Norwich bulletin., 1922-01-05
NORWICH RUM RUNNER
LOSES LOAD OF HOoCH

Bootlegging apparently is not as hon
oraaole as common stealing, for there is
an old saying about honor among
thieves" which does not apply in the pro-
fession of Bookkeeping as was demon
strated right here in the confines of our
city not so many days ago The story,
as it is told on the streets, does not re-
fleet a great deal of credit on the in
genuity of the local men connected with
the affair.
The story is. that only a short time
ago two men from out of town aGapr oach-
ed a local man or men in regard to pur-
chasing some Whiskey or near-whiskey.
The men were informed that the
'hooch' could be procured for them and
they readily agreed to pay a price re-
| ported to be far in excess of the mar
ket value The temptation of a little
easy money quoted the fears of the To-
cal men that everything was not all
right. The deal was made with one
proNiso. 1t was this proviso that caused
! the local men much chagrin and put a
substantial crinp In the profits from
the illegitimate business.
The buyers insisted that in order to
| complete the deal and the delivery of
the goods they must be Transported 20
beyond the city limits as the visiting
4
always on the alert and they desired to
take no risk in oarting the liquor
| through the city. The local dealer agreed
| and an automobile was loaded with the
| alleged ''hooch" and driven to the out
| skirts of the city where the transfer
was to take place. The automobile of
the buyers followed closely the machine
| carrying the contrafband liquor. The
| driver OF the local machine assisted in
the transfer Of the goods from one ma
chine to the other and was then ready
to receive the price of the liquor.
The game at this point stood two tc
one in favor Of the buyers of the H.
quor an advantage they made good use
of One of the men, while the other was
making a pretense OF counting out the
money, slipped around to the front Of
the local mans machine and stealthily
stole the switch key from the machine
Then he quietly returned to the
rear of the machine. where his
partner was still counting out the mon
| ey and took his position directly in the
| rear of the local man. Not a word wa
spoken between the two men. but sud
! denly the man with the money gave thu
local man a. violent push and a conven
lent leg completed the local mans down
fall While the Norwich man was re
/ 3
into their car and drove off The loca
man ran for his machine <and climbed
in ready to follow the other car but wa
unable to start his own because of tn
stolen switch key.
1t is reported that two unknown mel
have about $500 worth of liquor tina
cost them only time and gasoline Will
Norwich is rid of just that much hooct
1t is a sadder but wiser dealer in con
traband liquor that is looking for tw
men In an automobile who want to pur
chase his wares for high prices.
This local man is not the only one VIII
has been made the victim of dishonora
j.. Bile boetleggers, for in the little boroug
,, of Jewett City the buyer and not tn
, seller was the victim. IN this case a Ger
tain Jewett City man purchased in goo
. faith a number of f1vegallon cans q
what he supposed to be alcohol. H
. | was given the privilege of tasting tn
: goods before he paid for them. Appal
J emily they tasted good for it is said h
| passed over the money. But he was du
, for a rude awakening from his dream
of quick and large profits for when h
more thoroughly inspected his purchas
he found that each can contained ar
other can cleverly soldered into the hi
eontainer. The little can held about
| quart and a pint of alcohol while tn
: larger container was filed with waite
and not spring water at that. The Jew
+ | EFT City man paid good price for HI
X mixture Of alcohol and water.