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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.