The Washington times., 1922-07-18

Wnd Sl,OOO Fine Means.
When, after a thrilling chase in
which more than fifty shots were
exchanged" the dauntless probfbi-
ton enforcement operatives or motor
policemen seize a speedy touring car
laden with many gallons of alleged
whiskcy, and hale the occupants be-
fore the bar Of justice and after a
pause of several months necessitated
by crowded dockets 81 900 fine" Is
tackled on to the tRle, the average
citizen cogitates:
There's one fellow that won't be
peddling liquor for a long time. Car
confiscated: liquor gone: out a
grand. He probably will never get
over it."
There's a very good chance, how
ever, that during the period between
arrest and trial, while out on bond,
the "boot.limber" has made up all
his losses by booming the same bus.
iness. And an equally tenable as-
sumption that 1t Is not he, but a
well-organized firm, that stands the
loss and nonchalantly covers II py a
slight increase in sales.
Arrest No Deterrent.
The pertinacity Of some white
lightning operatives in Washington
is not to be attributed TO a dauntless
spirit in the face OF arrest, but a
sure business instinct. There are
cases where one man has been ap-
pretended four times within a year
and gone right on purveying his
stock. His bail bonds and fines are
not to him society's blow at his pock-
etbook, but unfortunate inroads in
process, to be written down under
profit and loss.
When bootlegging was so new in
Washington that most people still
believed the leggers really wore
boots (some of 'em do, but they're
the London type that stop at the
ankle) the traffic was a triflinR
thing. Would-be purchasers were
compelled to seek out merchants in
their haunts, and after trailing
them for several blocks, perhaps,
murmur "one shorty" which was
''assed over for 81. Near Bloodfield
was an imposing negro with a
sparkler in his tie the size OF a
robins egg, known as Alexander
the Great" He was the king OF
the. bootleggers. 1t was all very
picturesque and novel
Those days Of glamour and re.
failing bear about the same rela.
ton to the traffic Of 1922 as does n
gold.laden Spanish galleon to a
vault In the United States Treasury.
It's the old case Of inspired be-
ginnings and systematized event
ualities. : The bootlegger of today,
the successful one, Is as suave as
an undertaken and Is more than
likely to have a British accent to
hack up his Gordon Gin" or John
ME Walker Scotch" and a circle OF
charming friends in the ultra sec
tions Of the Northwest.
Travels Like Physician.
One does not seek the gentle
men who dispenses the lubricant
One phones him, and twenty min
utes later he steps from a luxurious
touring car with a doctors satche
In his hand and the expression of q
clergyman about to open with
PRAYER.
This delivery person may be {
member OF the firm or just a sub
ordinate. He is tactful. quiet anC
irreproachably dressed and afte'
handing over the specified liquor
he consults a little red book I,
determine his next stop, adds tn
money to a mule-choking roll ant
departs. Or he may enter one OF
his charge accounts. One is dis
tinctiy ''in well" In that case. how
ever.
Rootleggers are not fond OF wire
tapping, a strategem frequently n
sorted 10 by the police where illici
! selling IL suspected. Many OF ther