The New York herald., 1922-08-22
JOHNSTOWN MAYOR
HOAXED EVERYBODY
Saloonkeepers and Brewers
Believed He Wanted Wide
Open Conditions.

Special Dispatch to THE New York VarAlp
JoHNsTowN. Pa. Aug. 21.-Mayo'
Cauffiel let the cat out OF the bag to-day
when he said he had no intention Of
legalizing the sale OF good beer In Johns
town and all he expected to do was to
make the Federal prohibition officers
take notice of conditions existing Ia
Johnstown.
The Federal men sat up and took
notice. didn't they?' said the Mayor.
well. that's what was after. One
man can't clean up town. ! tried i
and failed. The church people refused
to help. The prohibition agents laughed
ting beer containing wood alcohol an i
ether. 1t was poison. A national frater-
nal convention opened here to-day and
thousands Of men from out OF town arc
In Johnstown. We welcome them. What
would they think IL we handed thes.i
some poison labeled beer while they
were here? Something had to be done.
pondered over the situation for several
days. and last Thursday night decided
on my course of action.
Il tried arresting and fining saloon-
keepers for violations OF the law. They
paid the fines and went right back AMI
sold more poisonous fluid. Then called
for 100 volunteers to help me police the
saloons and to keep them closed. How
many did get? Two. One was fro,l
Altoona. and he was under age. An
other was from Johnstown. the brother
in-law of saloonkeeper. deputized
him and put him to work last Wednes-
day. haven't had a report from hiri
yet. Where were the church people
Why didn't they send men to ass st mo
In my efforts to rid Johnstown Of bad
beer. liquor and bootleggers?
II was determined to get some recog-
milton from the Federal prohibition
forces. 1t is their business to see there
are no violations of the law. / think |
got what / was after. / want Johns
town cleaned up. but can't do II alon-.
Had a sufficient number OF volunteers
when ! made my call could have coped
with the situation"
Mayor Caufiiel was exultant over MS
victory" as he termed 1t. Saloonkecp-
ers and brewers fell for his hoax. he
insists.
And they didn't see the JOKER" said
the Mayor. II said they could sell beer
as long as they complied with the law.
What does the law state? One-half cf
/ per cent. alcohol. to be sure. But the
brewers and saloonkeepers were so sur
prised at my change of heart and mind
that they overlooked the joker In the
statement"
"Ha, ha =" laughed the Mayor rubbing
his hands in his glee. They fell for IT.
didn't they7 And they wanted me Inn
peached! No man with any sense woulf
think OF defying the Constitution OF the
United States"
YOUNGSTOWN, Pa, Aug. 21 (Associated
Press) Prohibition Agent Z. A. Spragg.
directing force OF seven detectives,
said his men hadn't found any boot
Ileggers yet. but that they had hopes.
Meanwhile little black bugs continued
to make an aquarium OF the city's drink
ing water reservoir
The steady, persistent demand for the
stuff the Mayor ordered" began to
lacerate the nerves Of beverage dis
pensers to-day and they abandoned their
| efforts to explain to customers
That the Mayors act was hoax.
| That they couldn't think OF selling
anything containing more than one-half
| OF one per cent.
And besides. that a prohibition agent
was listening to the conversation.
| the proprietor of one thirst parlor
visited this afternoon by two really
parched newspaper men, promptly
agreed to fll their order. The product
did not entirely satisfy the customers
After attempting to qualify as expert,
they became confidential. So did the
proprietor.
Then why did you tell 'em It is wher
It sint?" asked one of the journalists.
why let 'em suffer-" was the re
response. An inspiration came and h,
continued:
You know, a lot OF us old-timer'
woke up yesterday to the fact that W,
are back numbers. We never believed
In advertising. We do now. Why, W,
sold enough OF this volstead stun yester
day to float a battleship through tn,
Panama Canal--and people kept cofnini
back for more. They actually though
1t was the real article. When we tolt
'em the truth they wlnked and told III
to trot It out. We thought the rush wal
over when we closed our places earl,
this morning. But we were fooled
Every other automobile party drives up
rushes in--gives three cheers for tn,
Mayor--and demands service.
Yes. why let 'em suffer? is right"
And another half dollar dropped int,
the cash register.