The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-03-21
BOOTLEG BOOZE
NOW S 4 QUART
IN WEST Virginia
One of the Results Of q Very
Drastic Amendment to That
States Prohibition Law.
HALF GALLON Is LIMIT
ALLOWED AS BAGGAGE
Burial Casket and Furniture
Used as Containers to Es-I
cape Official Vigilance.

CIarkaburg, w. Va. March 2e.--
Bootleg whiskey 10 now selling for
SIS a quart in West Virginia, accord
ing to officials of the state Prohibi-
ton Commissioner office. The high
price results from the action OF state
| courts In granting injunctions which.
| in effect, prevent the Importation OF
whisIsey on passenger trains.
! The injunctions, which were grant
| ed on petition of Fred o. Blue, State
| Prohibition Commissioner. enjoin rail-
roads entering the state from carry
! ing as passengers persons whose bag
gage Is labeled as containing intoxi-
cants An amendment to the State
| prohibitory law provides that all in
| toxicants in excess of half a gallon
brought into the state must be plain
| ly labelled.
| With the limit placed at half gall
| lon there are few residents of the
State, except those who live near the
boundary line of wet" territory, who
will make the trip into another State
for the purpose of purchasing a sup
ply of the contraband.
Immediately after the state went
dry. on July 1. 1914, the bootieggers
began asking $3.50 to 81 per quart for
inferior grades of liquor. When the
Legislature passed the amendment
providing that baggage containing
more than half a gallon OF intoxicants
be labelled, the price jumped to 49,
another dollar was tackled on to the
price when Commissioner Blue ap-
piled for the injunction. The last in
crease was made when the injunc-
lions were granted.
shipped In Various Guises.
With the passenger route closed to
them, II is said that the bootleggers
are importing the contraband by
freight. Numerous shipments by
freight. falsely labelled. have been
seized. Nearly a thousand pints.
labeled canned goods and billed
from Kekser, w. Va, near the Mary
land border 10 local foreigner. were
| confiscated here a few days ago by
prohibition officers. The consignee
! was arrested. but the shipper escaped.
Although seized liquors are dumped
into the sewers every month or two.
there are now about 1900 pints
stored In the county jail here. The
greater part of it was seized In this
city.
A carload of furniture billed from
Cincinnati to a Charleston man was
| seized and all the furniture was
found TO be followed and filled with
| liquor. A piano box was entirely
filled with liquor. having an inner
| lining of zinc.
| One of the most ingenious schemes
| of the bootieggers is the funeral
party trick. A man and a woman,
| both CARRIED in deep mourning, were
arrested as they alighted from a train
| in Charleston small casket, which
they were in the act of placing In a
| closed cab, was found to be filled with
| pint bottles of whiskey
victimizcd BY Joker.
Every now and then prohibition
officers, who are on hand to meet all
| trains arriving in the larger cities OF
| the State, are made the victims of
some practical joker. The other night
a young man alighted from a train
here carrying a large suitcase bear
ing the label Rock and Rye He was
| arrested.
| he demanded.
labelled" was the reply.
Here's the label the young man
said Cant you read?"
| IT know" said the officer. but the
| law requires that the amount be
stated. You'll have TO come along
/ with me-"
| The suitcase was very heavy, and
! by the time the officers reached Po-
| lice Headquarters, twelve blocks from
| the station, he was all In"
/ The young man made no protest un-
til the officer started to place him be-
hind the bars.
Wait a minute" said the prisoner.
You'd better look inside that suit
I haf ~
j The officer opened the suitcase, and
this Is what he found: One loaf OF
rye-bread and several dozen large
rocks. 'It was labelled correctly, at
! ter all. wasn't it," the prisoner re-
| marked.
4 The officer was furious for q few
] moments, but his sense of humor soon
prevailed and he laughed with the rest
/ of them.
Effect On Travel.
| Before the injunctions were granted
travel to other States. especially on
Saturdays. and just before holi-
! day. was very heavy A number Of
so called booze specials were ope-
rated. Over 1000 tickets to Point
Marion. Pa, a noted ''oasis'' to which
many residents of Northern West Wiz
ginia paid frequent visits, were sold
by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in
! Paramount in a single day.
| J. Walter Bee. Of Parkersburg. Is
the chief deputy OF Commissioner Blue.
/ Mr.. Bee travels over the State, visiting
principally the larger cities. He prob
ably has confiscated over 100000 GAL
] Ions of liquor. 1t doesn't take long for
/ the news Bees In town" 10 spread
among the bootlegsers in any city he
| visits.
The usual sentence imposed for
i bootlegging Is six months in jail and
$500 fine. Few OF the bootlexgers
are able to pay the fine and have TO
| work out on the roads. making the
period of confinement nearly two
years. Sz -s8 +
Talk OF ResubmissiOn.
/ 1t Is expected that bill for rosub-
mission of the question TO vote of
the people will be Introduces u the
next session of the Legislature.
which will be in February. 1917. The
State voted dry" by q majority OF
10000. but the '.wetg' are confident
this majority will be overthrown n
the question 10 voted on again. They
say that a number OF persons who
voted dry did not expect the law
to be 80 amended that It would be
1