, 1922-05-15

Sound the loud. tiubrol
over Bacchus' dark sea:
Prohibition has tiumphed-
How holy are vel
Something like the foregcing. we
were assured by the holy brothers md
the pious sisters. would be heard RS
ing IN o grandeur throughout the
land with the advent OF prohibition
Nominaly and actually we were to
be Transformed into a nation Of latter
day saints. Yea, verify. indeed.
The new Jerusalem was to be estas-
iished- An crime would cease. Muir
der void DO unknown. save, perhaps,
when some OF us half educated news
paper men starts1 on webster's En-
giish- The gunman.s gun. II II smoked
a all. would smoke only as some kind
OF ~new-fangled peace-pipe. The burg
lars tools would be as relics of the
stone &C.. Theft-vhy ever the love
sick swain. in his early twenties,
would not steal n kiss. no matter how
sweet tho temptation.
Even such inveterate t-ransRressors
as the drinking fish and the gamboi,
ing lamb would cease their wicked
ways. Prisons and insane asylums
would be as much put OF date as the
feudal castles OF Europe arc today.
In fact. such an era OF wholesale
holiness would be ushered into being
that wen tho most hardened old sim
ner Of u would be seen OF a Sabbath.
trudginE meekly TO church, where wc
would be led in prayer and hymn sing.
ing by a sweet young lady of-forty-
four.
But levity aside. lot us get down 70
the facts. Beginning right at home.
what do we find? In n certain. not
very thickly settled country in his
state-in fact right here in the Big
Horn basin-sixteen homicides and
several serious accidents. the majority
gaid to be directly or indirectly trace
able to m~oonshine. is the record OF tho
year of more or less grace. 1921.
This far exceeds anything recorded
OF the region in the old days. while the
wet even in proportion to popula-
ton at the different periods.
Thus. with the passing of the sa-
loon, we find ourselves the beneficiar-
les of these twin hlessines1the pro-
rcnv OF NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. and
rrfrdnr. Parenthetically speaking.
moonshine and bootleggers were un-
known in this country prior TO the
advent OF prohibition However. It
would be as unfair To lay all crime and
mishap at the door OF prohibition. as
was formally the way of the holy
brothers and The pious sisters to i'm
pute all evils to the demon rum. But
II there be my morahimprovement. or
abatement in crime i'm this neck of the
sagebrush. as q result of the s'dry''
regime. the foregoing certainly would
not indicate It. les.
Stripped of verbraEe. SO Gar as this
region is concerned. prohibition is a
failure. To say it is 81 farce. would be
hardly correct. since the spasmodie
efforts at its enforcement are SO often
accompanied by a tragedy Nor has II
tended to the regeneration Of those
who were confirmed topers prior &c
the subsection OF the state to religion.
domination.
The vile quality of much OF tn,
roonshine seems little deterrent tc
the man with a chronic thirst. Meth
or is the exhorbitant price. The same
old v~otaries of Bacchus, now get soak
ed On moonshine. lust as they did or
Jet us say ''srnshine"-only at foul
or five times the cost To put 1t II
brutal facts and figures. In the day,
of the saloon they got drunk at the
rate OF $500 a gallon; now they get
drunk at the rate of $500 a quart
Some Of a mor economical turn OF
mind, try to offset this by b produc
ton Of certain homemade beverages
But as to the physical cost OF this
figures cannot determine.
Riding over the range, some tins
ago. I spent a night at a sheep camp
with an old herder whom I had KNOW
some years before. After supper. tn.
old fellow. who is the soul OF kindness
brought forth a jug containing som,
kind of Beverage, which he said h,
made himself" Although almost 6
total abstainer for nearly a decade
for old times sake. I took one drink
Talk Of a powerful brew!- 1t was 6
horrible ~concoction.
Another thing worthy OF recog
milton: with an its shortcomings, i,
the days OF the saloon. we seldom saw
minors on a drunken rampage. W,
sometimes do, now. Not very lont
ago, a number of youngsters, in thi.
vicinity, most of them in their middI,
teens. discovered a moonshine cache
got crafty drunk ode into a loca
town and raised what Sherman canet
war.
Tho writer Witnessed several, paral
lei cases. car ago, in the prohibition
districts in the South. The Illicit fire
water being concealed in various IN
conventional places. children wouI,
frequently find It. sometimes imbibint
with serious. result. This would no
happen where liquor was handled lie
ultimately, and placed beyond reacl
of Irresponsible hands.
Most men IN this neighborhood VIII,
VOTED. for prohibition, are anything bu
proud of the fact today, a prominen
rancher. who voted dry" r~ccentt
said. I'm mighty sorry. now. that
did. Prohibition is the biggest kin,
OF a failure" ~ -
:. said another, IT voted for prohi
bition. hoping that with a real dry
country, certain feilova around here
would have'to keep straight. Now
with this d. moonshine everywhere