Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1918-06-19

The evil that men do lives after them,
| the good Is eft inferred with their bones
Shakespeare.
( Did you ever ponder the deep meaning OF
\ the above grain of wisdom from the great
dramatist2 Ii you viii have patierre With
/ Ine / viii prove that the above declaration IS
true. L wish 10 prove that this TACT 70 the
I barrier that has stood, and stands against
! the abolition of liquor traffic today. Permit
me TO Illustrate. Prior 10 IS49 the brewing
( of ale and the distillation of whiskey was
carried on at the farm home Of nearly every
I wellto-dO farmer in Norway. Now let me
describe the effects. | have often been told
what the consequences were in a certain dis
trlet called Halngdal. Drunken brasls and
orgies were quite common. Old people who
lived in those times used to tell of it. A
wedding, for instance, would last fer about
eight days and drinking and dancing was
the principal amusement. When the good
house wife made ready TO go to wedding
or dance she would provide herself with
bandaRes in ease her husband got stabbed or
slashed with the knife. Why did she do this {?
Fights were so common and the knife SO fire.
quently used that going 10 a wedding was
pretty much like going into battle. Every
one IS not killed wounded in battle, nor
was every one wounded at those assembIages,
but the fact that every house wife organized
as Red Cross uait shows that tragedies
were OF commpn occurrence and many were
killed. Some one asked an old resident il
the man who did the killing in case of man
slaughter was ever punished, and the reply
was: mo. We always laid the blame at the
oeOF OF the DEAD party. lou see gsfat
nearly all of those fatal encounters we've re-
garded a sort of duel. Tradition has it
that at of those orgies the eellar-man n,
as he was called OF going into the cellar to
tap some fresh beer saw his Satanic Majesty
sitting astride the barrel in full regala, hoofs
and horns. playing the fiddle. Before getting
wise as to the identity Of the strange fiddler
the person in question listened long enough
to catch the notes of the strange music and
1t was reproduced by him and wild and
fierce il was, for you could hear angry voices,
he nurl nf fHa Mt he rranQ Of he
vanquished and the murmur of the crowd.
The piece in question was aptiy named
ad liz b Tree traHsIaiSn 81 wh sso
the state commenced to regulate the making
of lqiuor. The still. belonging to the farmer,
was sealed except few days each year when
it might be used.
SIGHTS a FEAST DAYS AND FUNERAL
This the i.-t attempt at regulation.
W. will nov skip hundred years. or
thcreabOuts, and transfer the view to my boy
hood days, and give you a picture ilustrat-
ing conditions obtaining at that time Some
Of the early settlers were victims of the Ii
quor habit, and were down and out in The old
country, and who to the land of pr Omise
70 begin life anew, and to better their for
tunes. The poverty and the hard work, in
subduing the wilderness here in Wisconsin,
and above all, the distarce from markets
where intOxicants could obtained, pfo7 I'd
blessing in disguise to thes, prodigals Wh1
needed isolation from the em0ter, but as
shad show the customs and habit remained
with them. II custOmaly during these
early days to celebrate Christmas by laying
in a gOodly supply of liquor where with TO
treat callers, and il was considered a dis
grace not 20 follow that custom. The eele-
bratiOn lasted thirteen days, during which
there drinking and dancing at several
places in the neighbOrhoOd and the amount
OF fun enjoyed az these entertainments was
guaged by the amount of liquor consumed.
At weddings il meant social Ostracism TO neg
eet 10 have bountiful supply of intox-
icaRts on hand, and the character of the hest
as valued according 20 his success in salts
flying the thirst Of those invited. At funerals
it considered and niggardiy not
to treat those attending TO the stuff that
browns sorrow, and leaves JOY floating
lady had passed away and although there
occasion to drown sorrow in her case,
she having been regarded burden in the
family where she lived during the afternoon
of her life, but there some incentive to
make the procession to the grave a gleefpl
carnival. instead of a mournful procession,
so the exercises at the house for the spirit (uaD
ediication of those present consisted of a
few rounds of jag makers, and thus strength
ened and cOns0ied, the procession started to
the cemetery, mostly on foot and upon ar
irving at the City of the Dead they partoOk
of a few cheerful and then proceeded to dig
the grave. There was no minister present,
but the coffin lowered into hte grave
and covered, and instead of the reading Of
funeral rite, chanted requiem, the of
the deceased executed a gymnastic feat in
NOrsk called "HIallingkast', which acrObatie
cemetery. A few stimulents were then taken
and the cheerful mOurners then wended their
Eomeward way. Dear, innocent reader, do
not for moment imagine that then and there
upon this happy crowd dispersed, each going
to his home; not so. for all returned TO finish
the cocktails that were left and when these
finished n part of the crowd got into a
prOmiseuOHs fight, but since the participants
WERE unable to stand, fighting "on all fOurs"
no casualties are TO be recorded.
DIR. JEKEL AND MR.. HYDE CHANGES
In the strange case of DIR. Jekel and Mr..
Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the well
known author, it is related how the doctor
firing of being a good respectable man all
the time, and being troubled with up
braiding conscience whenever he entered up
on immoral course of action, finally after
much study and research, discovered COM
pound which when taken changed the doctor
from tall good looking man into a hideOus
dwarf, looking like fiend with evil stamped
upon his countenance. Whenever the doc
tor swallowed this compound he became
totally different being. his every action
criminal--immorai without single redeem
ing feature. He becs.ne the murderer Mr.
Hyde. hunted all London such, but
since Mr.. Hyde could take another dose and
resume DIR. Jekyl so he was never arrested
But note this: The sensations when in the
Mr.. Hyde state alluring that frequent
ly the genial respectable DIR. Jekyl would
take dose and become Mr.. Hyde, doing
things of the most revolving nature, until at
last he could not shake off Mr.. Hyde but be-
came a permanent Informed dwarf fend.
Kind readeri After reading this fiction of
Mr.. Stevenson in full-it is certainly inter
esting, do you wonder how any one could
imagine anything SO impossible!
LITTLE EARLY HISTORY
ON UPPER COON
/ am nov Eaaig back into the early history
of the Upper Ccon, and relate some things
that happened which fit in With the Steven
son theory, of the influence OF material
a ents upon mans moral. nature IL
beautiful June day; crowd of neighbOrs
had assembled at the home of enc of the
early settlers to help him with some work.
Such gathering is sometimes called bee
and the work is done without pay. Accord
ing to custom, fre-water served. The
work proceeded all day without mishap
ing they started for home. when
hurried after a part of the crowd without
word of warning, sprang upon one of them
from behind. put his knee IN the small of the
back of his victim, grabbing him nv the
shoulders, pulling lin backwards nearly
breaking his back. The poor man car
ried home !mprovised stretche- and
had to spend six weeks in bed. and it was
some time before he recovered. There
quarrel, the attack was entirely unexpected.
Who do you suppose the essailant was? Ii
was the man for whom the crowd had worked
that day. This Hyde" way of showing
for this parted company with John Bar
leycOrn and lived peaceful citizen to the day
of his death.
l will now introduce the reader to an old
tyle auction. As She invariabie custom
in those days an abundance of liquor was
served. Two men wrestling, mere
trial Of strength. while they are trying who