The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-10-28
OFFICERS MAKE
RECORD 'cAIcR
IN HOOCh RAID
~ -
-.

Isalsss VsFsxpt 1ast MslllH No
Pik&s ~ . Dietillef = Ittssf,
Rised m Jailel
The biggest "catch" in the his
tory Of prohibition enforcement in
Rock Island county was made BY
Prohibition Agent Joe Prendersast
in East Moline yesterday afternoon,
consisting Of three mammoth stills
and 100 gallons Of hooch ready for
delivery to the IMAM higher up"
Isadore Versypt. 944 Sixteenth
avenue, East Moline, at whose home
this rival Of. Peoria's one-time ia
nous distilleries was uncovered,
this morning pleaded guilty in
county court and was sentenced to
a., go days in county jail and ordered
to pay q fine of $500. It was his
second offense in county court.
During the summer he was fined
$500 and costs when he pleaded
guilty to manufacturing moonshine.
Federal Agent Prendergast was
accompanied by Tom Schafer, chief
/ of police of East Moline, and Depu-
ty Sheriff Ed Grafton. The objec-
tive of the raiding party was within
a block Of the East Moline police
station. Despite the fact that the
officers had the goods" on Yer
sypt's place in the form of a
search warrant, they needed only
to let their noses be their guide to
have been drawn Enthusiastically to
the scene of operations.
The officers caught Versypt in
the act Of overseeing the operation
of the stills, which were turning
out hooch at the rate of 10 gallons
per hour. The house contains sew
en- rooms. The entire upstairs and
the basement were given over eth
er to the making of the hooch or to
storage of mash, barrels and other
paraphernalia.
The manufacturing process was
going full blast in the cellar, com
paratively limited quarters, bu,
made the most Of it in spite Of
space handicaps. Two 75-galloT
stills were attached to the same
coil and cooling barrel, where
mere 60-gallon contraption was in
dustriously working by itself. Thu
officers found %. barrels filled witt
seething mash. Further investiga
ton of the premises disclosed II
empties, 10 Of which were bidder
, in the upstairs rooms. There wal
! a cheap jag" in store for ANYONE
Who cared to venture any place
Y within the house, while the odOl
3 which.greeted the nostrils from tn
: outside was an invitation either t.
: move on or come in, depending up
Y on the inclinations of the fndivid
e ual.
q Liquor in Jugs.
s The officers found SO gallons o
4 hooch in the cellar, all neatly con
e tanned in jugs. Inspection of tn
s garage revealed as many NOR
6 gallons wrapped in gunny sack
d and apparently ready for the pic
; up" man. These innocent" fel
l. lows were concealed behind Yer
d sypt's automobile in the darkes
: corner of the garage. The haul il
hooch alone consisted of Is five
IS gallon jugs, five three-gallon jug
e and one four-gallon receptacle. Be
d sides confiscating the finished Pre-
S duct and the three stills, the Off
: GERS carted away two gas stove
s and two oil stoves.
n Versypt relied entirely on yeas
IT sugar and water. Hooch is hOocl
but it is said that yeast and suga
hooch is the worst form of the Pre-
:, duct to be had on the market.
To Judge G. o. Dietz in count
3 court today Versypt claimed he ha
e only started to make the hooch an
T. was getting ready to seek out
y purchaser. States Attorney Ben
IL Bell said that threesweeks ago tn
Information had come to the gran
IS jury and to him concerning Vel
" sypt's activities. At any rate, Vel
~ sypt was no piker when it come
II to starting out in business. H
5 said the three stills had cost hi
II SIS, which, with the various ingred
IS ents and barrels, represented a
y outlay OF $500. This was cheap /;
II that when it is considered that maj
y ufacturers of Versypt's type recei,
/ ed So per gallon in return for the
= labor and expense of production
One hundred gallons per day woul
Is be only ordinary at Versypt's plan
Is the officers claim, unless possibl
lie he was willing to work overtime.
N In court Versypt proved that col
IT fidence in him had not been mi
N placed. His memory was very boo
He couldn't even recall who so
him the distilling apparatus, az
,e even after going to the expense
es setting up plant he was not SUI
is he could dispose of the hooch.
a. Nope Gives Bail
a Emerak Nope. Andalusia farme
90 who was arrested Thursday on
ID charge of prohibition law violatio
IN was released from. county Jail tn
he morning when bonds of $4,000 we
.h signed by S. B. Bergstrom, Molir
err and Arthur A. De CONNER, Ro,
no Island
r Pete DE Coster, last Of the 70
RS arrested last Saturday night in
er raid on a Coal Valley farm, got o
re of Jail yesterday afternoon. H
bonds were furnished by Edwa
he Simmons and Joe Miller.
to
rel PARTY WOMEN
10 HEAR ISSUES
OF CAMPAIG
Al