The mysteries of God

"While the mighty things of the Bible may be clearly defined on the background of life and surveyed with general accuracy, as mountain peaks are visible and definable to  passing vessels far at sea, yet they are dimly outlined--clear, in mass, immutable, solemn with steadfastness, sentinels of that other country, yet clothed in the mystery of God."

Frank C. Haddock, The Life of George C. Haddock. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, Publishers, 1887.

Couldn't help but think of this picture when I read the paragraph above. The picture is a gorgeous shot I just happened to snap on my phone last summer, when a bunch of us spent some time ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the remarkable beauty of the Pacific Northwest, specifically Olympia National Park. Whether or not Haddock is right about the Bible's "mighty things" is a decision that's yours to make; but I think he's not wrong about mountains being "clothed in the mystery of God." 

Frank C. Haddock's biography is really a long argument for prohibition, a sort of useless agenda for today. I found the book on-line. You can download it yourself if you'd like to read more. Haddock, Jr., is a fine 19th century writer, but 400 pages trumpeting the truth about filthy liquor gets a big wearying.

The subject of the bio is his father, a martyr for the prohibition cause when the good Episcopal pastor was shot dead in downtown Sioux City on August 3, 1886, at the height of community discord concerning the whole business, so to speak, of prohibition. What Haddock the biographer is saying in that quote is that the ways of God are clear from afar, but when one comes up close--as in, can a man (or woman) have a drink? the answer is less stark. Let me be clear: this old book (if you want a totable copy, it'll cost you an arm-and-a-leg), available as a download, is one sustained argument for running saloons out of town. Period. 

But the quote's theology isn't bad--the broad strokes of the Christian life aren't left up for grabs, but get up close to God's law and things, remarkably, get less, not more distinct. 

When two juries failed to convict the shop steward of a local brewery for shooting Rev. Haddock, Senior, the prohibitionists had even more reason to crow. Twice. There had to be intimidation, tampering, and there likely was. 

Iowa went dry in 1882 already, but Sioux City, on the edge of the frontier, gave ordinary people a wink and a nod, allowing saloons to flourish as long as they paid a not-absorbent tax. The Reverend Herrick would have none of that. His agenda, like his son's, was to save America by outlawing liquor altogether. That was fundamental to the Herricks and their gang of fundamentalists.

So, on that fateful night, at 3rd Street and Water, Rev. Haddock went down on wet pavement, having just brought his steed back to the livery stable. He'd been out trying to find saloons not following Iowa law. When he was shot, murdered, he became the greatest champion of prohibition.

For a while, prohibition was the law of the land, but eventually, December 5, 1933, FDR ended it, when the 21st Amendment displaced the 19th. It was mid-Depression, and prohibition had seemingly increased gangland violence, like the cold-blooded murder of Rev. Haddock right there on the streets of Sioux City.

Twice the perp was tried. Both times, he walked away when juries failed to convict. The man's name was John Arensdorf, an employee of a Sioux City brewery. 

He died on July 8 of 1909.

JOHN ARENSDORF IS DEAD

Death Claims Principal Actor in Haddock Murder Mystery at Sioux City.

Death has claimed the leading actor in the Haddock murder mystery at Sioux City, which a score of years ago, during the days of the prohibitory war, was the sensation of Iowa.
John Arensdorf is dead at his Sioux City home, and it recalls the fact that he was tried for the murder of Rev. Haddock three times, the last trial taking place four years after the murder. Arensdorf was acquitted and lived down his unwelcome notoriety so that upon his death he was given all the honors due a leading citizen at his funeral.
The younger generation has no idea of the intense feeling that was aroused by the passage of the prohibition law in Iowa. The divine right to drink was acknowledged in Sioux City, then in its booming days, and also in the river towns generally. Rev. Haddock was active in trying to enforce the law and lost his life at the hands of some unknown person, but suspicion was focused upon Arensdorf, and he was arrested and tried, the trial being one of the most sensational in the history of the state.

The mountains are perfectly distinguishable, even though you can't really see them up close, clothed in the mystery of God.