The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1907-04-18
SIZZLING coNFIscATEO LIQUOR.
Bud Ledbetter Has Spilled 10000 GaL
Ions of Whiskey at Muskogee.

At the southwest corner of the Fed
eral Court building in Muskogee, IT.,
the brick wall furnishes the buffer for
Bud Ledbetter in action, and there
thousands of gallons of liquor. from
the finest champagne to the lowest
grade of beer, have been spilled. A
spadeful of soil from that spot burned
in the fire, says the Kansas City Star,
will give off an odor of burning alco-
hal. If the glass of broken bottles
were allowed to remain there would
be a pile half as high as the court
house itself.
Under the law when an officer hnds
liquor in Indian Territory he mist
confiscate and destroy it. Ledbetter
is a special officer whose duty 1t is TO
suppress bootlegging. He has come
nearer breaking it than any other
man in Indian Territory. But even
he is at this time more or less dis
couraged.
To keep liquor out of town OF 25,-
900 people with five railroads in the
city, in addition to having half nun
dred other towns in his district, is not
a small matter, especially when a
bootlegger can double his money on
every quart of whisky he can get into
the territory, and when profit and
thirst create geniuses in the art OF
getting liquor past the marshals.
When Lerbetter finds any CONSIDER
able quantity of liquor he gets dray'
hauls the stuff to this corner OF the
old court house and destroys 1t by
hurting bottles against the DrlcK wall
Ledbetter in action always draws
big and thirsty crowd. All are Will
ing to assist. with the hope OF being
able to get away with one bottle WIN
out Ledbetter seeing them. o1ten
liquor runs in a stream down the gut
ter and negroes will kneel down anu
drink it. When this is done match
is applied so that flames Will spreau
over the top of the liquor soakeu
ground. This keeps the negroes Or
no matter how thirsty.
The court house corner was selected
because it is sheltered from the VIVA
in the winter and there is large
shade tree valued in the summer.
How much whiskey has been spilled
there Ledbetter does not know, Dut
he saws there have been thousands
of gallons. He has figures to show
that during the past three years ne
has confiscated 10000 gallons Oh
LIQUOR, worth at Indian Territory
prices $4,000.
Bud Ledbetter is 81 years OLD.
six footer and weighs more than zoo.
He has been an officer for twenty-five
wears and has never been seriously
wounded in a fight. He has been
deputy marshal in Indian territory
for thirteen years and is considered
the best field deputy in the country.
He made his reputation at the reck-
less period when the fight Tor SUI
premacy was on between the govern
ment officers and the gangs OF out
laws which infested Indian Territory.
Since the outlaw days are past Led
break UP the liquor business. He has
worked faithfully at it for three years,
and while he has not suppressed IL
entirely, it is harder to get drink IN
Muskogee today than 1t ever was pc
fore, and that, 100, in spite OF the
greatly increased population. He can
find liquor where no one else would
ever think OF 1T.
His most effective resource is the
"fence" he has established on the
express lines and freight trains enter
ing this district. He has spoilers,
and scores of packages containing
liquor are tipped off to him before the
trains reach Muskogee. By watching
O. negro walking along the street he
can tell by his actions whether he Is
a bootlegger. BY shaking box CT
trunk he can tell every time whether
there is liquor in it.