720 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 15 



Inasmuch as a saloon, in the nature of the case, can 

 not be conducted with "decency," we see no prospect 

 for the future of the saloon except to be "doomed." 

 Meanwhile, the "expressed wishes of the people" are 

 helping doom many saloons at every election. 



Observe also that Governor Stubbs, of Kansas, has 

 given notice that men who drink intoxicating liquors 

 need not apply for any appointive office in the State 

 as long as he is the executive officer. The governor 

 has issued orders to subordinate officers at the head 

 of the various departments of the State government, 

 so says a press dispatch from Topeka, which reads, 

 " Discharge all drinking men. Employ only temperate 

 men who will give a dollar's worth of work for every 

 dollar received as salary from the State." 



Other governors are invited to copy this example. 



May God be praised for such a man as Sec- 

 retary Wilson. Long may he be spared to 

 fill his important office. Here is what he 

 says: 



Secretary of Agriculture Wilson says if every dis- 

 tillery and brewery in the country were to close its 

 doors, the American farmers as a class wouldn't know 

 it so far as the effect would show itself on the markets 

 for grain. 



After the article on p. 714 ("Does a Cigar 

 Indicate the Gentleman?") was put in type 

 I found the following in Good Health for 

 November: 



According to the Baltimore Herald, about twenty 

 per cent of the young men who recently applied to the 

 Naval Academy were rejected because the physical 

 te.-ts showed weakness of the heart or irregular beat- 

 ing of the heart, due to the use of tobacco. 



It is a good thing that this fact is published to the 

 world. Smokers whose brains and minds are not too 

 much clouded by the filthy weed to be able to read be- 

 tween the lines of the above statement will see at once 

 that there are other circumstances in life which de- 

 mand a good physique and a strong heart besides an 

 examination for admission to a naval academy. When 

 one out of five of the applicants for admission to a na- 

 val academy is found to be defective because of the 

 use of tobacco, it is evident that this weed must be do- 

 ing a vast amount of injury. It is so well known that 

 a man must be physically sound to obtain admission 

 at Annapolis that only those who consider themselves 

 in fine iiealth and able to endure the severest tests 

 consider it worth while to apply. What, then, must 

 be the condition of a large proportion of the rest of the 

 young-men smokers of the United States? 



And what about the men who are no longer young, 

 who have been smoking for years and years, whose 

 livers, hearts, and kidneys are getting old through the 

 ordinary wear and tear of advancing age, and have in 

 addition been bearing a heavy load because of the 

 constant saturation of the body fluids with one of the 

 most deadly of poisons? The tobacco evil is gigantic 

 in its character. The mischiefs produced by the con- 

 tinuous use of this poisonous weed are beyond esti- 

 mate. The worst effects do not appear in early life, 

 but show up most prominently when the age of phys- 

 ical decline arrives. 



There is a greater demand just now than 

 ever before since the world began for capa- 

 ble men to direct our great undertakings 

 and feats of engineering that are going on 

 in the world, and big salaries are paid. 

 Why, in one instance I knew of one man be- 

 ing paid $100 just to visit a certain estab- 

 lishment and give them the benefit of his 

 wisdom and experience — for only one day, 

 mind you. Now, is the use of tobacco a 

 help or a hindrance in fitting young men 

 for such positions? What does the Naval 

 Academy think of it? 



In the construction of a great building not 

 a thousand miles from where I now sit writ- 

 ing, a man under the influence of intoxicat- 

 ing liquor came, one morning, to direct a 

 large crowd of workmen. I think it is pret- 

 ty generally agreed that the use of tobacco 

 is only a stepping-stone to just such work. 



HOW ONE GOOD WOMAN, ALMOST SINGLE- 

 HANDED, MADE A TOWN DRY. 



Mr. A. I. Root.—l am always interested in your talks 

 in Our Homes, particularly on the liquor question. I 

 have just finished reading your article in the issue for 

 Oct. 15, and was much pleased with it. I am trying to 

 bring my one boy up in a proper way, and I agree with 

 you that self-reliance is cultivated by the overcoming 

 of obstacles. I have been thinking many times of 

 writing to you about a remarkable woman who lives 

 in a near town, and telling you about a plan that she 

 worked up to drive a saloon out — one that, if followed 

 everywhere by determined women, would solve the 

 saloon question in many places. 



Your remarks about the adoption of children also 

 brings this woman to my mind. She is now well along 

 in years, but has never had any children of her own. 

 In spite of this she has adopted and brought up 21 

 children. Most of these are well married, and have 

 homes of their own. In addition to this she has given 

 a home, until their death, to three helpless old men. 

 What I wished to tell you about, however, was the 

 saloon incident. There had never been a saloon in her 

 little town; and when one began to be talked of she ob- 

 jected. Among others, she talked to the man who was 

 starting the saloon. He assured her " that it would be 

 all right," "a perfectly orderly place," etc. In her 

 reply she said, " Do you mean to say that this saloon 

 will be conducted so that any one could come to it?" 



"Yes." 



" Will it be conducted so properly that even a woman 

 could come ?" 



"Yes." 



" I could come, could I ?" 



"Yes." 



Of course, the saloon man had no idea that any wo- 

 man would come; but this woman was of the right 

 metal. She went among her friends, made her plans, 

 and when the saloon opened she went with one other 

 woman to the saloon. They carried light chairs and 

 soiiiesewingand spent the afternoon in the saloon. Men 

 would push the door open, give a hasty look, and van- 

 ish, without the drink. (Imagine a man's feelings, go- 

 ing to get his "poison," and finding his wife waiting 

 for him !) Of course, a woman has just as much right 

 in a saloon as a man. Day after day the women of the 

 town, in relays, picketed the saloon with their sewing 

 or knitting — result, no patronage, and the saloon shut 

 its doors, and to this day the town has had no sa- 

 loon. 



I have never heard of this means being taken before; 

 but if it was effective in this instance I felt that you 

 would be amused and interested in hearing of this 

 way of fighting the saloon. I wish to thank you for all 

 you write from month to month; and I hope you may 

 live long, and ctintinue to give us of the good thoughts 

 of your mind. C. A. Briggs. 



Hood River, Oregon, Oct. 22. 



Many thanks, dear friend B., for the inci- 

 dent. It almost seems as if we ought to have 

 the woman's name; but perhaps she might 

 object. But one thing is certain : When she 

 comes to finish her work here on earth she 

 will be sure to hear the welcome words of 

 the Savior, '"Well done, thou good and faith- 

 ful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy 

 Lord." 



In regard to this woman's manner of pro- 

 ceeding, something the same thing was done 

 in Oberlin, 0., a few years ago. But it was 

 a regular "fight," and lasted a long time; 

 and the saloonist, or, rather, the druggist, 

 did not get whipped out entirely after all. 

 The good woman you mentioned made a 

 great point for victory in getting permission 

 to go into the saloon at the outset. In this 

 way she had the proprietor in a corner, for 

 he could not well go back on his own agree- 

 ment. 



While on the temperance question you 

 may be glad to see this report from Florica: 



Well, Mr. Root, Clay Co., our sister county, went dry 

 by 153 mojority last week. Perhaps you have already 

 seen an account of it. 



Lake Butler, Fla., Nov. 1. CHAS. H. REGISTER. 



