OCR Text |
Show A PRIEST'S CRUSADE. ; Dean McNulty of JPatterson, N. J., Is i the Terror of Saloonkeeper. j Deap McNulty of Fatcrson, N. J., is fn old man. Forty-one years he has been pastor of St. John's church, and ' during all that time he has been the terror of lawless saloonkeepers and pro- I prietors of evi! retorts, the hope and ,' tuccor of the wives and families oCpbor I factory workers whose -wages So mea- j L'f-rly suffice for their support that if they spend Saturday night at the sa- j loon, there is only starvation and home-lessness home-lessness for the week. . ; For more than :i quarter of a century ; the dean has made it his business to ' see that tho werkingmen of his parish do not spend Saturday night at the saloon. sa-loon. He has waged a relentless cru-Sijcie cru-Sijcie against 1 drinking piaces where poor men are tempted to squander their , earnings. His vigor and unconventional unconvention-al methods In combating' the drink evil have given him almost a national rep-t;:aticn, rep-t;:aticn, and for all he is the scourge of a powerful portion o: the community, commu-nity, the old prbfet is without question the most popular man in Pateraon. He was spoken of for mayor not long ago and if he could have been induced to beoome a candidate, his election would have been nearly unanimous, ; j .This year, despite his oge, despite oc- ' casional discouragements, the dean has j j started .out with all his old-time vim f nd vigor- Last Sunday, at the begin- -,- i ning of tba season when the saloons '. v jctiise most trouble, he was out "scout-" j ing." as he puts it. "You see." he explains, "there are so j f ri:any who are gcod at heart, pleasant j as you'd meet in a ftiy'a walk, but they i get a bit footisn when the week's en- elope drops into their hands. A drink, i bit of flattery from an unprincipled I saloonkeeper, and wives ;iul lxibi-:s ere I forgotten until the money is all in the j st loon till. . "That in Paterson means sore trou- j lle in little homes; it means weeping i wives and hungry children, untl so. not i being born a hard hearted man. I Just c;-n't stand those things. go out and I "hen it is necessary I tell the saloon- i keeper he is a scoundrel. Then I drive his customers away lik" great babies. That's all they nre at limes groat ia-b:rs." J ne groggertes are expecting trie dean lo loom largo in their doorways during dur-ing the next month. There, is a pool r huh or two in Paterson that has ordered or-dered its lookout to watch for th? dean ci. penalty of losing his job. Its owiir er remembers ihe dean's descent upo: the room run by John B. Collins years ago. Collins was doing a big business and rtany women had complained to Father Fa-ther Mac. as h is familiarly called, of losses made by husbands and sons. The dean made up his mind to visit the pool room. Hi arrived while a race was being called by the raucous voiced oterator. ''They're off:" shouted that individual, and the dean, incousuictt-r c us in the crowd of excited bettors, waited until the horsed were at the quarter, the half and the three-quarters. Then, when the operator was about to call the winner of the race, he caught sight of Dean McNulty's well i novvn face. "Father Mac'" he yelled. One who ! had been following the race breathlessly breathless-ly turned with astonished eyes and a cii coping jaw. He let out an oath. "I didn't know there was a hurc in the rare named that:' he cried. As it wa-s ten ve.:rs so u is now. : bet Father Mac receive a letter from some troubled wom:n saying that her husband h.-is spent -ill h' money i-i Bill Dobb's saloon, or wherever it may o. end the old priest, doing his best to iron out th? smMi-s and tin- soft lines ff his face he never can ouite do it. t lie habit of sweetness r o strong in I him will descend i'.,ni;i Mill Dobb's lik a whirlwind. A flash o the eve. a wave or the arms f.nd a few stinging words of rebuke, end the good d'i will Uwe the gin-1 gin-1 ii.lii bare save all hut th- .;roprictor and barkeeper. No matter how inu.ur: or rumsoaked the loafers ar ;;nd th oV-hp hjs faced the worst crinnimld in his tii;hi tor temperance), they ne.vt-i lift .: linger j against him or .issail him with s..urr,l-Iil3. s..urr,l-Iil3. They know him. the worst ;tnd lowest of them. for a pure man who is their hes;t friend. So when Father Mac" walks into a Paicison saloon h-j fweep.- all before him. Twh-e he hus 'ben assaulted by brutal bru-tal saloonkeepers, but is was the wor:-e for them. Ten ve-irs or more juo ..niv; j G'oetche struck him heaviiy over the I eve, knocking him down. It cost G"i't-jche G"i't-jche $500 and ruined his business. Over n year ago Osiar Ai.ii-i hit tiio dean because Fath'-r Mac drove w-men oiit of his saloon. The poluo saved Algit.-r from rough usage at the moo's hand.'.:. Most ppople in Paterson agrt-p that Dean McNulty's work has home fruit amazingly. Paiticul n ly. it is said, has he been successful in keeping the young factory and shop girls out of the drink- j irg places. Mothers and giu-rdi-nts wiite to him almost evejy day thanking thank-ing him warmly for the work he has (.Vine. "Truly," he s.vs, "that in itself is a sweet reward for an old man, is it not?" |