The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1917-08-02
NEW BOOZE ROUTE
A MAIN LINE CAR is CAUGHT BY
SHERIFF HENLEY.

Complaints have come to local
peace officers from time to time of
the operation of transient" booze
merchants, peddlers of beer and spir-
its who are here today and there to-
morrow, dispensing wares at retail
from an automobile. Word is passed
out that the contraband is to be had
at certain grove or the end of
shady lane on a certain evening or
morning or any other time and the
thirsty are there to see if the rumor
has foundation in fact. The initial
ed appear to know the date the trav-
cling vender will appear and it is said
the visits are timed to suit the de-
mands of the trade. 1t is also said
that whole auto load of booze is
disposed of in short order and the
man or men who take in the dollars
are arrived and gone again before To-
cal officers can be appraised of their
presence, papers issued and arrests
made.
Not so with Sheriff D. E. Henley
and his deputy, Eph Allender They
received call late Monday night, in.
formation that a car load of liquor
was being dispensed somewhere south
and little east of Barnes City. The
sheriff and his deputy took the trail
by night and at two o'clock this Tues
day morning penetrated weed patch
in a clump of brush to which the
auto tires had made well travelled
path and there caught two men in the
act of handling liquor.
Brought before Squire j. w. LAT
toilette this Tuesday morning al nine
o'clock, the men gave tho rar,es OF
George McNair and Charles Sprinkle
They said their residel"o place was
Rock Island. Search of their auto,
a Ford, revealed a small cCcLti.y,
twenty-one pint bottles of liquor,
whiskey, of d~2btful origin, yet I'M
sold, or not yet distributed.
With the appearance of the officers
a party of customers suddenly faded,
melted into the weeds, or otherwise
vanished. The officers had the par
ties in charge of the car in which
the liquor was found, however These
men disclaimed ownership of the Ii
quor but they were held for illegal
transportation and fine of $4,000 and
costs each was assessed, which was
paid in cash and the defendants took
their liberty, entered their car and
disappeared.
Complaints have come from What
Cheer, from the neighborhood of
Sigourney, and other places east and
northeast of Oskaloosa, of the oper-
atoms of the travelling booze wagon
since the first of the month, and it is
likely that this is not the only wagon
in the business. The parties caught
appeared to be even more familiar
with the roads and their accommodate
tons than the Sheriff himself, and it
is said our Sheriff knows every inch
of highway and by way in the county.
Mr.. Henley took one of the men in
his car, while Deputy Allender was
placed in the booze wagon and sent
on ahead. And this machine was
pushed to the limit by the driver who
was not in the best of humor. He
took hills and hollows, made turns
and avoided ruts like one who has
been over the road before. 1t be-
came necessary to have fresh sup
ply of water for the radiator and the
cars stopped at farm house on the
way to town. Neither car had a
bucket in which to handle the water.
go over behind the house and you
will find bucket" advised one of the
men in charge. Sure enough, there
was the bucket. Been there before.
Knew the lay of the land