The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1915-08-14
TROOPS SENT ACROSS THE
BORDER.

Our government, Wearied with
watchfully waiting for the local au-
/ thorities to maintain order and en-
! force the laws, sent an armed mill
tary force across the border last Sat
turday night with sensational results.
/ Lest the nervous reader may
| Jump at the erroneous conclusion that
| this seemingly startling statement re-
fers to the dispatch of United States
troops into Mexico and the possible
incidental involving of our nation IN
war with its unhappy neighbor, we
hasten to correct and quiet the mlsap-
prehension.
It is our state government OF which
we speak. The military expedition
was composed Of the Washington Ar
tillery, an efficient part of the Loulsl-
ana State National Guard. The bor-
der traversed was that which separ-
ates the Free State of jefferson"
from the rest of Louisiana, and the
object of the night raid was to break
up the unlawful business of Joe Hy-
lands notorious gambling house,
which has fourished for years IN the
Southport neigh orhood, adjacent to
the Carrollton suburb of New Orle-
ans.
The killing of police officer by a
Gretna saloon keeper on the previous
Sunday, growing out OF the effort OF
the municipal authorities to enforce
the Sunday-closing statute, IS pre-
sumed to have spurred Governor Hall
to the adoption of drastic measures
and the utilization of the states au-
thority for putting stop to the open
violations of law and disregard OF
public morality and decency which
have long characterized the parish OF
Jefferson.
In the nocturnal raid of the Wash
ington Artillery about $50 patrons OF
the Hyland gambling house were
trapped and required to furnish their
names and addresses before being re-
leased,12 employees of the place were
arrested and miscellaneous lot OF
paraphernalia for conducting varl-
Gus games of chance was seized and
carted off to the military commands
armory to be held as evidence. The
manager of the resort evidently re-
ceived "tip" of the coming OF the
soldiers, as he ordered all games sus-
pended and told the players to cash
in their chips at once. When the
troops arrived, therefore, no actual
gambling was going on, but the re-
demption of chips had not been com
pleted. But for the warning given
of the imminent raid, it is likely that
several hundred additional players
would have been rounded up.
One Of the dozen prisoners taken
bV the troops and landed in the Gret-
ma Jail was deputy sheriff with his
badge of office pinned to his coat, a
circumstance which may be assumed
to indicate the attitude of the Jeffer-
son parochial authorities toward the
local Monte Carlo, and which calls
to mind the following article publish
ed in the editorial columns of The
Chief six and half years ago:
''The parish of Jefferson is a law
unto itself. At the last election a
deputy sheriff assaulted and beat a
citizen at Kenner because the citizen
approached a polling booth as he had
right to do. Latterly the parish has
been given over to carnival of gam
bling and the constituted authorities
have made no perceptible effort to
curb the laWlessness.
4'Now the governor Of the state has
given an order to the sheriff to see
that the law is enforced, and it is re-
ported that the governor has held a
conference with the adjutant general
looking to the employment Of the mil
itary arm of the state government it
the order is not obeyed.
stWhether the militia will move
against the sheriff if he should prove
recalcitrant, or is to aid him in his
perfunctory efforts at law enforce
ment, has not yet TRANSFERRED. Maybe
the militia will move against the law
breakers. The cavalry might chase
the race horses with the bookmakers
and other attendants. The artillery
might be used effectively to besiege
the hitherto impregnable fortress at
Southport, while the infantry might
patrol the highways and byways and
lay by the heels the policy vendors
and lottery sharps who are said to in
fest the community. If few deputy
sheriffs should be caught in the drag
net, the misfortune might be attribut-
ed to the fallibility of human nature.
1t might be quite possible that every
national guardsman would not be
able to tell at sight deputy from a
gambler. 1t is suspected that the JEFF
ferson swamps will become popular
winter resort for few days, and
that, too, without aid of the advertis
ing campaign which the city of New
Orleans finds necessary to accomplish
a like result"