VOTERS IN PROHIBITION TOWN END DRY SPELL

WESTERVILLE, Ohio - A group of temperance activists based here helped bring
Prohibition to the country. And when the constitutional amendment banning
alcohol was repealed, Westerville just shook its head and stayed dry.

But beer and booze will soon be flowing in this Columbus suburb, which was
once known as the "dry capital of the world."

Voters in the newer, largely undeveloped northern part of town on Tuesday
approved four measures allowing liquor sales. The rest of town, which lies
in a different county, will remain alcohol-free.

One community leader in the city of 24,000 blamed the vote on developers
who want to build hotels and restaurants in the area.

"It bothers me that outside business interests came in and convinced 250
Westerville residents to overturn a 150-year-old tradition that served the
city well for a long time," said Amy Pressler, a spokeswoman for Select
Tradition Over Profits, a citizens group.

The four measures all passed easily.

- -- Residents voted 261-180 to allow sales of beer for on- and off-premises
consumption.

- -- Sales of wine and mixed beverages for on- and off-premises consumption
passed, 271-173.

- -- Sales of liquor by the glass for on-premises consumption passed, 284-160.

- -- Sale of liquor in restaurants between 1 p.m. and midnight on Sundays
passed, 255-187.

It's quite a change for a city that's had dry laws on the books since 1858.

When Henry Corbin challenged the laws in 1875 and opened a saloon on Main
Street, he was the target of several demonstrations that included the
town's leading citizens.

The protests escalated into acts of vandalism in what became known as
"Westerville's Whiskey War." The Main Street saloon and another that Corbin
tried to open four years later were both destroyed by dynamite.