| A History of STRUM and the TOWN OF UNITY by Roy Matson |
| THIS IS PAGE 34 | TABLE OF CONTENTS | PAGE BACK | PAGE FORWARD |
| It is said that whiskey was often used as legal tender when money was short. A horse trade was often made with a keg of hard stuff serving as part payment. Not that such traffic played a part in development of our good village but a jug occassionally made its appearance. Again we must mention that early Norwegians were in many instances abstainers. The story comes down through the years telling of a visit to the head of one family of a brother long gone. To celebrate the event the visitor purchased a case of beer from which all were served. Twenty-five years later he came again and received a second serving - from the same case. The railroad brought a great increase of trade to the village and with it came the first handling of booze. There was no legal sale of the stuff but no law prevented an order shipped from outside sources to local customers, and such shipments came principally from a Fairchild retailor. He had a rather odd appearance, an unusual name and a puzzling characteristic. He was a very short man named Napoleon Santo. His weekly routine included a stop at Strum between trains. Orders were received then and accounts collected. His scrawls were unreadable because the man actually could not write. But to the puzzlement of local yokels there was never an error either way. Merchant Nels Robbe had a brief entry into the liquor game also. Shortly after 1900 local authorities permitted Strum’s druggist to retail liquor on receipt of a doctor’s prescription. The pharmacist decided to move and sold his stock to Robbe who decided to keep the business going until he could find a permanent operator. Nels was a busy man and not too careful about requiring the necessary prescriptions. A stranger obtained a bottle one day without fulfilling the requirements. A few days later the sheriff called on Nels and served notice for a court appearance. At the stranger’s (actually an inspector) recommendation the judge levied a healthy fine. Nels severed himself from the liquor trade within a few days. On a hot summer afternoon in pre--prohabition days it was not unusual for a group to have a Santo-bought keg cooling somewhere, to be tapped under a shady tree after a 10-12 hour work day was finished. An undeveloped section in the northwest part of the village had several spots for such gatherings. And then comes a tale relating to the 1911 July 4th celebration. Several young blades had a couple of kegs stored in the back room of a local cafe to be opened during the evening dance at the MWA Hall. Their plans became known to several young ladies who were participants in a parade float that afternoon. The gals thought a Carrie Nation-type raid would add spice to the event and gathered hatchets and axes for a real act. Some men overheard their plans and stole the equipment before the parade began. It could have been a real show. Mention was made earlier in this story that first settlers had little money to spend for alcoholic beverages. This was very true but as years passed and the populace became more affluent, the use of the stuff became more common. The town board permitted druggists to sell liquor by the bottle on receipt of a doctor’s prescription. There are no records of such sales at that time but Dr. P. J. Weig’s 1914 daily log book has become available and has some interesting entries. Besides his regular business the book is filled with 25 cent charges for these prescriptions. Male members of a family would sometimes be entered on a single page indicating an event was observed. It all ended with the approval of the national prohibition amendment which was passed in January 1919 and became effective January 20, 1920. This amendment was repealed in February, 1933 to become effective in December of that year. In the meantime both mild and high content beverages trafficked without control and without tax. After prohibition was repealed ordinances were adopted at the township level and several local elections resulted as years passed. In 1935 the vote was: Liquor 127 yes, 123 no; Beer 172 yes, 90 no. In 1937 the vote was Liquor 165 for to 136 against; Beer 192 for to 116 against. In 1938 the vote was Liquor 194 for to 202 against; Beer 227 for to 174 against. In 1939: Liquor 246 for, 178 against. |