The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-19

| be withdrawn. Officials do not have to
be told that only small part Of
25.000.O00 gallons of whiskey has gone
into legitimate channels Of trade. Their
problem is to find where 1t went.
They start an investigation. The first
withdrawal and sale invariably is o X.
Sometimes the second Is all right. Then
the trouble begins. The second or third
or fourth purchaser OF the supply has
| sold II to three or four or q dozen Gus
toners. The entries in the books are
| proper on their face The third or fourth
purchaser usually has dropped out of
sight. The store Is closed. Or the half
dozen retail purchasers show they had
the supply as the books show and that
! 1t has all gone into the manufacture Of
various articles. Druggists have made
more toilet preparations In the last eight
months than probably in the preceding
eighteen years-according to their books.
| To run down one Of those transactions
| is the work Of days. Agents are at 1t
all the time. Nine times out Of ten they
run into q blank wall somewhere in the
process of the handling and rehandIing.
1t would take several thousand investi-
gators to follow through all these sales
and resales.
! Curb Market Does Big Business
Tracing such transactions, the Federal
agents ran into the curb market" last
week. where they found a group OF
Italian liquor dealers trading in certifi-
Gates. The papers. some of which were
forgeries, authorizing Withdrawals from
warehouses. were being sold over and
| over each time at an advance.
A considerable part of this whiskey Is
going through the hands of the trade"
that is, the saloon keepers and liquor
dealers who have been for years in the
business and who are known. Probably
every saloon in New York is selling
whiskey every day to the few known by
the first name to the boss" The pro-
prletor keeps his supply somewhere out
side the saloon but conveniently near
by. He has pitcher full within reach.
where II can be tipped into the waste
| pipe on a seconds notice il any one
looking like a trouble maker appears in
the door.
Forged permits have given the Of
| fclals much trouble, and the step
1 taken recently to end the evil requires
distillers to communicate with the Fed
eral director before filling the permit.
There are only four or five distilleries
now In operation In the country, but Of
| ficials expect others to start up soon. 1t
has been the general belief that when
the 46.000.000 gallons now in storage
was gone there would be no more liquor
available and that enforcement would
be relatively easy.
But that Is not the case. The dis
tillers now are operating under the Lever
war time act, which restricts whiskey
| manufacture to the sixth grade OF
grain. The Lever act will be lifted soon
and then officials say many other dis
tilleries will reopen. There is as yet no
way of regulating how much liquor can
be made for medicinal purposes The
last eight months experience has shown
an enormous amount is required by the
nations I'LL" Nothing Is to prevent the
distillers making 10000, 900 gallons a
year II the medicinal trade requires 1t.
The Government however. may suspend
Withdrawals from bond for q time, as
has been done recently In some States.
Must Fight to Get Restrictions.
Another long fight is seen ahead be-
| fore this system of restricting the sup
| ply at it's source can be perfected. 1t Is
doubtful whether such restriction can be
passed In the near future. Congress or
the States may pass new laws restrict
ing the number of prescriptions physi-
clans may issue to the sick. but the way
has yet to be pointed out for defining
how much druggists require for their
legitimate trade. There Ia every reason
to believe. that 1t will be many years be-
fore the corner drug store goes dry.
Half the whiskey in the world Is said to
be in Kentucky.
! One OF the most startling develop
ments in this modern day rum traffic is
the breaking down of public morals
Men who are to-day common bootleg
gers would have scoffed a few years ago
at the suggestion they ever would deal
In moonshine. And yet the practice has
| become so common that hundreds of
citizens who really believe they are law
abiding are aiding almost daily In
breaking down the national law. Some
may not realize the seriousness of their
actions; others do and don't care.
| Whiskey and other liquor seized by
the Federal agents In this city alone.
and now stored in the Knickerbocker
warchouse. is worth upward of 81, 000,-
800. The arrests number above twenty
| five day and the courts are TANNED
with violation cases. Punishment for
the most part has been relatively light.
Smuggling whiskey across the Cana
dian border has become a recognized in
dustry. That supply Is going into the
little grocery store. the speak easy"
and the hundred and one little places
where the tradesman Is carrying on a
| little Illicit trade. Bell boys and watt
I
have made their connections. II Is not
uncommon for the bell boy to inform the
stranger that he knows where there Is
zone bottle" that can be bought. But
the stranger really Is a man out OF luck
Unless he has n personal acquaintance
at the right price or can get the right
sort of Introduction he In likely TO die OF
thirst In New York. The bell boy or
waiter is usually his friend.
Some of the big Broadway restaurants
where those in the know can still get n
drink have been raided four or five
times and actual evidence obtained that
4 liquor was sold and served on the prem
Uses. But the proprietor and manager
have escaped by proving they knew
nothing about the liquor and blaming Il
on the bartender or waiter. The leading
hotels almost without exception are rig
Idly enforcing the law. officials believe.
Regular Rings of Lawbreskers.
For the handling of the smuggied and
| Illicit whiskey there are believed TO be
regular rings organized thoroughly TO
prevent detection. There are runners
and agents who get the goods out OF
Canada and tho moonshlne stills, and
those who have regular established
underground routes for It's handling.
Those engaged In running down the
smugglers say II Is useless TO try 10
estimate how much whiskey II being
brought across the border, but do say
IL must be a great amount every week.
II Is conveyed for the most part In auto