Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-05-08

may be any old thing that man wants
for thc simpl" reason that he has il not.
To bring tn" subject down many points
from tn" sublime, il may BE- rum-tha
fen destroyer Of mans happiness
that is sought.
It is = well known fact that the
search for rum is a very persistent one.
ana is prosecuted With two widely
different ohjccts-by one party for th.
purpose of putting down the rum itself,
and by another for the purpose of put
ting down the traffic. To the latter
class it most often proves q search
for the un1ttainablc especially il the
puryeyor Of the liquid ruin sees the
other party first.
\ search of the latter kind took place
one day this week. only instead Of the
object being the capture of some deal
CT red handed in the illegal dispersal
ton Of alcoholic stimulants, it was for
the purpose Of bringing to light scv-
cral bottles of TOGus split that had
been concealed from the sight of man
for something like twenty years.
It came about in this way. A few
DAYS ago q group Of four or five were
enjoying their morning smoke around
the table in the police station, and the
gossip which had been underway final
| w drifted into the subject of liquor
ana Of seizures that had been made in
! the past
One Of the older members of the force
was in q reminiscent mood. and after
entertaining his audience with an in
| tcrestng narration of the queer places
in which he had found liquor during
! his term Of service on the force, re-
called to mind Il raid which he and
another officer had made, over near
Togus, some twenty years ago
In those days there was a great deal
more woodland about Togus than there
| is today. ana the rum business -four
| ished like the proyerbal green bay
tree, so that there was something doing
! in the search business about all the
! time. II was during the reign Of
| Sheriff Stevens, and at that time the
Augusta officers had to cover the whole
teri itory about the Home, including
the Gardiner and Hallowell roads. The
notorious "Hayseed Avenue was yet
to be at that time, but on the Halo
well road the air was redolent with the
| invigurating aroma of alcohol. and the
amber colored liquor which no chemist
could name. tinkled merrily in the
glasses. The same was true of the
other roads. aud even the woods were
! full of walking lar rooms.
1T was Of one Of these raids that the
officer smoke. He, with another gentle
! man. who is now the postmaster Of Il
, town within a few miles Of Augusta,
started out one morning, to see how
the Togus rumsellcrs were prospecting.
| About four miles out they called al
house ana cunffscatcd three or four
bottles of whiskey and then kept on, in
| search of new worlds to conquer.
| AZ they were bound down to the
: Gardiner and Hallowen roads, they dill
/ not want TO keep the whiskey in the
wagon. for fear that they would lose
it. 50 after driving on to a bend in the
| road they lifted a few stones from q
wall near the roadside, and placing the
hotties therein, covered them up ana
drove on. thinking to take them on
their return.
1t came to pass, however, that the
bottles were not thought of again, for
when. after going through several
II places further down the line. and Civ
ling the dealers a song and dance to
very quick music, the officers drove home
with their stuff, by the other road.
Thus it happened that the bottles were
left in the wall, and may be there to
this day.