Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-01-02

$:$5::::::::::::::::;;;:;;;::::::::::;AtNI: $::::;;:::A <: $::: 5:::::;; E: most amazir s tn that a. if of . ,,fAeeraque str eet, oneile, advised the Gt- :;;;: ::;:;:; ::;;::; :;;: 5: :: ;:; :; seals on th .,e+ }ner had this been do4~slthan the NT,pshiners took possessio1f of the ne.'hhnrchas ed @ new equip9nent, enlarged tNe still lt-ci'l loo- es'fhon capacity to 2,ooo-sal- + tl or M witth the aid of chemical con coctions Sput "seven-year-old' stuff on your sideboard AS helrs after the mash was made The plant operated for year without the government detecting it. Tine very boldness of the scheme precluded suspicion. Although hundreds of private citizens knew the plant was in operation they dld not know it had been "checked out as } ronoperating. While wildcattng the operators bought their coal from the chief of po- l lice of Fort Smith and their grams I meal and other st..plies in immense 9 quantities from the Gity's leading mer- D. chants. They tapped city water main and stole oil their water and equipped their beer vats with sewers l that led into the Arkansas river and = permitted the emptying of the vats in e double quick time in the event of an = emergency. The moonshine product : was shipped out of Fort Smith in car e load lots to Jacksonville. Fla, and Kansas City. Mo-, where it was placed '. on the market The operators spent t thousands of dollars yearly in adVer- = Using. featuring a brand that sold for [. s1.S5 per gallon or just 75 cents more - than the internal revenue tax, which, : of course, had not been paid.
 /; Supplied Parkway Markets. :, In grand jury Investigations that if followed it developed the moonshlne If stuff had found market in Alaska J. and Hawaii and in every state in the e union. The government seized the r. rlant here. about 100 barrels of moon- <. shine whiskey in warehouses and also d the Kansas City office and plant of the d company Indictments followed by r. the wholesale. So far ten men, in l. cluding four government officials l. have been sent to the penitentiary ol l. to jail. The early stages of the fed 1t eral investigations were featured by a t. confession from Knox Booth of Nash vile: Tenn, former internal revenue agent. who confessed to acceptln' .j thousands of dollars as bribes from the moonshiners to whom he accord ed protection in return for their gold Booth died suddenly in Memphis Tenn. while en route home from thi city where he exposed the conspirac, to United States grand jury.
 Casper and Hartman operated tn distillery and the other plants. Hart man escaped here by leaping iron a. second story window of a hote while a government officer stood a his door. Upon reaching Kansas Git he made bond in the sum of $20,0O( He skipped to Mexico, forfeiting hi bond, and after remaining in tha country for more than year he join ed General Pershing's expedition as
 scout, rendering meritorious service He was arrested at Columbus, N. M the American supply base while per forming an arrand there for his com mand. While confined in jail here h gave the government valuable info1 nation and has been released on 50
 900 bond.
 Casper and Hartman were taken t
 Jacksonville, Fla, in the early part
 December, theer to testify against Me
 Coy, who has been indicted there sev
 eral times in connection with tn
 wildcat operations of distillery. Tn
 Florida conspiracy was unearthe
 thru the investigation undertaken her
 in 1915. Mccoy was convicted
 Jacksonville where Casper and Har1
 man also testified before grand jur
 that later returned additional indlc
 ments.
 Evaded Detection 9 Years.
 It is reported that the statemen
 Casper and Hartman have made to tn
 government cover 1000 typewritte
 pages that expose conspiracy ori!
 mating in North Carolina in 1890 ar
 passing thru succeeding years int
 the states of South Carolina, Florid
 Tennessee, Georgia and Arkansas.
 Another highly important goverl
 ment witness is J. w. Grider of St
 nora, Ark, former gauger, who plea
 ed guilty to conspiracy in the cas
 and who received a years prison SCI
 tence. He was pardoned before u
 expiration of the sentence and la - September testified before grar
 jury that returned new indictmen This indictment runs against McCo
 Surber. Williams, Spradling and J.
 Smithdeal, the latter of JacksOnvlll
 Fla Smithdeal is owner of big dl
 tillery at Jacksonville. This indie
 ment charges conspiracy and go