Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-11-11

Details of a fight between twenty
or more "bootleggers'' and Penn
| sylvania state troopers and prohibi-
ton agents. in which automatic
rifles were used by the whiskey
runners and resulted in eleven men.
| nine costly automobiles and liquor
valued at $4,000 being taken over,
have just reached this city. Seven
of the eleven whiskey runners were
Perth Amboy men, a majority of
whom gave fictitious names to the
Philadelphia authorities where they
were brought under heavy guard
from West Grove, Pa, where the
caravan of booze cars were stopped
early yesterday morning. Several
of the cars and men escaped by
speeding past the state troopers
while others managed to escape
after deserting their cars. The au-
tomobiles seized by the authorities
represent at least $4,000.
The first report of the arrests was
received in this city about noon yes
terday but no way of verifying 1t
could be found. The rumors were
meagre and to the effect that sew
eral local men, all of whom are we'll
known as whiskey runners, had been
slapped and arrested. One of the
men, the rumor said, who had been
shot previously while making a trip
to Baltimore. had escaped by leaving
his valuable sedan in the road and
himself taking to the woods. Names
were mentioned in the rumor but il
was impossible to learn whether
there was any truth to the report,
which was along the same line as
hundreds received here for the past
several months.
The Philadelphia morning papers
today contained a detailed account
| of the hold-up, fight and gives the
names of the men. as told the police.
1t Is known that several of these are
assumed names.
| Another incident which occurred
In this city, proving the report Of
the holdup, was the efforts upon the
part of several women. friends or
wives of those arrested, to secure
from local banks sufficient funds to
bail out the local whiskey runners.
The names of the Perth Amboy
men. as given to the Philadelphia
| police. are: Samuel Feldman, Dam
iel Kaplowitz, John Kalman, Thom-
as i. Burroughs, David Higman,
! Frank Meyers, John Clausen. The
others taken into custody gave their
names as: James Il. Rice, WASH
| ington: Edward Hardisty, Riverside,
Nd; Arthur +. Grim, Washington; !;
George c. Walker. Washington.
Feldman was shot in the cheek
last week while passing through a
small Pennsylvania town. Kaplo-
WITT is also well known here. Most
| of the other names given by the
| Perth Amboy men are fictitious, it
J being known by many here who
I they are in reality.
Information reaching Washington
that whiskey runners had been
making the trip from Perth Amboy
to Baltimore at short intervals
sometimes as often as three times
a. week--was responsible for the
wholesale arrests and pitched battle
of yesterday morning. According to
| the information secured by the
| Washington prohibition agents this
band of ''bootleggers" travelled in
high priced sedans and runabouts
| capable of making great speed and
always passed through small
Pennsylvania town known as West
Grove every morning some time be-
fore dawn. The men had adopted
certain roads which they always
traverSed making 1t veritable
| rum highway" the Washington in
formant wrote.
Many Caravans Seen
| The federal authorities became
aware of the huge traffic when H.
j. Reinhart, of the Federal office.
Philadelphia, but stationed at Will
mington. reported that the booze
runners had been scared away from
the Wilmington-Elzton road. and
were openly using the old Balti-
more pike near West Grove. Rein
hart declared that caravans of Illicit
liquor passed along the old road to-
wards the south. and the brazen
manner in which the liquor was
transported was a disgrace to the
| prohibition department.
Following an attempted holdup of
truck carrying a load of liquor un-
der supposed permit on Saturday
| night. Reinhart began a thorough
| investigation. Tuesday afternoon he
| stationed himself about a mile from
| the village and stopped every auto
mobile that passed During the aft
ernoon none OF the machines halted
had any liquor aboard. Towards
nightfall high-powered machine
| sped towards Reinhart at a terrific
| speed. and the occupants. evidently
aware that the lone prohibition Off
Ger awaited them. opened a broad
side fire of revolvers from both sides
of the car as they approached Rein
hart. and continued it until they
were well out of his reach.
Reinhart was hidden. behind a tel
egraph pole, and a cluster of bushes,
and escaped injury from the rain OF
bullets, which clipped the fences on
both sides of the road. Realizing that
the gang would not stop at murder
-. T..