davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27
Maine Variety Have Many
Dodges to Fool the Federal
Agents.
FOUNTAIN SYRINGES USED
Walking Speakeas!es" Are the Hard
est to Catch-Liquor Is Cached
in Odd Places by ltinerant
Vendors.

Buffalo, y. John NJ. Evans, who
says he has had years of experience
in enforcing the p%rOhibitory laws in
the state Of Maine, stopped off in
Buffalo, says the Courier Of that
city, for a few hours and related some
interesting methods of conducting the
liquor business under strict enforce
ment.
Mr.. Evans told Of many ways Of
handling wet" goods used by boot
leggers," but not one Of the hundreds
with whom he has come in contact
ever used a bootleg as a depository
for his stock in trade.
while the name still sticks to in
~diyiduais who defy the liquor law out
side Of regular saloons and kitchen
barrooms, the bootleg full of booze
ceased to be when the high boots with
loose tops went out Of style.
Was Easy to Get Booze.
up TO the time Of the passage Of
the Webb law by the federal govern
ment n few years ago" Mr.. Evans
said, providing for the labelling Of
all wet goods handled by express
companies and other common carriers,
1t was a comparatively easy matter
to get a plentiful supply of liquor from
Boston wholesalers, and even after
hat most of the bootleggers managed
to smIIggle I'm by water or automobile,
and there were some who c~OncOcted
@ mixture out of alcohol, water, burnt
sugar and n dash of tabascO, which
they passed off on many an unsuspect-
ing victim
"The hardest bird we W. had to
contend with was putting out booze
for years. We knew he was doing Il,
but we could not get the goods or him,
and 1t was a long time before we got
him. ever after we were wise to his
system. This was his system:
AT night he would load his over
coat up with pints, half pints and Oc-
casionally a quart. These he would
plant, one in a pile Of clapbOardS in a
lumber yard, another in q junk pile
and still another under q doorstep or
I'm a rubbish barrel in an alley. The
next day his customers would come
to him, pay him for their purchase,
and he would direct them TO the near
est plant.
"We began to be suspicious of him
after a woman reported seeing a man
remove a bottle from the muzzle OF
one Of the two historic cannon that
guard the Soldiers monument. Final
ly we trailed him ut night. watched
him SOW his crop, harvested it ant
then placed him under arrest.
Strangers "Not Wanted"
1--WE were unable to get a conviction
against him, although the fellow wa:
not working and had no visible mean
Of support. 1t was not until we caugh
him mapping with a couple of stoo
pigeons hat we finally convicted him
In order for the system to work on
well the bootlegger must be well ac
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27

Back I'm Conward's office. while the
agreement was being drawn. Irene was
possessed OF a consuming desire to
consult with Dave Eden. She was
uneasy about this transaction in which
her mother proposed so precipitately
to invest the greater part Of their lit
tie fortune. 81 think I would hesitate,
mother" she cried. "If you buy this
house we will have only a few thou
sand dollars left. Your health may de-
mand other expenditures"
"My health was never better" Mrs.
Hardy interrupted. "And I'm not
going to miss q chance like this, health
or no health. You have heard Mr..
Coward tell how many people have
grown wealthy buying property and
selling it again. And l will sell 1t
a~eain-when l get my price"
1T is as your mother says" Con-
ward i~nterjected. '"There are very
sapid increases In value. / would not
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27

by quarreling, Dave" he said. Let
agreed as to facts, then we may agree
as to procedure"
SHOOT" said Dave. He stood with
his shoulder toward Coward, watch
ing the dusk settling about the foothill
city.
II think" said Coward, I'VE can
agree that the boom Is over. We have
done well, on paper. The thing now
is to convert our paper into cash."
Dave turned about. "You know ]
don't claim to be any great moralist,
Coward" he said, sand I have no pity
for a gambler who deliberately sits ia
and gets stung. Consequently / am
not troubled with any self-pity, nor
any pity for you, and If you can get
rid Of holdings to other gamblers
| have nothing to say. But II II is 20
be loaded onto women who are In
vesting the little savings of their lives
women like Bert Morrison and Mrs.
Hardy-then L am going to have q
good deal to say" Dave went on with
rising heat: "If business has to be
done that way. then I say to h with
business !"
II asked you not to quarrel" Con-
ward returned, with remarkable COM
posture. II suggested that we get at
the facts. Now, granting that the
boom is over, where do we stand? We
are rated as millionaires, but we
haven't a thousand dollars in the bank
at this moment. This"-he lifted Mrs.
Hardy's check-"would have seen us
over next payday, but you say the
firm must have nothing to do with 1t.
And which is the more immoral-sipce
you have spoken of morality-to &C.
cept labor from clerks whom you can't
pay or to sell property to women who
say they want It and are satisfied with
the price? We have literally thou
sands Of unsettled contracts. We
must keep III staff together. We have
debts to pay, and we owe 1t to our
creditors to make collections SO that
we can pay those debts, and we can't
make collections without a staff. Why,
on the property we are now holding
the taxes alone will amount to twenty
thousand dollars a year. And l put
it up to you. If we are going to stand
on sentiment. who's going 10 pay the
taxes?"
II know; I know" said lave, whose
anger over the treatment Of the Har-
dys was already subsiding. 1--WE are
In the grip Of the system: Still-in
war they don't usually kill women and
noncombatants. That is the point I'm
trying to make. I've no sentiment
about others who are in the game as
we are. If you limit your operations
to them"
"The trouble is, you can't. They're
wise. Most of them have already
moved on. A few firms, like ourselve&
will stay and try to fight It out; try,
at least, to close up with a clean sheet,
If we must close up. But WI can't
wind up a bushes without selling the
stock on hand. and to whom are we to
sell II not to people who want 1t? That
is what you seem to object to-"
"You place me in rather an unfair
light" Dave protested. what I OBJ
ject to is taking the life savings Of
people-people Of moderate circum-
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27
Clever Tricks
of BoOtleggers

quainted with his customers and have
their confidence in aAlarge degree.
Another popular method of dis
pCnSing the hard stuff was through a
couple Of fountain s%yringeS, suspend
eel from the shoulders one in front and
flask or serve by the drink us desired.
when things begin TO get too hot
for the pocket peddlers," Mr.. Evans
continued, they solicit business and
fill each order one at Il time by taking
the customers money, going to the
hide and returning with the goods. |
doubt if there is sufficient trust in
ones fellow man for this system to
work out successfully in Il city the
size Of Buffalo.
"We have picked up men with a
considerable stock of booze on their
persons while to all appearances it
did not seem possible that the indi-
vidual could have more than a flask
or so.
"In the days before the fOrm-fitting
clothes, when long coats and peg-tOp
trousers were in style, many a suit
was tailored with huge pockets In the
trousers, and sometimes inside the
coat under the arms.
1.-THE blind tiger, sc popular in the
South, was never used much in Maine.
Its only recommendation is that it Of
fers more or less safety in selling to
strangers. You put your money
through a small opening I'm a wall and
out through the opening comes a
drink.
Beer Was Too Bulky.
"The methods used by saloon keep
ers to keep out of the clutches of the
law were almost as numerous as those
Of bootlegging. The first step Of the
saloon keeper when the lid was
clamped down was to eliminate beer
and ale all together, as it vas too
bulky to handle In the event Of a raid.
In those days near-beer was a much
despised and little known article in
Maine. But when the district at
tOrney hailed all saloon keepers who
possessed a United States license be-
fore the grand jury and fattened the
county's treasury by about $500 n
head, they began to take more kindly
to near-beer, as it proved an alibf for
the federal tax.
"In dry spells some saloons would
sell only by the bottle to those they
knew very well, while others would
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27
Engineer Refused
to Spoil This Lie"

Pin, hurst, n. C.-The defer
enCe paid to golf here Is impress
Sivc. Miss Metcalf Heating Of
the Agawam Hunt club, hooked
her drive 10 the railroad tracks
near the club house just rs Il
train was coming along.
The engineer, leaning out OF
the cab window. saw the ball
come to rest between the rails,
saw it perch itself upon an ideal
but prccariOus tee in the form
of Il tiny pile of Cindcrs, graSped
the situation and the airhrake
control at the same time and
brought the train to a sudden
stop.
The passengers may have been
slightly shaNen up in the proc
eSs, but Miss keating'S lie was
not disturbed. The train waited
until Il good recovery shot had
been played and then resumed
p its journey nOrthward to less
cOnSidCrate climeS.
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27

sell only by the drink, going on the
basis that liquor in a mans system
could not be produced as evidence.
In h latter places the saloon keeper
usually kept a pitcher full Of booze
under the bar handy to the sink. Sew.
eral convictions were obtained IN
such cases, however. The cOmbina-
ton OF finding a whisky glass. the
OdOr of liquor and the presence OF a
drunk or two In the bar room being
sufficient to convince the judge.
The wiser ones would have two
pitchers, II OF each side Of the SIX,
one full Of ammonia and one full Of
whisky. One sweep OF the arm would
dump them both into the sink. The
odor of tn" ammonia would prevent
the dor of whisky to be noticeable
and the contents Of the sink could he
analysed only as spirits of ammonia.
"All the saloons I'm the state were
filled with ingenious hides most Of
which defled detection. When a hide
was discovered It was generally the
result Of some ~disgruntled employee
giving the thing away. They range
in capacity from hides large enough
TO hold q half-pint close to the bar
itself to false collar walls behind
which ten barrel. 2ht be concealed.
Most of the saloons had large and
small hides the smaller ones being
filled up daily from the big one by
the boss himself.
Some Of the hides consist of tanks
set inside of hewed-Out Orders in the
floor above. These were connected
with a small pipe which generally
ended In a little office right off the
bar. You would order a pint, the bar
tender would return to the office
close a door, remove a calendar from
the wall, behind which was a little
disguised gascOck, from this he would
remove u cap and draw off the re-
quired amount. Other stores of booze
were kept in the tanks Of flush closets,
which could be flushed from behind
the bar in case the searchers got too
close n the evidence would go down
the sewer.
Some had their main hides on
adjoining property that would not be
covered by the search warrant, to
which access was had by means Of
secret doors inc su5terranean pas
sages."
Beer Sold Openly.
What about 2.75 per cent beerf'
was asked.
Ever since 2.75 per cent beer was
brewed," he replied, sit hos been on
sale openly in Maine. Fruit stores
and small stands of all kinds paid sos
for n federal license and put in a
stock of bottled beer, while the sa-
looms sold the bottled and draught
goods both. If the saloons have q
right TO sell it because it is non-in-
toxicating and if it is non-intOxicar-
ing / can't see the necessity Of carry
ing an excessive tax. / can't see
what is there to prevent SOFA foun-
tains or anyone selling 2.75 beer af-
ter paying the federal tax of So.
prohibition in Maine for D..
years was a joke except for occas lal
spasms of enforcement just before I'M
election when the party In power
figured that they needed votes or the
county treasury needed money. 1t is
an interesting game to chase the
eyaders and | anticipate it will be
even more so in the event Of nation
wide prohibition"
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27
German Textbooks Bar
Kaiser's Whole Family

Berlin. - German textbooks
hereafter will he minus the for
merly inevitable pictures of the
kaiser and his predecessors on
the Prussian throne, as a result
of an order by the minister of
education, who also rules out all
anecdotes of the HohenZollerns
(which might serve only TO glori-
fy the dynasty and foster the
monarchistic idea i'm the minds
of the pupils"
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27

stances, mainly-in exchange for prop
erty which we know to be worth next
to nothing"
"Yet you admit that we must clean
up, don't your
"Yes. / suppose So"
"And there's no other way. Dave"
said Coward. rising and placing his
arm on his partners shoulder, II SYM
pathize with your point of view. but.
my boy. it's pure sentiment, and senu-
ment has no place In business"
Dave dropped the subject. There
appeared to be nothing to gain from
pursuing 1t further. They were in the
grip Of a system-a system which had
found them poor. had suddenly made
them wealthy. and now. with equal
suddenness. threatened to make their
poor again. 1t was like war-El OF
be killed.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27

irene Murmured, Rather Weakly.
DO surprised IL you should be offered
an advance of ten thousand dollars on
this place before fall"
"There must be an end somewhere
Irene murmured. rather weakly.
But her mother was writing a check.
y shall give you five thousand dollsrs
now" she said. "and the balance when
you give me the deed. or whatever II
is. That Is the proper way. isn't it?'
"Well. It's DONE" said Irene with an
uneasy laugh which her excitement
pitched a little higher than she had
intended.
In an adjoining room Dave Eden
heard that laugh, and it stirred some
remembrance In him. Instantly he
connected IL with Irene Hardy. The
truth was Irene Hardy had been In
the background OF hts mind during
every waking hour since Bert Nor
rlson had dropped her bombshell upon
him. And now that voice
Dave had no plan. He simply
walked into Conward's Office. His eye
took In the little group and the mind
behind caught something Of Its por-
tent. Irene's beauty! What a quick
ening of the pulses was his as he saw
In this splendid woman the girl who
had stirred and returned his youthful
passion! But Dave had p0ise. He
walked straight to Irene.
81 heard your voice." he said. In
quiet tones that gave no hint Of the
emotion beneath. ~ am very glad to
see you again." He took the hand
which she extended. In q firm, warm
grasp; there was nothing In 1t, as
Irene protested to herself. that was
more than firm and warm. but It set
her finger tips a-tingling.
my mother. Mr. Eden" she man
aged to say, and she hoped her voice
was as well controlled as his had been.
Mrs. Hardy looked on the clean-built
young man with the dark eyes and the
brown. smooth face, but the name sug-
gested nothing. "You remember"
Irene went on. 81 told you of Mr.. Ell
den. 1t was at his ranch we stayed
when father was hurt"
"But / thought he was a cow punch
err exclaimed Mrs. Hardy.
-Times change quickly In the West,
madam" said Dave. "Most Of our
business men-at least, those bred In
the c~ountry-have thrown a lasso In
their day. You should hear them brag
Of their steer-roping yet in the Ranch
mems club"
Irene's eyes danced. Dave had oil.
recdy turned the tables; where her
mother had implied contempt he had
set up a note Of pride.
.Oh, I suppose" said her mother
Ysr lack of a better answer. Every
thing Is so absurd In the West. But
ycu were good to my daughter. and tt
poor, dear Andrew. II only he shat
bcen spared. Women are SO unused Il
these business responsibilities, Mr.
Coward. 1t is fortunate there r
few reliable firms upon which we cal
lean In our inexperienced"
sMother has bought a house." Iren'
explained to Dave. "We thought Thu
was q safe place to come A lool
on Eiden's face caused her to pause
why, what Is wrong?" she said.
Dave looked at Conwards ut Mrs
Hardy. and at Irene. He was instant
" aware that Coward had 'stung
them. 1t was common knowledge |
inside circles that the bottom wa
AOirx ovt The l6rm 0f Coward
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27
CTo BE CoNrINuED.)
Cattle Eat aRubber cakes..

Experiments at Singapore have
shown that a feeding cake for cattle
and other stock can be produced from
the residue Of Para rubber seed afte
the extraction of an oil comparing o.
vorably with linseed oil
The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-02-27

This religious fanatic of India has
an idea that by making himself uncOm-
Portable in this world he will have
things soft in the next. His seat is a
board dotted with spikes upon which
he has sentenced himself to stay
awhile, Partly as a penance, partly TO
convince the believers that Il holy nan
is insensible to the things that are
extremely painful to the average per
son. He must have convinced himself
as well, for even n stole would baili
NJ smiling in such IN unc0mfortahla
place.
The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-05-05
2Per Cent Profit On
Shoes During War, Says
Official To Committee

WASHINGTON. May s. Replying
to charges that be had made excessive
profits on war contracts, Richard II.
Long, head of the r. II. Long company,
birmingham, Mass, shoe manufa ctur-
ers, testified before a house war in
vestigating committee that his COM
pany received less than 2 per cent
profit on contracts aggregating more
than $23,0OO,0O0.
Mr.. Long, who appeared at his own
request to answer previous testimony
before the committee, further declared
that his company saved the govern
ment $4,071,0O0 through lower bids
Tor leather and textile supplies.
Present Figures
Figures were presented by him to
show that the company's profits were
S402, 800, which, he said, was S1,965, 700
less than normal 10 per cent profit
Our income in 1916, the year be-
fore the war" Mr.. Long asserted, was
greater than our annual income from
war contracts in 1917 and 1918. In
addition, we lost our regular bushes IS
and we still are handicapped by being
tied up with a large amount of war
materials on hand"
Presentation of statistics on the
company's war business was followed
by lengthy questioning of the witness
by Chairman Graham, who later asked
that the concerns books for the war
period be furnished the committee.
Mr.. Long complied with the chairman 5
request.
The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-05-05
Bonus Talk Reuiues Civil
War Veterans Memories

Talk of a bonus for world war vet
Grams, is reviving memories in the
minds Of civil war veterans. Many of
the "old soldiers" including some from
Wayne county, are writing to Harry
B. Smith, adjutant-general Of Indiana,
inquiring about bonus they say are
entitled to but never received.
When the civil war broke out many
counties offered a bonus for enlist
nlents. Some counties offered larger
bonus than others, and as a result
their quotas of enlistments were filled
rapidly, while the smaller bonus
counties, perhaps, failed to provide
their quotas.
AS a matter Of fact, many "old SOL
diers" never received the promised
bonus, and, stirred by talk of a bonus
for world war veterans, they are in
quiring Of the acknowledgement wheth.
err there is any way to get what is
coming to them.
Mr. Smith has taken up the ques.
ton with Ele Stansbury, attorney
general, but inasmuch as the bonus
proposition in those days seems to
have been a strictly county matter
little progress has been made.
The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-05-05
WORLD GATHERING
OF; METHODISTS IS
PICTURED BY WARD

o. F. Ward of this city, the only
delegate from here to be sent to the
Methodist General conference in Des
Moines, Iowa, has sent the following
letter to the Palladium:
Editor Palladium: Inasmuch as
Richmond has so recently entertained
a section of Methodism known as the
North Indiana conference, perhaps
your readers will be interested in a
few phases of the transactions of the
general conference now in session at
Des Moines, Ia.
This is a world session and occurs
once every four years. There are now
1874 annual conferences comprising
territory embraced in the continental
United States, Africa, Asia, Europe
and Latin America. There are S35
delegates of which Al are women.
Delegates have come from Bombay,
Bengal, South Central and Northern
sections. They are here from North
China, central China and Korea. Eur
ope is represented by Italians, Danes,
Swiss, Swedish and North Germans.
From All Over World.
To show that Methodism is thor
oughly cosmopolitan, a few names will
illustrate; from Germany, Oscar Rog-
atzky and Louis Fritsche; from Den
mark, Anton Bast and Johonnes
Munich; from Italy, Alfredo Toghal-
aleta and Carmelo Rapicavolli: from
Korea, o. kui Soon and Chun T. No:
from North China, Chen Wei Ping
and Wang Hon Chat; from North In
dia, Gulzari Lal Lorenzo and N. X.
Mukejll.
The North China delegates travelled
more than 1000 miles to reach Des
Moines. and had to engage passage
five months in advance. They came
via Vancouver. while the Indian dele
gates came via New York. The In
dian delegates are native Hindus and
speak English fluently. All of the
English fairly well.
An interesting feature was the re-
peating of the Lords prayer by the
assembly from all nations.
Some big problems will come up for
attention. The one most far reaching
perhaps is the proposed unification of
the Methodist Episcopal church and
the Methodist Episcopal church,
south. A special committee Of 81 was
appointed to recommend a plan of &C.
ton to the main body.
Separate Area Up.
Another feature which will affect
Indiana particularly will be the ques-
ton Of creating a separate area cor.
responding with the natural boundar-
les of Indiana with resident Bishop
| at Indianapolis. At the present time
Indiana is a part Of two areas, viz:
Chicago and Cincinnati. Iowa is also
asking for the same plan as Indiana
and Iowa is pretty evenly matched in
membership.
dorsed as was also plan of reconcilia
ton between the president of the Unit
ed States, and the senate. The amuse
ment question is about due to come w
and few days will develop something
interesting to all church going people
The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-05-05
(Bv Associated Press)

CINCINNATI, o., May 5.-Receipts
Cattle 600, hogs $500. sheep 100.
Cattle Market weak; butchers
steers S7.5O@1325; fair to choice, $40
011.5O; common to fair 5000; heif-
ers, good to choice $12@13.25; fair
to good $9@12; common to fair, 500
SO; COWS, good to choice $10@11; fair
to good $500; cutters $6.50@8; can
ners $5@6; stock steers $7.50@11OO;
stock heifers $6.5O@S.50; stock cows,
$608: bulls strong; bologna $500
s1O75: fat bulls 105O@11.50; mich
cows strong. $50@15O; calves. steady;
fair to good $13@16.5O; common and
large $6@11.
Hogs-25 to so cents lower; heavies
$14@1525; good to choice packers
and butchers so; medium. $15.15 @
$500; stays, s70S.50: common to
choice heavy fat sows, $S@1150; light
shippers $3.50; pigs, 40 pounds and
less, $10@14 so.
Sheep Steady; good to choice,
s12@14; fair to good $9@12; common
s5@S; bucks $4@9; lambs steady;
good to choice $1,000; fair to good,
s1S619; common clipped, s12@15;
sheared lambs sS617; spring s15@20.