1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
445 
THE SOUTH CAROLINA LIQUOR LAW. 
IS IT A FAILURE OR A SUCCESS ? 
I think nothing so effective as a good picture, and that on the 
first page of The R. N.-Y. for May 11, is grand. I do not believe 
the average farmer is blind to these facts on the liquor question; 
but the trouble is, How are you going to stop it ? The average in¬ 
telligent farmer has been keeping his eyes wide open looking and 
watching every movement from Maine to Kansas for its sup¬ 
pression; but nothing seems to succeed. All eyes are now watch¬ 
ing the South Carolina law, and every item on the subject is 
eagerly read. I wish some of the farmers in that State would 
give us a short report as to the working of the law. e. h. a. 
Ithaca, Mich. 
As most of our readers doubtless know, the chief 
feature of the South Carolina law is that all liquors 
are sold by the State. Instead of giving a license to 
sell at a bar, the State establishes a “ dispensary,” 
where uniformed officials sell the liquor under certain 
restrictions. We have asked some of our readers to 
state what the effect of this system has been. The 
following notes are fair samples of the replies : 
“ Best Solution of the Problem.” 
On the whole, it is doing good work. There is 
almost no “ treating,” which before its introduction, 
was so common and demoralizing. There is less 
liquor drank, and less drunkenness. You see fewer 
men staggering about under the influence of liquor 
than formerly. On the other hand, some men who, 
in old times, took but one drink, now become intoxi¬ 
cated, as they cannot drink the half pint (smallest 
amount sold) and keep sober, and will drink it all. 
A smaller amount should be sold, one-quarter pint. 
The liquor is of good quality as far as purity goes ; but 
is lacking in age and the softening effects of greater 
ripeness. If the State is to continue in the liquor 
business, it should establish cellars and ripen its 
liquors. The profits are important, and will lighten 
taxes, State, county and town, as the system becomes 
better established. 
I regard the law as the best form of State control 
of the liquor traffic yet offered. w. w. w. 
As It Appears To a Farmer. 
The South Carolina Dispensary Law was once 
thought by its opponents to be dead ; being killed by 
two State justices ; but it was afterwards reinstated 
by the same court by one new judge. The revenues 
to the State and counties, perhaps, are tens of thou¬ 
sands of dollars. As to the decrease of whisky drink¬ 
ing, the condition is no worse than in the barroom 
days, is my observation. The illicit whisky manu¬ 
facturer has lost the trade of the open barroom for his 
goods ; as they are not allowed to be sold to the dis¬ 
pensaries, they may have to ship them on vehicles by 
the light of the moon, to find good sales. Such sales¬ 
men here are known as “ blind-tigers.” The best evi¬ 
dence that I can give in favor of the dispensary, is 
this : At the last fall elections, men that were elected 
to our State legislature who advocated the perpetua¬ 
tion of the dispensary law with amendments, were in 
a large majority—the voters were mostty white men. 
My opinion is that the dispensary made its advent 
into our State while our people were undergoing one 
of their political upheavals. As our white people are 
nearly all native Carolinians and kindred, whenever 
they become entangled in a disagreement they all 
wish sympathizers outside of their homes, and the 
truth is hard to find in such times. The illicit manu¬ 
facturers and sellers of this and border States, are its 
most dangerous enemies. If our laws will make 
whisky pay for at least, part of its own devilment, 
it will be one step towards protection to those who 
ought to be protected, that are not partners to its use. 
As we are out of the old whiskey ruts, I don’t wish to 
see my State return to them again. If the law was 
thought by its enemies to be a bad law, and would 
die of itself, it never would have been fought so hard— 
that is my opinion. w. D. L. 
Spartanburg County, S. C. 
A Fair Review of the Matter. 
The Dispensary Law has been tried so far under 
such adverse circumstances, that it is hard to say 
whether it is a success or not. In my opinion, any 
law to be a success must have the support of the peo¬ 
ple. The Dispensary Law, it is true, has the support 
of practically all of the reformers, or three-fifths of 
the white men of the State ; but, on the other hand, 
it is bitterly opposed by the conservatives who have 
thrown everything possible in the way of its success. 
To give an idea of the difference of opinion that ex¬ 
ists in regard to the law, I will cite the case of one of 
our Methodist preachers. lie is one of the foremost 
men in the South Carolina Conference, and has always 
been an ardent Prohibitionist; yet, he is a strong ad¬ 
vocate of the Dispensary Law, and tried to get an 
official member of his church appointed dispenser 
in this county. Some of his brethren and colaborers 
for prohibition, have expressed the belief that he was 
losing his mind—they being so much opposed to the 
law, that they could not understand how any sane 
man who favored prohibition could tolerate the 
dispensary. 
The principal advantages claimed in favor of the 
dispensary are these : 1. Only chemically pure liquor 
is sold. This is probably true. The reformers say 
that it is the best liquor ever brought into the Sta,te, 
while the conservatives claim that it is not fit to 
drink. 2. Liquor is sold in not less than one-lialf 
pint packages, and is not allowed to be drank on the 
premises. This provision is a decided advantage in 
favor of the system. 3. The dispensaries are open 
only during the daytime. Closing the dispensaries 
at sunset, compels every one to buy in broad day¬ 
light, and no doubt saves many a young man who, 
after the stores close at night, would be attracted by 
the saloon. 4. No liquor is sold to minors or drunk¬ 
ards, every applicant being required to present “ a 
request to the county dispenser, printed or written 
in ink, dated of the true date, stating that he or she 
is of age, the residence of the signer, for whom or 
whose use the liquor is intended, the quantity and 
kind requested, and his or her true name.” If the 
applicant is not known to the dispenser, he must re¬ 
quire the indorsement of some reliable and trust¬ 
worthy person whom he does know. This is one of 
the best clauses in the law, but, unfortunately, very 
little attention is paid to it. The impression has 
gone abroad in the State (and no doubt it is a correct 
one) that the dispensaries are being run, not so much 
to further the cause of prohibition, as to make money 
for the State. Dispensers know that the State wants 
money, and that all dispensaries that do not make a 
profit for the State, will be closed. This makes them 
as anxious to sell liquor as ever a bar clerk was. 
I never had occasion to patronize a dispensary but 
once, and that time I called for what I wanted, and it 
was given me without signing any application what¬ 
ever, and I am sure the dispenser did not know me. At 
that time I saw a man who is known the county over as 
a notorious drunkard, buy liquor in the same manner 
as 1 did, and I am told that written requests are rarely 
required. The fifth advantage claimed for the system 
is that it will reduce drunkenness—the liquor being 
sold at a very high price for that purpose. The law 
has reduced drunkenness to some extent, but I shall 
never believe that that was the object of the authori¬ 
ties in putting on high prices. 
A short while ago, our Liquor Commissioner bought 
300 cases of “cocktail,” as there was a demand, he said, 
for that kind of drink from some parts of the State. 
I cannot understand how “ cocktails,” which encour¬ 
age the drinking habit by appealing to the sense of 
taste, and at the same time stimulating, can be intro¬ 
duced into a system that has for its prime object the 
discouragement of liquor drinking. 
The last claim is that it will be a source of great 
revenue to the State. I know very little about this, 
as the dispensary has never made a report that an 
ordinary citizen could understand. I know, however, 
that the $50,000 appropriated to start it, has never 
been paid back, and that taxes are getting higher 
every year. The Dispensary law, it seems to me, is a 
great improvement over the old barroom system, and 
I would not be willing to give it up for the former 
system; but it is far from what I would call a success. 
Jordan, S. C. c. R. s. 
CHEAP TELEPHONES AGAIN. 
Below we give some more facts about cheap tele¬ 
phones. We are surprised to learn how many of these 
devices are in use. They are good things, and we 
would like to see them connect all farmhouses in 
the land. 
The Annual Cost Was at Zero. 
In 1883, I connected my father’s residence with mine 
(the Black River running between them), a distance 
of 1,650 feet, by telephone, using No. 18 copper wire,, 
which, with two phones, cost $4.25 ; it will cost less 
now. I put up three poles, and suspended the wire 
myself in a half day. The effort was a perfect suc¬ 
cess. We could, and did sit in each other’s kitchens, 
and exchange thoughts and hold conversations at 
pleasure for years. The inquirer asks what the 
annual cost of keeping such a line in good order is— 
N(Ahing. h. g. h. 
Black River, N. Y. 
At a Cost of $25. 
There is a cheap telephone for sale, consisting sim¬ 
ply of a disk to which the wire is attached at each end. 
The price of the entire outfit with wire, etc., is $1, 
postpaid. The party at the other end of the wire is 
called up by tapping on the disk to which the wire is 
attached. We had such a telephone connecting our 
office and house, distance about 40 rods. The wire has 
to be nearly straight and quite tight. No doubt it 
would work a longer distance. I have in use now a 
better telephone, the wire of which may be run on an 
angle, or in any direction and be fastened to the glass 
or wire knob the same as any telephone wire. We 
use an ordinary inouth-piece the same as is used in 
the high-priced telephones. The patent on this has 
expired, and it is now manufactured and sold at a 
reasonable price. It consists of a gutta percha tube 
about as large as a whip socket, with a funnel-shaped 
opening, to which the mouth is applied when speak¬ 
ing, and which is placed to the ear when receiving a 
message. These instruments cost about $1 each. You 
can talk or hear as distinctly with them as with the 
telephones used in the large cities. The only diffi¬ 
culty is in calling up any one at the end of wire. For 
this purpose, we have another wire something like 
that previously used, on which we thump with a lead 
pencil or nail. The complete outfit with electric bells 
for calling up, costs about $25. c. a. green. 
THE PROSPECT 
Tiie last point from which strawberries in any 
quantity are received in this market—western New 
York, in and around Oswego County—began sending 
berries early in the week. They would have been 
sent a few days earlier, but prices have ruled so low 
here, that more was realized by sending them else¬ 
where. The quantity received from that quarter will 
not be so large as last year. Receipts of strawberries 
in this market this year have exceeded the demand, 
and prices have accordingly ruled low. Immense 
quantities have been received from Maryland, Dela¬ 
ware, New Jersey and nearby New York points, and 
these localities evidently send the most of their prod¬ 
uct to this market. During the past week some of 
the finest berries, in perfect condition, sold for as low 
as 5 to 6 cents per quart, about one-lialf the usual 
price for this quality. Inferior berries were sold for 
what they would bring, often hardly enough to pay 
transportation ; surely not enough to leave any margin 
of profit for the grower. The crop this year must be 
a disappointing one to the producers. Efforts are 
sometimes made to ship berries long distances to this 
market, but they are generally failures. The growers, 
so far as possible, should cultivate home markets, 
even though they do business on a much smaller scale. 
G 
It is wonderful how many people are suffering 
from catarrhal troubles. Most of these sufferers are 
content to seek relief in prose, but when one wishes 
to be particularly emphatic, he drops into poetry, as 
in this verse which recently reached us : 
Will you tell us, Mr. Carman, 
For the sake of all catarrh men, 
How to use bicarb, sodium and vaseline for the nose ? 
Do you mix the two together, 
And apply them with a feather ? 
Is it out or inside that it goes ? 
Please to tell us in your journal 
And if the cure’s eternal, 
Oh, in our prayers diurnal 
You shall e’er remembered be 
By an old subscriber in 
New 
Jer¬ 
sey. 
We won’t try to reply to this in poetry. The two sub¬ 
stances are not to be mixed together. The dry bicar¬ 
bonate of soda is snuffed into the nose as far up as it 
will go. Do not dissolve it in water, and then use it, 
but breathe it in just as you would snuff. Let it dis¬ 
solve inside the nose. Apply the vaseline by putting 
it on the little finger and pushing it up inside of the 
nostrils so that the inside of the nose is well smeared. 
The soda may be used three times a day, and enough 
of the vaseline to keep the nose from becoming dry. 
The dry bicarbonate of soda blown against the upper 
part of the throat—through the mouth—will help some 
forms of catarrh. But above all, breathe through the 
nose and lieep the mouth shut, even if you must use 
mechanical means to keep the nose open. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Tuehe is a big saving in time and labor in tlie use of those 
Holdfast corn binders over the old method of tying with straw. 
They are cheap, too. For particulars, address Tie Company, Box 
72, Unadilla, N. Y. 
S. S. Messingek & Son, Tatamy, Pa., make about as complete a 
variety of separators, sweep-powers, tread-powei’S, saw mills, 
feed cutters and farm implements in general, as any firm we 
know. Better send for their catalogue. Y»u are almost sure to 
find something described that you will want. 
A horhe-cart is about one of the handiest things on the farm. 
After you have had one for a while, and see how often you use it, 
and how convenient it is, you will wonder how you ever got along 
without it. Of course, you wish a good one. Hobson <ft Co., 4 
Stone Street, New York, make 12 styles, and they are all good. 
They will send descriptions on application. 
We suppose every reader of The R. N.-Y. knows the Hoover 
potato digger. Every one may not be able to use it on account of 
limit of acreage or condition of the soil ; but every potato gi-ower 
should know all about an implement that has done so much to 
economize the production of such a staple article as the potato. 
Send to Hoover, Prout <fe Co., Avery, O., for description. 
The intelligent wheat grower no longer needs any argument to 
convince him of the wisdom of using fei’tilizers. Whei’e can I get 
the most and best for my money ? is the question. Williams & 
Clark Fertilizer Co., New York, say that thei’e’s more real ferti¬ 
lizer to the cubic inch in their Americus brands than there is in 
some others to the cubic foot. They want agents, too. Write 
them. 
In most parts of the country, wire fencing of some kind is now 
the popular thing. Some fences are strong in some respects and 
not in othei’s. The manufacturers of the Keystone woven wire 
fence claim that no other combines so many points of merit for 
farm purposes as theirs. A postal card to the Keystone Woven 
Wire Fence Co., No. 49 Locust Street, Tremont, Ill., will bring you 
an illustrated catalogue telling all about it. 
Now is the time to be looking up wheat fertilizers. We are glad 
to see that wheat prices are going up. There is hope for better 
times with this grain, and whether it makes a big profit or not, 
the grass that follows it must be pi-ovided for. Good culture and 
suitable fertilizers must be provided for the wheat and grass. 
There are many plows, barrows and cultivatoi-s that will prepare 
the soil. For fertilizers, “ Bradley’s” will do the woi-k. The Brad¬ 
ley goods have a pedigree of long years of successful ci’op grow¬ 
ing. They are indorsed by thousands of practical farmers. Write 
to the Bradley Fertilizer Co., Boston, Mass., for particulars. 
