El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-01-05

pert operators In ferreting out the vio-
lators Of the revenue laws, they are
now more numerous than in many
years This is largely due to the In
creased demand for ~moonshine liz
uor, brought about by prohibition in
the southern states. During the past
fiscal year 1911 distillerfes were seized
and destroyed. as compared with 1743
for the preceding fiscal year. There
were 40 moOnshiners arrested and 63,-
81 gallons of spirits reported for seiz-
ure- The value of the moonshiners'
property reported for Seizure aggregat-
ed quarter Of a million dollars and
the taxes and penalties for assessment
amounted to approximately one and a
half million dollars.
Client Comes Back
The enforcement OF the internal rev.
enue laws often brings about queer cir
cumstances. Years ago. when the late
judge John Paul of the western district
court Of Virginia, was a practicing at
torney, he acted as council for a moon
sinner named Morris. When Morris
was engaging him Paul inquired what
evidence he would be able to submit
tending to disprove the charges
against him. Morris replied that he
could bring witnesses to prove any
thing his council thought advisable.
Years interviewed, during which time
Judge Paul went to congress and from
there to the federal bench In the last
year Of his service, there came before
him a decrepit old man who had been
indicted by the federal grand jury for
moonshiEing. It proved to be his erst-
while client. The old man promised IL
the Judge would be lenient he would
forever after travel the straighet and
narrow way. He was given jail SEN
tence for one year. and it IS understood
that the old man has since lived true
to his VOW to respect the federal stat
utes
The revenue agent who is seeking
an Illicit still must look for it under all
guises and forms. Some years ago
there was evidence Of moonshine whis-
ky in a certain community and the beSt
endeavors Of the revenue agent failed,
to locate the place of manufacture. At
last q certain agent noticed SCOT on the
leaves Of the trees in certain tract OF
woodland. and observed that it was
heavier on the north side of the tree
than on the souths side With this
slight clue he began a thorough search
and finally came upon a hollow tree,
from the knot hole Of which he observ~
ed traces Of smoke. Further investiga-
ton showed him that there was a cave
nearby, and that the moonshiners had
concealed their distillery in 1t. using
the hollow tree as a smokestack- His
investigation led to the seizure Of an
entire gang and their conviction in the
courts.
Gander Proves Clue.
In another case a revenue agent was
travelling through the woods and came
across a lone gander. Remembering
that the cackling OF gees had saved
Rome. strange intuition told him that
the travels Of this gander might save
Uncle Sam some revenue He spent
hours patiently travelling along in the
wake Of Mr.. Gander. feeling sure he
would go home with the setting OF the
sun His surmise was true and the
fowl finally brought him to the place
where fthe plant was located.
Some years ago there was evidence
IN two North Carolina counties that
large amounts o. moonshine whisky
were being sold The revenue agents
hunted high and low for the blockad-
er, who was making it. They noticed. /
after many months of search, that
when they were almost on the point OF
locating their man IN one county. ac-
tivities broke out in an adjoining
county. IN this way the moonshiner
was able to elude his pursuers for a
long time. Finally, however, he was
brought TO bay. It was found that
each of his stills had been enlarged TO
a capacity Of 500 gallons a day. He
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