The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-09
Chasing Tiger to His
 Lair II, Birrlinglla1n

lating prohibition by juries conposed
 of conspicaous anti-prohibitibnisfs.s
 Tnsrs are more , ssR hosssS sas, s violating the prohibition statute, acc eordins Co Deputy Lucfen Browns who
 ts the acknowledged leader of the raids by the ssherfnB forces He -is also of
 the opinion sthat there are fewer blind
 were were ssfor sci prsSiSissoS SSnsk % sseaa % aiis Hs gives as hfs reason that tfe whiskey stocks are harder to procure Hefores l he says, the saloon men 'bootieggcd" | It on the side, in the alleys. and In the 1
 woods. but since the storage Is aow more dif1cult t Is harder t0s keep the me majority of scitisens interviewed l differ, however, from Deputy iBrown on this point. It seems to be admitted on
 all- sides that there are more illegal sales now than there ever ware. Just to what extent they thrive In the out be fold.T It is a common knowledge, however. that the cities of the county are honey-combed. with social clubs ana soft-drink stands that sell unlifn- Ited quantities of intoxicants.
 If we had the authority that be- don. I've could handle the situation Tar more successfnliy. If there was .
 State law like the city ordinance of Birmingham prohibiting the storage Df 1ntoxicants, we could hit directly at the blind tigers But our men work under stricter reauffements. They must. into order 10 convict ses the sees the trapsaction.. And when our raids fail to secure such evidence. they have been in vain 2 S~. tss secsscy with nesussss.s ss sAnd 1t is G nysterfoua circnu- !
 stance" continued the shsrin. .but ney-
 ertheless true. that most of oar raids |
 have been tipped on to the pfoprfstors
 of the piacek By some means or othar word oS che impending visit gets out. when the men arrive on I the scene and break upon the suppoped | viola tora tn ay have had sufficient warn-
 ing In most tnstancss to dc away with evidence which we -seek. have had to keep to-. tsayseis and chief deputy
 alone the secrecy of a planned raid f Our men are Informed ti1nk they are | wanted to perfofsas certain duty when | t Is the opposite fi1at is intended. Tn | this way, we have: kept the word from E 2 :iiIpsns ans .s. AftsF ss,, the '. 1asn are
 their way to rata { gambling jeint on
 Twsnfisth,. BtFesf. thsy are suddenly
 diverted to tfas blind tiRSr and ordered
 to reid quick and without faItertnw 2 But anotker serious difficulty con- fronting the oEfieers charged with con victing after arrest Is the <cosnODolirl tan character Of the Jsnersan County | pcpniAtioh By taking every advent. age ofs the law 10 secure pcstpcnernens [ of the cases, the asfendant gafns time E in this state It ix einphAticaliy . feature of prohibition trials. During | the long i4,tsTisns the witnesses. being part Of the immense floating t lat quietly left the county. When the so- licitor Is gefting ready Tor the actual l trial he aWakeg to- find himself with. | out support His witnesses have skip L ped. They have either wearied Of the delay, in trial, grew indtxerent sad ties buy them transpoytatton "a other parts outside the 5nrisdictieh ofs the court. & /. ;.
 .Ts is different ins thS ssaad and sst- tied counties of the state.". aaid ks. ! aistant Solicitor AiTds MTheRa wit. t uessas are more Ilksiy to he perEna-
 nent resldsnts of 3he community On | tha. day of. frlsi the witnessssd dm&ys bs depended upon to appear and tessteys | or more 90 than ln9 this county If ig | the sa1ne way with the grand 5uFtss, In the matter of pfeh ition. 'sls ituries of other counties have, greater ed-I vantage in detecsing violations and - s'a A ,e Gasnaa ,Inxtss Den't Inasea.
 < On the sabject of grand juriess it may be noted jhat here, that in Jeffer%
 son County the tndicsr4e for prohi- bItion violasaUns. arc compar4tAvely lew They beArSbu Ssmail proportion | to the vast number of presentn1onts by Allidavit and watrant$ Et is . kind Of action, infnediate and swift is .ds- ' lt- s.-f risf -+
 The grand, jury Is only an inauisito- rial body. The members may. summon | witnesses to testify. hut they do not
 usually send minions to the tiger door fronts with axe snd pistol. They have shown in stI1fs county prbbAbiy
 prohibition pfoiatora as. 'in any other | county or as could be expected. Hut | their fruits are few very few. They ! are just now sen5nying a short receas after having. sat since; the 1lFst Moa- | day inE January. e.ss = :. fs
 to nave ssuFamoned many supposed wit
 nosses against blind tigers, The men when summoned are afliicted with g
 pikiabie lapse Of memory. To hear their afswers to questions pfopounded, | it Is said. is to make believest that there are here the most unsophisticat ex- ponents of temperance that a recently | .tsi were, of course, heard to remark that F prohibition is a farce. that blind tigers lnfest every city block like cactus tn the virgin prairie. But conRrqneing tue grand jury. they can only acknowi ledge | that their evidehce was .heArsay, Shat in person they haye never consorted | with the disgraceful animals.
 ; On the present grand jury of Jefxer- son is an ex-saloon proprietor. It was | recommended that such an addition to the body would aid in diacIoein6 viola ti6ns. Itsis said that by no means was the suggestion bad one. He iB doing his work with as much loyalty eand perseverance as the reet of in q body.
 Sheriff Higdon has in his employ an average of forty deputiea daily The seventy with supernumerariessn number ing seveyfteen. This is the little army dfSmen, together with the police of the smaller cities ofs the county who are