Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1924-07-02
Comparison of %
Years Ago and Now.

slider conditions surrounding the sale
of drink a quarter of a century ago
and present conditions, dlSmlss1ng
prohibition except for the doing away
with the legalized saloon. And let us
take slight slant on the other things.
twenty-five years ago, certain
town had a dozen or more saloons.
Saloons had existed there for half a
century. People had become used to
them and they had become used to
the drink habit and it's effects.
In the town and hanging around
were a number of old sots. Good men,
many of them, who had burned their
bodies dry and ruined their moral
and physical stamina by drinking
whiskey. 1t was good whiskey in those
DAYS. And in the town also were
number of closet drinkers, some OF
them church pillars, who hit their
booze daily but kept it secret. They
also had the alcohol habit but they
tried to keep it dark. They fooled on
ly themselves. Everybody was wise to
them.
The town also had chain of broth
els and several choice gambling hells.
All did a steady business. The people,
including the respectable element, got
used to the Joints and paid no atten-
ton to them.
The town payroll was around
100000 a month. A good big per-
centage of this went to the saloons.
All were prosperous.
All these things had their tendency
to corrupt young men. The amount OF
harm they did was a question. Inc IN
fluences the other way were strong
also. Some young men acquired the
drinking habit via the beer route.
Eventually they began to hit the
booze. In a few years their appear
ance showed what a steady alcohol
diet will do to a man.
The old system had its good points
also. Saloons ran but were regulated.
Boys of tender age were kept out.
Occasionally they rushed the groWl-
err" and pretended to be drunk and
devilish but it was more of a lark
than anything else. Having drank too
much beer and become sick as dogs
they concluded to lay off next time.
The brothels kept the kids out and
did not encourage their patronage.
The young fellows had a great awe
and fear of what they called decent"
girls. These last were and are in the
great majority.
Today the open saloon is OutlaWed.
Booze is no longer sold legally and
the traffic has become devious. When
a thing becomes clandestine and Sc
cret it necessarily also becomes hard
to accomplish. Booze in the shape OF
raw moonshine is made and sold and
probably will continue to be made and
sold. But being an outlaWed business
the hazards are precariOus. The old
saloon man had a certain standing.
He paid taxes and invariably was
charitable. The bootlegger of today
has no standing even with himself.
Like all outlaws he carries a down
cast look. Always his secret goes with
him.
Today the brothels are no more and
the gambling bells are closed. The
oldest trade in the world fourishes
yet and will flourish as long as there
are men. But this business too is out
lawed even in large centers. 1t also
has become surreptitious and clan
destine. And the same applies to
gambling.
Regardless of an opinion on pro-
hibition one must conclude that the
cause of temperance has advanced in
a quarter of a century. The old sots
are no more. The closet drinker is
almost rarity. We might like our
booze as we'll as ever but we can't
get it and know we can't get it. We
are sober in consequence. The ache
for alcohol is out of our bodies. We
may long as much as ever for the
purple moment, the relief from hum
drum but we can't get it and we do
without it, The money we used to
spend on booze goes for other things.
Economically and morally the sa-
loon has gone forever. Even the
hardened drinkers admit this. They
say it with thanksgiving, too. A good
many of us feel that a little lager
would do no harm and rather mourn
for it. The light wines side of this
propaganda is simply dragged in to
make it look easy and smooth-in-
nocuous, as it were. Wine as a bev-
erage does not appeal to the average
American.
There is a side for alcohol too Man
found ages ago that the kick of John
Barleycorn made him feel like a god.
He may have looked like a fool but
he felt like a god especially in the.
first bloom of intoxication when the
warming liquor stole through his
veins and his thoughts expanded in
beatific calm. He smiled largely and
warmly. He viewed the world with
kind and open heart. All mysteries
were unlocked for him. This stage of
first bloom passed quickly. If he
drank on he became a fool, a savage
or voluptary according to his hid
den impulses which John Barleycorn
unclaimed. Eventually, John got him.
Today the race is seeking the
means of satisfying this thirst for
surcease from care, the dropping on