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W THE REASON
THE REASON COMPANY Y . . „ no SINGLE COPY K- 1 AMAR PARKER.
81 Express Building;. LIVE CE3NTS. DAN ID P. DA ER.
Editors.
No. 9.
SOFT DRINKS IN GEORGIA.
Georgia certainly seems Io have gone daft over
soft drinks, The promptness with which a South
erner, whether Georgian, Kentuckian, or Mississip
pian. will invite the stranger to “have somethin’.!' to
drink" is proverbial, hut never has the invitation
been extended so frequently and so persistently as
it has been since January Ist of this year. Business
men. women, boys, school girls, and even preachers,
when they meet seem to vie with each other to see
who can lx* the first to extend the invitation.
In days of old when such words were spoken,
and such an invitation given ami accepted, the per
sons concerned soon found themselves in front of a
large plate-glass mirror before which were placed in
attractive array bottles and glasses. while a white
coated and a white-aproned individual inquired what
the gentlemen's pleasure might be. But the plate
glass mirror, the tempting array of bottles and
glasses, ami the white-aproned individual are things
of the past, and the invitation “to have a drink’’ no
longer means “a little water, sugar ami ," hut
a glass of soda-water or “near-beer," which is served
at the most adjacent drug store or fruit stand by a
youth of sixteen, wearing a dirty apron, or a son of
Italy wearing none at all.
In the drug stores, of course, the electric fan
does its best to keep the place cool and the proprie
tor endeavors to render his place attractive by means
of white and gold paint, together with a marble soda
fountain, but it don't seem homelike; it doesn’t
seem natural, and hundreds upon hundreds of men
in good old Georgia are yearning for a return to
the days of tin* white-coated individual who knew
so well how to (‘rush a little mint in the glass, how
to put in just the proper amount of sugar, together
with a. piece of ice, and. and—“ good liquor. Sah."
But they are likely to yearn in vain, for the Prohi
bitionists have Georgia by tin* throat, and there is
no power in the hedvens above, nor in the earth
beneath, nor in the waters under the earth, that
will make them loose their hold.
When the prohibition bill was introduced in the
Georgia General Assembly last July, it came like a
thunderbolt from a (dear sky. There had been no
talk of prohibition in Georgia and no one dreamed
of such a thing. There had been considerable agita
tion of the subject of local option, and Gov, Hoke
Savannah, Ga„ June 20, 1008
Smith was elected on a local option ticket; but in
his inaugural address he. unintentionally, said that
if the Legislature passed a prohibition law. he would
sign it. The Prohibitionists and the preachers saw
their advantage and got down to hard work without
a moment s loss of time. A bill was framed and
introduced into the Legislature; men. women and
children were utilized as lobbyists ami the unfortu
nate Represent at i ves were cajoled, frightened or
prayed into voting for the measure. Brewing and
distilling interests were taken unawares, the busi
ness ’non of the state* thought the movement unwor
thy of their serious consideration, and almost before'
anyone' realized it lhe bill had been passed by both
House’s of the Legislature, the 1 Governor had affixed
to it Lis signature l , ami on January Ist. 1908. the
most drastic prohibitory measure ever enacted by
any legislative body became operative in the' State
of Georgia.
At first, men were stunned, ami in a dazed sort
of way inquired among themselves how it happened;
th('n they began Io wonder how they would slake
their thirst. They were not long in finding an
answer to the latter question. The saloons of old
were turned into soda-water dispensaries, generally
without any change in furniture ami fittings except
the removal of the screen doors; the fruit stands
put in fountains and ice-boxes, and every conceiva
ble kind and variety of non-alcoholic beverage was
placed on the market. Much of this was manufac
tured under the most unsanitary conditions from
decaxed or unripe fruits; others consisted merely
of water and cheap fruit juices, together with a
little carbonic acid gas. while still others contained
ingredients which were posit ively harmful and stul
tifying in their effects upon the minds of those who
drank it habitually. Yet there was a sale for it all.
ami the unhappy Georgians called for more and
more in the hope that they might find something
which would cool their parched tongues and quench
the (ire in their hot ami dusty throats.
One of the brewers which had been legislated
out of business attempted to supply this demand
early in January by placing on the market a bev
erage brewed from malt and hops which was identi
cal in every respect with standard beer except that it
contained less than .00* 2 per cent of alcohol, thus
Vol. 1.