Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-09-03

| maze IN fabulouS quantities in Penn
syivania by that process. whisky
energies from denaturcd alcohol af.
ter 'rectification" with caramel
favoring extract. Gin" is gained
from dilution with oil OF juniper
berries. Counterfciting print shops
| which grind out persuasive labels and
| United States revenue strip stamps
| are important links in the combina-
ton, and obliginE glass manufac-
! turers are ready to produce bottles
ind!stinguishable from the original
packages. The goat Is the consumer
| buyer. deluded into thinking he is
huying Scotch or Gordon. His name
| is legion. II Is he who is making
bootleg m;liiona!res In Pennsylvania
faster than they are being produced
| by any other trade extant.
One of the bold ConspIracics.
One of the boldest denatured alco-
| hol conspiracies that have come 10
| light Ia now under inquiry in the
United States courts in Pennsylvania.
1t illustrates tho vast financial pos
sibiiitiee of Illicit operations with
Industrial alcohol. The Greendale
Company. OF Lawrenceburg, Ind, are
distillers Of grain alcohol. They do
not make whisky. Under the law.
they are required to appoint agents
wherever they desire to sell their
product. In Philadelphia their agents
were the Grain Alcohol Company,
composed of three men, named Rus
KIN Noplin and Moore. Ruskin and
hopIin were formerly connected with
the superior Drug Company, OF Phila-
delphia. All three are now under in
d!ctmcnt for diverting alcohol.
In order TO obtain "A carload of ,Ioo
hol from the Grecndalc Company. the
Philadelphia trio had to furnish a
permit. Not one gallon was actus!l
shipped them from Lawrencebure ex-
cept upon genuine permitA obtained
from the Federal authorities. Under
the law. the Grain Alcohol Company.
OF Philadelphia, had. In turn, to be
furnished with permits by people who
wanted to buy alcohol by the barrel
or drum. 1t was the company's duty
TO file those permits with the prohi-
pltion officials In Philadelphia. to
show the disposition made OF alcohol
that came into their hands. Whether
through carelcssncsS or for some
other reason, the philadelphia pro-
hibition department issued permits
TO the Grain Alcohol Company for
whole carloads of alcohol withou. re-
curing an accounting !or the alcohol
previously shipped to them from In
oiana- The records OF the department
show at least 100000 gallons uuac-
counted for.
SWING Amounted TO S:.50O. O0o. II
The supposition is that every drou
OF II was diverted TO bootleg chan
ncls. AS the market price OF boot
leg alcohol in Philadelphia mt the
time was S2i gallon. the frauds in
question invcve roundly $4,000 GOO in
'swas The Grain Alcohol Com
pany Ruskin. Koplin & Moore) paid
the Greendale Company $3.50 a gal
ION. There is no suggestion Or sus-
picion that the Indiana company con-
spired with the Philadelphians. or in
any degree shared in the profits de-
rived from supposed bootleg trans
actions AT any rate. the last car
ehippcd from Indiana TO the Gram
Alcohol Company was seized by the
United States marshal in Philadel-
phia and is now in the custody OF
the Federal court. Legal proceed
ings are pending to determine
whether the shipper Will get the car
mack or not. 1t represents a value
OF about $4,000
Only Rcnch the bigger Stills.
Every day. in Eastern. Central and
W ''''''i' the prohibition
enforcement officials are suppressinC
stil!s operating with dcnaturcd al
cohol rs their basic raw material
II IS virtually hopeless PROPOSE
ton to snuff any considerable num-
Der OF them out OF business. In
western PENNSYLVANIA, for example.
where The prohibition general agent
Tor the State. John Exnicios. is
headquartered. efforts are concen-
'rated for the most part In knock
ing off, tho bigger stills. E1nicios'
entire STAFF numbers twenty-an alb
surdly insufficient force, working out
at less than one man for every three
counties
The othor day Exnicios and his
sleuths bounced upon a plant in
i'ttsburgh occupying building 600
by forty feet and containing a $50
gallon tank and twenty-horsc-
power boiler. n still Of such dimen-
Sions ranks AZ pretty husky con-
Germ. ana from week to week can
utilize many thousands OF gallons OF
d"natured alcohol. The place was a
dlsmantlcd factory. Around the ac-
tual sin within the building the
moonshincr had erected fence NJ
teen or twenty feet high. so that
persons looking through the win
GoWs from outside could not detect
IN" KIND Of business going on Inside
western Pennsylvania Is very
tough SPOT on the prohibition map.
Pittsburgh and its immense indus
Ir!a! cnN!ronS are SOpp!ng wet, with
saloons wide open and stills in PRO-
iGse operation everywhere. In .anu-
arg OF this year Exnicios' squad
cleaned up scventy-thrce barrels o!
whisky In the saloons OF Erie In