Bisbee daily review., 1919-01-10
An Industry Threatened


 The "bootlegging" industry in Ari- zona threatens to follow the legalized
 liquor traffic into the limbo of for gotten things. The "bootleggers" are quarreling among themselves and
 threatening each other 10 what is tech
 nically known as the "double-cross. Just as dissentions in the ranks of saloon men helped the good people to drive the saloon from the state, "double-crossing" among the bootleg gers is helping the sheriffs and other peace officers 10 get the upper hand of lawless traffickers in fire-water From Phoenix comes the story of the business man who financed the sue cessful running of a cargo of thirty three cases of whisky from wet California into the "dr'" precincts or Maricopa county. The job was com pleted without untoward iEcident ant the liquer safely stored in a cellar in Phoenix. Profit to the amount of sev- eral hundreds of dollars was to be divided among those EhO had sue cessfully defied the laws, but the di- vision was never made. The mellter oi the "bootleggers' union who nego- tiated the transfer of :ae countraband. like the saloon keeper of other days, was not content to abide by the rules of the game lie wanted to hog 1t all-and he came mighty near doing it. After storing the stuff at the place designated, this worthy success sor of the dive keeper of old used his employers automobile to cart the 30 cases of the stuff to his own estab- lishment, where he retailed it to his personal enrichment. Not content with this outrage. he tapped the busi- ness mans till of 200 and taking the automobile, he fled in the direction of the sun-flecked Pacific. From Cali fornia the greedy one wrote a letter narrating his exploits and incidentally telling where the car might be found. The bilked business man was advised that If he wished to prosecute, there would be evidence introduced that would interest him as well as the au- thorities. There was no prosecution.
 Adding insult to injury the self-ex- fled "bootlegger" dictated another note to the sheriff of Maricopa telling him where the remainder of the whisky might be found. The sheriff's men found the three cases, welcome because physicians drafts, for the in fluenza treatment, had materially i'm paired the usual jail stock. When the "bootleggers' union" learned the whisky had been taken there were loud murmurings and later open charges that the sheriff had seques- tered thirty cases for his own use. But the letter from California cleared the officer and his deputies, though it brought bitterness into the ranks of the "bootleggers" and threatens to wreck and ruin the industry. for now no one knows who to trust. Business men with coin to risk in lawless ven ture are no longer willing to finance the daring and hardy souls who once performed the actual work of intro ducing the spirits, and Phoenix is threatened with dry" spell that will be real instead of constructive.
 It has been said one cannot handle pitch without becoming snirched. It likewise seems one cannot handle whisky without becoming possessed with an overwhelming desire to vio- late the rules. whether the rule be the law of the land or merely the loose code which is said to bind criminals and make honor among thieves.-El Paso Times.