The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-15
SHERIFF M 'ADORY ANSWERS ALLEGED
 PETITION TOO'NEAL
Declares Citizens Have Not C0-Operated in Enforc-
 ing the Liquor Laws
WHY WAS THE GRAND
 JURY NOT INFORMED? :?
Declares Signers of Petition Will Be Summoned Before Next Grand Jury - Gov. O'Neal States
 Petition Is Not Received

Jury - Gov. O'Neal States
 Petition Is Not Received
 Sheriff Walter K. McAdory is quite | caustic in his reply concerning the peti- tion which, it is said, will be presented to Gov Fmmet ONeal by the citizens of beat %, in the vicinity of Lewisburg and Arcadia, concerning certain alleged con- dtions formerly existing in that territory. 1 Sheriff McAdory's answer is the out growth of the following petition, published yesterday afternoon in the Birmingham News as being prepared for presentation | to Governor ONeal:
 We, the citizens of Jefferson county, living in beat 22, do petition Governor O'Neal to lend us helping hand. We 1 feel and realize the fact that we have | got to call on the governor for protection. for the sheriff and deputies have failed | to do their duty, before the time that Hagan and his mob of four men are all | legged to have mobbed w. W. Elard in the saloon covered up with a drug store. | Previous to this killing the sheriff ar I never bothered Hagan at all A few days before the killing of W. w. Ellard he noti- fled Hagan in the presence of Pat Friel | to clean up and quit the whisky business, and in a few days the saloon started up again, and one of the mob was in there
 issuing out whisky.
 "Never Made Arrest" | h ocsp n arrest at this Tom Hagan saloon, covered up with a drug store, before nor since the mobbing.
 | "Hagan and the bunch intend to run this saloon over the heads of the citizens of beat 22"
 The petition Is signed, says the Brming- ham News, by F. J. Ellard, C. M Ellard, J. M Mccormick. l.. w Lock- heart, W. B. Wilkinson, Tommie Lewis. c. A. Heidman, B. F. Terry, Joe Greene, Pink Farley. J. R. Huguely, T. J. Lewis, F. T. Blizzard, II. K 1n- gram, Henry vanderford, T. W. Me Combs, w. M Israel, Frank P. Smith, D. c. Gillian, W. J. Watkins. Robert Simpson, J. B. Mccormick, Pat McCor- mick, H. H. Smyth c. M. Thomas, w. R Haney, c. F. Alton, T. D. Dudley, J. E. Smith, G. N. Smith, E. T. Owen, Tom Dement,, J. A. Cummings and w. J. | Heran.
 l Sheriff McAdory said in formal state ment dictated in The Age-Herald office: | ''While there are a few good citizens
 among the signers of the petition, prom inent among them is the name of Joe | Green, who was arrested only week or two ago by Henry Cole, one of my depu- ties, and a party of United States officers | charged with operating an illicit whisky | still The still was destroyed by the off cers and Green was indicted by the fed eral grand jury which has just reported. Furthermore, this Joe Green Is the fellow who assaulted Teck Duncan and Houston | Sullivan, men who reside in the LewisburS | territory, for giving testimony to the cor | oner's jury concerning the death of John | Holland negro. for whose death the 1 Jones boys and Will Watson are now in l the county jail He was arrested for this | by Deputy Sheriffs Hartsfield and Me- Duff and put in the county jail. He was tried before Judge H. B. Abernethy and | put u1utI DOHu to hctp thc PSotS AS' '''T> months. He is now under that bond and was at the time he signed this petition | This assault upon these witnesses took place at Second avenue and Twenty second street, right in the heart of Bir- mingham, which, l say, shows that he has no regard for the law, either in the city or in his own home beat for these men had given testimony with the hopes of clearing up a foul crime in his home beat.
 Grateful for Credit l q am deeply and profoundly grateful that the signers of this petition have seen fit to give me credit for raiding every whisky joint in I.ewisburg except the one which they allege was operated by Tom l Hagan. If can do this well and get an
 equal amount of credit all over Jefferson county I shall feel. indeed, that I have
 earned sweet reward.
 If they are the good citizens which they claim to be and have the moral back bone and courage they represent they
 have by signing this petition. why is 1t they have not sworn out warrants or given me direct information that that place
 was in operation. as they claim? Not one of them nor anyone akin to them has
 ever given me any information concern ing a blind tiger in Tom Hagan's drug
 store, and the petition yesterday is the first that I had heard of it from them. However, I had heard of this place from other sources and had attempted to get evidence on the place. I could not send
 my deputies there to get whisky, for they are too well known. However. I did send at least 25 citizens, who were not known to be in my employ, to get whisky. and l
 have never yet gotten the dope on the place I stationed one man there for
 three days in the guise of an agent repre- senting a mercantile house. taking orders for goods in the store that these signers designate and he could not eaten them in a sale.
 A Dangerous Operation
 "Furthermore, any drug store in Ala
 bama has the right to sell whisky and other alcoholic fluids under certain regu- lations and are permitted by state law to
 possess federal license as drug store. Consequently it is quite dangerous oper- alton to arrest a drug store proprietor for selling whisky. Tn the last 10 days l have
 sent at least a dozen men to that same
 store to try to buy whisky.
 q also have a deputy sheriff sta-