The diamond drill., 1917-09-08
IRON COUNTY HAS
SEEN BOTH SIDES
LOCAL MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS
MEN SAY "DRY" FOR THEM
IMMENSE AMOUNT OF LIQUOR
Receipts of Liquor Since County
Went "Wet" Reveal Difference
in Two Regimes

in Two Regimes
One hears very little OF the wet
or dry" issue in Crystal Falls these
days. The fact that Michigan IS 70
go dry" next May and that Iron coun.
ty will again discard the booze, has
very much TO do with this absence OF
discussion OF the question. II IL were
not for that fact there would be more
heard about il for the people OF Crys-
tai Falls, Judging from sentiments ex-
| pressed on every side. have settled
the question in their own minds and
know now which condition Is best for
business, best for morality best for
the sober man, best for the drunkard
best for everybody.
We venture the statement without
fear Of any well-informed challenge
that II the question was TO come up
for vote in Crystal Falls today this
community would go two to one for
a dry county
Reversal OF Opinion.
Crystal Falls contained the only
precincts that went wet" two and
one-half years ago when the local op-
tion question was first submitted TO
the people. and the novelty OF dry
county swept all other precincts into
the dry" column The business men
of Crystal Falls were wet in n big
majority the two years that the coun-
~ was dry As time went by and
there was so much talk about blind
pigs the merchants murmured moro
and more about the miners staying
away from town They blamed the
blind pigs for keeping the people on
the locations. Almost all OF our mer-
chants openly advocated return 10
the wet" regime so as to liven up the
town.
There was reason for the position
taken by the merchants. They had
never experienced dry" regime be-
fore and II was easy for them TO charge
the misfortunes that befell them or
their business up to the fact that the
county was dry"
One complaint lodged was that the
women came to town The women
carried the pocketbook, cashed the
checks and did the buying. The men
remained out on the locations and
spent their money at the blind pigs.
Others pointed TO the auto loads
that went TO Florence and to the ship
ments OF booze that came in by ex-
press The shipments were magnlh-
ed so that some claimed and actually
believed that as much beer was being
shipped into Crystal Falls in the dry"
times as came here during the wet
times Many actually believed that
TO be the case
Facts Convince All.
Well. We went wet" Crystal
Falls didn't show very great rever-
sal OF form II went "dry" by
small majority the first time and wet"
by as small a majority the second
time, other precincts IN the county
that went Overwhelmingly dry" the
6rst time the question was submitted
turned complete summersault and
went wet" by fully as large ma.
iority Anyway our county went i'm
TO the wet" column by a good sized
majority and I'm due time the saloons
returned and people have had time ~
Judge of the results.
The saloon was back less than
month when mutterings OF disappoint-
ment were heard Things were not
as they promised 10 be The men
came To town but they didn't hang
around the clothing or grocery stores.
The men came 10 town and stayed
there. Contractors who had work ~
do were unable 10 get their workmen
to stay on the job steadily The first
week Of the returned saloon seemed
20 so fascinate those who had been
abstalning from booze for 80 long
time that the bar rooms were crowded
two or three ranks deep and very
large receipts were reported from
various places
As time passed the novelty Of open
saloons wore on and the people were
better able 10 form an acurate opin-
continued on Page Fivel