Imperial Valley press., 1908-04-11
COUNTY LAW AGAINST SELLING LIQUOR ENFORCED BY RAID ON 5ooTLEeeERs AND
 BLIND PIGS.
ARRESTS IN FOUR TOWNS
Notorious Lsw-Breaker Sentenced to Jail and Others Llkeiy to Follow Doctors Too Free With Prescriptions of Whiskey For Patients Whose Only Complaint Is Aridity.

Surreptitious assuagers of alcoholic thirst, known as "bootleggers' and blind plggers," have been severely jolted in Imperial county during the past week or ten days, and there are more shocks coming to them. Ten arrests have been made as a starter, and there is plenty of evidence for further prosecutions.
 During the month of March special agent, employed by citizens determ ined to compel respect TOT the county ordinance, gathered evidence against sellers of liquor, and his report shows that he bought liquor daily and often several times day. Ira Aten, R. H. Clark and others were witnesses to many of the sales. They found blind pigs"-places where liquor is sold by the drink-in Imperial and Calexico, and "bootleggers"- peddlers- in Holtville and El Centro. George Marshal, early in the month, sold whiskey by the bottle in Casner's pool room and made change ouC or the cash register His method was to place the stuff back of the counter or in an outbuilding and tell the purchaser where to find it. Later ,n the month, Marshal fell out with Casner and con ducted his trade on the outside, de- livering the goods to purchasers at their rooms in the hotels or elsewhere. Nels Spare and young man of the name of Swanson peddled whisky about the town, and there is evidence that they were acting as agents of persons who have taken deep interest in their cases and hired lawyers to defend them. Spare and Swanson were arrested in room in the Frank lin Hotel, where they made sale and delivery to the occupants, by deputy sheriffs Buck and Bradford
 Spare pleaded guilty before Justice Tout, but after the pool room crowd had visited him in jail, where they were permitted to talk with him, he withdrew his plea and changed his mind about telling where he got the whisky. Spare and Swanson will be tried on the 18th instant.
 Marshal pleaded guilty, and Justice Tout imposed upon him the minimum penalty of thirty days imprisonment and $15O fine. There are five more cases against Marshal
 At Imperial evidence was obtained against Robert Hall, who runs blind piggery" with barred doors like Chin csc gambling den, and against his bar keeper, Jack Ellis. Hall was tried and convicted in the local court and sen tenced to thirty days in jail.
 Ellis was tried before Justice Bord- ner on Thursday. His attorney raised the "kittle point" that there was no evidence to show that whisky is ah intoxicating liquor, and the court gravely took that momentous and per picking question under adyisement"
 Harry Bernard and A. Barber were caught bootlegging in Holtville, and the detective reports that they con- fided to him that they were figuring on doing a big business with canta- loupe pickers. Their cases have been set for the 16th inst.
 At Calexico, druggist Joe Estudillo and his clerk were arrested for selling beer and whiskey, and their case was set for the 18th In Estudillo's cellar were found fourteen barrels of beer and about 300 bottles of whisky Two women also were arrested in CaleXico One was fined for vagrancy and the other held for trial on charge of selling liquor in disorderIy house.
 These are but few of the cases re- sulting from the investigations of citi- zens and the detective. Several phy- sicians were found to be extremely accommodating in the matter of writ ing whisky prescriptions at anything from two bits to a dollar per. When doctor writes two or three prescrip- tions in one day for the same person,