Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-06-30
SALOONS TO BE CLOSED
AT 21, OPEN AGAIN
AS DRY PARLORS
WILL OBEY THE LAW
PRESIDENTS DECISION TO KEEP
HANDS OFF COMES AS FINAL
BLOW TO CLIMBING HOPES FOR
ELEVENTH-HOUR REPRiEVE.

Tomorrow will give Ottawa's oldea
residents some new thrills. Fer tn,
first time within history, or the mem
ories OF those few remaining pioneer
who remember when the city was 0nl}
hamlet with a great future before il
they will see Ottawa sans saloons
sans intoxicants and sans conyiyality
as bar room tradition made conyiv-
iality.
The recent past with all its night
marish possibilities and bugaboos at
low twelve on his day, blossoms into
an unavoidable reality. No hope re-.
mains. and when the clock strikes the
midnight hour history will be9in and
an era for which drys have fervently
prayed and fought for dawns
70 the vets doom appears a ofr
tainty Their auctuating hopes anu
Fears have come to an end, The last
remaining chance that the Pres idont
would intercede and save them .or an
other six months, at least faded into
deepest despair saturday might when
Mr.. Wilson formally announced by
cable there was nothing he could do
" TO save the saloons as long as mill
lion men still remained under arms,
When this report reached Otta "a
saloon men and the army of person2l
libertyites threw up heir hands ana
with so mode it be" accepted &c
inevitable. Tonight they will close
their places OF business and OF +he
morrow some of them may be open
with long list of soft drinks to elp
them pay expenses while they ho.d
their leases against the day W en- by
presidential proclamation the a'sn" is
declared demobilized and they can
again start dispensing the wares they
have in storage before Jan lG, when
national prohibition goes into effect
without any masquerade costume, as
it is now disguised.
Saturday night was lively one in
Ottawa The saloons did land Of
See business, but there was no great
rush for canned goods to be taken
home and buried in the garden or
some remote corner Of the cellar. To
night there will be some "celebra-
brations," but nothing formal in the
way OF obsequies fer John Barleycorn
and his faithful family has been sched-
uled, At midnight the saloons will
close. The July I law makes it i'm
perative that they close at that hour
and no grant of special hours can be
made by local or county officials The
bulk of celebrants will be those OF
the lighter being gathering in their
last parched tongue and feyered brow.
Tomorrow bromides will be in great
demand, and then comes the long in
lerim when headaches will have to be
blamed upon something else.
The word that ended all hope for
presidential reprieye to give them six
more months of trade came in the fol-
lowing cable from President WisOI
1t was deyoured word by word in OF
tawa and meant no respite for the July
! fate which awaited local dram shops.
The message said:
Washington, June 2S-President
Wilson will not lift the war time pro-
hibition ban "at the present" because
he is without authority to do So ac
cording to a wire from the CHIEF eXecu
tive, made public at the white house
tonight. The President pointed out in
his message that rehabilitation Of the
army had not yet been completed. He
added.
When demobiization is accom-
plished, my power 10 act without con-
gressional action will be exercised"
The Presidents message follows:
Il am convinced that the attorney
general is right in advising me that
have no legal power at this time in
the matter of the ban on liquor Under
the act of Noyamber, 1918 my power
to take act' restricted The act
provides .er June 80. 1919. until
the cor a lion of the present war and
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