Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-06-16

THE EXAMINATION OF THE BOOKS.
OF the establishments they had seized.
Evidences OF fraud were not wanting.
In fact they appeared with bewildcr-
ing frequency. A fsvorite method of
proceeding with the rectifying estab-
lishments seems to have been to stamp
their high wines Is kegs, containing
from five to ten gallons each. This
was the universal practice. However,
1t appeared in every instance of this
kind which was traced out, that the
key when it reached its destinatlon
bad grown to be full As. gallon bar
rel. The transcripts from the chip
ping bills, obtained from the railroads
showed that they were shipped - full
barrels. Evidences Of this kind were
found SO common that . correctly
stampcd package leaving q rectifying
establishment proved to be the excep-
ton instead Of the rule. The revenues
OF the government are heavily defrau.
ded in this way. But there are other
and grosser frauds than any OF these
which will be mentioned farther on in
this narrative. ss
1t has been said that the officers and
agents of the government have met
with many obstacles in the perfor-
mAnce OF their duty. ThAA 10 true.
They have sometimes been
IN PERIL OF THEIR LIVES.
They have at all times been maligned by
the Milwaukee press, which appears to
have been subsidized by tho whisky ring.
Their work has been no holiday perfor-
nance. They have kept steadily on, how.
ever, and propose to hold to the even tenor
Of their way to the end without deviatipg
from their duty.
ONE OF THE GROssEsT,
frauds practiced is in passing spirits
through the ..rectifying establishment.
When a rectifer receives
spirits for rectifcation he is re-.
quired 10 give notice TO the
collector of the spirits he intends
dumping. When the spirits are emp
tied . gauger 10 required to be present
and see the packages emptied, and the
former stamps destroyed. A written
statement to that effect, signed by the
rectifier and the gauger, is required to
be made In each instance. These state
ments are supposed to be made under
circumstances Of considerable solemn
ity. During this investigation hun
dreds OF cases have been discovered
in which these certificates have been
made by the rectifier and gauger, stat
ing that certain stamps have been de-
stroycd, yet packages have been found,
scattered all over the country, with
thncn iSoptscol eta uonc attn sut.~x
Such is the unreliability Of huma n
nature in the whisky business!
Another method of fraud has been
ia refilling casks using the same stamp
several times. One man by the name
of S. Hirstein has been broker in
stamps, and through whom immense
frauds have been practised.
THE MOST UNEASY FIRM
among those who were seized, has
been that Of the Rindskopf Brothers.
The members of this firm were, per-
haps, the most uneasy, because they
had the most at stake. The govern
ment officers have also been subject
ing their affairs to close and rigid
scrutiny. Col. Hedrick, early In the
history of these difficulties, commenced
taking abstracts of the books of this
firm. He succeeded in getting tram
script Of month and . half preceding
the time of their seizure. From the
evidence thus obtained he commenced
selling liquors from their establish
ment all through the west. A Dom.
parison of the numbers OF The istsmps
showed that majority of the Tote thus
seized were lots Of CROOKED" whisky.
In fact there were no lots seized
against W hich there did not exist the
most conclusive evidence Of fraud
This evidence of efficiency on the part
of tho government alarmed the manu-.
facturers of highwines. They were
evidently at a loss how to avoid furth.
er trouble from this same source. They
were fortunately relieved from their
embarrassing situation by An accident.
% They happened to be
ROBBED OF THEIR BOOKS
one night. That let them out. Two bad
men disguised themselves as government
revenue officers. One OF them armed him
self with an old pewter star and manufac-
tured for himself government agents
The Rindskopf Brothers were
trying TO save their books as well as they
could so that the government should have
full opportunity TO examine them. Those
two men were reported by the Rihdskopfs
to be very large and very blood-thirsty.
They informed the gentlsmenl that they
must have those books or their ..patriciAn
blood would soon mingle with the refuse
Of the gutter. The distillers demonstrated
in vain. The robbers would not listen to
reason. 1t is said they finally gsye up the
books to the pretended officials rather than
to part with their valuable lives. They
then went over to the telegraph Office and
had narrowing account of the occurrence
telegraphed all over thecountry. The bru-
tality Of the government officials was
dwelt upon, and the arbitrary dealing of
the administration In disposng of matters
10 this violent and summary manner was
brought out in bold relief. No one could
read that pathetic piece Of electric news
without feeling his blood boil with indig.
nation, and his breast moved with sympa.
ny. But q peculiar phase of this whole
business is.thatCo Hedrick and his assis. !
ants never heard anything about this oc.
,urance until more than IL hours after Il
Since the advent OF the revenue men
aere the newspaper press has kept ND Q |