The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-12

tined Tor Detroit. The law says some
thing about the amount OF liquor which
may be consigned to any one man az
q time. 1t does not say that he may
not nave a large family or that he is
not 10 keep boarders. Anyway using O
number OF names. real or fictitious. as
the names of consignees. the bootleggers
eontrive 70 have on the Ontario side of
the Detroit and st. Clair rivers nearly
al the whiskey that Detroit requires 10
keep It's supply augmented from week TO
week. II goes across In the night time
by boat TO points far enough away from
the city 70 make the work Of transport
ing II reasonably safe and, comfortable.
In addition 10 the liquor which the
oooueSgers import themselves into On
tario from Quebec. hundreds of Gang
dams living on farms ana in villages
along the shores of the two rivers and
OF Lake ST. Clair are IN the liquor bust
ness In modest way. and act as feeders
or supply men to the larger operators.
The river shores. like the shores OF all
rivers which make boundaries between
countries, have bred for generations q
type Of men who have lived by snug
Cling and delight in II. Some OF them
are of old American blood and others
are Canadians and half breeds. They
have been as busy as hornets since pro-
operate in more or less bold and
capable way. Others are such small fry
that they regard the bringing over of a
couple OF gallons in a rowboat as a good
nights work.
No Excessive Risks.
Given a fast motor boat. there is no
excessive risk in shooting a cargo across
one of these rivers. The whiskey is
perfectly legal on the Canadian side. II
the runner makes up his mind when no
Is partly across river that some boat
reasonably close by him Is n prohibition
agents pursuit boat. he has only TO
hasten back to the Canadian shore and,
sitting there upon his liquor cases ex-
tend to the enforcement men the greet
ings OF the season and laugh at them
for their pains Many a capture of
unlawful rum has been missed by the
length of bow painter. Often enough
the bootleggers work with two boats to
each cargo-one to carry the booze and
the other, carrying no cargo at all. to
set in the way of any Federal boat that
may try to close IN.
There is a phase OF Detroit life which,
to the chagrin of the police, has not been
helped any by the amount Of liquor
available TO anybody and everybody.
That is the amount of disorder which
breaks out from time to time among
certain gangs of young criminals who
find the city an agreeable home and q
happy hunting ground Within the last
few years there have been enough gang
fights and gang murders in the city to
have kept the police busy in n city three
times it's size. Within two years seven
policemen have been shot in the streets,
the last two Of them early in October.
Crime Records Increase.
1.-THE Detroit murder toll" declared
Judge Arthur Gordon at recent murder
trial. has been as great In one year
as that OF Brrathitt county in the Cum
berland mountains in generation.
Sicily itself, the home of the vendetta.
and which considers itself superior to
government. cannot equal the record of
Detroit and the cities adjacent to 1t.
For some time this community has been
Mortified, and parts of it terrorized.
Murders have been committed in broad
daylight and faithful police officers have
been shot down."
Two years ago when the gangs first
became troublesome seven murders oc-
CURED within eleven months This year
there have been twenty-four ASA ssinn-
tions, including the murder and deoapi-
tation Of a woman, who was killed In
the course of drinking bout.
The last murder traced to the gangs
occurred three weeks ago a closed
automobile was driven slowly into a
street where lived a man who had been
marked for slaughter. The car passed
him and as 1t did so one door OF 1t was
opened and the muzzle Of q shotgun
thrust out. The man who held the
weapon fred and the man in the street
dropped dead. riddled with steel shot. and
beside him another man. not even known
to the gangsters, fell mortally wounded
And as the car was driven rapidly away
two empty whiskey bottles were flung
from it and broke upon the pavement.
OF course all the gangsters who work
at all are bookkeeping. No trade in the
world offers morep rofit In less time and
at less risk The police are certain that
the killings are due TO rivalries and dis
agreements over whiskey sel!ing-ln-
stances Of one ganester trying TO get
another gsngster's customers probably
and that another reason why gang dis
order is on the Increase is that the thugs
now drink by the bottle instead OF by
the glass And again, as in other
American cities where the number Of
saloons but not tho amount Of liquor Is
growing small. this lawless element has
it's clubs. which the police have no iega!
right to enter and in which crime Is
plotted and murder sometimes done over
tables set thick with bottles of bootleg
booze.
Automobiles Source of Trouble.
There IL another thing about Detroit
which makes Il particularly difficult 10
stop the tra1ic in Illegal whiskey. That
Is the vast number of automobiles In use
or stored in the city and surrounding
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