254 HISTORY OF PASADENA. 



So much for the Valley Union newspaper at the time. But the Pasa- 

 dena Siar had from the first cast slurs and contempt on the movement, and 

 predicted failure ; hence it had nothing to say except ' ' we are surprised at 

 the result." And that was not the only " result ; " for the San Francisco 

 Chro?iicle reports, up to July i, 1894, five counties that have carried the 

 Pasadena ordinance, namely : Modoc, Sutter, Lake, Riverside and Hum- 

 boldt — and nine others which had already made strong moves in that 

 direction — all as a historic following of the pioneer work done by Pasadena 

 in 1887. In fact, that contest and its outcome gave Pasadena a more wide- 

 spread fame and permanent historic prestige than anj'thing else which has 

 ever occurred in her history except the building of the Mount Lowe Electric 

 Railroad. 



So Pasadena waked up one morning and found herself without any 

 saloon, and was happy. But this did not last long ; for verj^ soon certain 

 restaurants and drug stores began doing a saloon business ' ' on the sly ' ' at 

 first, but finally in open, bold defiance of the law ; and it began to appear 

 also that some men who had signed the petition for the ordinance were, 

 at heart, opposed to it — but believing it would be beaten in the courts, any- 

 way, had joined in the call for it ; and now that it was fully sustained as 

 good California law, they were ready and hot to break it down and make it 

 prove a failure after all. And I find on the police court records the follow- 

 ing liquor cases :* 



November 2, 1887, John Senich. Jury trial. Found guilty. Fined 

 $100. Paid fine. [The same day three other cases against the same man 

 were dismissed. The law makes the sales of one day one offence ; and he 

 had been charged with selling liquor on four different days — but the one 

 conviction was deemed sufficient at that time. — Ed.] 



April 30, 1888, John B. Dolan. Jury trial. Case Dismissed. [It was 

 proved that it was Dolan 's wife, not himself, who sold the liquor — although 

 with his connivance and that of his mother-in-law and a certain negro man. 

 A warrant was issued the next morning for Mrs. Dolan ; but the whole 

 family, negro and all, had fled the city during the night, and never came 

 back. — Ed.] 



May 23 to 25, 1888. Peter Steil. Jury trial. Found guily. Fined 

 $150. Case appealed. [But it was never carried up to a higher court.]f 



The liquor element was now fairly aroused to try and break down the 

 ordinance. Peter Steil, by advice of certain lawyers, went on selling liquor 



*The city police court record from April 25 to Nov. 25, 1.SS7, shows a total of 134 cases tried within 

 that time ; and of these cases 121 were arrests for being: "drunk and disorderly," and seven were vari- 

 ous violations of city ordinances bj' liquor sellers— leaving onlv six cases in the seven months, or only 

 4^ per cent, of the criminal business of the city that was not directly caused by liquor sellers. 



fThis case presented a ver5' curious and anomalous state of affairs. Pasadena as a voting precinct 

 was strongly Republican. There were two daily papers, both claiming to be Republican, yet the Union 

 was at this lime chiefly owned by three leading Democrats, W. U. Masters, R. M. Furlong and Bayard 

 T. Smith, and edited by Dr. John McCoy ; and all four of them were proved to have bought and drank 

 beer which Mr. Steil sold in violation of the law. he being also a strong Democrat, and a believer in his 

 party's distinctive doctrine, known as the "anti-sumptuary" plank. The daily .S/a?- also, although pre- 

 tending to be a Republican paper, supported this Democratic party doctrine, in opposition to the courts. 



