The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-04
MIU lie UUIIEnI
Judge Dana Orders $4,000
Worth Of Liquor Destroyed.
Stock Captured in Raid Of a
Drug Store.
1T HAS NO OWNER.
A. Townsend Who Was Arrested
Acquitted.
Last Accumulation of Famous
Carver Raids.

About $1,000 worth of liquor which
was captured when the Townsend drug
store joint on East Fifth street was
raided November a year ago was tried
before Judge Dana Of the district court
this morning and convicted of being a
nuisance and ordered destroyed, Sheriff
Lucas being named as chief execution
er. The raid was one of the first made
by t. F. Carver after he was appoint
ed assistant attorney general and was
the only successful one of the many
afterwards attempted.
The proprietor of the place who is not
known, for Townsend was tried on that
charge and acquitted, was unprepared
Tor the raid which accounts for the
amount of liquor found in the building
and the basement adjoining it. Among
the goods confiscated were a number
Of barrels of whisky evidently aging in
wood, champagne by the case and a
large stock of native wines and about
everything else used in stocking a joint,
as the place was accredited with being
the uptown supply station for the
Joints.
After this raid which was planned
and executed by Mr.. Carver a complete
reorganization of the jointistS' forces
took place and though all subsequent
raids was planned with the greatest
secrecy
torney general found but little wheE
=, places were entered. He had ar
ranged to raid the place known as the
Copeland bar, the first door south or
the Hotel Copeland, but when he ar
rived there he found the place deserted
though there was a suffering beer keg
in the midle of the floor gasping its
last as the amber fluid sought a low
place in the bar room floor
Raid after raid was planned with
the utmost secrecy but with no sue
cess and the assistant attorney gen
eral was sure that there was leak
somewhere about the court house and
more than intimated that the sherifr's
force knew the source from which the
iointists were receiving their informa-
ton. His expressions along these lines
did not result in particularly strong
friendship between himself and the
sheriff and the county attorney and !
though they were probably innocent
of the charges made by Judge Carver,
they were unable to prove that they
knew nothing of the leak, though pos /
sibly they did not look for it with the
same energy that they might have /
sought some other things.
The joint lists laughed in their /
sleeves at the vain efforts of the as
sistant attorney general and their Or
ganization was so perfect that 80 they I
forced him to resign within few /
after his appointment and ac- .
knowledge that the ways of the join
lists were beyond him. Had he ap-
preciated the conditions which existed /
at the time he would have been more .
than repaid for the failure of hrs
raids and could have found way to
stop the leak
From some mysterious source, !
sometimes two or three times day, /
a telephone message would come to |
the jointists and there was a hurried /
clearing of bars for inspection, much
after the fashion that the deck of a
man of war is prepared for action
During these seasons of virtue which
were of various lengths of duration
the best known patrons of the bars
were compelled to go with an I'M II
quenched thirst, for love nor money Il
would tempt a bartender back of his II
bar and there was not l.
a drop of liquor to be found about
the place.
The plans of the jointists' protec-
tive association were as simple as they Il
were effective and only leaked out Il
after an assistant attorney general in Il
Shawnee county has become thing of II
the past. a room was rented almost II
directly across the street from the II
of the entrance to the building and
telephones were installed and set of
men were stationed there who never
took their eyes off of the entrance. to
the court house while 1t remained
open.
whenever Judge Carver was seen to
be approaching the court house a gen.
eral alarm was sent out to every joint
list in the city who was being furnished
with protection. 1t was these mysterious
which caused the liquor to
disappear and the bar room to be dark
ened even though the place was filled
with patrons at the time.
There We're many false alarms, for it
made no difference whether Judge Car
yer went 10 the court house to make
for the arrest of some
iointist or whether on q divorce suit for
some client the alarm was spread and
the bars were closed until it was known
what his reason for calling at the court
house had been.
When Townsend was tried as keeper
of the place at the last term of court
he was acquitted and the proceeding
this morning was against the liquor.
and as the evidence which 1t gave was
unsatisfactory Judge Dana found that
II was nuisance and 1t Will be de-
stroyed by Sheriff Lucas some time in
the near future unless an appeal is
taken to a higher court.