Evening star., 1912-11-20
GREATEST RAID
BY GOVERNMENT
IN Its HISTORY
Post Office Inspectors and
MarshaIs Begin Arrest of
173 Persons in Seventy
Two Cities.
USE OF MAILS ALLEGED
TO GETlLLEGAL BUSINESS
Promotion of Criminal Medical Prac-
tices Is Charged.
WILL PUSH CASES VIGOROUSLY
Two of the Arrests Are to Be Made
in Washington-Worst Crime
Spots Located in the Pa
cific Coast States.
USE OF MAILS ALLEGED
TO GETlLLEGAL BUSINESS
Promotion of Criminal Medical Prac-
tices Is Charged.
WILL PUSH CASES VIGOROUSLY

Acting under direction OF Post
master General Hitchcock, post
Office inspectors and marshals in
seventy-two leading cities of the
country began today practically
simultaneous raids for the arrest
of I73 persons charged with using
the mails to promote criminal
medical practices or the sale of
drugs and instruments used for
illegal purposes.
Cities Where Raids Are to Be Made.
The number of arrests to be made in
the respective cities follows: New York,
.: Buffalo. 3: Pittsburgh. Z: Indianapolis.
5; Chicago. 8; st. Paul, 5; Fort Worth. 4:
St Louis, 3; Omaha, 4: Oklahoma City.
5: Portland, Greg, 8; Denver, 3; Seattle,
s: Spokane. 5; San Francisco. Z: Oakland.
Cal, s: Los Angeles, 3; San Jose, 3:
Mobile 8; Marietta. Ohio. 3: Dallas, 3.
Two each in Albany. Washington, Mem
pills. Birmingham, Cleveland, Steuben-
willie, Ohio; Duluth. Winona, Mimi; San
Aantonio, Houston, New Orleans, Kansas
City, Topeka, Alameda, Cal.
One each In Atlanta. Cincinnati. Toledo.
Minneapolis, Galveston, Salt Lake City,
Ithaca and Elmira, n. Y; East Orange,
". j., Lancaster and Pine Bank. "a;
Cumberland Nd; Charleston and Column
bia, s. c.; Jacksonville, Fla; Columbus.
Springfield. Mount Vernon. Dayton and
Convoy, Ohio: Fort Wayne and Terre
Haute, Ind; Peoria, H.: Kalamazoo and
Iron River. Mich: Holden, Mo-; Ausko-
ryHr{y
Iowa; Bellingham. Crescent and Tacoma.
Wash: Sacramento, Petaluma Fresno
and Glendale, Cal.
The arrests are made for misuse Of the
malls, each case being based on the use
of the mails to solicit business or dispose
of wares.
Entire Country Covered.
This concerted official action covered
the United States from the Atlantic
to the Pacific and from the lakes to
the gulf Many Of the persons to be
arrested are prominent. commercially
and socially, in their communities.
Some are leading physicians. others
are rich and influential business men; !;
yet others are men who live by their
wits and are comparatively little known
without their own small coterfe OF as
sociates. and one is Chinaman, who
upon women of his own race and upon
those of the lower strata Of society.
All of the arrests are to be made for
alleged violation of section 211 OF the
Penal Code OF the United States, which
bars from the mails vile or obscene mat
ter whether sealed or unsealed: any ad-
vertisement, letter or circular proposing
or suggesting criminal practices, or any
packet containing any substance. drug or
thing intended 10 be used for immoral
or unlawful purposes.
Working on Cases for Months.
Chief Inspector Robert s. Sharp of the
Post Office Department and many of his
force of 800 inspectors have been work
ing upon the cases for many months.
The development of the plans. which cul-
minated today. is the most extensive raid
in the history of any department of the
government.
approximately ninety Of the persons
arrested already have been indicted by
United States grand juries in various
parts of the country. and the cases OF
the Others Will De presented to grand
juries now sitting as rapidly as may be
feasible.
Strict enforcement of municipal and
state laws I'm the east is said by the
postal authorities to account for the
comparatively few arrests In the large
cities in that part of the country. While
IL is declared that violations of the law
are frequent in such cities as Boston
New York. Philadelphia and Baltimore,
the accused persons. Ii Is asserted, have
been pursued closely by the state and
federal officials.
1t is said by the post Office inspectors
that a hotbed of thi~ sort Of criminalitJ
Is in the Pacific coast states. There they
had comparatively little difficulty in OBJ
tanning mass of evidence against ac-
cused persons. In San Francisco it Is
claimed a fictitious name was used by
nh ipfo hn ny,n-
ployed woman to do the necessary ad-
yertising and Clerical work. Cases were
solicited by correspondence and by print
ed circulars sent through the mails
Scores Of complaints have been received
by the department from respectable
women. complaining of the receipt Of this
class of matter
Dangerous Poisons Included.
Approximately 20 per cent of those
arrested today are men who advertise
their practice by correspondence oil
otherwise and send to their patients
either by mail or express various com
pounds in the form OF pills or powders
Careful analysis of these compound.
by the government authorities is saic
to have disclosed that some of then
are wholly innocuous. while others ar,
dangerous poisons. Under another
section Of the penal code the sending
of poisons through the mails is ex
pressly forbidden.
One of the men accused is said t.
have been the secretary Of the boart
of health in the city Of his residence
He responded, 1t is stated, to deco.
or test letter sent to him by the in
spectors the stationery of tn
board of health. He has been indicted
according to the reports received b.
the post Office inspectors.
Particular care was taken by the in
spectors in collecting the evidence agains
business concerns, drug houses and RENE
dy companies. The men actually respon
Do 4