrap
to reopen the Des Moines saloons
was yesterday afternoon shifted to
Oskaloosa when hearing was con-
Quoted here before Justice Byron w.
Preston of this city, member of the
supreme bench of the state, on che
application Of attorneys for the sa-
loon interests asking for stay or
der" or suspension of execution on
the decision handed down by the SUI
preme court several days ago which
resulted in the closing of the capital
city dram shops, and the eyes of both
wet" and dry elements of the
state will be focused on this city for
the next twenty-four hours until the
fight is concluded and Justice Pres
ton has handed down his decision in
the matter. Attorneys for the saloon
interests yesterday afternoon submit
ted their application and presented
their arguments in favor of the re-
quest but the attorneys for the "drys"
have been given until tomorrow to
submit their arguments in opposition
to the granting of such an order and
the battle will not be decided until
that time. The hearing was con-
Quoted yesterday in the offices of At
torneys Burrell & Dewitt, before
Justice Preston, with no one present
except the court, attorneys and few
newspaper men. A. M. Havener, OF
Marengo, attorney for the 'drys" OF
the state, appeared for the anti-sa
loon interests, assisted by w. J. Pill
kingtOn, of Des Moines, president of
the Des Moines Citizens Association,
which is conducting the fight against
the reopening of the saloons in that
city. Judge A. C. Parker, OF Des
Moines, and Jas. A. Dewitt, of Oska-
loosa, led the fight for the saloon men
in support of the application.
The hearing was scheduled to be-
gin at three o'clock yesterday but did
not start until after four owing to
the inability of the dry" attorneys
to be prepared for the fight before
that time. Attorney Havener, for
the anti-saloon interests, introduced
a motion for a continuance until Sat
urday of this week when the hearing
was called to order, and both sides
were heard for and against the mo-
ton. Mr. Havener argued in sup
port of his motion that they had not
had sufficient time to prepare for the
hearing, while the opposing attorneys
contended that there were no grounds
on which to support an opposition to
the application and hence no neces-
sity for time. A compromise was
reached by the court in granting the
dry" attorneys until Wednesday to
submit their arguments against the
granting of the order No further
hearing will be conducted and JUS
tice Preston will probably render his
decision within a very short time af
ter receiving the answer of the
"drys." Mr.. Havener departed last
night for his home in Marengo and
will prepare his answer there and
mail il tonight in order that it will
reach here tomorrow morning. The
remainder of the visiting attorneys
also departed for their homes last
evening.
Precedent in the matter of granting
such a stay order" as is requested
is obtained in the Oskaloosa saloon
case two years ago, where the order
ted to operate until final hearing on
the validity of the petition. This
case is somewhat different in that
the local saloons had never been
closed up before the order was grant
ed while in the present instance the
Des Moines establishments have vol
unfairly closed their doors. Justice
Preston stated at the hearing yester-
day, however, that the granting of
such stay order" is common prac,
tice and he never before heard of it
being contested. and sees no grounds
for such contest now. He further
stated that he is not called upon to
determine in this case the validity of
the right of the saloons to, reopen II
such an order is granted, that he Is
not to decide the effect of the order,
nor specifically say whether the sa.
looms shall open or stay closed.
Neither is he to determine the mer-
its of a hearing for a re-hearing in
the original case but the only ques.
ton at issue now is the granting of
stay order" such as precedent has
established should be granted.