The Daily Dispatch: September 22, 1863., [Electronic resource]

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Licensed ordinaries.

--At the Hustings Court held in May, 1863, Messrs. Field & Taliaferro were granted a license to keep an ordinary, which was kept under the name of "Congress Hall," said establishment having been destroyed by the fire which occurred during the week last past. The second license granted by the said Court was to Mr. Charles Hunt. Since that time and up to the present date one hundred and forty-seven ordinary licenses have been granted by the same Court. This constitutes a large portion of the business carried on in the city. It is utterly impossible to compute the number of unlicensed doggeries, rum shops, small establishments, groceries, confectioneries, &c., (with bars in the rear,) some having a demijohn, others only a bottle, but all possessing a quanitan sufficit to deprive the poor soldier of the pittance allowed him by Government. Their name is legion. Let the reader imagine the sorrow, suffering, and anguish, entailed upon parents, wives, and children, from the woful effects produced by liquor sold from one hundred and forty-seven licensed ordinaries, (to say nothing of that from probably as many unlicensed places,) then examine the law providing for the granting of ordinary licenses, and reflect.