1352 



the men of what th 



asked how many there were in that crowd 

 who would in a like manner raise their hands 

 to indicate they were ready to sign the 

 pledge and begin saving their earnings for 

 the wife and children instead of building up 

 this den of iniquity. Tivcnty-fotir hands 

 went up. 



The next step she took was to tell the 

 men and boys that, as an evidence of good 

 faith, she wanted to stay and see them 

 start off home to tell their mothers, wives and 

 children what they had agreed to do. The 

 nineteen boys and twenty-four men all filed 

 out, one after another. Then she gave the 

 hardened sinners who remained, including 

 the saloonkeeper, a temperance talk that they 

 remembered, even if they did not heed, like 

 the ones who had just gone out. 



At the temperance talk Sunday evening she 

 told all about it. The nineteen boys and 

 twenty-four men came forward and signed 

 the pledge. Then she called on those who 

 had lately started to help her in a house-to- 

 house canvass to have the saloons banished 

 from Leipsic. By the time "groundhog day" 

 came around, February 2, they were ready 

 for the election. The saloonkeepers came out 

 of their holes, but went back whipped, and 

 stayed there two years. At that election, two 

 years ago, I think they beat the wets by only 

 eight votes. During the past fall the brew- 

 ers and saloonkeepers marshaled their forces 

 and demanded another election, thinking they 

 could get back the business they had lost in 

 Leipsic, but they were whipped again worse 

 than before. The second time, the drys won 

 by, I think, 168 votes. And now follows 

 something else that perhaps will surprise you, 

 but it did not surprise me at all. The differ- 

 ent churches in Leipsic had been trying for 

 years to get up a revival. They had held 

 revival meetings and weeks of prayer, but all 

 to no avail. The people seemed apathetic in 

 regard to religious matters^ but immediately 

 following that first crusade against the sa- 

 loons a big revival started. If I have made 

 no mistake, every one of those nineteen boys 

 and twenty-four men united with the church, 

 and more than two hundred people came out 

 at that time, trusting in the Lord Jesus 

 Christ. It is not all strange, dear friends, 

 and I think banishing the saloons might start 

 a revival in almost every town in Ohio or 

 any other state. While the saloons were run- 

 ning, the town was several thousand dollars 

 in debt. There is now no debt, notwith- 

 standing the loss of revenue so much talked 

 about that comes from the saloonkeepers. 

 Two years after they were banished, the 

 town was out of debt and had over $3,000 in 

 the treasury; new business enterprises had 

 been established; factories had moved in be- 

 cause it was a dry town ; public buildings 

 were put up, and everything was flourishing. 



Mrs. Richards here gave us a graphic ac- 

 count that will illustrate what happened in 

 just one humble home. It was the home of 



GLE-^NINGS IN BEE CULTURE. DfOC. 15 



Continued from page 133Jt. 

 boys had done, and the carpenter whose house had been pro- 



tected two years before with tarred paper, 

 flapping in the wind. Mrs. Richards went 

 to take a train, when she met the carpenter 

 going to his work. She asked him about his 

 wife, children, etc., ahd he begged her to go 

 and see them, reminding her of what her 

 talk that night in the saloon had done for 

 his family. She found the train was over an 

 hour late, so she went back, caught him be- 

 fore he got out of sight, explained she had 

 an hour to spare, and said slie would like to 

 call on his wife, as his home was near by. He 

 was overjoyed at the prospect. When they 

 arrived at the gate he raised his hand as a 

 signal for her to listen. His wife was sing- 

 ing one of the revival songs they used in the 

 meetings, while she did her washing under 

 the shade of the cherry trees in the back yard. 

 She, too, rejoiced to get a glimpse of the 

 outcome of temperance work. The children 

 were in school, neatly dressed, of course. 

 The husbmd and wife showed their friend 

 and benefactor the .improvements made on 

 the house in two ' years, the new carpet in 

 their best room, and they even took her down 

 cellar and showed her the rows of neatly ar- 

 ranged canned fruit on the shelves — over 

 a hundred cans in all. The happy young 

 wife then said : "When John's money all 

 went to the saloons we did not have a single 

 jar of canned fruit. Once in a great while 

 we got some at the grocery, put up in tin, 

 that was not a bit like ours." 



No wonder joy and thanksgiving were in 

 that household. No wonder the happy wife 

 and mother could sing at her work, and be 

 happy all day long. The husband who had 

 been lost — lost through strong drink — had 

 been found. He, like the prodigal of old, 

 had returned to his family and his home. 



Mrs. Richards was in California during the 

 last election ; but she had arranged to have 

 her friends telegraph to her the result. As 

 she stepped off the train at Los Angeles the 

 telegraph operator was on the platform in- 

 quiring if there was a Mrs. Richards in the 

 crowd. She told him she was the woman 

 he sought. "Well," replied he, "here is a 

 telegram that reads, '168 dry. Rejoice with 

 us.' Now, if you know what that means, all 

 right." 



She replied : "Yes, sir, I know exactly 

 what it means." 



Now, friends, you may be tempted to think 

 this is an exaggeration ; but the facts are all 

 before the world. I noticed in the daily pa- 

 pers the announcement that Leipsic had gone 

 dry by a big majority over its first victory, 

 but I did not know the particulars. I know 

 from my own experience — an experience I 

 have given on these pages — that what I have 

 told you is not only possible but probable. 

 There is no question but a single woman, 

 or, for that matter, a single man, in almost 

 any community, with the love of God in his 

 heart, and one who is not afraid, can do 

 exactly what Mrs. Richards did. Hundreds 



