The Connecticut labor press. (New Haven, Conn.) 191?-1921, 1921-01-01
AMAZING DEVICES
OF BOOZE RUNNERS
IN CONNECTICUT
This Section Mecca for Ingenious
Crowd Who Take a
Chance.

Amazing ingenuity is exercised by a
band of liquor-runners plying through
Connecticut between New York anc
Boston, according to William J. Nc
Garthy, prohibition agent for New
England
Automobiles specially constructed as
ruin-tank cars; furniture vans loaded
with phOnOgraph cases lined with ti1
and containing gallons of rum crates
Of oranges" filled with whiskey; piano
cases containing more whiskey and
hundreds of other devices are used, he
says, to deceive the dry agents.
Prohibition Agent Mccarthy, with a
staff Of 80 federal men, has gathered
i'll fleet of more than 700 automobiles,
all carriers of contraband liquor Ware
houses are bullying with the harvests
reaped by McCarthy's vigilance. Oceans
of liquor lie llndisturbed in Boston
warehouses.
Though Massachusetts, was a hot-bed
slN months ago for rum-runners bring
ing their cargo to Boston from points
outside of Springfield, Providence, R.
l., Worcester and Lowell, these one
time channels for shipping liquor have
been closed up, says Agent Mccarthy,
due to the activities of federal men,
who covered each of the main roads
leading to Boston, night and day
Liquor runners are now working all
main roads leading to the state of Con-
necticut from New York state, where
within the past six months more than
$350,OOO worth of contraband liquor and
alcohol has been seized by a crew of 40
federal agents.
At Stamford, Greenwich Bridgeport
and New Haven, Conn, the federal
men have seized, it is said, more liquor
and conhscated twice as many automo-
in the country.
Here Agent Mccarthy has stationed
his flying squadron of picked men who
work night and day in high powered
motor cars on the lookout for the clever
gang Of automobile runners that have
been working in that territory.
Hundreds of amazing devices have
been discovered along the New York
state-Connecticut line, varying from
cargos in small Ford automobiles to
five-ton trucks, carrying loads of fur
niture, empty piano crates and camou-
tagged piano cases, containing from five
gallons to 1900 gallons of moonshine
Whiskey, high grade liquor and alcohol
Less than three weeks ago the agents
intercepted a load of IA piano cases,
nlSnly pOnSneQ IN mahogany ana mis-
sion finished. An investigation revealed
the fact that each piano was c1ever1y
lined with copper tanks of the best
Workmanship, which contained hundreds
of gallons of high grade liquor, con-
signed to a Boston man. Furniture
vans, loaded with furniture have been
another means of bringing contraband
liquor into New England. Under
heavy load of furniture, vegetables or
potatoes, the agents have repeatedly
discovered large quantities of liquor.
Fake orange" crates has been another
novel means for smuggling liquor into
New England
Three loads of wash tubs and brooms
revealed a total of $50 gallons of whis-
key and alcohol, the latter for the
manufacture Of moonshine whiskey,
which New England bootleggers have
been selling for liquor bottled with
counterfeit bottled-in- bond labels and
fake" government bonding strips and
stamps.
More liquor has been seized in and
about the state of Connecticut the past
six months, since Agent Mccarthy has
taken charge of the district, than the
total amount of contraband seizure