New-York tribune., 1921-01-30
specsa, Dispatch Co Tho Tribune

SpcCtdf DtSpUtCh 20 In6 TrtOuno
BIRMINGHAM, Ala, Jan. 29.-In tn
opinion of law enforcement officers, tn,
assertion that the American people arr
the most inventive on earth has beer
fully and completely justified during
the last few months. Any who may
entertain doubts upon the subject are
invited to consider the liquor runner
For the ingenuity of his methods anc
the skill displayed in the art of dis
guise he is said to be without a rival
According to these officials, the
liquor runner is not only subtle in his
methods of delivering the real goods,
but he is equally ingenious at times
in flching money from the pockets Of
the thirsty without parting with the
stuff that is his stock in trade. How
he jumps from one scheme to another
and turns all to a profit was illus
trated recently by the discovery that
he was delivering liquor into this city
in oil cans, such as are used to supply
filling stations.
Cans of Two Compartments
These cans were so constructed as
to deceive even the elect among the
liquor enforcement Sherlocks. If sus-
picion was aroused all the driver car
rying these cans had to do was remove
the shoppers and politely suggest that
the officers poke their fingers into the
contents. If they complied they found
nothing but oil-sometimes thin, some
times medium and sometimes heavy,
since the dealer was anxious to suit
all tastes in the matter of lubricants.
Einaliy, as the result of an inside
tip. it developed that these cans we're
made with two compartments, one quite
small and the otner very large. Inc
small compartment carried the oil,
while the generous space carried the
liouor. The small compartment, tubu-
lar in form, had it's own screw-top, but
it in turn screwed into the main can
and formed the stopper"
When this trick was exposed and the
officers could no longer be deceived
the ingenious dealer promptly switched
his methods and utilized the same cans
for adding more feathers to his nest,
time. The retail dealer in this instance
was informed by the "wholesaler" that
he was going out of business and that
he had a quantity of the stuff he was
willing to unload at only SIS per gallon.
All the retailer had to do was to sip
over the mountain and haul the stuff
off
The time and place for putting
through the deal were agreed upon. and
when the buyer appeared he was shown
the cans, each guaranteed to contain
five gallons of prime moonshine. The
retailer took a Whit and taste at
each can and found it good. After
paying over the money he loaded the
cans upon a wagon he had brought for
the purpose and then, covering the
cans with corn in the shuck, he made
his way to town, chewing a straw as
Game of Taking Chances
When this man reached his own
little establishment and began to trans
fer the stuff to bottles he made a
startling discovery-the only liquor in
those cans was contained in a small
tubular compartment, the balance be-
ing filled with water.
But taking chances seems to be one
of the elements of interest in this
traffic, and the man who is "stung''
simply concocts some scheme for pass
ing the sting en- to the other fellow.
Moreover, it is to be understood that
the simple minded fellow who deals
with the moonshiner and the liquor
runner is not the only one who falls
victim to schemes that seem fair but
are full of pitfalls.
During the recent holiday period
when many persons were wondering
how they could get through the sea
son of good fellowship without the
stuff that cheers, half-dozen of the
most prominent business men in town
were victimized ly stranger who
looked as though he might be the af-
fable manager of a million dollar cor
poration.
This prosperous looking visitor
registered at the best hotel in the city
and then lost no time in getting in
man who is known to have kindly
affection for the flowing bowl. The
stranger had a letter of introduction
which purported to be from business
man Of prominence in a neighboring
city, and soon the two were on friend
ly terms.
The affable visitor invited the busi-
ness man around to his room at the
hotel and there he produced a quart
Of old rye, and the ties of friendship
were cemented more closely. The
visitor then confded to his guest the
information that he had six suit cases
each containing twelve quarts of the
same stuff, wi ich he was willing te
dispose of at 500 per suit case.
The local gentleman Immediately re-
called the names of five boon com