Chapter II: Hillsboro’, Ohio (2)

At the women’s meeting at four o’clock, Sabbath evening, there was a good attendance. Rhoda C. Worthington was called to act as president of the meeting. She came forward and said, “As the children of Israel did not see the Red Sea open before they came to it, nor the prophets see the waters of Jordan roll back until the soles of their feet touched the brim of the water, so it seems we must go forward in this work, trusting that a way will be made for us.” Rachel MacGregor and Lizzie C. Runyan were then called on to act as secretaries. Huldah C. Estes was elected leader, and Sarah S. Walker secretary of the field of labor, who was to make the report of our proceedings to the public mass-meetings at night.

At 10 A. M., sixty-three ladies, some of them the tearful wives of dissipated husbands, solemnly marched forth amid the peals of all the church-bells of the town, to visit the places where liquors were sold in Wilmington, and pray for and with the dealers, and implore them to desist from this work of destruction. Most of the men of the congregation remained, and engaged in prayer and supplication to God, that the great mission of the mothers, wives, and sisters of Wilmington might be successful.

One young man told his mother that he placed himself on a corner to see the fun as the women passed along, “but,” said he, “they all came weeping, and I wept, too.”

In the congregation, as we passed out, aged men bowed their heads, tears were seen to drop to the floor; none seemed to notice, or scarcely know, that others were weeping. The first place we entered was Brown Bro.’s drug store. A hymn was sung, three prayers were offered, and the pledge presented and signed, the druggist shedding tears while he signed. “Glory, hallelujah, our God is marching on,” was sung, and we passed out.

We made many visits before we obtained all the signatures of the dealers, continuing eight days in the work, our numbers increasing to more than one hundred women.

We then had four drug stores and nine saloons. During all the preliminary meetings, a number of persons who manifested a deep interest in all proceedings--men and women, too--were persons whose faces had not often been seen inside of church walls. But they tarried, not seeming to tire at the most lengthy exercises. There was a greater unanimity on the part of the different societies than had ever before been observable in any movement looking to the good of the general community. The feeling as the women filed out of the church, two by two, was of the intensest kind. It was no common errand on which they started, and their appearance on the streets awed to silence those whose hearts beat no responsive thrill.

From drug store to drug store, and from dram shop to dram shop, these brave women went during four hours and a half, daily, pleading, singing, and praying, in behalf of those who were engaged in the unholy traffic of rum-selling.

The meetings were continued in the church until the return of the women at half-past three in the afternoon, when, after a short time spent in consultation and devotional exercises, the meeting closed. At night the church was packed in every part. Extra seats had been procured, and the aisles and vestibule were filled to such an extent that egress was an impossibility. After a season spent in devotional exercises, the report of the work done by the women during the day was read by Sarah S. Walker, and was listened to with breathless attention.

The remainder of the evening was occupied in the transaction of business, speaking, singing, and prayer, and securing signatures to the total abstinence pledge. Some of these meetings were the most remarkable ever held in Wilmington, and their influence cannot be computed or gainsaid.

On other days the same procession of earnest, devoted women filed out of the church amid the ringing of bells, and the supplication and prayers of their fathers, husbands, and brothers, through snow and sleet; and when the procession returned to the church there was awaiting them a large meeting of men, to give them a prayerful reception.

The rain, sleet, and snow in an unusual degree kept on falling, but the meeting at the Friends’ meeting-house showed the indomitable purpose of the good people who were engaged in this work. At one of the many meetings the following appeal, having been prepared by the women engaged in the work of visitation, was read and adopted:

“Sisters--Feeling greatly encouraged at the results of yesterday’s work, and thanking God our Father, who giveth us the victory through Christ, our crucified but risen and glorified Redeemer, and feeling that, from the character of the men engaged in the liquor traffic, the amount of capital and financial interest employed in the same, and the silent yet powerful influence of many members of our community in backing up these men in their unholy calling, that we may have a long siege--therefore, let us call upon all our Christian brothers and sisters in the country surrounding Wilmington, to at once earnestly identify themselves with this great _Christian temperance movement_, by organizing, and placing themselves in communication with us, and thus be ready to help us in carrying forward the work.”

The Crusaders, as they went out on their mission of love, were urged forward by the prayers and tears of the active Christian community, and aided by the moral sentiment of very many who made no pretensions of religion. The unity of effort, fixedness of purpose, and hearty support given to the work procured entire success.

As the women were engaged all day in their work, arrangements were made for them to have lunch every day during this protracted effort.

Superintendent William Cole and Sheriff Hackny took the lead in this matter. It was announced each night, at the mass-meeting, where lunch would be given, and who would pay for it. A correspondent says: The saloon-keepers weakened in their efforts to stem the tide of public opinion. Several were ready to sell out and quit the business, but the women were not willing to buy. J. R. Hawley, a colored saloon-keeper, announced in the meeting that he was resolved to quit.

The ringing of all the bells in the town announced to the people that the lines were broken, and victory was only a question of time. The women were vigilant, and regardless of the weather, went bravely on with the work.

Half-way promises were made, but they desired a complete surrender. Thomas Young, a colored man, who had a saloon in Clarktown (a part of Wilmington, over the railroad), signed the pledge, amid the ringing of bells, and singing of songs of praise, that the outposts were surrendering.

It was resolved at this meeting, “That the business men be requested to close their houses between the hours of nine o’clock A. M., and three o’clock P. M., of the following day.” This was generally done, and the meeting held in the Friends’ meeting-house was largely attended during the day. The procession was larger than ever, and their influence correspondingly increased. Whenever they found a saloon closed against them, praying and singing was carried on in the street. From Main to South, and up and down South street, the procession moved as the ladies thought best for the accomplishment of the good work in which they were engaged. Mr. J. J. Stagg, of the Gates House, generously entertained the women in the procession; that day one hundred and thirty took dinner there. That day the last place we visited before dinner was the court-house, court being in session. We spent some time in religious service there, but some of the members of the bar made it convenient to be absent.

One day before that, just after we had taken lunch, we came out and stopped on the court-house steps, and Lizzie C. Runyan led in prayer. We afterward heard that a liquor case was just then being tried, that the court became demoralized for a time until we went away, and the lawyer who lost his suit accused his opponent of making an arrangement with us to go there; but we knew nothing of what was going on, and acted only under the impression of the moment, many of us not knowing we were going there until the one leading stopped.

At night the meeting was densely packed. At this meeting a plan of work was arranged for Saturday, somewhat different from the previous days; we divided into as many companies as there were saloons, having a few who could sing and some who would pray in each company.

Saturday’s meeting was held in the Baptist Church, and the procession, large and formidable in appearance, started out, and a regular detail went to each of the saloons to watch and pray. It was arranged that every fifteen minutes the church-bell would be rung, and each company would then pass on to the next saloon; that day our enemy became exasperated. Before they were rid of one company another would be seen coming. We soon became too earnest to hear the bell, but went on from place to place. When any one of the unfortunate fellows was discovered on the street, a delegation of earnest, devoted women would surround him, and escape seemed hopeless. Never before had our town witnessed such a scene. Men dry for drinks, who had come in expecting no trouble, wandered disconsolately about the streets, and went home at night-fall in a different condition from what had been their habit on previous Saturdays, and the bowls of egg-nog already mixed up for their use were still standing unmolested. They would see a company of us at one place and think these were the Crusaders, and they would go on hurriedly to another shop, perhaps enter the door before they perceived women were there, too; then some would very unconcernedly ask for a half-dozen apples or something else, and pass out. Through the vigilance of the women but little liquor was sold during the day, and at night all of the saloons were temporarily closed, and the chances were much against any open purchase of liquor. The week had been one of intense excitement and active work, and such an up-building of public sentiment as had never been manifested here before.

Union service was held at the Friends’ Church on Sabbath morning and evening. At the morning hour Rev. James Kendall preached one of his characteristic sermons, which was listened to attentively by as large an audience as could be packed into the house. The evening service was very good, made up of singing, praying, and general speaking.

Monday meetings were held at the M. E. Church. The attendance was prompt and the procession moved early, and took possession of the saloons. Men who had been brave all the week before, gave in and surrendered. Thomas Norton, Fred. Hineman, George Lauber, Henry Getz, Washington Champ, and Patrick Egan, gave up the business, and while they did not all sign the pledge, they all promised to quit. Norton and Hineman emptied their saloons.

As an episode of the day’s work, the capture of the Xenia ale-wagon and the frightened driver will long be remembered. He entered town and was replenishing saloons, while the attention of all were taken up by the pouring out of a half-barrel of gin, given up for that purpose.

G. Thomas Young had signed the pledge, and his liquors were poured into the gutter from the court-house pavement; some poor fellows drank from the gutter, taking it up with their hands; one ran up and caught some in his hat and drank it, although his hat was not a new one. The crowd dispersed: some went home, but most of the temperance women and men went to the M. E. Church.

When it was announced that the ale-wagon was in town and M. N. Hadley was beside it, it was soon overtaken by a vast crowd. A colored boy caught hold of the horses; the wagon was soon surrounded by the women; earnest prayer was offered, and just as we had a pledge written, to present to him, to sign, not to enter our place again on such an errand by day or by night, the city marshal told the boy to quit his hold of the bridle, and the driver lay whip to the horses and fled. We telegraphed to Salina, and they were ready to receive him by the time he arrived there.

The meeting that night was a joyful one, and the work was reported in a much more forward condition than any one could have expected. Thursday found all ready for work, and there being a suspicion that the saloon of Conners had been open during the night, a delegation met early and was ready to take possession, as soon as it was opened for business. The meeting was held in the Baptist Church, and the procession came out promptly. During the day Edward Conners and Alice Bourke signed the pledge, thus closing all the drinking-saloons or places in the town. The men engaged in the work not feeling entirely satisfied with the fulfilment of some of the pledges, kept a watch.

All the saloon-keepers signed the pledge except Norton and Getz, and they both closed under the promise not to sell again. Norton finally sold out at auction, and poured out his beer and turned himself into the street.

Many individuals who worked without ceasing during this effort we would gladly mention by name, but not having room for all, we do not desire to discriminate. The work encouraged all good citizens, and a brotherly feeling has been wonderfully developed among the different churches.

It was estimated from freight books, that during the six months beginning with July 1st, and ending December 31st, 1873, that the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars was spent in this place for liquors.

The above will give our readers some idea of the immense injury which our town has suffered from the sale of intoxicating liquors; over one hundred and forty dollars a day.

After the closing up of the saloons, the people on the streets were universally sober, and in marked contrast to former times. We are informed by one whose duty it is to extinguish the street-lamps, that there is a wonderful change in the order on the streets since the closing of the saloons. Previously, disorder and drunkenness was the rule night after night, but now he will go around the town without any sign of disturbance.

The Lebanon _Star_ says, “In Wilmington, Clinton county, there were, a week ago, we are told, twelve saloons. On last Monday night there was but one remaining. The women did it. No suits were brought; but as we understand it, they just talked and sung and prayed, and the hearts of the liquor-sellers (many of them have hearts) gave way, and they quit the business. As the walls of Jericho fell at the sound of rams’ horns, so will the liquor traffic vanish in the presence of a healthy public sentiment properly manifested.”

RESOLUTION OF THANKS.

The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the women, at the last meeting held by them at the close of their arduous labors in putting down the liquor traffic in our town. It is a resolution which fully explains itself, and we give it without further comment:

_Resolved_, That we return our sincere thanks to our Heavenly Father for putting kindness into the hearts of the pastors, and so many of the brethren of all denominations amongst us, together with our friend, M. Rombach, and those who claim alliance with no church organization, to so cordially co-operate with, and encourage us in the performance of the duties of the last few days by their prayers and sympathy; also, kind attention in the bountiful provision for the sustenance of our bodies, and care for our comfort and convenience by improving street-crossings, etc. And again we will thank him for the silent breathing of “God speed the work,” which we felt was with many of our citizens and neighbors who had no opportunity to manifest their interest and co-operation therein, and in humility we desire to thank and praise his holy name for causing the saloon-keepers with whom we have labored, to treat us with such profound respect and gentility. And last, but not least, we most devoutly thank him that he has enabled us to work thus lovingly together, until the language of our hearts is, “Truly is it the Lord’s doing, and marvellous in our eyes.”

On behalf of the women of Wilmington and vicinity.

R. C. WORTHINGTON, President.

There were many women who attended our league-meetings regularly, who never went on the street as Crusaders. When we would start out they would go home, or remain at the prayer-meeting.

These were led by ministers: W. E. Prichard, S. H. Bingham, Wm. Runyan, and Friends.

A relief committee was appointed, consisting of both men and women, which did much to relieve the poor of our town. The children of the public schools were invited to come out.

We taught them the following pledge:

A pledge we make, no Wine to take,
Or Brandy red, to turn the head;
Or Whiskey hot, to make the sot;
Or fiery Rum, that ruins home;
Nor will we sin, by drinking Gin;
Hard Cider, too, will never do;
Or brewers’ Beer, the heart to cheer.
To quench our thirst, we’ll always bring
Cold Water, from the well, or spring.
Also, from Tobacco’s use we plead excuse;
The filth and scent thus we prevent,
That does accrue from Snuff and Chew;
And Smoke, we abhor, from Pipe or Cigar.
To this Pledge we live, for the joy it will give
To Fathers and Mothers, our neighbors, and others.

Wilmington, Clinton county, Ohio.

Some of the saloons were open, but claimed to be selling cider only. One had protested that he did not sell whiskey, and tried hard to convince us of the fact. His door opened into an alley. The children stopped before his front window, and began repeating the pledge; he raised the window, put his head out, and said, in an impatient voice, and with an Irish brogue, “What are ye all a doing here?” The children all turned their sober little faces toward him, repeating on. What he heard was just the line,

“Or Whiskey hot, to make the sot;”

when down went the window. It was very amusing, but none laughed at the time.

One place we visited was a livery-stable, where many had been seen drinking and drunk. The keeper was greatly incensed to think we had stopped on his pavement--talked rather roughly; said, “If we came there just once more, he would sell out, and set up in the liquor business, and would show us he could sell if he wanted too.” This was all the rough language we had spoken to us, except by one druggist, who was so thrown off his dignity to think we dared go to him; he asked us to sign a pledge that we would not steal anymore, then he would sign ours; many of them answered him they would, but he did not present any: but we found afterward that John Deck, the livery-man, perhaps would have been elected our marshal had it not been for the way he talked to us. How glad we were then that we suffered, that the right man might be elected; some men said they expected to have voted for him, but would not because he talked so roughly to us.

Mary N. Hadley, a minister in the Society of Friends, may be said to have been one of our most indefatigable private, as well as public, laborers at home and abroad; while we have many whose faith and untiring zeal and energy are worthy of a record, although their share of the work was done in so quiet a way, that eternity alone will recognize it all, and give it its due reward of honor and praise.

Lizzie C. Runyan, wife of the minister of the M. E. Church, was, after she fully entered the work, most gifted in prayer and public speaking.

Some time after we had quit all visiting of the dealers, either by committees or otherwise, on the day of the spring election we met in the M. E. Church, and continued most of the day in the capacity of a prayer-meeting. The mayor, marshal and councilmen we desired were elected, and served their time out faithfully.

In the beginning we felt ourselves, as it were, thrust into the work by our Allwise Father, for we were allowed no time to consult as to qualifications, or convenience, or scarcely of how to proceed until we found ourselves in the work. Truly can we say: “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” One of the most striking features of it to us, and one which plainly shows the hand of Deity, is, that it is not those who have suffered most directly, or are most likely to suffer thus, from the evils of strong drink, who are first to enter the field. As God sent his own Son to give his life a ransom for his fallen children, even now he calleth those who profess to be his followers to exercise in their measure (though too small to bear comparison) the same spirit of unselfish love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” While we look upon the incomplete condition of our work in this place, we are not discouraged; we can say, hitherto the Lord hath helped us, and in his own time he will again visibly move onward.

Wilmington was the third town to enter the Crusade, and the first to cry Victory! and we felt the reaction as deep and sore as any.

NEW VIENNA, OHIO.

The Crusade fire which came down like an electric cloud upon Hillsboro’ and Washington Court-House, Ohio, spread rapidly from town to town.

New Vienna, a small railroad village, was one among the first to become conspicuous, because of the wickedness of one of its liquor-dealers, and the persistent faith of the women engaged in the work.

The last saloon to surrender was the “Dead Fall,” kept by John Calvin Van Pelt. The building was a miserable one-story frame structure near the railroad depot, and Van Pelt had the reputation of being “the wickedest man in Ohio.” In appearance he looked like a prize-fighter, and in behavior he acted like one possessed of devils.

The very first visit of the ladies enraged Van Pelt beyond anything they had ever seen. In his fury, he threatened that if they came to his saloon again, he would “hang, draw, and quarter them every one.” And he looked bloodthirsty enough to undertake any murderous deed.

But, fortunately, these women were imbued with a heroism that comes from above, and had a faith that would not shrink in the presence of bodily peril. And the next day about fifty of them marched down to the “Dead Fall,” as though no threat had ever been made against them.

Van Pelt had made special preparations for them. In one of his show-windows an axe besmeared with blood was placed; in the other an unusually fine display of whiskey-bottles; over the door jugs and bottles were hung, and a black flag conspicuously surmounted all; while within doors, Van Pelt could be seen walking the floor and flourishing a club at invisible foes. Now this was all very consistent--whiskey, a _rowdy_ to serve it; the black flag and the axe, the symbols of the trade.

The sight of the flag and the axe, nor even the hostile demonstrations of Van Pelt, deterred the women; they moved right on without halting, or a quiver of fear, under the black flag of piracy and death, into the very presence of the man with the axe and club.

Van Pelt stood back in amazement, and the women began to sing and pray. A great crowd had gathered in the street about the saloon, but, notwithstanding their presence, while the ladies were at prayer, and one of them was earnestly praying for him that he might be baptized with the Holy Ghost, with a horrid oath he said, “_I’ll baptize you!_” and commenced dashing buckets of dirty water over them.

The crowd of men were enraged and threatened him, but the ladies plead that he might not be punished. But some of the fathers and husbands of the women who had been drenched with beer and dirty water had him arrested, and for a week he had time for reflection in the quiet of the jail. He came forth, however, more bitter and furious than ever.

He had the audacity to go to the Friends’ Church, where the ladies were holding a meeting, and try to engage them in a public controversy.

“Why did the Lord put the stimulant in the corn and grape if it was not for the use of man?” he shouted, furiously. His question betrayed his ignorance, and they might have answered him that the Lord did not put it there, but that it came only with decay and rottenness, but instead, they sang:

“My soul be on thy guard,
Ten thousand foes arise,
And host of sins are pressing hard
To draw thee from the skies;”

and prayed for him especially.

On the 26th of January, when the ladies visited the saloon, he met them at the door, and told them they might come in and hold a prayer-meeting on condition that he would be allowed to make every other prayer. The women were amazed, but consented, and the prayer-meeting began. A lady was the first to pray, and she was followed by a long, blasphemous harangue by Van Pelt.

“He asked the Lord to have mercy on the women, whom he classed with the brutes, and to teach them wisdom and understanding. Woman, he said, first caused man to sin, and there was great need of prayer in their behalf. He said the Lord opened the first distillery, and made the first wine, and that he was following the example of the Lord, and other like words of blasphemy.” The women, although filled with amazement, prayed on, until Van Pelt had made three long blasphemous prayers. They looked to see him struck dumb by the divine power, but God is merciful and long-suffering, and one week from that day he surrendered.

He had given some intimation that he would surrender at two o’clock. Boys ran through the streets ringing hand-bells, and crying at the top of their voices, “Everybody meet at Van Pelt’s saloon at two o’clock, and hear his decision.”

There was a general gathering of the people, who closed up their stores and shops and rushed to the saloon. When the ladies arrived, Van Pelt presented himself, and with a good deal of feeling said, “I do not yield to law or force, but to the women, who have labored in love.”

Then ordering the men to stand back, he rolled out his stock of liquors, and taking the axe besmeared with blood, with which he had tried to terrify the women, he knocked in the head of every cask, and sent the contents gurgling down the gutter.

Then drawing himself up to his full height, he said, most solemnly, “Ladies, I now promise you to never sell or drink another drop of whiskey as long as I live, and also promise to work with you in the cause with as much zeal as I have worked against you.”

He also remarked that he hoped the women of the United States would never cease until every drop of whiskey was emptied upon the ground, as his was.

Just then the train from Cincinnati arrived. The crowd set up a deafening cheer. A photographist caught the scene, and preserved it to posterity. The women gathered around Van Pelt, shaking his hands, and congratulating him, and the glad news spread through the town, creating great excitement.

The doxology was sung, and all the bells of the town were rung in honor of the occasion. That evening Van Pelt spoke at a mass-meeting and confessed his wickedness, and denounced the business. He referred to his saloon as a low doggery, saying, “Yes, I’ll call it a low doggery, for no man can keep a high one.” He had often taken the last ten cents from a man for whiskey when he knew that the money had been earned by his wife or child. Every man who sells whiskey does this. Little faces thus robbed had often appealed to his heart with greater force than any words of man. He was now determined to quit this business forever, and throw his strength on the other side of the question.

Thus New Vienna was cleared of grog-shops.

KENTON, OHIO.

The Crusade work began early in January. The town was canvassed, and a large number of personal pledges obtained, and by the 2d February ten saloons had surrendered, and two were closed by law.

General Robinson, during the work, made a most eloquent and impressive address, showing up the whiskey-ring in a way that made them instantly quail.

GALLIPOLIS, OHIO.

This town was settled by the French, in 1790, and from that day on whiskey flowed freely.

Early in January, the women commenced Crusade work, and by March 2d, three saloon-keepers had yielded. Mr. Crowley allowed them to take down his sign and empty his whiskey into the gutter. Three hundred habitual drunkards signed the pledge. All sects and parties united in the great reform; and at the annual election a majority in favor of a prohibitory ordinance was secured, and five out of six of the seats in the council, and all the school board, and most of the minor offices were filled by temperance men.

The result was, that sixteen saloons closed, and _the police-officers reported crime lessened nine-tenths_.

GREENFIELD, OHIO.

The secretary gives the following statement of work:

Our league began the work January 12th, 1874, and continued until the latter part of March.

For nearly three months we visited saloons almost every day. At the end of that time there was _but one_ saloonist who had not made some concessions to us; and, except by the drug stores, and this one saloon, there was no liquor sold in our town.

Few of these, however, had signed the pledge, but from outside pressure abandoned it for the time being.

RESULTS.

How we in our weak human nature love to _see the results_ of our work for Jesus!

To-day, three years and a half after, we find four of the fifteen places where liquor was sold have kept their pledges; a number of moderate drinkers reformed have stood fast. But the greatest and grandest result is that of the change of public sentiment. Four years ago a temperance lecturer, of no mean ability, could scarcely find a respectable sized audience to listen to him; but at any time since the Woman’s Crusade the simple announcement of a temperance mass-meeting would insure a crowded hall. Our League in all these years has still prayed that in some way God would carry on the work. One earnest petition was that God would raise up some _one in our midst_ who would be a “sharp arrow,” and last May, God answered our prayer, and Senator Dickey came over from the ranks of King Alcohol, and from under the power of sin, into the temperance army and into the fold of Christ. _This man_ inaugurated the Murphy movement in Greenfield, which we feel to be the outgrowth of the Woman’s Crusade. Many who have always scoffed at the Crusade now refer to it with the deepest respect, and acknowledge it to have been a fore-runner of this great thing which _we know_ is also of the Lord. I want to add that our ladies were always kindly treated by the saloonists; we have no thrilling experiences to tell or hair-breadth escapes to relate; also that the gentlemen “held the rope” _always_.

When we met at the church to start to work, they met with us, and while we went to the saloons they prayed, or rather had all-day prayer-meetings, often expressing their sympathy by ringing the bell.

Then, too, we had messenger boys, who would carry little notes from the league to the church, reporting various stages of the work to our brothers at the church. At the close of the day we returned to the church to sing, perhaps, “One more day’s work for Jesus,” before we went to our homes.

Clinton, the worst man engaged in the business, whose place was named “The Den of Iniquity,” said, after his surrender, “I thought I had sand enough in my craw to stand anything; but the prayers of these women did stir me up; they were enough to sink a wooden man.” Thirteen saloons in all were closed.

FRANKLIN, OHIO.

There were six saloons in this village, when the Crusade commenced, January 21st. Webber, a German saloon-keeper, sent for a brass band to drown the voices of the praying women, but prayer and tears silenced the band, and they fled from the field, and Webber himself signed the dealer’s pledge and gave up the business.

Five thousand dollars were raised to keep saloons out of the town, and a library and social hall established, and eighteen hundred dollars raised to purchase books, and to pay the rent of the hall. The rent of the hall was prepaid for twenty years.

MORROW, OHIO.

The ladies of Morrow commenced the street work, January 26th, to encounter seventeen drinking-places, fourteen of which were regular saloons.

They labored unceasingly till all but two insignificant doggeries were closed; these held out persistently.

A correspondent of a Cincinnati paper gives the following account of the town, which had been blasted by rum:

“Population, eleven hundred; drinking-places, fifteen; increase of population in ten years, two hundred persons; increase of municipal taxation, one hundred and thirty per cent.; decline in business reported at twenty-five per cent.; manufactures nothing, and no increase in the value of property; eighteen vacant dwelling-houses, and numbers of the best citizens removed. Such are the facts given me by the ‘old and reliable.’ Verily it was time for the law or the gospel to do something. The place has a beautiful and romantic site. They have three railroads, and expect connection soon with a trunk line to the East. On one side is the river, and on the other the beautiful hill, with hundreds of sites for palatial residences. In the neighborhood is good fishing and hunting, and all around is scenery unsurpassed in the State of Ohio. Apparently this is just the place for a favorite summer resort.

“Twenty-five years ago Morrow had aspirations. There were, and are, unsurpassed facilities for manufacturing--still unimproved. Three large hotels at that time were filled most of the summer with families and visitors from Cincinnati. The society was good; church, school, and lyceum were thoroughly organized; and besides the manufacturing interests which were being established, the place expected to become a city of elegant retired country-seats. Somehow the saloons got the start, the manufacturers took the alarm, the expected good families did not come, and many that were here moved away. If the place has improved in twenty years, that fact is not apparent to the naked eye. Still there are many good families in Morrow. They have borne the demoralization and tyranny of the whiskey power until it has become a question of life and death with them; and they have entered on this struggle in the spirit in which patriots fight for their homes, feeling that unless they conquer, they must emigrate. It is not a question of philanthropy alone, and other people’s good, here, as in some places: they must conquer or die.”

Wilmington, a neighboring town, had been cleared of the traffic, and Mrs. Runyan, the wife of a Methodist minister, and Mrs. Hadley, a Quakeress, went over from that place to Morrow to aid their sisters in the Crusade. There was great enthusiasm; over fifty ladies rallied around them, and the work commenced in earnest.

There were many hard cases among the saloon-keepers. Looskins threatened to shoot the first woman that crossed his threshold.

A notice was posted up conspicuously in Opes’ and Goepper’s saloon, “No singing and praying women allowed here.” Martin Fath brought out his sewing machine and ran it violently during their stay. Some of the saloons locked their doors.

Henry Scheide, who was a young man of some culture, and kept the most respectable saloon in the place, proved to be one of the hardest cases.

A Cincinnati reporter gives us the following sample of Scheide’s rambling talk:

“We’ll worry ’em some, though I’m the only one that lets the ladies in. It don’t bother me much; they only sing and pray, and slay about half an hour. I’ll open every time they come, shutting doors on nobody. There’s no rowdies come into this place. Those ladies don’t understand it: they have a foolish prejudice about this business. Now I can run this establishment just as nice as a dry goods store, and I do.... O, if they’d stay all day, I’d soon stop that. This is my business, and I won’t let anybody interfere with it. There’s a State law against selling by the drink, but nobody pays any attention to it. We run that risk. No man but a low sneak, who has a spite against you, will drink in your house, and then go and make complaint against you. The council won’t make any order here. They’re men of too much sense. I tell you a town must have a decent saloon, or it won’t prosper. All the farmers nearly in the country, when they go to sell their grain or buy goods, are going where they can get a dram. They will have their beer or ale. Stop the sale here, and two-thirds of our travel leaves us. Maybe, though, if no town had saloons, it might make it even; but the others will have them.

“Women get along in all these towns because they have no opposition. Mayor and officers and lawyers are all with them, because it was a new thing. But here we’ve got some rights. Our lawyers are with us. It’s politics that’s really at the bottom of this thing. It’s been tried here.”

I glean the following facts from the writings of T. A. H. Brown, in “Fifty Years’ History of the Temperance Cause.”

On the 17th of February, Henry Scheide went before Judge Gilmore, of Eaton, with the following petition:

“The said Henry Scheide, plaintiff, prays that each and every one of the said defendants, individually, jointly, and collectively, be restrained, prohibited, and enjoined from molesting, disturbing, or hindering the said Henry Scheide in the prosecuting and conducting his said business, upon any pretence or pretext whatever, and invading, or meeting in or about his premises, to obstruct his said business; and also prays judgment against all of said defendants for the sum of one thousand dollars, and prays for all other proper relief in the premises.”

The said defendants were--

Mrs. E. R. Grim,
Frank Forshnell,
Geo. W. Davis,
John Hanford,
Oscar T. Hanford,
B. F. Wilson,
H. J. Coffeen,
Josiah Fairchild,
Porter Corson,
Jas. H. Jeffery,
W. P. Hanford,
J. T. Welch,

and one hundred and four other ladies and gentlemen, among whom were Dio Lewis and Van Pelt.

The trial came off at Lebanon, the 28th of February. It was a great day in Lebanon. The whole town of Morrow came over. A public dinner was given by the Lebanon ladies to their persecuted sisters. Forty of the defendants marched to the court-house in solemn procession. Every inch of space in the building was packed full.

After noticing the first two points at length, the judge decides on the third point of the case as follows: Judge Smith presiding. “But there is another ground, which, in my judgment, effectually disposes of this motion. That is third, viz.: That the allegations of the petition are not true. He alleges that he kept a house where he conducted business according to law. From the nature of the case, the character of this business in this respect is directly in issue, and from the proof it is perfectly clear to my mind that instead of this it was a place where intoxicating liquors were habitually sold, in violation of the laws of the State, and where gambling was constantly being carried on.

“Such a place as this our statute expressly declares to be a public nuisance, and which being shown in a proper case would have to be ordered by the court to be shut up. Now, the doctrine is perfectly well settled that a nuisance, either public or private, may be abated even by force, so no breach of the peace is committed. Surely, then, the means used here, with the view of abating this nuisance, were not unlawful or in derogation of the rights of the plaintiff; for, as the keeper of such an establishment, the maintainer of a public nuisance, and a gambling-house, he can have no standing in a court of equity, when he asks to be protected in his unlawful and criminal business. The injunction will be dissolved at plaintiff’s costs.”

Thus the women triumphed in the only injunction case of the Crusade that was decided on its merits. There was great rejoicing at Morrow. A correspondent, writing from there under the inspiration of the good news, gives the following graphic description of the scene:

“As I write, the band is playing and marching through our streets, followed by an immense throng of men, women, and children, shouting and rejoicing. Every church-bell, school-bell, etc., in town is ringing, and two or three locomotives are creating a terrible noise, whistling and ringing their bells. In fact, the entire town is wild with excitement. Hundreds of country people, hearing the noise of the bells and general tumult, are flocking to town from all quarters, many thinking the village was in flames. An immense meeting is now in progress at the Presbyterian Church, in addition to the immense throng upon our streets. Speeches are being made, and cheer upon cheer is rending the air. Morrow never had such an awakening, everybody being happy except the lawyers who defended Scheide, and four or five saloon patrons.”

It was too much for Scheide. He shut up his establishment, and left the town; and thus ends the history of the “only respectable saloon in Morrow.”

The women were out every day, in constantly increasing numbers. Enthusiastic mass-meetings were held every night. Almost every man, woman, and child in the vicinity, not engaged in the liquor business, signed the total abstinence pledge. One after another the saloon-keepers gathered their traps about them and silently stole away, until the number was reduced to three or four.

One of these was Max Goepper, a brother of the wealthy Cincinnati brewer, who kept a low place close by the depot. To this the women devoted their attention, and passengers on the Little Miami trains might see them at almost any hour, from six in the morning until ten at night, kneeling on the steps before the door with their piteous faces upturned, and pleading with the Almighty to have mercy upon that saloon-keeper, and change his heart. Just within the door stood Goepper, with a cigar in his mouth and a sardonic grin on his face, winking at the train men, or at some old customer whom he saw in the crowd. In the window hung a caricature of a dead man being carried off on a bier, and underneath the inscription, “This man was prayed to death.” It was a sight that brought tears to the eyes of many a traveller, at the same time that it provoked a smile.

At last, on a morning early in March, the ladies came as usual, and found only the empty shell of the old shanty. Goepper and his effects had disappeared. The bells were rung loud and long, and the patient and persistent workers wept for joy. It was one of the most signal victories of the campaign.

OXFORD, OHIO.

Oxford, with a population of 1,800, had twelve saloons. The women commenced Crusade work January 31st, 1874, and by the 27th of March every saloon was closed but one.

One noble woman, Mrs. Sheard, over seventy years of age, put out her washing before daylight on that morning, so that with home work all done, she might be able to go with the Crusade band into the streets; other ladies were equally energetic and determined.

Wertz and Barraclough, after closing their saloon, sold out their fixtures at auction.

The wealthier citizens purchased them, and presented them to the ladies as mementos. Glasses brought as high as $1.50, and other things in proportion.

March 31st, the last saloon-keeper, Mr. Taylor, signed the pledge. Thus in just two months of prayer and effort every saloon in the town was closed. A jubilee festival was held, to which the saloon-keepers and their families were invited.

During the Crusade, out of a population of 1,800, 1,200 signed the pledge.

McARTHUR, OHIO.

McArthur is the county-seat of Vinton county; has a population of 800. At the commencement of the Crusade five saloons were in full blast; four of them were closed in one week.

One of the worst places was a gambling and faro-bank. A correspondent gives us the following graphic account of the closing of this den:

Fifty women singing and praying in a faro-bank is calculated to cause quite an interest in almost any place, and especially in our usually unaccustomed-to-excitement village. The rooms were crowded to overflowing by curious and interested spectators. The proprietor had boasted that the ‘praying band’ had not enough ‘religion’ and too little ‘faith’ to visit him, and even threatened violence should such an action be attempted. After the conclusion of the evening services at the churches, the ladies formed in line of march, accompanied by the marshal and one or two others, in case their services were needed in an emergency, and the attack was made. They were received without opposition. Crowds followed, the rooms were filled, and a large number remained below on the sidewalk. Singing and prayer were held for about an hour, when the band took their leave, thanking the proprietor for his courtesy, and he in turn requesting them to return; but this they had not the opportunity of doing. The next day he closed his establishment, sold his tables and chairs, and decamped, saying that being prayed out of town was a new experience to him, and that he had best leave.

GEORGETOWN, OHIO.

This is an old aristocratic town; like Hillsboro’, many of the early settlers were from Virginia or Kentucky, and had the same ideas of hospitality.

My earliest recollections of Georgetown are of its splendid monthly balls, and the fashion and gayety of the people who attended them, coming many of them from long distances.

The inhabitants suffered terribly from the drink ravages, and yet drinking was deemed respectable.

The Crusade commenced late in January, and on February 28th the last saloon closed.

We give the following incidents of the Crusade from a correspondent:

“One man, on being approached by the ladies, had nerved himself for the shock with the electrifying fluid of his own establishment. By his side sat a glass half full, ready to be swallowed as soon as the burning effects of the first had cooled. When asked if he would quit selling liquor, his response was, suggested, no doubt, by the inward burning: ‘No! not till h--l freezes over.’ Since then the wicked of this community, before whom the lake of fire has been a dreadful reality, have had great occasion to rejoice.

“At the second place visited, the proprietor, fearing the prayers of the ladies would annihilate his stock, had it rolled out on the sidewalk and labelled ‘Cincinnati.’ He told them, in answer to inquiry respecting the cessation of his business, that they might report him closed. This, however, was only a dodge to evade the pressure of this movement. He afterwards closed, however, and allowed his liquors to be emptied in the street.

“The proprietor of another saloon wept during the first visit of the ladies; said he was a Christian man; could not quit the business at present, as he had bought property, and his word was out to pay for it; said also that he could not let his wife and children suffer for food and clothing. He gave a written pledge, however, that he would never sell another drop of intoxicating liquor after the present was gone.

“Judging from the professions of the next man, we would classify him with an ancient order of people. ‘He is not as other people; he prays twice a day; was foreordained from all eternity to sell liquor; considers it no more harm than to sell calico.’ A few days afterwards, we thought his Calvinism knocked end-ways, as he solemnly pledged the temperance people he would never sell again. But nickels were too tempting. The next day he was discovered selling. Had this not been a ruse to secure the intercessions of the ladies before the court in his behalf, his return to his foul business would have verified the old proverb. He persists that there was a mistake in his promise; that it embraced a condition. We are happy to record he has since closed up unconditionally.

“At another place, the proprietor said as he was a law-abiding citizen, and sold only according to law, that he would lose every drop of blood in his body before he would give up the business. This was severe on the ladies. Until then they had not perceived they were warring against legitimate business. But the next day, on learning that some one had indicted all of these _law-abiding men_ before the grand jury, their conscientious scruples vanished. At this place, too, temperance triumphed and no blood was shed.”

WHO ARE THESE WOMEN?

In all adjacent towns, the wildest rumors are afloat as to who the praying women are. Some say they are strangers sent here to do this work. Those not in sympathy with us say they are from the lower strata of society, and that among them are women of questionable character. Let the liquor-dealers of Georgetown be asked, and, if men of veracity, they will say they are the women of Georgetown, and the very best of its female inhabitants. They are the wives and daughters of the ministers, bankers, judges, lawyers, merchants and mechanics of this place.

LOGAN, OHIO.

The following was reported by Mrs. John Walker:

“Logan, the county-seat of Hocking, with two thousand inhabitants, contained, before the Crusade, eighteen saloons, most of them doing a profitable business. Much of the wealth of the town was in the hands of prominent liquor-sellers, and men in other business quailed before them. Our lawyers and office-holders, with scarcely an exception, were in their interests. But God had a chosen few who caught the inspiration of the Crusade.

“It is a remarkable fact that several towns took up the work simultaneously, and, with but little knowledge of what the others were doing, worked substantially in the same manner, as we found in comparing notes afterwards.

“We were, as we supposed, the fifth town in point of succession, but found that other towns had commenced at the same time. We felt the magnitude of our work, for many of these liquor-dealers were our neighbors and friends--some of them the magnates of our town.

“And I speak what I know of our women, when I repel the accusation since made against the Crusade, that one element in its work was a spirit of persecution. So far as our work was concerned, all bitterness was laid aside. We felt called to work for the Master, and with as much of his spirit as possible. Our meetings were solemn; our processions well ordered; our work determined and telling; for God seemed to come so near to us that we touched his guiding hand. No woman among us, who entered into the spirit of it, doubts for a moment the Almighty guidance. I can never describe my own feelings as the leader of it. I seemed under a mighty inspiration, so calm, so peaceful, so fearless, so trustful, and with remarkably clear views of God’s truth, so that I would select passages for public reading without hesitation. I received threatening letters. My husband was advised to compel me to stay at home, as I would ruin his business (banking, which was never harmed).

“Country people flocked into our town and were amazed; there was so much power in the work--power from on high. It was a spiritual phenomenon, unexplainable, even to ourselves. ‘How our hearts burned as we talked of Him by the way!’