The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-06-27
PROHIBITION ANVIL
Fakinr BENJAMIN Franklin.

The Anheuser-B Busch people of St
Louis, whe put their beer up in light
bottles which, according to Mr.. Schiitz'
of Milwaukee, insures in the product
that "skunky taste" have been mar
s1aling in big advertising the patriots
of Revolutionary times as advocating
the use OF beer.
The shades of the past have been
paraded in formidable illustrated pro-
cessions like the departure of Isaiiah
Rookh from Delhi, mid great tinkling
of cymbals and blare of trumpets, IN
quarter and half page illustrated ads.
circus style.
The latest victim Is Benjamin
Franklin, concerning whom the alco-
holic scribe sets forth the following
in letters and punctuation. to-wir:
America has never produced a
greater statesman than Franklin,
who wass revered by the peo-
pie second only to Washington.
He was a signer of both the
Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution of the United States,
and his wisdom made the latter a pos
sibility The great Lord Chatham pro-
nounced him not only an honor to the
! AngIo-Saxon people but to human ma
ture. In every capital of Europe he
was a welcome guest, and he it was
who induced France to lend us ships
men and money during the darkest
days of the Revolution. Upon his
death Congress ordered a general
| mourning of a month. In France 1t
was decreed that all members Of the
national assembly should wear mourn
ing for three days. So long as Amer
leans treasure the Republic and Per-
sonal Liberty as the noblest OF all hui
| man blessings, the fame of Franklin
can never perish. Personally he was
possessed OF robust health; he was a
well-shaped man. of q wise but merry
nature: he had the head of a Greek
philosopher. while his grace. his noble
bearing and winning personality made
him a conspicuous figure in any as.
semblage of great men. He was a
moderate user all his life time of Old
Madeira and barley malt brews.
Mr.. Franklin is dead and thus more
or less helpless. But just before he
died, he wrote biography, in which
he took q fall out with drink in sew
eral places.
On pages 81. SO and So of the edi-
Co. In 1896, Mr.. Franklin recorded
what he really thought of beer drink
ing Speaking about his employment
in the Watts printing house, London,
he wrote:
4 "At my first admission into this
printing house, ] took to working al
press, imagining felt a want of bodi-
! ly exercise I had been used to In
America; where press work is mixed
with composing. / DRANK ONLY
WATER. other workmen, near fifty
In number. were great guzzlers OF
beer. On occasion, / carried up and
down stairs a large form OF type in
each hand. when others carried but
one In both hands. They wondered
to see. from this and several Instances
that the wafer American" as they
called me, was stronger than them
selves who drank beer.
I'VE had an alehouse boy VINO at
tended always in the house to supply
the workmen. My companion at the
press drank every day pint before
| breakfast, a pint at breakfast with
his bread and cheese, pint between
breakfast and dinner a pint at dinuer
4 and another when he had done his
days work. / THOUGHT 1T A DE-
TESTABLE CUSTOM; but it was nee
! essary, he supposed, to drink strong
beer. that he might be strong in labor
endeavored to convince him hat the
bodily strength afforded by beer could
only be proportioned to the
grain or -four OF the barley
dissolved In water Of which 1t
was made; that there was more
-four in a pennyworth of bread;
and. therefore. II he would cat that
with pint of water. 1t would give
him more strength than a quart Of
beer. He drank on, however, and had
four or five shillings to pay out Of HIS
wages every Saturday night for THAT
MUDDLING LIQUOR: an expense i
was free from. And these poor devils
keep themselves always under"
The ad writer for the Anheuser-
I Busch brewery is in hard lines for ma
terial when he holds up a total abb
stainer and beer hater like Benjamin
Franklin as an endorses OF the mod
ern brewery corporations.
i But mhe man with a brain in his
| nut will think twice before accepting
such statements or any other state
.ment put out by the brewery over
lords.-The New Republic.