The New York herald., 1922-04-05
DRY AGENTS RUSHED
TO Shut Off BOOZE
ATCANADIANBORDER
Extra Force Of so to Have
Fast Motor Cars and
Boats for Fight.
UPSTATE LINE SOAKED
Bootleggers Keep Busy on
% Roads Leading Into
Malone.
FARMERS IN THEIR PAY
Valley Field a Boom Town Of
Liquor Thriving as if on
Gold or Oil.
FARMERS IN THEIR PAY

Border bootlegging, it was stated at
prohibition headquarters yesterday. has
reached a stage of such perfection and
speed Of movement that the Govern
ment will take immediate steps to deal
with it as a separate problem.
Ralph A. Day, State director, re-
turned from Buffalo, where he and
Prohibition Commissioner Haynes re-
ceived a report of ten days investiga-
tions along the New Canadian
line from al Thomas and Charles lie
Carron, general agents.
The report indicates that bootleg
ging on the border. due to the small
number of agents assigned there, the
recent inactivity of the State police
and the Indifference of the Canadian
authorities. is booming along with
small effort at concealment and with
the hearty cooperation Of farmers in
the northern part of the State, who
are being we'll rewarded for their as
sistance.
cars. which often hir up speed OF
seventyfive miles an hour along the
roads running north and south. are en-
pIoyed by the bootleggers, besides fleets
Of fast motor boats which operate above
and below Niagara Falls and on Lake
Champlain Agent Thomas said he rec
ognized along the border a number of
men with police records in New York
who were identified by the agents as
operators in the border traffic.
Enforcers to Have Fleet.
Director Day said 1t had been decided
with as little delay as possible. To aid
them in their work the prohibition de-
partment will put into commission at
once about ten high speed automobiles
and fleet OF swift motor craft. A
general agent will be in charge of each
launch and will have a crew of five
agents. II these means of attack do not
prove sufficient the department will
supplement them by an airplane squad
ron.
Thomas reported that the flourishing
state of the Illicit border traffic is re-
Elected in the mushroom growth OF the
town OF Valley Field. fifteen miles north
of Malone, the population Of which he
described as being composed almost en-
tireIy of bootleggers. The town has
sprung up since the beginning Of the
border traffic and has grown up and
spread with a speed comparable only
to that OF the old mining camps Of the
West.
The conditions at Rouses Point and
Malone, according to the agents. are
worse than anywhere else along the
border between New York and Canada
They say that the twenty-five roads
which entered Malone from Canada are
all used by the bootleggers night and
day.
Farmers Keep Road Clear.
Many farmers. they reported. have
been receiving comfortable incomes
from aiding bootleggers. In the winter
they rendered particular service In
keeping the roads clear OF snow. One
farmer told the agents he had received
$500 for his road clearing work. They
have also been OF assistance In provid-
ing the carriers with substations. where
the liquor can be temporarily cached.
At Buffalo. according to the agents,
most of the stun is brought across In
motor launches and landed In the night.
They say 1t Is the custom of the boot
leggers to load their launches on the
Canadian side a little while before sun
set and then to run over to Grand Island
in the Niagara River, which is American
territory. and walt there until about
midnight, when they cross to the main
land.
The prohibition department plans to
station one launch below Niagara Falls.
another above them and third on Lake
Champlain. The automobiles will be
used to break up the traffic at Ogdens-
burg. Rouscs Point and other strategi-
cal points.