Wilmington journal., 1876-02-18
A History of the WHISKY Esingl

fotc OF UIe L&. COm.
A History of the WHISKY ssingl
a correspondent Of the New York
World states that the original "crookpd
whisky ring of st. Louis was started
in 1872, osteus'bly for campaign pur-
poses ia the interest of Grant. It's
leading spirits were Mcdonald, super
visor; Jnyc', revenue agent; Bevis and
Fraser. diati!iers; and G.. q. Megrue,
cashier and paymaster. Instead of
using their funds to pro note the canse
Of the Republican party, the money
was divided among them. This ar
rangement continued till aftnr the
Presidential election, the government
being sfrauded of from So 900 to
S15, 900 per week by the officials After
she election was over Mcdonald and
Joyce wanted to ''freeze out" certain
members of the conspiracy, and ac-
complished their object by having all
crooked operations stopped for
while AS soon rs the obnoxious per
sons were got rid of, includiug Megrue,
operations were resumed more boldly
and upon "a larger scale than at first
All the distillers, with unimportant
exceptions, the supervisor, the revenue
agents. gaugers and storekeepers were
in the ring.
In 1874, Peter Curran, having been
prosecuted by the government (his
case was subsequently, settled(, desired
to get out OF his trouble, and the ex-
members Of the original ring su spect-
ing the trick which had been played
upon them, and having suspicious that
the crooked operations hal been re-
sumcd, opened correspondence with
Commissioner Douglass, informing
him OF the existence of the ring. Penn
Brashelr. secret dete ctive, was sent
to St. Louis to investigate. The ring
was f0rewarned by avery, chief clerk
of Douglass, and Bra~hear was con-
quered by bribe Of 5000. He re
rurued to Washington with a clean
bill After that, Huag. another secret
service man, vas sent he'", and the
ring paid him $40, 900 Tor the satisfac-
tory report which he turned IN at
Washington. TLcn Brazbenr and Var
van came. Their investigation cost
the ring another $4,000, which Bra
shear took, promising to divide WITH
| Y ryan. The former return, Il to
Washington and maize out the rrguia-
ton report, showing everything all
IlSut CGI vi my LsiAG C''' iIIiItt'h
in tue opinion. The latter went to
NV Orleans from St Louis, where lie
passed the winter On return nG to
Washington in the spring Of 1875 he
discovered the r'port made by Bra-
shear, and denied that Ii" coInciJ> Il III
the report.
Thcsing ,ntinuod it's operations till
April last when information was re-
ceived that Yaryan WAS i'll town. osten-
bly, W. rk1ng up railroad ca9e, but III
fact secretly engaged IN looking after
the revenue frauds When the ring
| learned 3hat was being done McDou-
| aid raised $40, 600 from its members
for the purpos a. he sad, of stopping
| investigation Bevis had gCEe TO Cal
iforuia, but was called home by ttle-
gram, reaching ST. Loui- three or four
DAYS before the seizures were made.
The descent was early in May last, AID
in partially Included ali distillers and
rect,fiers IN st. Louis. Mcdonald still
continued TO tell the ring 'things are
| all right; that he knew WHO had that
| $40, ,OUO; that all was straight, and that
| they would surely be released" TO
| their sorrow Mcdonald proved a false
prophet. The grand jury was in ses-
| sion for six weeks At the end Of tat
| time it brought ii true bills against
| Mcdonald, SUPERVISE. Joyce, revenue
| agent; all the gaugers and storekeep-
| ers: ali the di~tliieIs and rcctlfiHrs, with
| the except or of On,, who died Just IN
! the nick of time TO save himself; Fhtz-
roy, deputy collector and huanclaI
agent Of the ring, aud Avery, chIet
! clerk in the Revenue Department al
! Washington.
The ring continued in good spirits,
still relying on McDonald's promises,
and those of Joyce, tina call wonld
| blow over" but III Ottober, having
, lost all faith III him, the distiilrrs and
| rectifers all cume tnto the United
Sta es Court and pleaded guilty
Fitzroy, deputy collector together
with the ouagarS and store keepers,
mad the same plea At the Novemh' ]
tern, Of The ant. Conrt Med maid and
Avery were found gn'liy. Joyce, un-
der indictment Of the Western DIS
'rict of the State, had previously been
tried ard found guilty. Sent@nce wa
suspended on ali who pleaded guilty
| aud were used as States evidence
! Sentence was also suspended on al
fonnd guilty by trial N he Il tstefp
Districr. At tue November term OF tnt
grand jury, Constantine Mcguire. Col
Iector of the District; William Mckee
of the Globe Democrat, and General y
E. 3ubcock, were indicted on seVera
counts each. The three last named
were certified to the United State
Circuit Court, a special session o
which met on the 205h of January TO
the trial of these three cases. 10 TIL
surprise of every body Mckee wa
found guilty: Magnire made compro
mise. pleading guilty on five counts t.
dereliction of duty, the governmen
entering a MOL pros. as to the charrg
: of conspiracy t.; defraud. The trial 9
, Grants military secretary, General Q
t E. Babcosk, the third and last, CON
: menced on Monday last. The troubi
> in this case is that it requires Yer
5 d fferent testimony to C nv!ct him fror
that used to convict his accompliceS
? General Grants removal of Mr.. Her
S d. rson, who had thoroughly mastere
' the case, VII alao d Id to Bhbeock
r chances of escape. The whole infil
f ence of the administration is being e1
f erted IN his behalf. and his convictlo
n viii be a wonderful triumph over tt
President as well as over the ring.