The Washington times., 1922-05-25
20 PLACES
VtS| TED BY
DRY SQUAD.
Moonshiners Were Tipped OFF,
Officials Say-Much Whiskey
and Mash Seized.

Three State prohibition agents
and deputy sheriff swooped
down on the vicinity of Falls
Church, Va, yesterday and ar
rested seven men on charges of
violating the State prohibition
laws. All but one of the men
had been clipped off" in regard
to the raid and when the author
tiles visited their whiskey-making
plants they had abandoned the
stills and mash.
Find Huge Still.
The first place visited by Deputy
Sheriff Virgil Williams and State
Prohibition Agents II. d. Brown, F.
c. Palmer and c. E. Elliott. was
that Of James I. Murray. A still OF
100 gallon capacity and 100
gallon fermenter were found IN
Murray's barn. The still was de-
stroyed.
While Murray was being taken
in q machine to the office of Justice
Of the Peace Mohling he signaled in
the deaf and dumb language to a
man who was washing the windows
OF a store. The man leaped from the
ladder and ran. Deputy Sheriff
Williams ran after him and saw that
he entered the home of w E.
Murray. When Williams went into
the house he found a 75-gallon still
and a 100-gallon fermenter. Both
were destroyed and Murray, who is
q relative of James Murray, was
arrested.
While the raid on James Murray's
whiskey-making plant was in pro-
gress the news of the coup was
spread far and wide and the other
men who were operating stills in
the neighborhood fled.
In the barn in the rear Of the
house owned by James Sanders a
seventy-five gallon still was un-
earthed.
The home of George Williams was
raided and ten gallons of liquor was
confiscated. He was charged with
selling intoxicants.
A still of 150-gallon capacity and n
] 900 gallon fermenter was found on
the farm of Edward Jones. His
plant was the most elaborate Of any
seized. The copper pipes from the
still were laid in a cold stream and
the evaporated alcohol was emptied
into a container on the opposite bank.
Still Torn Down.
When the officers swooped down
on the still operated by Albert H.
Spaulding they found that a 10O-gal-
lon still had been torn down. Spauld-
ing had been apprised by the neigh
bors of the pending raid and he fled
after partially destroying the whis-
ky-making plant.
In a dense woods about two miles
west of Bailey's crossroads the
officers located a fifty-gallon still
and 200 gallons of mash. They say
It was operated by Samuel Lucy.
About a score of places were
raided by the officers, but only seven
arrests were made. Were il not for
the fact that the people Of Falls
Church and vicinity had been clipped
off, it is probable that a large
amount Of liquor and a large num-
Der of stills would have fallen into
the hands of the authorities.
In a densely wooded ravine near
+. B., Md, about fifteen miles from
Washington, Internal Revenue
Agents Ruby, Fowler, Parr. Foules,
Parker, Mcintyre, Allen and Evans
raided what is considered the largest
matchmaking plant ever unearthed
in Maryland. Two stills of 500 gal
Ions capacity each, twentyfour 900
gallons corn containers and 1900
gallons OF corn whisky, together with
thousands of pounds OF sugar and
other paraphernalia were seized.
Operators Escape.
When the Government men were
within a half-mile of the stills the
negroes who were operating them
fled. Each of the internal revenue
men emptied their pistols but did
not succeed in catching any of
them. About fifty shots were fired
The Government men said they
know the negroes and that war
rants will be issued for them.