The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1920-06-04
INGENIOUS CASE
OF BooTLEGCINC

70 tho bootlegger used his ingenious
hroin in legitimate channels OF en-
saovor he would get rich quick with
an, constantly working under the
,bsdow of crossed iron bars. He
wopld become a useful and respected
mamber of society instead of an out
law He would walk with his head up
right among his fellow men instead
~ sueaking around under the shade
n night, holding whispered confer
ences with coadjutors in dark places
and lodging the officers of the law.
And this outburst is occasioned by an
uuique plan carried into effect during
the past week by persons unknown
who attempted to smuggle large con-
senment of liquor into the state and
deliver it where thirsts aboud with a
thirst that feels any old price for the
decoction is money well spent.
Tuesday the local station agent re-
ceiyed word by wire that 35 cases of
liuuor had been discovered at Hillyard
IN an empty Standard Oil tank car
that had been billed through from
Oroville to Graybull, Montana. That is,
the car had been billed through.
Where the liquor was being taken to
Is a mystery known only to the sharp
individuals who thought out that
method of getting the fluid to it's des-
tinatlon The odds and ends of the sto-
ry as 1t can be patched together from
the information obtainable, would read
about as follows:
In the regular process of delivery of
gasoline at the local Standard OIL
station the car was received here ear
ly in May, was emptied, and the empty
tank stood on side track for about
4S hours, leaving here over the Oro-
Vile -Wenatchee branch on the 18th of
last month. 1t is the presumption that
the smugglers had the bright idea of
placing the contraband goods. that
had been run in from across the bor-
der, into this tank, assigning one of
their number to follow it up and then
unload at some station along the route
somewhere. How the cases were plac-
ed in the tank is a puzzle to the man.
ager. Of the oil station, as the fumes Of
the gasolipe are so powerful for long
time after tank is emptied that a
nan could not live even for a few
minutes down in the tank. Anyhow,
the liquor was evidently placed in the
tank by some means. From here the
!, taek car was taken to Wenatchee. and
there II was sidetracked for some days.
Unfortunately for the shippers of the
liquor the tank car was placed oppo-
cite the office of the road master and
1t was impossible for the representa-
tive that followed the car to remove
the liquor. He evidently became ex-
hausted from staying on watch to as
certain when the car moved on, for he
went to sleep and during his hours of
unc0nsciousness the car was hooked
on to train and pulled out. The Of
ficials at Wenatchee were pestered by
man who represented himself to be
representative of the Standard Oil
company who was insistent upon
knowing when the car left and where
It was headed for, as he wished to
Keef track of the car and see that it
speedily reached it's destination. The
wenatchee fellow was not the only
one worried for persons in Oroville
kept the wires hot with messages to
MIN couched in words of no under
Standing to the operator, and when
tnose individuals discovered that there
was screw lose in the machinery of
transportation they made themselves
scarce.
Inc next heard of that car was at
nliiyard. While switching around
making up train, the tank car re-
oened severe jolt and a trainman
no'iced fluid escaping from a valve in
sne tank. Thinking that 1t might be
sasoline he investigated, found that
.ne mud was the taboo Joy water and
.A'enolng his search discovered the
large consignment of case goods. The
alah VINO was around the yards claim
ing 10 De in the Standard Oil Co.'S, en-
pioy looking out for the movement Of
.aah cars, suddenly disappeared. The
es'uence was secured but there was
~ one to hang the evidence on, and
ene chances are that the smugglers
anu Shippers of that big lot of whisky
VIII go unwhipped of justice.