Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1920-09-04


Another man abandoned keg of whis-
key when the officers got too close.
Two days later a hen cackIed in the
brush near ii and a rancher found the
cache and reported it. a small boy
playing on q vacant lot in Phoenix re-
Gently found a loose bottle and officers
later found 30 bottles of whiskey in a
hole on the lot.
A Real BootIegger
Only one real bootlegger, as the term
IS known, was ever captured in Phoe-
nix. He wore heavy wool sox and car
ried from two to four bottles concealed
in them. Former bootIeggers used to
carry their wares in their bootlcgs.
Another well known bootlegger admit
ted that he could carry as many as
eight bottles of liquid in his pockets.
Another man carried the bottle in a
cigarette carton and supplied his trade
as he met them. He carried the box
under his arm, with bottle inside.
A case which puzzled officers at
Douglas for a long time was that of an
old Mexican woman who came across
the border each day. Soldiers stationed
near there We're getting liquor from
some place, but the source remained
puzzle. Finally the mystery was
cleared up when the old woman who
came ostentatiously to sell beads and
trinkets was arrested. Around her
waist she had cooled about so feet OF
rubber garden hose, with a small faucet
at one end. Her loose dress concealed
the hose. 1t was filled with booze and
she supplied soldiers by filling a small
cup with a drink of the firewater.
In the class of bootleggers who make
their own wares and sell them, the art
of canouflage has assumed a place
that rivals the art of the French ar
mics. Every conceivable method has
been used by the "moonshine' makers
to cover up their secret. They meet
with success for a time but finally
come crashing to the earth.
The best bit of work in the camou-
flage art was done by a wood seller
near Mesa. Officers making a raid
upon his place could smell the odor of
the mash, but were unable to locate
it. The man denied that he had a still
Finally a barrel of mash was found
with two cords of wood stacked about
it to resemble a wood pile. Then the
search began for the still. The coil was
found in the roof of a grass shed. 1t
was laid out straight and resembled the
reeds in the roof of the shed. The still
was finally located when the top of a
milk can with connections to fit the
coil was found. No whiskey could be
found The wife of the man sat
throughout the search on a box near
a shrine of the Virgin Mary Finally
the officers made her move and at the
base of the shrine, under the box on
which size sat- they found five gallons
of whislxey. The milk can stood limo
Gently in the back yard
Moonshining in the Dark of the Moon
In most cases the illegal making or
whiSkey is carried on in the dark and
if possible on the land of another In
nearly every case the presence of the
still is unknown to the owner of the
land, and unless the makers are caught
in the place they are never appre-
hRndAd the rio
parts of the still are strewn about for
several hundred yards on the place.
Stills and whiskey have been found
by the officers in nearly every hiding
place that human ingenuity can impro-
wise. The liquor has been found con-
cealed in glass jars hidden in trunk;
in large bottles under a hole in the
floor, covered with a trunk or some
piece of furniture. 1t has been found
cached in the hills made for water
melon vines, a gallon in a hole under
each vine. It has been found in every
Granny in building
Each individual making the booze
has a different method Of going apour
it. Some use milk cans with the lbs
fixed to connect to a coil. Others use
wash boilers, kettles of all kinds and
buckets. One of the most unique stills
which has been found so far was the
famous blanket STILL
The mash was placed in cooker
and the blanket, a new heavy wooden
affair, was draped over poles so as to
form tent. The steam from the cook
ing mash saturated the blanket and
when full it was taken down and the
whiskey wrung from it.
Another still the largest captured
yet, was found recently in a dugout on
the bank of the Salt River at the foot
of Seventh avenue. The cookers in
this still were made from galvanized
iron and the top was sealed on with
paper. AS fast as one bucket became
cooked, the other could be attached to
the coil without losing time. The coil
in this still was bent to fit a lard can
into which cold water was poured for
condensing the steam.
Most Stills Home Made
Several copper stills have been found,
but most of she distiIling apparatuses
have been made from milk cans. Any
thing from a rubber hose to a copper
pipe is generally used for a condenser
or coil, called in the parlance of the
maker the worm of the still
In one still found near Marinette the
worm" ran from one tent house where
the stuff was cooked through the
ground under q house into another tent.
a distance of 40 feet, where it ended in
hole dug for the purpose of placing
a jug to catch the liquid. The earth in
this case cooled the steam.
The discovery of a still by the of
ficers comes from various tips re-
ceived or through the smell of the