New-York tribune., 1922-09-09
Death Threats
Handicap Raids
On P POISON Rum
BootleggersS warnings sseai
lips OF Red Hook Resi-
dents Qssizzed Regarding
III Liquor Fatalities =
Dry Agents Aid in Search
Large Quantities of Whisky
Seized aud Men Held;
Alcohol Still a Mystery

Terror stalks in the Red Hook dis
trict of Brooklyn. Death warnings re-
ceiyssi BY persons from whom informa-
tion is sought in connection with
eleven poison whisky fatalities OF the
last four DAYS have started District
ATTORNEY Ruston and the Brooklyn po-
lice on q ruthless pursuit of terrorists.
Evidence ia said TO be available upon
which arrests nlay be made to-day.
intimidation TO prevent gathering OF
evidence by the District Attorneys
STAFF was revealed during raid yes
terday By Mr.. Ruston with Captain
O'Connor, of the Hamilton avenue po-
lice station. Assistant District Attorney
Snyder and force of twenty police.
Eighteen men detailed by Federal En-
forcement Agent Lord participated.
Detectives questioning residents in
the suspected Conover Street area, be-
tween King and Sullivan streets, were
urged to desist. Those questioned
said they feared being placed under
suspicion of persons in the neighbor-
hood. Their lives would be endangered,
they declared. Search of premises
within the block was proceeded with.
warrants being disregarded. A large
distiIling were confscated. Two arrests
were made.
Still and Alcohol Seized
The most important capture the
authorities believe is that of Michael
Auleti, owner of building ct lib
Wolcott Street, in which a complete
still and quantity of denatured
alcohol were seized. Auleti sur
rendered late last night after he had
been sought since morning. He said
he had rented the room in which the
still and liquor were found to man
named Ferino on August 10.
DIR. Ernest NJ. Vaughan, medical as
sistant District Attorney, tested the
liquor found in Auleti's house and de-
clared it contained wood alcohol.
Auleti was arrested and held in de-
fault of $1,000 bail, charged with
illegal manufacture and possession. He
was locked UP in Hamilton Avenue
police station.
Two men, supposedly suffering from
alcohol poisoning, were taken last
night to Kings County Hospital after
having been picked up at points out
side the Red Hook section. Both were
unconscious.
One man was found at the corner of
Doliiver Street and Flatbush Avenue
extension, and the other on the plat
form of the DeKalb Avenue station of
the B. r. T. They both appeared to be
about forty years old and were we'll
dressed.
The Brooklyn police began search
for liquor sellers in the downtown Sec
lion of the borough following 1he find
ing Of the two men, and an arrest was
made at the grocery store of Mrs. Kate
Mugsavage, AZ Gold Street. A detective
bought q drink of whisky there for a
ftuarter IL WAS said
Raymond Kirkpatrick, forty-four
wears old, of 2024 West Boulevard,
Cleveland Ohio, soldier, is in Belle
vue Hospital in serious condition as
a result of drinking "applejack," made,
1t is charged, from cider and wood al
cohol. He is not expected to live.
John Kozen, twenty EIGHT years old,
and Michael Chernoff, thirty-two, both
Of 634 East Thirteenth Street, Manhat-
with felonious assault. Magistrate
Moses R. Ryttenberg in Essex Market
court held the suspects yesterday in
$4,000 bail each
Panic hit the district when Ruston's
twenty raiders and men of Agent
Lords staff appeared. In five minutes
the raiding party was surrounded by a
crowd of hundreds. Excited residents
swarmed from houses and tenements
in the vicinity. Thousands converged
from adjacent streets. Searchers were
hampered in their work and police
reserves experienced difficulty in keep
ing spectators back. Denunciation of
the raid as Illegal was general.
Five Wine Presses Found
The first house entered, 145 Conover
Street, yielded six demijohns and sew
eral barrels of alleged whisky. Five
wine presses were seized. Most of the