The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-09-05
GRAND JURY
MAY INDICT
HOTEL MEN
Admissions by Members Of
Excise Board StirS Sea-
side Resort.
[specIal to the rvening star.l

ASBURY PARK, Sept. 5.-The adj
mission by the Excise Commissioners
that during the fore part of the season
they secured a lot of evidence against
many Asbury Park hotel proprietors,
showing the illegal sale of liquor by
them, a eset everybody's tongues
wagging here, and there are many dire
predictions of what the Grand Jury
will do with this evidence.
Rumor has it that it will incrim-
mate the proprietors of a number of
Asbury Parks leading hotels, and
among them at least one man, who
has outwardly been a strong champion
of the temperance cause, and who 1t
was not generally believed had ever
sold a drop of liquor In his hotel.
Among those whom it is said the
evidence obtained will take again be-
fore the Grand Jury in October are
hotel men who paid a $1,000 fine, after
the great roundup of two summers
ago, and to whom the judge aid very
plainly in imposing this fine that If
they were aver again brought before
| him Upon the same charge he would
infict a penalty of Imprisonment.
Concerning the evidence that has
been obtained, George Thompson, pres
ident of the Excise Board, today made
this statement:
Complaints of the Illegal sale of liquor
were brought to our attention early in the
season and we thought best 70 appoint an
inspector to look into the subject. We
spoke to the Mayor about the matter and
he approved the plan. The Mayor men
| toned some houses he thought 1t might be
well to watch. After we had procured evil
dence and the situation was again. brought
to the Mayors attention, he declared that
we had been infringing upon his rights
that our jurisdiction was over the, licensed
hotels only and that probably Council
would not meet our bills for expenses.
"Our investigation developed that instead
of a tight town Asbury Park was one
with the lid wide off. We have names and
proofs. One hotel man not suspected of
selling liquor was caught selling 1t during
six consecutive days. The evidence Is now
In the possession of the county prosecutor,
who has assured us that action will be
| taken. Some of our city officials will have
to appear before the prosecutor along will
the hotel men. The prosecutor understands
the situation thoroughly and he has given
us to understand that Asbury Park must
| be either a licensed town or a temperance
town, and hat he will not stand for such
conditions as have existed all summer. We
are told by the Mayor and chief of police
that we "a no right to interfere where
liquor is sold without license and that our
jurisdiction is limited to the three licensed
hotels. This is certainly a strange suppo-
sition and one that will not satisfy u.s.
1t is generally believed that the liquor
situation will again become acute and that
the turning OF official attention to 1t will
result either in the licensing of all Asbury
Park hotels that can qualify before the
Excise Board or in the resembling of such
licenses as nave been granted. Vice-Chan-
cellor Bergen's decision the fore part OF
the summer that some hotel men here
might sell liquor and some might not was
never considered as finally settling the
question and is far from satisfactory either
to the temperate or the non-temperance
factions.