The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1919-11-21
WHISKEY
STOLENFROM
D|STILLERY

Details Of the theft q ten barrels Of
w hisSey from tho warerooms Of the old
Hammond distiliery became public to-
day when Walter Jesse IIaag. who re-
sides at Indiana ave. and Kent. ST. Ham
moud. was srraigned before Un<td
states Conutssfouer Charles Surprise in
q preliminary hearing for comriicity i'm
ms thefr
Hsas was arrested by Hammond police
November and has been held 10y then1
while an attempt was rnada % keep the
affair quiet untN other matters could bo
uneaFthcd Since that time three United
Statos revenue officers and private de-
'ectlres have been working on the case
and other arrests are expected TO be
made within short time Some start
ling developments arc hinted at
Late on the night Of Sunday %ovem-
Der :. Captain BeH OF tho Hammond
police was crossing the ue,y bridge or
alumet ave- near The disulIorv Hear
rs voices beneath the bridge he went
below 70 Unrest gaze His approach was
evidently noted ts fhe men below for
he saw uUf1b"r of forms scurrvinE
away in the darsuceS Me managed 10
capture one nam. Waiter FTaaE. and then
too} a looa around The object Of the
httie gathering Wes soon found on tho
sround ley whiskey barren With
large hole sawed in one side. while
ranged around il were number Of ave
gallon oil cans together with 4 dippsr
and funnel which had been used m trans.
terring the barrels contents n the cans
C9ptain Bell took his prisoner 70 the
poliee station along with the whiskev
ana cans This vas later turned over
10 the reverue officials a. the Hammond
federal buildirF 4 check was then made
or the whiskcy stocks in the distiflerv
~arerooms and il was found that ten
barrels were missing. The barrels had
been selected from the Oldest stock in
the rooms
HaaE protested his innocence and ex-
Tlained thai he was employed by the
Reed construction company in building
the bridge and that he was on duty when
arrested by Captain Bell The construc-
zion comPauy's Office and equipment
sheds were located on the distillery
property and from this It was seen that
AN employa Of the company might easily
work around the warerooms without
arousins the susr. cion Of the guards.
Z developed that the rivet heads had
been sheared holding one Of the door
. fhPSP ~ pace 8Hlte tNs T4Nets q ere
merely stuck into The holes IN the door.
The hasn was thus easily removed ana
Tho door opened hy the men whenever
the coast was clear for removing a bar
rel. When The barrels we're emptied A.
the riverside they were knocked 10 pieces.
. the slabs tied in bundles ana sunk in
the river. Practically all Of these had
/ been recovered b. the police.
y
months and revenue officers were amazed
that the action Of the thieves had never
attracted attention Of the wareroom
guards. The revenue Que the govern
ulent ON this amount OF whiskcy amounts
4 to over $4,000. while the value Of the
+ whiskey is placed anywhere from ss. 900
+ 10 $4,000. depending uPon The manner
( In which il was retailed
/ In tie hearing this afternoon fIaag
vas charged with removing whiskey
+ frorn a government warehouse other than
. IN tho manner provided by law Attor-
ney Phil Greenvald appeared for the
I defendant