The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-04-22


Iexpletives, and the sound of the swish
| of balls. Occasionally mild whoop
of boistr)us laughter would Indicate
that somebody had IN all probability
been hit in the eye.
When the old court was DESTROYED
directions were given that new one
should be made in it's place. This was
done last fall. An army of worlmen
graded the ground and the army en-
gineers brought acumen into play to
make IL as perfect as possible.
How successful they were was seen
during the early days of spring.
There are the magnolas, the squirrels
the robins, and the fountain. There
is the shade of the stately boughs
overhead. There Is everything that q
soul could wish--but the air of sad
ness cannot be dispelled and 1t seems
that the birds will be using a tattered
net before long to build their nests
for the summer
Tennis Is dead at the White House.
When George w. Cureton, who lives
up in the northern corner of Georgia
in Bade County to be exact-pinned
his faith to a United States internal
revenue stamp authorizing him to
make whiskey and proceeded to do
so, he got himself, the state of Geor-
gia, and even the federal government
itself, into a peck of trouble. He and
two federal revenue agents were land
ed in iail, the State of Georgia de-
n1 ItA nj a..
lease them, and for the last six
months there has been bitter legal
warfare which has only just been
terminated.
The whole controversy would have
been avoided in the first place IL
Cureton and some of the others in
volved had realized that the United
States does not license" anybody to
go into the liquor or tobacco business.
The license must come from the state
or district in which the business Is
to be carried on. The national govern
ment merely insists that those who
engage In the business must pay u
tax to Uncle Sam for the privilege.
Nor does 1t make any difference to
the National government whether or
not those who want to pay such a
tax live in a prohibition district. 1t
is always ready to sell the stamps
which show that tax has been paid
and which guarantees that there will
be no Federal interference. In one
town In the dry" state of Kansas
over one hundred such stamps were
sold last year and in the state of
Maine-also a stronghold of prohibi-
tlon-over 600. But Coreton's case, in
the prohibition State of Georgia, was
a peculiar one.
Living up in the hills with a sparse
but thirsty community around him,
separated my many miles from the
places which cater to the desires of
the bibulously inclined, Cureton con-
ceivcd the idea that there was good
living if not fortune, to be OBJ
tanned by establishing a still and
selling it's products to his neighbors.
Being wise in his generation, and
having knowledge of the implacable
fashion in which the revenue men"
will dog down anyone who tries to
run that kind of business illicitly,
Cureton decided that 1t would be SAT-
lest TO be open and above-board In
carrying out his plans.
SO he went to the Office of the near
est Collector of Internal Revenue and
passed over the taxes required by the
Federal government. Then he went
back home and started a real dis
tillery.
Everything went along smoothly for
a time and Cureton was making
money as we'll as whiskey The gov
ernment storekeeper and gauger visit
ed his place from time to time and
verified the amount of liquor that he
was making and saw that his ac-
count of material used was correct.
His nei;yhbors had their regular sup
ply OF "mountain due" with the Gov
ernment 60 X" on 1t, and voted
Cureton good fellow.
But this peaceful scene could not
last forever. After sonic months the
State authorities learned of this far
away mountain distillery running In
violation of the State laws. and they
sent sheriff to Investigate. Cureton
was arrested and brought to trial IN
the course of which the government
|storekeepcr and gauger. B. p. Thomp-
son by meme. was called upon to tes-
tlfy as 20 what was I'm Cureton's work
shop. Thompson refused to give any
information on the ground that gov
ernment regulations prohibit revenue
officer from disclosing any knowledge
gained in the course of his business.
He was promptly sent to jail for
contempt of court. n
About the same time deppty 1oa,
iector W. H. Crockett broIf (1H ana
removed the lock whicll1l mad peeh
placed on the distilleryE the sheriff.
and he was placed r. prison
The national goy>fnment was array
ed against tpe State Government
agents nf ~ one upholding the
Treasury Departments regulations
and oal<6ls and others supporting the
tra amved dignity OF the State laws
anS courts. There were habeas cor
y1s and other court proceedings
brought and suits threatened back
and forth Both sides refused to recog-
nize the authority of the other and a
really ugly situation was created,
The row started early last fall and
IL was not until a day or two ago
that an amicable adjustment was
4 rha