, , "' - ii .3 .r1 1 VOL 31 fj LICENSECOURT. f A LARGE ATTENDANCE. NEW LI- I UEN8ES GRANTED. THE APPLI- CATION OF FOWLER AND OIRTON .4 CONTINUED UNTIL MONDAY MORN- . I INO OF NEXT WEEK. A FULL I i ACCOUNT Of THE PROCEEDINGS f OF THE COURT. When license court opened Mon day morning it presented a scene seldom witnessed. The room was filled with spectators, among which were a large number of ladies who had been attracted there through vari ous reasons, principally among whom was to back np their remonstrance against the granting of a license to J. R. Fowler and J. L. Girton by their presence. The Court Stated " that this was the time fixed by the rules of Court for the hearing of applications for license, and that under the said rules it was required that the hearing be held in open Court." "Sec. 14 states that every application for a hotel, inn or restaurant license must be represented by an attorney, and all applicants for new houses must satisfy the Court by evidence, then produced, that the house is necessary for the accommodation of the public, and the entertainment of travelers." "Sec. 15 requires that any remonstrance against the granting of a license duly advertised, must be signed by some responsible person or persons, and filed with the clerk seven days before the first day of the term, setting out the objection to be urged against the granting of the license." The Court stated " that they had received sever al private letters requesting it not to grant license to certain parties. That he had received one last Saturday which had been mailed at Orangeville asking them to refuse licenses in the said place. That the said paper con tained the names of one hundred and eight persons, among whom were several ladies. The Court said "that the applicants for license were en titled to the seven days notice of remonstrances being filed against them. This gave them an opportun ity of preparing to meet it. 'Any other method of procedure would be unfair and contrary to law." The Court before reading over the applica tion notified the Counsel that they should inform the Court when a new one was called. The entire list was called over and it was discovered that the following new applications had been filed. Cole and Brown, Res taurant license at Coles Creek. To this there was no remonstrance filed. T. R. Fowler, Restaurant license in Bloomsburg, Remonstrance. Samuel Fecley, Hotel license at Rohrsburg, Remonstrance filed this morning. The Court stated that it had been filed too late unless they could show good cause why the same had not been filed at an earlier day. Mr. Miller who represented the remonstrance stated that the only reason he knew why it had not been filed earlier was because the parties did not under stand the law and thought that this was early enough. J. L. Girton Hotel, Bloomsburg, Remonstrance. Joseph Kalwich .Restaurant in Centralia. No remonstrance. John P. Loughlin Hotel in the first ward of the Borough of Centralia. No remonstrance, and Daniel Morris, Hotel in Catawissa township to which there was no remonstrance. There had been remonstrances filed against the applications of Benjamin Pennypacker and John R. Rhoades for Hotel licenses in Mifilinville but they were withdrawn. John Petranak withdrew his application for a restaur ant license in Centralia. The Court said that it was due to counsel that they should know that they had been in receipt of a large number of private communication. All such communi cations should be read in open Court, In some counties they are, and we don t know bat it is a good practice, It is improper information. We are to act on the evidence given in open Court. It would not be right to al low these private letters to influence our actions. Every one is supposed to tie innocent until he is proved guilty. When twelve persons certify that the applicant is a person of good moral character, and the place neces sary for the entertainment ot travelers, the Supreme Court has said that we must receive that as evidence and act on it, and grant the license on their certificate. When the Court knows noth'ng about the evidence they must act on the evidence of the twelve men who sign the certificate. It would be dangerous to take private information. It should be discourag ed. The Courts are open, and re- monstrators can be heard by self or counsel We will not make public these private communications this time but say thtit the practice must cease. A letter was received from ludee Murphy stating that he was sick and unable to be present, and that he was personally acquainted with all the new applicants from Centralia and that they were all highly respectable men. I he first case called was that of Joseph Kalwich, who applied for a restaurant license at Centralia. The applicant is a naturalized Pole and the interpreter of the court. the necessity for the nlace. and character of the applicant was vouch ed for by James Haggerty, Mr. Flynn, rreas y eager and others. 1 he application of Cole and Brown for Restaurant license at Coles Creek was supported by John Herrington, w. Uabb, Albert Cole, W. M. Hartman, E. T. Albertson and V. P. Hartman. The evidence substantially was that the house was necessary be cause there was no public house be tween Henton and Jamison City. That they were men of good moral character. The applicants who have also filed a petition for a distillers license stated that if they . secured this, they would withdraw the distillers application and agreed neither to keep, nor sell liquor at the distillery during the coming ytar. In the case of Samuel Feglcy who applied for a hotel license at Rohrs burg the necessity for the house was testified to by William Stackhouse, Augustus btadder, David Force, Har man Bright, and the good character of the applicant by Charles E. Randall, George Reifensnyder, O. D. L. Kos tenbauder and Adam Truckenmiller who testified that they had known him many years. That he had been in the hotel business at Catawissa and had conducted a good house. 1 he testimony on the applications of John P. Loughlin and Daniel Morris was substantially the same as given in the former cases and they together with all the other applicants excepting J. R. Fowler, J. L. Girton and Harvey Deiterich which were continued until Monday, were granted a license. The Court stated that these two applications would have to be heard by a full bench and the consideration of them was postponed until Monday January 27th 1896 at 9 o clock A. M. at which time it was to be hoped that Judge Murphy would be present. The application of William Kline for a hotel license at Benton was con tinued until Saturday, February 15th, owing to the hotel being burned. DESTROYED BY FIRE- Three Buildings Burned al Benton Early Friday Morning. It Looked As Though the Town Was Doomed. The citizens residing at Benton in the Northern part of this County were awakened from their sleep about 4:45 o'clock last Friday morning by hear ing the cry of Fire I Fire I Fire I and investigation proved that the Mc Heury house, a large two story frame building was in flames. The fire which is supposed to be of an incendiary origin.started at the back of the build ing and burned on the outside to the roof, before it broke through to the inside and was discovered. At this time the flames enveloped the build ing from the top to the bottom and it was apparent that it could not be saved, and the efforts of those present were directed toward saving the ad joining property and their contents. For nearly two hours they worked as only men can work when their whole town is threatened with destruction and only ceased their arduous labors when the fire was under control. A view of the burned district showed that in addition to the hotel and all its contents the two story frame house of Mrs. Olive Hess, a large three story building belonging to the estate of T. C. McIIenry deceased, and oc cupied by Max Mamelin as a clothing store, and O. E. Sutton as a con fectioner, was burned, and the house of William Appleman badly damaged by fire and water. The entire stock of clothing of Mr. Mamelin was de stroyed, as was also a pocket book containing sixty dollars. Some of the furniture of O. E. Sutton, and William Kline who leased the Mo Henry house, was saved, but badly damaged. The McIIenry house cost $7000 and was owned by J. B. Mc Henry, bhenlt. and the estate of T. C. McIIenry upon which there was an insurance of only $2000. The loss on the furniture which the Sheriff sold about one year ago will also fall upon him. The fire was so intense that the windows in the store of J. J. McIIeniy on the opposite side of the street were broken, and his goods damaged by water. Fortunately there was no wind blowing, and this saved the town from entire destruc tion. If you want to read all the news read the Columbian. BLOOMSBUKG, PA.. TUUliSDAY, JANUARY 23, BAPTIST CHUROH NOTES. Extracts From the Sermon of Rev. G. E. VVeoks Last Sunday Evening. Last Sunday evening as previously advertised the sermon of the pastor Rev. G. E. Weeks had reference to the license agitation there is in our midst. He commenced his discourse by saying " that he did not enjoy de parting from his custom of preaching a regular sermon and treating of this question, and he supposed that there were many in his membership, that did not approve of it, which account ed for their absence. Sometimes talks of this kind are necessary and that this was one of the times. He then proceeded to give some statistics in relation to the saloon showing how many murders are tracable directly to them. He spoke of saloon fights. How common the term saloon fight had become. We never hear of a dry goods store fight, or a grocery store fight, or a shoemaker shop fij;ht, but the term saloon fight we See every day in the newspapers. These places make men brutal and murderous. An instance was cited in this town of a woman who maintained the family by scrubbing while the husband laid around drunk. Respectable drinker as you call yourself, it will do the same thing for you. Will make your wife a scrub woman. The saloon business is as merciless as the. grave, and as cruel as a hyena. It will do it for you. The saloon proprietors arc de fiant of the law. It is a matter of rumor that they violate the law. They simply keep it when they are obliged to do so. We are paying Constables to see that the law is obeyed, but it is violated under their noses and they are quiet about it. The saloon is regarded as a nuisance even by those who support it. It is discriminated against by business men on business principles. Insurance Companies discriminate against it, as do also railroad companies. He paid considerable attention to the article which appeared in the Columbian of last week saying among other things that the object of the present movement was not general or aimless but particular. Two years ago it was against one place, last year, against a new place and against a man who had been a violaior of the law, and this year it is against the addition of two saloons. In regard to the effort being spasmodic, and that all the rest of the year we remained quiet I have this to say. The movement is spasmodic because the licenses are granted spasmodically. This is the only time of the year that licenses are granted, and hence it is the only time the question can be agitated. We agree with the Columbian that there should be an organization to, punish offenders. We say amen to that suggestion. It is just what I want. The merchants and doctors and lawyers should organize. If I was only sure that they were sincere in their article, that they mean what they say, that it is not another method of criticism. I wish I felt sure that they believe in organization." In refering to the publication 'of the names of the signers to the applica tions and the bondsmen he said " It is not a new thing. It ha3 been done in other places. It was not done to influence the Court or injure any one in their business. Will it injure their business? If it will, why did they sign them ? They never would have signed them if they thought it would injure them. It was not done to cast reflections on their personal character. So far as that goes they acted for themselves. The community has a right to know who is responsible for the saloons. The Court and lawyers are not responsible for them. Two men worth $2,000 must sign a bond and twelve reputable citizens must sign the application. They are a part of the business and the work. It is not right that the Couit should bear all the responsibility. The communi ty has a right to see that men do not lead double lives. The community should not be deceived. Some men have done what they would not like the community to know. The publi cation of these names will make it more difficult for saloon men to pro cure signers. The commotion over this thing shows that a wrong was being done. Even if we don't succeed it is doing something, and it is better to do something even if it is a mistake than to do nothing. The saloons are growing, and the churches are stand ing still. It was done to save the church and draw a sharper line of aistinctton between the church and the world. We must have a regenerate and pure church. There are six preachers in this town who believe in this movement. I am glad that none of my members signed these papers. The present work is to remonstrate against these two new places. Men will swear that they are necessary. They certainly don't know what an oath means when they do it me remonstrance is not as large as it should be. Many refrain from signing on account of injuring their business. We ought not to be afraid of injuring our business. This matter is overestimated." At the close of his discourse he requested that the members assist him in paying the portion which had been assessed to him, for the purpose of defraying the expenses incident to the move ment. We publish in this issue a synopsis of the discourse delivered by Rev. G. E. Weeks in the Baptist church last Sunday evening, giving him the full benefit of his comments on our article of last week on the license question. We have no controversy with Mr. Weeks, nor any other gentlemen con nected with the movement against licenses. We were not informed of the names of those who caused the publication of signers in the Uaij; and had no knowledge of the fact that the clergymen had caused it to be done. Our only information was that it was procured by somebody, and that it was paid for as an advertise ment. In our opinion, and we pre sume we may be permitted to have an opinion, even though Mr. Weeks questions its sincerity, and honesty the publication of these names, after all the harm had been done, accom plished no good results. If public notice had been given before any petitions had been signed, that the names of all petitioners and bonds men would be published, no one could have complained when they saw their names in print, and the results expected could have been reached this year, instead of waiting for them a year longer. If that opin ion is erroneous, we have not yet been convinced of it. In all reform move ments the pulpit and the press should join hands. They are the two most powerful influences in moulding public sentiment. But if the pulpit desires the co-operation of the press, it ought not to question its sincerity, even though they may differ as to methods. REV. WEEKS ON THE "LICENSE AGITATION." This communication was received after our report of his sermon was in type. Editor Columbian: Will you kindly permit me two re marks concerning last week's article on "The License Agitafion." First I claim that the present efforts are eminently right and wise, and that it is the moral duty of all good citizens to support them. The writer says concerning the question whether there is a necessity for any more licensed houses in Bloomsburg, that "the duty of informing the court upon the question is with thecitizens." Exactly. And that is just what the citizens are now doing concerning the two new licensed houses asked for in this town. Yet in the very next par agraph of the article, these same citi zens are chided for doing this. It is said that these efforts have been "over and over again, spasmodic." Certain ly, has not the court been "over and over again, spasmodic?" Have not the petitions for license been "over and over again, spasmodic?" The law certainly teaches, and common sense suggests that the time to agitate against new licenses, is when they are asked for and the court is in session. Does the writer want us to sign re monstrances next summer, and lay them on the court house steps when nobody is looking! The Judge distinctly said in court on Monday concerning new applica tions, that where necessity and good character is declaied, and nothing is presented on the other side, he has no discretion and the license must issue. He looks to us for information and if we are silent, he concludes that wc are all agreed. He concludes, he says he does, that if we do not speak we want more whiskey. That is the reason why we speak. That is the reason why there ought to be a far more intense agitation, and why all good citizens ought to be in it. The law clearly invites it, our own judge has this week clearly invited it, and the writer of last week is plainly wrong in trying to sooth us into silence. Second I am delighted with the suggestion that there should be organ ized effort for "the enforcement of the law as it stands." Just what is wanted. Let it come at once. I think I can promise our critic the co operation of the "spasmodic" workers for fifty-two weeks in every year. I know I can promise the support of at least six pastors in town from the 1896. Our RED LETTER SALE Every winter coat in our store at cost and near cost. word "go." Let the lawyers and doctors and editors and business men inaugurate the work. Let them take the offices. Let them dictate the policy. So long as it is an honest effort to make the saloon obey the law, there is a host of true men to stand behind the leaders, whoever they may be. Do it now. If, as you say, the saloon is beginning here, as it does wherever it dares, to show its teeth in defiance of the law, get your good hands upon its throat, citizens of Bloomsburg, and get them there quick, and let them rest there with no maiden's touch. I cordially invite the writer of the article of last week to organize such a movement as he advocates, or to see that it is done by others of "our leading business men." The criticism and the suggestion must have been sincere, and if so, it is certainly right to hope that this better way will be promptly tried by one who has publicly proposed it. The supporters of his plan are ready by scores. George E. Weeks. A spectacular production of great magnificence in gigantic proportions will be the attraction at the Opera House, Friday, Jan. 24th, when the famous "Black Crook" will be present ed. Replete with all the many cl'aracteristics of its successful New England tour of last spring. The engagement promises in every way to be the red letter event at the Opera House this season. The performance will introduce many clever entertain ers, the gorgeous ballets calling for the services of three premier dancers of European reputation, and an army of beautiful coryphees. One of the bright features is Louise Montrose as Carline, with her specialties. She made herself famous in the New York production of the "Black Crook." The visit of the "Black Crook" to this city will in all likelihood result in overflowing audiences, as it is seldom that an opportunity is afforded for seeing so magnificient a production. A rumor has been current on the streets since last Monday that Judge Metzgar of Williamsport will preside in court next Monday to dispose of the Bloomsburg contested license cases. This is not correct. Judge Ikeler will preside and will bear his full share of the responsibility in deciding the mattei. NO. 4 is now in full force. suit and over SPECIAL COURT PROCEEDINGS. Court met last Monday at 10 o'clock A. M., with President Judge Ikeler and Associate Millard on the bench. Upon petition, L. B. Koons and J. B. Blank were permitted to withdraw their names from the petition of Joel Morton, for a hotel license at Berwick. To this application Mr. Morton con sented. William A. Mauey was appointed guardian of Mattie A. Westbrook. Bond filed and approved. Sarah Cooper vs William H. Coop er. Libel in divorce. Subpoena awarded. Sheriff McHenry presented the fol lowing deeds which were acknowl edged in open Court. To Ellis Reece, for property of RachaeL, Eliz abeth and Anna Houck, in Hemlock township, consideration $100. B. D. Freas was appointed Trustee of the Northern Columbia and South ern Luzerne County Agricultural Association. Upon petition, the Locust Mount ain Coal and Iron Company were permitted to make roads in Conyng ham township. Commonwealth of Penn'a. to the use of C. G. Murphy vs C- H. Camp bell et al. Upon motion of Fred Ikeler Esq., atty. for the plaintiff, the praecipe and summons were allowed to be amended. Brewing Company vs Giger et al. The order permitting the defendant to take further testimony was contin ued thirty days. At the annual meeting of the stock holders of the Brass & Copper Work3 last week the following directors and officers were re elected to serve for the ensuing year : Directors L. S. Winiersteen, W. H. Brooke, M. I. Low, H. A. M'Killip, E. B. Brower, W. I). Beckley and W. B. Allen. President W. D. Beckley ; General Manager and Treasurer W. H. Brooke; Secretary H. A. M'Killip. The following letters are advertised Jan. 21, 1896. Ida C. Deaver, Mr. M. A. Girton, Mr. Nelson Hubbs, Mr. Wesley Hollenshead, J. E. Miller, Miss Susan Martin, Miss Anna Spettigue, Mr. Jas. A. Shaw, Rev. M. J. McBride. Will be sent to the dead letter office February 4. 1896. ,1
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