Question

This event probably took place sometime in the summer of 1899. “When I went to Medicine Lodge there were seven dives where drinks were sold. I will give some reasons why they were removed. I began to harass these dive-keepers, although they were not as much to blame as the city officials who allowed them to run....there was Henry Durst, another jointist of long standing who...had accumulated quite a lot of property by this dishonest business.... Mrs. Elliott, a good Christian woman, came to my home crying bitterly and between sobs told me, that for six weeks her husband had been drinking at Durst’s bar, until he was crazy. She had been washing to feed her three children and for some days had nothing in the house but cornbread and molasses. She said that her husband had come in, wild with drink and run his family out and kicked over the table and she said: ‘I came to you to ask you what to do.’ I did not speak a word, for I was too full of conflicting feelings, but I put on my bonnet and Sister Elliott asked me what I was going to do. I told her that I did not know, but for her to come with me. We walked down to Henry Durst’s place, a distance of half a mile. I fell down on my knees before the screen and began to call on God. There were five men in there drinking. I was indifferent to those passing the street. It was a strange sight to see women on their knees on the most prominent part of the street. I told God about this man selling liquor to this woman’s husband, and told Him she had been washing to get bread, and asked God to close up this den and drive this man out. Mrs. Elliott also prayed. We then told this man that God would hear...if he did not change. In less than two weeks he closed his bar, left his family there, and went to another state. His property was sold gradually and he never returned, except to move his family away, and I heard afterwards he was reduced to great poverty.”


summarize

Answer 1

In the summer of 1899, a woman recounts her efforts to combat the sale of alcohol in Medicine Lodge, where seven bars operated. After hearing from Mrs. Elliott about her husband’s destructive drinking at Henry Durst's bar, the narrator felt compelled to take action. Overwhelmed with emotion, she and Mrs. Elliott walked to Durst's bar, where they prayed on their knees in public, asking God to intervene and shut down the establishment. Their prayers were answered when, within two weeks, Durst closed his bar and left the community, ultimately leading to his decline and poverty.