The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-19

which he had heretofore been wallowing But like the bucking broncho who, when | he finds that he cannot unseat his rider l settles down into a pleasant jog or rrot
 or gallop, the driver of the water wagon | ceases to be a demon and drives the ! wagon over the smoothest of smooth | roads that end their way alongside of purling streams and shady hooks and dells
 | All the past agony and hardship is l forgotten; the very air one breathes seems purer and sweeter; the flowers that border the roadside bloom as they
 never bloomed before; the joyous songs /. of the birds thrill the heart as it has
 never been thrilled before, and 1t is good to live. All nature smiles and mods welcome to the traveller, and the 1 journey becomes thing of beauty and a joy forever. Therefore, who can /, truthfully say that the scenery is poor? Come, ye doubters, up on the water wagon with me, and the longer you ! ride the more thoroughly convinced ! you will be that what I have said is | the truth-the plain, simple and un- vanished truth; come ride with me and enjoy life.
 ] do not deny that as we ride along
 we do not see things that make us sad. | It is true that some of the scenes we witness are such as will bring tears to our eyes and sorrow and sadness to | our hearts; we cannot shut our eyes to | the hapless victims of John Barleycorn, 1 nor can we help to notice many wear l CTS of the white ribbon whose red noses and bleary eyes attest the fact 1 that they are in favor Of prohibition for the other fellow but not for them l selves.
 1 As the water wagon jogs quietly and 1 easily along it's few passengers are often aroused by loud blare Of trum- pets and hurrahs and shoutings, and when they turn to see what is ap- preaching they find it to be the pro- hibition band wagon filled to over flowing. And such motley crowd. ! True, there are few therein who are there for principle, but the most oI them are there for profit. As the pro- hibition band wagon passes nolsily by the few of us on the water wagon rec ] ognize in the passing vehicle feW 1 total abstainers, a few true believers 1 in temperance who conscient1ously De- lieve that temperance can be best at tained by putting saloons out of busi- ness but the great majority of those in the band wagon are individuals who desire office and take this means of transportation to reach the desired goal; for profit or aggrandizement they advocate a saloonless but not a drinkless state or nation; 1T Alabama should go dry tomorrow they would De the first to set up a howl or remon- strance that could easily be heard by the inhabitants of Mars. while on the other hand if Alabama should become absolutely dry today, tomorrow, or at any other time. it would have no more effect upon us on the water wagon than a drop of water on ducks back. As the band wagon passes l recognlze among the passengers many who iouu- ly proclaim themselves to be prohibl- tionists. but who are prohibitionists for revenue or office only. and who have held, or are now holding, high offices in the state as result or thelr ability to hoodwink the dear people l could mention names but will refrain from doing so at this time; however I will say that if some of these fakers and hypocrites ever run Tor oIIlce again while I am alive l Will taKe tne stump. throw the calcium light of pup lcitv upon them and show them to the people as they really are, not as they claim to ba
 Yes there is plenty of scenery for those riding on the water wagon to gaze upon l some, and the most of it good and pleas l ing to the eye, the rest of it poor and al l most heartbreaking. The water wagon
 stopped in front of the Terminal station
 
 passengers watched the delivery or booze from the express office. While there we saw between 1900 and 1900 packages of
 booze handed out and taken to the m
 spection'' office to be inspected" CD and
 stamped Lots and lots of it was con-
 signed to persons who ride in the pro
 hibition band wagon, or their wives, put
 not a single solitary package came for anyone riding on the water wagon. The 1 so-called inspection ordinance, upon
 which my esteemed friend, Monte Ull-
 man, has staked his legal reputation (so I I have been informed), would be peach | if it only contained provision requlr- 1 ing the publication of the name and ad-
 dress of each consignee. If this "inspec-
 ton" ordinance was for the purpose of
 promoting temperance. as is claimed. in-
 stead of for the sole purpose of raising
 revenue for the city, such publication
 could be made and the importation of
 booze from dry Tennessee would soon
 almost totally cease-but there would be
 lot of extremely dry hypocrites.
 Yes, riding on the water wagon is a
 safe way to travel, rather lonesome at times. but the scenery is good. If you l don't believe me try it for a while.