Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1908-03-14
BOLD FRAUD
IS UNEARTAED
By u. S. Revenue
Officers at AL
buquerque
WHOLESALE ARRESTS LIKELY
Brewery Employees and Sa.
loonists Implicated in Sys.
tematic Scheme of Pillage


on complaint of F. P. Blandy, deputy
collector of internal revenue for New
Mexico, United States Marshal G. M.
Foraker yesterday placed under arrest
Charles Webb, proprietor of road
house and saloon west of Albuquer-
que, and r. A. Miller, Of this city, who
until few days ago was an employe
OF the Southwestern Brewery and Ice
company, upon charges of violation of
the United States revenue laws.
The two men were given a hear
ing late yesterday afternoon before
United States Commissioner H. K.
Whiting, and were bound over to await
the action of the United States grand
jury under $4,000 bonds each.
In the work leading up to these two
arrests the United States revenue Of
fcers believe they have uncovered a
scheme Of systematic pillage, from
which the Southwestern Brewery and
Ice company has been the chief suf-
ferer, and which has extended over
two years or more. Men who are in
terested in the brewery and who are
in position to speak for the manage
ment, agree with this belief and say
that it will probably be shown that
the brewery has suffered a direct loss
of thousands of dollars through the
robbery.
In addition to the arrests made yes.
terday, revenue officers in Cincinnati
have been advised to arrest two
brewers now in that city and recently
discharged from the plant mere on
suspicion that they had some connec-
ton with the steady losses which it
has been known were being suffered.
Further Arrests Probable.
In addition to these arrests 1t is in
timated that other saloon owners in
Albuquerque, believed to have had a
part in the system, will shortly be
called to account The name of the
suspects can not be obtained from
either the revenue officers or the man.
agement of the brewery, but 1t Is
known that investigations were under
way yesterday and today in sew.
eral places from which results are ex-
pected to follow Immediately.
For some time the brewery man
agement has known that 1t was suf-
fering losses in some way, its revenue
accounts falling repeatedly to bal.
ance, and this had gone to such an
extent that there was serious danger
of complications with the govern
ment.
Some ten days ago Mr.. Blandy and
his associates came to albuquerque
from Santa Fe and went to
work on the case. They have
unearthed a scheme so bold and
yet so simple that it is difficult to see
how 1t could have been carried on
successfully for so long. The brazen-
ness with which one of the men under
arrest attempted to carry on the sys-
tenn after he knew that robbery was
suspected indicates that the scheme
had been working long enough to
cause the plotters to become careless
and that detection was not feared. 1t
was this carelessness born of long Sc
curity which brought about the discov-
cry of the scheme and the schemers.
Scheme Bold Yet Simple.
The scheme was not complicated
one at all. The saloon man, as in the
case of Webb, who is under arrest,
purchased properly stamped barrel
of beer from the brewery for the
usual price, $40. Over the cork OF
each barrel Is placed the revenue
stamp, so that when the spigot Is In
serted, or driven In, 1t passes through
the stamp, making hole in 1t and
effecting cancellation. The rim OF
the cancelled stamp, round circle
is left around the hole. The saloon
man first soaked from an empty bar.
rel one of these cancelled stamps. He
then bought his barrel of properly
stamped beer from the brewery at
the regular price, but before opening
1t, he soaked off the uncancelled
stamp, saving 1t intact, and placed in
Its stead around the cork or spigot the
old stamp with the hole in 1t.