The Washington herald., 1920-05-10
Folks and Things
Around Washinston
Labert 81. Clair.

Private stock that IL being shipped
around the country In suit cases ard
trunks Is suffering an awful on
siaught these dry days.
oficially. Washington knows
nothing about the sreat losses OF
liquor that are being sustained In
baggage circles. but unofhcIaliy it
knows much. From every part of
the country. particularly the snuth,
come stories through railroad men
and others In close touch With bag
gage that many a strange throat is
being irrigated at the expense OF
shippers of liquor.
Flasks. pints and quarts which
have been packed away carefully IN
mothers dress. way down IN the
bottom of the family trunk. that
they may be safely carried 10 the
travellers destination Tor use In case
of illness. snake bite 1r hu. are fIs-
appearing like mist. Somstihhes
trunks arc boldly broken open aud
left unlocked after the liquor 10
done away with. but again. the locks
apparently are not disturbed VT tie
liquor 10.
A story aold by q Southerner to
the effect that a certain colored
{, party had found a way to extract
liquor through the key hole OF q
trunk by the simple eApediert nf
inserting a rubber tube. Is not with
out its believers.
As for suit cases, they are suffer
ing rougher treatment. No one ever
takes the trouble to pick the lock
of a suitcase. The search and s.iz-
ure boys simply make 1ff case and
all. or else they slit the case.
Few things. Of course, are calcu-
lated to make a man quite SO mad
as TO arrive at the cad of a long.
dusty journey, be bitten by a huge
rattlesnake Or taken down with the
flu and then discover that he has
nothing to offset the poison of the
bug.
The saddest part OF all. however,
Is that the losers have no recourse.
1t is not written into the law that
one may carry such emergency
medicine around in his or her bag
gage. and when dampness is eX-
tracted from baggage there is lit
tie to do but grin and bear 1t. Yet
| few such losers even indulge In a
grin.
Then, too, robbing of baggage OF
liquor is one of the few outrages
about which a gent or a lady can
not write a vigorous letter to. the
paper.
A bunch Of Representatives con-
ferred at great length recently
with Barney Baruch on the wool
tproblem and they gained much
useful information from him. In
fact. when he departed from the
conference there was such a
uranimity of thought on his ap-
pearance and remarks that two
Representatives burst right out and
said:
"Doggone. but he did have on a
pair Of loud socks"
Secretary of Commerce Alexander
used to be a circuit judge out in
western Missouri and in that ca
pacity he presided in a number OF
famous murder cases. One Of them
was tho case OF Aggie Myers. who
souri, pen.
Owing to the fact that the church
folks of the town in which court
was sitting were using the same
building for services as court was
being held in, because a new church
was in the course of construction
or something like that. the reli-
gious services were interrupted by
the jury announcing that II was
ready to return its verdict Where
upon the organist stopped in the
middle of a piece. Judge Alexander
ascended the bench. the jury filed
in before the whole meeting and
pronounced Aggie guilty.
! On another occasion Judge Alex
der was an attorney in a case
where Frank James, of the famous
James gang. was a defendant.