The sun., 1919-10-23
U. S. AGENTS SEIZED
AS BOOZE GRAFTERS


Continued from First Page.
same old stun. though lacking the au-
thority Of the old, happy days. Mr..
Flynn. being a specially intelligent per-
son, knew there was a reason; compre-
hended that the free and easy liquor
selling wasn't mere happen 30, and
figured out In the back Of his head that
somebody was paying somebody.
At that time It appears that the De-
partment of Justice hadn't any orders
to pry into booze selling on Its own ac-
count Its policy was to ask Federal
District Attorneys the country over II
they needed special investigators. II the
Federal District Attorneys said yes. then
Mr.. Flynn, as chief Of the Department,
assigned them all the men they wanted.
In the course OF things he put that Ques-
ton to District Attorney Caffey here,
and Mr.. Caffey asked for squad. which
Flynn furnished. Among the members
OF this squad were two OF the men ar
rosted yesterday, Pasquale Pignuola and
William j. Polling. together with
Charles p. McCarver, also named In the
Indictment for conspiracy.
A month ago when prominent citi-
zen of New York took Mr.. Flynn into
corner and said fatty "william, knowest
thou that a bunch OF thy sleuths Is
making a fool Of thee?" he was not so
surprised as he might have been. He
merely amended the statement to show
that whoever was being made fool OF
| it wasn't he, and then asked for details.
He got details in rich measure. his in
] formant being in a specially good posi-
I tion to know what restaurant men and
saloon men were paying for protection
and for the invaluable privilege Of being
Naa to- A. EsA
the very inside of the Department OF
Justice office. Mr.. Flynn made a few
notes on his cuff and lot in his head
and took the information to Washing
ton, where he had a long chat with A.
Mitchell Palmer, Attorney-General of the
| United States. Mr.. Palmer told Mr
Flynn to 60 to 1t, and Bill went to It
Sends for Flock of Agents.
He never does anything in a rush. this
] Flynn person. First Of all he hired
a small private office near the roof OF a
skyscraper down town and sat himself
down to ruminate over the stump Of q
cigar. Illumination over he sent out q
sufficient number of code messages to
bring to New York flock Of Depart
ment of Justice agents whose faces were
unknown In the city and In whose
l
put them on the trail and after a very
few days they discovered the headquar.
ters of the graft ring and the identity
I OF the individuals composing II.
Thereafter for nearly month not one
person in the clique did anything OF
| interest that Bill Flynn, down town ir
his Lofty hidyhole, wasn't accurately
cognizant of. II they visited theii
sweethearts Flynn knew it If they tool
a taxi ride William was on. If they
had interesting callers, such as pro
prietors OF big restaurants or owners Of
chains of restaurants. Mr.. Flynn no
only knew who was calling upon whom
but Just what was said at the con
ferences. Connected with his cubbyhol,
OF an Office was a system of telephones
and dictagraph working night and da!
and the revelations by these eavesdrop
ping devices came to an amazing total.
Early in the hunt, on October 10
the Attorney General designated al
Special Assistant Federal Attorney Il
work with Flynn and the Grand Jun
young John A. Minton, who used to b,
an assistant to county District Attorne!
under Charles s. whitman. The ap
pointment wasn't made with a blast o
ti7impets and very few persons haC
any notion as to why Minton had beef
appointed or what he was UP to. Start
ing with what Flynn and his brisk lad
from out of town had accumulated
Minton dug up a lot of evidence on hi
| own hook.
Mr. Allen Pushed Them.
BY this time the investigators wer,
naming to themselves as persons the!
would have to grab eventually Messrs
Polling. McCarver and Plgnuola. tn,
three Department of Justice agents OF
booze work for the Federal Attorney
Richard Yancey who had been in tn,
Department and had made a pretty fail
reputation for himself In running dow
dope sellers, and one Morton P. Allen
Mr.. Allen puzzled Flynn and Mintor
considerably. They couldn't quite fgur'
him out He had been representing
himself as very rich man anxious {,
help the Government stamp out th'
sale Of liquor, volunteering his service
because OF his hatred for a traffic whicl
had ruined a relative. Flynn ant
Minton satisfied themselves that Allei
had well-to-do, respectable connection
here and in Nashville. Tenn, wher
Yancey and McCarver hail from also
and they satisfied themselves ais,
that Allen was one OF the two heads o
the clique, Yancey. a smart fellow, be
ing the other.
|
located In the Hotel Commodore
Yancey's room there was $50, Allent
2061, and the dictagraph and tricl
phones were daily giving up the graf
chats centring in this headquarters
As the result OF much skilful eavesdrop
ing the investigators discovered, the.
stated yesterday. that the ring Of fiv
(working apparently with few othe
men yet to be named by the Grant
Jury) had devised a neat scheme t.
get the money while the getting wa
good. They employed three princ!pa
methods,
How the "Ffxers" Worked.
First, they sold outright protection
One of their number went to a liquo
seller presumably interested and mad
downright proposition. Or else inter
ested liquor sellers were invited TO cal
at the Hotel Commodore to arrange
deal Yancey, for example. Is charge
with going to Hunters Island Inn ol
September 20 and to Wallick's on a sub
seQuent occasion. Pignuola is accuset
OF having dropped into Shines cafe, no
far from the Pennsylvania station. B.
means of whatever interchange OF opin
ions was employed. protection was ar
ranged upon basis highly profitabl
TO the ringsters and. Of course. evei
more profitable to the liquor sellers VIII
took Il all out OF the public. Men VIII
, paid graft under this arrangement wer
, never bothered by evidence seekers
never raided, never annoyed in any way
They wero convinced st the outset o
the surety when Yancey and Allie
called on one or two or all three. Of tn
| IN