The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-02-23
MOBILE SHERIFF.
 ADMITS HE CANNOT
 STOP BLIND TIGERS
Holcombe Tells Governor Public Sentiment Is Not Strong Enough to Se-
 cure Convictions

Mobile February 22.-(Special)-A let ter from Governor Charles Henderson to Sheriff William H. Holcombe of Mobile county, with reference to enforcement of the prohibition law here, has created a big sensation. The governor commented on ''the open violation of this law cannot exist, in my mind, without the connivance or wilful neglect of the peace officers of that community" Sheriff Holcombe, 1T, his letter in reply to the governor, made a denial of the connivance infer ence, as well as being wilful neglectful.
 It was reported also that a similar let ter had been sent by the governor to the city commissioners, but Mayor Harry Pil- lans, when asked about the rumor, de- nied receipt of the letter in question.
 Sheriff Holcombe candidly told the gov ernor that he cannot instill fear into the tigers" He cited numerous raids made by him. He said he had made 11S0 seiz- ures of liquor under search warrants; has destroyed S55 seizures and now holds pending condemnation by the courts. 325 seizures. He placed the total value of liquor destroyed at s6o,000, and that on hand at $40000. making total of s100000 worth Of liquors seized by his department. He concluded his reply to the governor by saying:
 T think it only fair to myself and my deputies to say that the sentiment for prohibition in Mobile county Is not strong enough to constitute in itself a very ef- fective aid in the enforcement of the law. We have found it under houses in walls. between mattresses, under beds, on roofs, in the woods, and have even drawn it up from the bottom of the river. We have served notices, attended hearings and secured condemnations. We have brought the violators into court, pre- sented conclusive testimony, secured con- victions, and on the appeal in many cases, have seen juries acquit in the face of evidence as strong as we could pre- sent. We cannot instill fear of punish ment which we have no power ourselves to mete out"
 But Mobile experienced it's first dry carnival this week. Some few bootleggers got past the officers, but many were ar- rested. Tigers which have openly sold booze, closed their "eyes'' Mardi Gras. The lid was tight.
 Large shipments of rice are to be ex- ported through this port for South Amer ica. Yesterday the Munson steamer Ruby, sent from New York to Mobile es- pecially for the trip. departed, carrying 1,955035 pounds of rice for that country. The vessel also took 200 tons of Alabama pig iron, TIA barrels of rosin, 307,000 feet of pitch pine, and 953S bushels of malt.
 After long fight to get beacons re- placed in the Mobile ship channel, Con- gressman Oscar l.. Gray yesterday tele- gsaphed the Mobile Chamber of Com- nerce the work will soon be completed. A conference between the secretary of commerce and the lighthouse commission took place Tuesday in Washington. Ma teria! has been ordered for the work and specially chartered schooners are ,on hand. including one equipped with pile driver In the meantime, temporary lights Are to be installed
 Albert Bauer, only surviving organizer of the local German Relief association, died here yesterday. He came to Mo- bile from Philadelphia over 60 years ago. He was S3 years of age. He leaves a daughter. Mrs. L. Cain of Mobile, and a number of grandchildren and great-grand- children.
 Police announced today that over 100 owners of automobiles are to be arrested for violating the traffic law during the