Showing posts with label Medicine Health Alcohol Dayhoff cols. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicine Health Alcohol Dayhoff cols. Show all posts

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Even when Carroll County was dry, it really wasn't


Even when Carroll County was dry, it really wasn't

Kevin Dayhoff kdayhoff AT carr.org Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/ 1/21/09

The Union Bridge Pilot carried a curious news story on Jan. 21, 1921, under the heading of "Local Items," about a gentleman "who had violated the Anti-Saloon League's ideals ..."

It seems that earlier in that week, this fellow "was found on the railroad tracks near town in the evening perfectly oblivious to the workings of the outside world, and particularly to the workings of a steam locomotive, one of which was due within a short time.

"When found he was lying crosswise of the track and, had not help reached him when it did, he would doubtless have continued to dwell in oblivion."

One can only imagine that he did not freeze to death because of the amount of "anti-freeze" in his system.

I thought of the Union Bridge Pilot article recently when the word "saloon" came up in a conversation with six artist friends. A group of us -- 20 artists in Carroll County -- have formed an art co-op called "Off Track Art."

After an organizational meeting, several of us adjourned to Wine Me Up, on East Main Street for pizza and conversation.

One of the conversations was about how to remember to spell words that are similar in sound; such as "desert" (as in the Sahara Desert) and "dessert" (as in ice cream and cake). I always recall that "dessert" has two s's -- as in "I'll have two desserts."

Another spelling rule that came up in the conversation was how to tell the difference in spelling "salon" and "saloon."

Of course, my mind drifted to the work of the "Anti-Saloon League" in Carroll County.

It was a national organization that existed from 1893 to 1933, and was quite active in Carroll County. As one can easily understand from the name, the Anti-Saloon League opposed the sale of alcohol and, by January 1919, had been successful in getting 75 percent of the states in our country to pass laws that prohibited the "sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors."

Locally, Mary Bostwick Shellman was noted as being determined to banish Westminster's 21 saloons, according to Nancy Warner's book, "Carroll County Maryland, A History 1837-1976."

Bear in mind that during this period, Westminster had approximately 3,000 citizens. That's about 140 persons per saloon.

Carroll County went "dry" in 1914. Six years later, on Jan. 29, 1920, prohibition took affect for the rest of the United States. The passage of the Volstead Act as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited alcohol use except for when it was used in religious ceremonies.

No information is available as I write as to how many folks gained a renewed interest in religion as a result of prohibition.

And one wonders how it is -- or where -- the gentleman in the 1921 Union Bridge Pilot article found his religious elixir.

I should mention that according to an account that appeared in the Pilot on July 8, 1921, four stills, a quantity of corn whiskey and 150 gallons of mash were seized by police officers at a local church.

Deacon Willie Brown, in whose room the distilling was being carried on, was arrested. Brown admitted in police court that he had been tempted by the devil.

No mention was made in the article as to how popular Communion services were at the "Church of the Holy Moonshiners."


Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at kdayhoff AT carr.org.

Twitter: My Wed Jan 21, 2008 Westminster Eagle column: “Even when Carroll County was dry, it really wasn't” http://tinyurl.com/apk85k

My Wednesday, January 21, 2008 Westminster Eagle column: “Even when Carroll County was dry, it really wasn't”
http://explorecarroll.com/opinion/2140/even-when-carroll-county-was-dry-it-really-wasnt/

Twitter: Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff:
http://explorecarroll.com/search/?s=Dayhoff&action=GO

Recent Explore Carroll columns http://www.explorecarroll.com/ by Kevin Dayhoff: http://tinyurl.com/bvsvyz

Fitzhugh was just what the doctor ordered in Carroll's medical past
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Even when Carroll County was dry, it really wasn't
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The Union Bridge Pilot carried a curious news story on Jan. 21, 1921, under the heading of "Local Items," about a gentleman "who had violated...

60 years ago, Davis opened the first chapter of the library book
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For those who remember the push-button, dashboard AM radios in your cars in the 1960s, you may want to sit down before your read another...

A connection of Biblical proportions and a few presidential pet projects
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I'm excited about the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. It is quite a testimony to our great country to have overcome the yoke of...


Kevin Dayhoff
His columns appear in The Tentacle, http://www.thetentacle.com/;
The Westminster Eagle /Eldersburg Eagle The Sunday Carroll Eagle - Opinion: http://explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/

http://www.kevindayhoff.net/
http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/
http://www.westminstermarylandonline.net/
http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/kevindayhoff
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff

20090121 WE Even when Carroll County was dry it really wasnt weked
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/Kevin Dayhoff: www.westgov.net Westminster Maryland Online www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 10, 2008

Recent Westminster Eagle and Sunday Carroll Eagle columns by Kevin Dayhoff


Published November 9, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE Last Tuesday, after two years, 45 debates and $2.4 billion spent, American voters finally had their day. Is it just me, or does...


Published November 5, 2008 by Westminster Eagle

On Thursday, Nov. 6, Junction Inc. will host a substance abuse and awareness program sponsored by the Board of County commissioners at 6 p.m....


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

20080516 The Sunday Carroll Eagle: Alcohol, prohibition, mysterious women and the roaring '20s by Kevin Dayhoff

05/16/08 EAGLE ARCHIVE by Kevin Dayhoff

Prohibition became the law of the land after the 18th Amendment went into effect on Jan. 16, 1920, but Carroll Countians had already voted to outlaw the sale of alcohol six years earlier in 1914.

Throughout the roaring '20s, until prohibition was repealed on Dec. 5, 1933, by the 21st Amendment, many legendary accounts of stills, moonshiners, speakeasies and enforcement raids became a part of a folklore and story-telling tradition in the county.

If only half of the stories are true, Carroll County must have been an interesting place back then.

A May 18, 1923, newspaper account stirred the kettle about one such event -- a May 5 raid on the North Branch Hotel by prohibition agents.

As a result, the paper reported: "More than 300 signatures were attached to a petition filed Tuesday in the office of Amos W. W. Woodcock, United States District Attorney, asking for the closing of the North Branch Hotel, at North Branch, on the border of Baltimore and Carroll counties."

Even before that, on Dec. 15, 1922, the old Democratic Advocate railed about the "law of unintended consequences" in an editorial titled, "Does Prohibition Prohibit?"

It says, "The United States has now been subject to constitutional prohibition for nearly three years. During that time there has been more drunkenness, more deaths from alcoholism, more theft, more robbery, more murders and other heinous crimes, than ever transposed in the history of the United States during a similar period prior to the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment.

"Young men and boys who were never seen at a saloon during the old wet regime now get gloriously hilarious on home brew home-made wines and last, but not least, hard cider.' "

Certainly Carroll Countians did not find these events "gloriously hilarious" and they were in such an uproar over concerns about lawlessness, crime and enforcement of prohibition that a "Law and Order League for Carroll County" formed in August 1926.

An Aug. 6, 1926, newspaper account reported the "executive committee of the Law and Order League for Carroll County met in the Community Room, 3rd floor, Wantz Building, Monday evening, August 2nd. In attendance was a list of who's who in the county, including a representative of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

"Mr. George Mather, president of the organization, presided. Rev. E. R. Spencer, pastor of the M. E. Church, in Mt. Airy, led in prayer."

High spirits, indeed

From prayer and booze we get to bravery and last week's Sunday Carroll Eagle trivia question, which asked: Who was the Confederate cavalry commander who was delayed on his way to the Battle of Gettysburg by "Corbit's Charge" as his unit came through Westminster on June 29, 1863?

Many folks got it right.

Elaine and Bob Breeding, Herb Howard, Matt Candland, Robbie Foster, Ruth Anderson and Mike Devine all knew that it was Major General, CSA, James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart, who died at the age of 31 on May 12, 1864.

His wife, Flora, "wore the black of mourning for the remaining 49 years of her life," according to Civil War historian Derek Smith.

This week's winner of the coveted Sunday Carroll Eagle mug is none other than Matt Candland, who also happens to be town administrator for Sykesville.

He may very well be one of the few folks in Carroll County who are aware that on April 17, 1931, the portion of Sykesville located in Howard County since 1904, seceded from the town and "unincorporated." But that's another story.

For this week's trivia question, let's stick with storytelling and booze.

Who was the Baltimore writer who earned fame for his detective novels written between 1923 and 1934? Here's a hint: Alcohol, prohibition, and mysterious women played a prominent role in his classics, which included "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man."

I have often wondered just how much the newspaper accounts of the distillery raids, bootleggers, robberies, and mayhem in Carroll County influenced his work.

Just imagine Sam Spade roaming around Carroll County looking for the black figurine in "The Maltese Falcon." Perhaps the hotel that the character, Joel Cairo, was staying was really the North Branch Hotel in Carroll County.

At any rate, this author maintained a torrid romance with Lillian Hellman for 30 years until his death in 1961.

Can one imagine this writer and Ms. Hellman sitting at the counter at Baugher's for lunch as they visited for a day in the country? I certainly can.

If you know who this famous author is, drop me a line at kdayhoff@carr.org, and I might just pull your name for the coffee mug. And please put Sunday Carroll Eagle in the subject line. Thanks.

When not reading old detective novels, Kevin Dayhoff can be reached at kdayhoff@carr.org.

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=978&NewsID=902857&CategoryID=19662&show=localnews&om=1

20080516 The Sunday Carroll Eagle: Alcohol, prohibition, mysterious women and the roaring '20s by Kevin Dayhoff

Monday, May 22, 2006

20060522 KDDC Every month is Alcohol Awareness Month for teenager

20060522 KDDC Every month is Alcohol Awareness Month for teenagers




Every month is Alcohol Awareness Month for teenagers

May 22nd, 2006 By Kevin Dayhoff

April was “Alcohol Awareness Month” and I wrote a couple of columns on the subject.

On Wednesday, April 19th, 2006, my Westminster Eagle column was: “April is for Alcohol Awareness, but issue of underage drinking lives with us daily.” Another link can be found here.

My Winchester Report post for April 25, 2006 was: “Community Leaders take action against underaged drinking .” Another link for that post is here.

For the Winchester Report posting, my Westminster Eagle editor, Jim Joyner, reworked the warning signs box, for which I was very appreciative.

I would think that the prom season is winding down and now many young adults are looking forward to the end of the school year or graduation ceremonies, err – parties.

Again, this brings with it another set of challenges for young adults who may be exposed to alcohol at these parties.

What can be troubling about this cocktail of alcohol and young inexperienced adults, who nevertheless, “know all the answers,” is the fact that a mistake with alcohol can be life altering or worse yet – fatal. When folks are young and think that they are invincible – the danger is even greater.

Pop culture and Hollywood romanticizes alcohol to the point that many young adults are not aware of the unromanticized and unsanitized pitfalls of alcohol abuse.

It does not necessary sink-in when rock stars, hollywood types and artists are all featured in their rock-bio-documentaries of having awkward moments and problems from drug and alcohol abuse.

After-all, young adults are invincible and “it won’t happen to them,”

In my experience, today’s teenagers are wonderful. Fortunately, you can hear this repeated throughout the community often.

From observing the children of our community involved in, for a few examples, scouting, the Children’s Chorus, 4-H and sports; we can confidently look forward to handing over the future leadership of our country to a very capable and responsible generation.

Former Westminster mayor Ken Yowen would sing the praises of today’s youth often in public and it was one of the many leadership attributes that I tried to emulate when I was an elected official.

Now that I have passed the half-century mark, it is asked in many casual conversations, “wouldn’t you like to be younger?” For right now, we’ll overlook that one thing this question means is that some folks think that I am old…

No way.

I grew up in a simpler and far different Carroll County and I would have no interest in trading in my childhood in the Westminster of the 1950s and 60s for all the tea in China. Sure, as a teenager in Carroll County in the 1960s, the community and our world were changing rapidly. There was turmoil. But it was still a wonderful place to grow-up. For example, I actually remember the 1960s.

Today, Carroll County is still a wonderful place to grow-up.

Often, it is fun to ask a teenager, what do you want to be when you grow-up? The answers are encouraging. So often the answers involve wanting to make a difference and contribution and make the world a better place.

With some segments of today’s teenagers, you’ll hear; I want to be an artist, a writer, a rock musician… or even president?

A writer like Dylan Thomas, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jack Kerouac or maybe even Edgar Allan Poe? Recently there was a movie about Truman Capote, which sparked much interest in Mr. Capote’s writings and life.

Who wants to be a star musician when they get older? Like the legendary blues singer, Billie Holiday? Steve Clark, the guitarist with Def Leppard? Or John Bonham, the drummer with Led Zeppelin? Who wants to be Roy Buchanan, the legendary guitar virtuoso and blues musician who lived much of his life right down the road in Washington, DC?

Who wants to be the artist, Jackson Pollock. It is reported that Mr. Pollack visited Clyfford Still in New Windsor on several occasions.

How about aspiring to be a famous actor like Errol Flynn or William Holden?

Maybe you want to be president of the United States, like our fourteenth president, Franklin Pierce?

All the folks just mentioned are some of the most talented individuals in our nation’s history. And they all have one thing in common, their lives and careers, (with the exception of Mr. Still,) were cut short because of alcohol poisoning or alcoholism.

The tragedy of their untimely death is only surpassed by the loss of their talent on the world. Especially in the instances of alcohol poisoning, the death was avoidable, unpleasant and unplanned. Duh.

Alcohol kills. Like - forever dead.

It only takes one bad experience. One bad day. One bad decision… Parental and interested adult attention to the challenges of teen drinking is critical. Keep prominently in mind, that good kids can make bad decisions and alcohol does not care who it kills or what are the extenuating circumstances.

How often have we heard: “I didn’t know there was going to be alcohol at the party.” Or, “I was only going to try a drink or two.” “I was only about a mile from home… I was late and I thought that I could drive that far without a problem.”

Recently there have been deaths at the hands of alcohol that have alarmed the community. This is not a problem “somewhere else.” It is here in Carroll County. “It” can happen to your child, your friend, your sister or brother. The responsibility to prevent a tragedy is no-one’s but yours. You. Me. Everybody’s.

In an article by Westminster Eagle writer, Heidi Schroeder on November 2, 2005, “Survey offers warning in teen trends,” in a December 2004 survey it was revealed; “46.9 percent of Carroll County seniors … said they had used beer or wine coolers in the past 30 days.

“Statewide, 38.5 percent of seniors had used beer or wine coolers in the past 30 days.

Mark Yount, substance abuse prevention coordinator for Carroll County, said that data is consistent with some of the trends they are seeing at Junction, the county's substance abuse treatment facility.

"Data will tell you one thing, but by the time you get the data things are already happening," Yount said.

Two significant trends in the survey that Yount said is reflected in the young people coming through Junction is alcohol and narcotic abuse.

Yount noted that culturally, alcohol is often separated from drugs in the mind of the community. But he warned, "Alcohol is not a benign substance.

"There is no safe level of alcohol for teens," Yount said.

Now, one cannot imagine that a teenager gets up in the morning and says to themselves, I have plans next week or this summer but this evening I am going to get together with some good friends, get wasted and die.

Heck, even if you don’t die from that one bad experience with alcohol, who wants to get together with friends next week or this summer and re-live drinking to the point where you vomit all over your friends all evening. Now isn’t that a special experience.

One of my favorite musicians was “chicken pickin,” blues, slide guitarist, Roy Buchanan – and his 1953 Telecaster guitar, named “Nancy.” Although he was born September 23, 1939 in California, he settled down in the Washington, DC area in the mid-1960s. He was living in Reston, Virginia when he passed away.

He gained a great deal of attention by way of a PBS documentary in the early 1970s called, “The Best Unknown Guitarist In The World.” He played a lot of the clubs in the DC area, often with “The Snakestretchers.” He toured nationally and internationally in the 1970s.

He recorded about 18 albums before his death. A number of albums have been released posthumously. Perhaps my favorite is “You’re Not Alone,” released in 1978 on Atlantic records.

Mr. Buchanan would be still greatly contributing to the music world if he had not had alcohol and substance abuse problems throughout most of his adult life. Apparently, untreated, the problems only got worse and certainly were not helpful in his marriage with his wife, Judy.

On August 13th, 1988, Mr. Buchanan got into another domestic dispute, after according to the Web-site, “Sweet Dreams of Roy Buchanan,” he came home “from the local bar with some male person, who then along with Roy acted up, so Judy threw them out, then called the cops. The cops picked up Roy and, the county sheriff tells Jim Buchanan, he was jovial when locked up. Sheriff says they didn't even arrest and book him and told him to sleep it off. A routine check supposedly found Roy hanging from his shirt in the cell…

On August 14th, 1988, Roy Buchanan, perhaps one of the greatest guitar players ever, died in a police cell.

Next time, you have plans to go out and get wasted, pull out a couple Led Zeppelin CDs and play the "Immigrant Song" from “Led Zeppelin III;” "When the Levee Breaks" from “Led Zeppelin IV,” "Kashmir" or "Misty Mountain Hop."

These are the Led Zeppelin tunes that especially feature the talent of Led Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham.

As you crank it up, keep in mind, John Bonham died on September 25, 1980.

According to numerous published accounts, (I have used Wikipedia’s account because it was convenient and matched some old notes,) Led Zeppelin was rehearsing for the band’s upcoming U.S. tour when John Bonham passed away.

On the way to the recording studio, Mr. Bonham had a breakfast of about sixteen shots of vodka. “He then continued to drink when he arrived at the studio.” That evening, it “was rumored that he had a total of forty shots…” before he was taken to bed.

The next morning, at the age of 32, he was found dead. “The cause of death was asphyxiation caused by choking on his own vomit. A subsequent coroner inquest found no other drugs in Bonham's body.”

Bummer. Just think, this could be you.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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posted by Kevin Dayhoff @ 3:15 AM

20060522 KDDC Every month is Alcohol Awareness Month for teenager

NBH