Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-02-15
LIQUOR DEALERS
 LEAVING CITY Have About Given Up Fight to Get Licenses Year
 and Reopen.
BUSINESS IS QUIET.
PrOhibitiOnists Claim, However, That Wet Spell Has Not Affected
 Local Trade.

Judge w. D. Cones, counsel for the petitioners in the recent liquor 1i- cense case in the county court. which came to an end temporarily, at least Friday afternoon, when, to pre- vent lewiston being given took non suit and asked to be permitted to withdraw their petition, returned last night from Little Rock, where he spent the day on official business. He said that his visit to the capital had no bearing whatever on the liquor license case.
 'I diG not go to Little Rock to confer with w. l.. Terry, Morris Cohn or anyone else on the liuuor license subject" said Judge Jones, and when the Commercial made such statement yesterday they did not have foundation for it. l did not even see MT. Terry or Mr. Gohn and did not try to see them"
 Judge Jones said that he had no statement to make relative to the local liquor license situation He said that he had been at the capital all day and had not discussed the mat ter at all yesterday with his clients, hence he could not say anything as 70 what would be their future course, if | any action was contemplated at all by them. @g@' 1T e. 4 s,l
 It developed yesterday that several { local liquor dealers are preparing to move away from Pine Bluff and by their actions it is indicated that they have about given up the liquor license fight for good. s. F. Rosen- berg of the M. Cans Company, spent yesterday in Memphis, where he
 went to get a location for his firm, which is planning to open a whole- sale house there. The stock now on hand will be moved to the Tennessee city, it is said, and disposed of from that point.
 Harry Hanf, of"the firm of l.. & E. Wertheimer, left yesterday afternoon for Little Rock with a view to se- curing suitable location in that city. He is planning, it is said, to move the stock of that firm to tho capital city, where the business will be re-established.
 Other local retail liquor dealers are planning to move to other cit- ies. A number of men, who were employed by them, have already left the city and others, with their fam-. flies, will go away the coming week. Although the Prohibitionists de- clare that the "wet period" of the | past six weeks or more has not af-. fected local business conditions in any way, local merchants complained yesterday of falling off in trade and they attribute it to the fact that
 Pine Bluff is dry" t Notwithstanding the arguments being advanced by the "Prohis" and the optimistic statements they are making, the Cotton Belt and Iron Mountain railroads did an unusually heavy business yesterday, a large majority of their tickets being sold to Little Rock and Argenta. 1t was stated that the railroad companies
 were unable to accommodate the hundreds Yof negroes who crowded
 into the colored coaches of the local trains. out of this city, and conductors on taese trains said that the Argenta and Little Rock bound traffic was equally as heavy at way 1 stations.
 Yesterday was the quietest Satur- day that Pine Bluff merchants have
 experienced for many months. There
 were few out of town shoppers Tn
 the city and the actual receipts m
 many stores fell far below those of
 previous Saturdays. it was said.