Saloon foes pick up momentum in 1908

New state legislation a century ago gave those wanting to lock the saloon doors a new weapon -- a referendum -- and Elgin proponents didn't waste any time swinging into action. The Elgin school board refused to pay charges to the city of Elgin it considered unfair, and crime reports of 100 years ago remind us that living in the good old days wasn't what we sometimes think. Here's a look at what was making headlines in the Elgin area in January 1908.

• Following legislation which provided for local referendums to close drinking establishments within limited areas, more than 500 Elgin voters -- all men -- signed petitions to place the question on the spring ballot. And, proponents didn't wait until warm weather to swing into action. Supporters said they planned to erect billboards, present stereopticon slide shows, hand out cards, and mail literature to promote their cause.

Saloon owners and their allies argued that a city of 25,000 inhabitants couldn't afford the loss of revenue from 34 liquor licenses at $1,000 each. The question quickly moved into the pulpit as one pastor said, "Can the city afford to license a business which is responsible for at least 70 percent of all the crime, pauperism and insanity?"

Not all clergy agreed, including another pastor who said, "Let every citizen mind his own business and let the people placed in office determine whether Elgin should be a saloon or anti-saloon town. Join no reform clubs or have nothing to do with the prohibition movement which is being instituted. The abuse of intoxicating liquors is very rare. I can say that drunkenness is very rare in Elgin."

And, how did the question fare at the polls? Don't miss this column in the future to find out.

• The first of the year is a time for annual reports, and the one released by Sherman Hospital showed a growing institution, but one still far different from today. Only 29 births occurred at the northeast-side facility -- a number coincidentally equal to the number of deaths. The hospital admitted just over 400 patients with 34 of those entering on an emergency basis. Looking ahead to next year, hospital administration said they hoped to better serve the community by adding a visiting nurse program.

• "Let the city of Elgin sue the school board," said one Elgin school trustee. At issue were bills for annual inspections to the district's schools for the last three years -- a service one board member said "amounted to naught." Added another trustee, "I don't believe the inspections amount to anything." The board attorney said he would begin legal action after the trustees voted unanimously to eliminate the expense from the district's annual appropriation.

• The good old days were relatively crime-free, you say? Shortly after his arrival in the city, a young husband-to-be made arrangements to room with an east-side man, woman and their 7-year-old daughter. When the mother returned home one day, she found her daughter in the boarder's rooms with the doors shut. After entering, she found the girl sitting on the man's bed.

The young child denied any wrongdoing, but later became quite ill. After a thorough questioning by several physicians, it was determined that she has been "ill-treated," and the boarder was charged by police with criminal assault. The girl said she withheld telling her full story earlier because she was told she would be "whipped unmercifully."

• Finally, in other police action, a dark cloud was cast over the highly popular Elgin Poultry Association show after one of the prize birds was found stabbed -- an action taken to apparently allow one of the competitors a better chance of winning. Police also searched for the murderer of a Chicago policeman and his companions on farms east of the city. And, on the northeast side, reports came in from several women that a nude or partially nude man was lurking about the neighborhood.