Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-07-02
LIQUOR SALES IN
CITY STUpEnDOUS
iowa Farmers Spend Nearly Three
Quarters Of Million for Booze Here
i'm Last 10 Days.
rgEPARISG FOR Long DROUGHT
Wholesalers Reap Rich Harvest from
These who Seek to Escape Bone
Dry Law.

Those " no seek 10 Escape Bone
Dry Law.
Estimates ranging from a quarter 10
thrae-a8arters OF q million have been
placed SIS the amount OF money spent
fer booze III Rock Island during the
uasl & days by Iowa farmers IL prep
arsta1 for the statewide drought &C.
cas.ouaa gE the bone dry law which
became effective yesterday,
Dust how much was spent in this
cHe nara to say because OF the vast
amount " liquor which sent over the
counters af The retailers but one
wholesaler admitted that he himself
had sold 0GG worth Of goods in the
sa days and saws he tota! would
have been larger If he had not run out
al Hs.. He figures that the sales for
If. ..rs during the period mentioned
aaaraE.matat Sz5,U99 a day which is
+HaueHE ta He conservative guess
Tra sales we're about equally divided
between beer ou one hand and whisky
ar. other liquors on The other
j.. is said that is carloads OF beer
were shipped to this city on Saturday
morning ami that before 2 o'clock this
supply had hean exhausted. Bank de-
na4-e were given a tremendous boost
"a result Of J1e great demand for
shark juice and most of It was dry
iowa money.
UoaE fe|err's % saloons and 40
wholesale ..zaa certainly did some
cuisines. r-ev as a climax to the
biggest -sa and Jug trade west
efu Illinois ever saw Extra clerks
fer s-aek have been doing duty at the
various Wholesale concerns and ex-
tarsivs plans were made to care for
the Anticipated rush on The last day be-
fore h3He@Fv legislation in Iowa be-
came effective bat the onslaught was
even more pronounced than the great
est expectations OF the most sanguine
and many of the wholesalers We're
forced to shut up shop as early as g 50
tB tine evening becaue their stocks
had been depleted.
Even Carried Trunk.
In every conceivable kind Of grip
AMI package the liquor was carried.
two men were seen staggering down
zaeaa. avenue Saturday afternoon,
each CARRYING = grip and between
them swung "a trunk filled with 10y
water Rock island people never
know before there were so MANY suit
1sse= IN the world Almost every per-
son 90 the street Saturday night car
fef one while those who did not
luzaa1 CIauGins bottles in sacks or
carried 5uze lu their arms. The ferry
was damned to the limit all day While
the street cars between Davenport and
Rock Island were loaded down by the
.arr Iovaus.
F. was the automobile brigade jhat
attracted the most attention. perhaps
Machines from as far west as Sioux
City were in the city Saturday. Into
sac cars were loaded all the liquor
taat could possibly be stored. Thou
sands upon thousands Of autoists Tis
r#eL away enough liquor TO last for
mouths n seemed
Legal opinion bifeFSr
Just #HaE eaet- me new leoEFai
la" #ls have 5n prohlbItnB inioAl-
ta-.AS HaHHE ne4i5 oFeu4ht INTO lowe
remains to he seen. u IF now M 20
tAa government oIae.alS TO interpret
aaI enforce Che ruling.
recent legal opinion rendered DE
levi Cooke. leading attorney OF
s1iugtou. H. O. gives the liquor
dealers some hope that Iowa IS not
EaI totally dry. This opinion was
given at ,le solicitation o. inc EiWan-
ger .au 3aHF ot East Dubuque. H.
aa" relates ip the transporting Oh m
taEl-auts from that place across the
ippl into Dubuque, Iowa mas
much g 1aa existing situation between
ttna island ana davenport is par
allie. case. tHIs opinion VIII prove OF
local interest # Is given Tor what II
s. varta-
boaTs Of June addressed 10 loe +