The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-10-25
Is ENGAGED IN MOVE TO CLEAN UP
THE ILLEGAL DRUG
TRADE.
Breaks Long Silence and Relates Thr1u-
ing Experience With
Crooks.

ing Experience Win
Crooks.
! The prosecution Of vi"latorS Of the
! Harrison narcotic act in tn" present
! term Of United states district court mas
| brought to light the presence IN the C!tN
| Of one of the Cl"Vcr".t and most feared
| operatives OF the United states secret
service. This distinguished op"rAtiF" IS
| none other than Joe Teak. who's" home
| Is nowhere IN particular except any
| where IN the United states where nc
| happens to hc sent 10 seek out ana
! prosecute traffickers in narcotic drugs.
| Peak is here to testify as witness IN
several narcotic cascs in federal court.
and during his stay in the city. Is
guest at the Windsor hotel.
| The name of Joe Peak on the hotel
| register would attract no particular at
! tcntion from the casual observer. since
| the nature Of the work makes 1t !mrer-
| ativc that he go about his work Very
| quietly. but nevertheless. there IS
! scarcely n district attorney in the
! United States who does not have an &C
! quaintance with this little drug
hound"
| West Virginia." said Mr.. Peak, has
| the reputation OF being one of the clean
! est states in the union. insofar as the
|
Der Of drug addiCts is concerned.
| Mr.. Peak attributes this fact, so far
| as the northern district is concerned, tn
! the untiring work of District Attorney
! Stuart w. Walker. Assistant District
! Attorneys II. H. Byrcr and Charles
! Campbell: to Or. r. NJ. Rhra, formerly
| Of Wheeling, now an Internal revenue
official and to Chief OF Police Sapping-
| ton. of CIarksburg. and others who have
| cd
of the Harrison law.
Gives FIRST Interview.
Although he has had a number Of
! flattcring offers for interviews concern
ing his thrilling experiences in uncarth-
ing drug dens, Joe Peak has Studiously
avoided publicity until last night when
| he consented to tell an IntcllgcnCcr re-
porter something Of his work. and the
hair raising thrills that he has cncoun-
tered in several years Of this life.
Was Once q Jockey.
Mr. Peak is former jockey and has
probably had moro hairbrcadth expert
| enccS than any other man employed in
the government service. He is diminu-
! tive in size. but makes up what he lacks
in stature in absolute fcarlcssnrss.
energy and peculiar aptitude for fer
reting out the hiding place OF druEs
regardless Of where the quest takes him
and through what strange adventures.
Knows All the Dens.
He has 4 speaking acquaintance with
all OF the well known crooks. peter
men," safeblowcrS confidence men.
thieves, willy Chinks and crooked d"n-
zcns Of the underworld in the United
States. and has played 4 leading part
in solving some of the most battling
cases of the smuggling and Illicit sale
of drugs. that ever came under the no
tee Of the department. He has been
Instrumental in recovering narcotics
valued at hundreds OF thousand OF dol
lars He is acquainted with the inside
Of every dive. joint and opium layout in
the country.
Lived In Thieves DEN.
Peak has had the experience Of living
for days in the quarters of thieves ana
dOpesters of national reputation and has
30 impressed Illicit pcddlrrS Of nauco-
tics with his sincerity In tn" various
roles. such as actor. jockey. priz"-fighi
er. Gunman and whatever part il may
he that he happened t. assume. that he
wormed his way into their confidence"
and good graccs. enabling him to pull
Off notable raids and arrests practically
single handed.
Teak speaks pidgn EugliSh-half
Chinese and half Enghsh-and is able
" COiINt ISt WIN MS I n!ik ITi'nIS HN-
entity. IL" has received threatening let
tcrs from Chinese highhirdrrS. crooks
and others warning him Ia quit tn"
game If he values his life. but h" is still
hard at work and so far docs not bear
scar, for all his thrilling experiences.
| He is called Il "troublc Shuot"r." and
his territory is anywhere in The tinted
states or it's possessions. His stock in
trade is 4 complete equipment of gov
crnmcnt credentials and a hcfty looking
brace Of AS
Thrilling Exploits.
Some OF his most interesting exploits
| J some of which are rcC0unt"d in detail
below. includ" tn" trailing Of a band
of Chinese drug bearers from Rirmjng-
ham. Ala. resulting in IN" recovery Of
$4,000 worth Of drugs and the cleaning
out Of An organized band OF dope sellers
in Alabama, whore one man, Jacob
GOldbaum. who kept a littl" on" h"rE"
drug store. was found to have $4,000
worth of morphinr in his possession.
The situation was so bad in that sec
ton" said Mr.. Peak. chat doctors wcr"
writing prescriptions for as much as 40
drains or 400 grains Of morphine for
one man."
Among others convicted in that con-
ncCtion wcr" DR.. Webb Ben Friedman.
Saunders and Leon Thompson and !. y.
the treasury department case ut WASH
ington. when about @i0 c3ns Of opium
were stolen out Of the suh-trcaSnry
basement. The solution If this cas-" BY
Peak resulted in tn" cleaning ont Of
WaShinEton's populous Chinatown and
the conviction Of Mayer" Charley 500.
Peak also figured in tho famous G"urg"
Wah case in New York. which n"ttcd
opium to tho value Of $4,000.
Sends Chinks to Pen.
Peak has n record ~ having put over
16S Cinnamon in the p"nitCntiary in nd
dition to countless whit" men and wn-
men. too. ON" Of the first cases Peak
made" as he expressed ii. was the Dr.
Hammer affair. Hammer was another
big fish. One OF the biggest hauls eyer
made by the government in connection
with drug SmugElcrs was his Captur"
and the recovery Of $3.50. 600 worth Of
dope in TampH. Fla: Memphis. Tenn.
and Savannah. Ga. Dir. Hammer went
personally to Now York and negotiated
with Peak for the sale Of S1.I0O worth
of done The drugs secured in that raid
included morphine. cocaine and Crid"
gum opium. which is a Persian opium
and has 10 he cooked down" before it
can be smoked.
Comes Fror. Nashville
Peak came here directly from Nash
willie. Tenn. where he took n leading
part in n raid on on" Of tn" biggest
stills ever turned up in the country.
situated on n bleak and lonely mountain
Winchester Tom There wprG