Page 11 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

Column January 21, 2007

THE MYSTERY OF THE ‘BLIND TIGER’

When W.S. Sweat applied to be Lake City’s Chief of Police in 1907, he
stated on his application he would end the illegal “Blind Tiger”
establishments: “ I shall do all in my power to rid this city of the ‘blind
tiger.’

The Lake City Reporter agreed with Mr. Sweat: “Some of our law officials
are hobnobbing with blind tiger convicts ...which hobnobbing isn’t
calculated to catch the blind tigers. It is tim e for good citizens to rise up
and speak to this subject.”

The ‘blind tiger’ reference was a complete mystery to me, but the Oxford
English Dictionary of American Slang explained it like this. In towns where
the sale of whiskey was illegal, ‘blind tiger’ was a code word for a bar
selling illegal whiskey. Those bars would advertise they had a blind tiger
or some other deformed animal on display at their establishments. When
the customers paid to see this animal oddity, they would be served a
(wink-wink) ‘complimentary’ drink.

Typically there would be no blind tiger or any other animal on display. It
was all just a ruse to enable bar owners to sell illegal whiskey. Both Mr.
Sweat and ‘The Reporter’ fe lt a serious part of the blind tiger problem was
that it bred police corruption-- “law officials” knew of the illegal sales and
did not enforce the law.

This ‘blind tiger’ ruse may remind some people of a trick modern
‘scalpers’ often use to get a high price for scarce tickets to some big
event. “For sale: Brand new umbrella, $500. Also receive a
complimentary g ift of two tickets to the BCS championship football
game.”

WELL DONE, MARJORIE

Congratulations to CHS graduate Marjorie Weiffenbach who was named
the 2006 Florida Council of Teachers of English (FCTE) “Teacher of the
Year” at their fall conference.

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