The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1920-12-28
TrainlOadS Shipped

! ''h'pTNN
'In 1903 traiDloads Of liquor were
coming into the state, several carloads
would land at Dickinson on the same
day and be unloadcd in daylight One
of the first sights saw when moving
to Dickinson in 1908 was freight
car load of beer being u!oaded at the
corner saloon. As late as 1913 liquor
was shipped into the state consigned
to one person by the carload. The
state could not touch this liquor un-
| til it had passed out Of interstate
commerce. The Webb-kenyon act in
part stopped the carload shipment to
one person. The next practice was to
ship one cask of beer each day to the
blindpigger. l. checked the railroad
| records at Tolley and found 80 casks
| shipped in one mOnth--One each day
There was plenty of whiskey shipped
on the side The next ruse was to
ship under tictiCiOus names or use
names Of persons in the community
but the liquor would be delivered to
blndpiggers. IN 1916 one drayman at
MinOt signed up Tor 9S casks Of beer
Oh one day. This was Toss bottles. It
would take IS whiskey SKIES to carry
this one consignment. AS late as
une, 1917, whiskey and beer was being
shipped to every railway station in
| North Dakota in large quantities. In
| 1915 checked the railroad records Of
the Northern Pacific at Bismarck
covering a period of something over
| e., g ,,I
One-half days and we had Ga pages of
legalcap paper written single space
| InjunctiOns were started against the
| Northern Pacific at that time. In 1916
Mr.. FinWall and myself with two
stenographers checked the railroad
records at Minot covering a period
of two months and Is days. These in.
| freight and express. There were u
pages OF legalcap paper close lined.
These represented over 5000 ship
ments of liquor. 1t would have taken
so whiskey SKIES per day for 100 days
to have transported that liquor. In
my opinion there was more liquOi
shipped into Minot during those s.
| in North Dakota from Canada or has
been manufactured by all the stills of
the state during the past year.
Ex-Soldiers in II
"leOpIG complain now more over Il
Whiskey six that carries 200 quarts
| than they did in 1905 over a Whiskey
train that had IS cars that carried
l2,5OO casks or 10000 bottles. Thi;
indicates the growth Of sentiment.
People have become impatient with
the liquor business and despise to
have a drunk around.
"Whiskey running is exciting busi-
ness. Most Of the drivers seem to be
men who were in the army and across.
Many Of them are dressed in soldiers
| uniform. Tile pay is big and the ex-
citement furnishes likeness to war
experiences. Then whiskey running
is a bait to all the crooks and out
laws in the country who are attracted
by a ch3nce for easy money. have
been at the border often and find that
the WhiSkcy runner is not hunting
trouble. He knows he may get caught
and takes the chances He knew that
during the last season there was no
well organized force backed by Of
fi"ial authority and equipped to Sue
ccssfully cope with whiskey running.
What I saw at the border leads me
to believe that a comparatively small
Wcll-equipped force at the border can
so haraSs the WhisEey runners as to
take all the profits out of the bUsi
ness The three biz temperance or
ganizatiCnS Of the state will back 4
movement in the legislature to pro
vide d sufficient force to break up the
whiskey running business next sum
mer.'