The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-11-30

suid q the ~cup mat choers.~ "A
sre nock Island homes wore per-
SS I shade leae conyfyfai within,
fhanksgivin9, than WAS the
~ 8 this season last year. For
S11w has grown scarce and high
5li here. One 81 the main rea-
~ for this change was pointed
~ - Chief CT Police william II.
Sninmons to friends in q tour Of
downtown district about s
6fpek last night
m ON every hand dark windows,
1lnout shades or partitions to
~ the interior, fronted store
sr1ns which until lately were sa-
- known az soft drink par
ne Proprieaors Of these places.
Spck in their most vital spot.
|xanor traffic-by the recent stern
.aing Of bootlegging here, have
- forced to shut up their pisces
Z numbers which are said to ap-
animate two-thirds Of the total
amber Of saloons operating here
hevs months ago.
A few of the saloonkeepers
nose places were closed last night
nerate their bars In the daytime.
No rest of the places which were
hrk are understood to be aban-
loaed permanently as saloons,
sme Of the proprietors having
zen forced out Of business by in
ahlity to sell hooch and the others
.Iosed by having their city soft
drink parlor licenses revoked.
Trade at the saloons which are
now operating is very slack. Two
Or three customers per evening Is
he average run Of business, and
passersby see many Of the places
snpty except for lonely looking
lartenders. of evenings. Such was
tho case last night. when on the
eve Of festive Thanksgiving day
customers might have been ex-
Dscted to gather from far and near.
Il was understood that several sa-
hons kept open contrary to their
custom last night in order to catch
some of the elusive holiday trade.
Casual observers failed to find vol
me of such trade.
With light bills surmounting
wening's profits frequently, at least
two bar rooms, formerly brilliantly
lighted by incandescents, have re-
sorted to candles and lamps for IL
Elimination, So as to cut down the
overhead expenses.
The inevitable result Of the de-
nand for a commodity being in ex-
cess of its supply : the result,
being boost in price-has come In
the liquor business. Last summei
when busily putting stills through
out the county and city supplied the
immunity ring j0bbers with hooct
1t 50 a gallon, and when the ring
men filled orders of practically all
Of the sixty-odd saloons in the the
city at IS or Sc a gallon, things
weren't SO bad. But now the state
ment comes from the best authority
that distillers are demanding 50 and
even SO a gallon for wet goods de-
livered in the city.
You can see the bootlegger's side
of this. In the first place, he is
being hunted night and day by
county, state and federal officials
He is liable to arrest and heavy
fnes-a thing which he didn't have
to fear SO greatly last summer
Therefore he must take extra pre-
CAUTIONS in both the manufacture
and distributing branches of his
business. And he has to do his owl
distributing, as the rings organi
Iation has been junked. More
over, this distributing is more diff.
cult than formerly, as it is a tran
nction with private persons in al
parts of town rather than with &
comparative few who operate boot
Logging joints in the business dis
fict or near it.
The 50 and SO quotation OF
h0och comes from one Of the mos
persistent bootleggers in Rock Is
land-one who kept on selling hi:
booze long after it had ceased Il
be safe to do %, and one whose
suffering of the consequences ha:
led him to abandon the trade Al
least in the open. He says ths
hooch hounds are taking the Liquor
at the double or triple price-ant
taking all they can get of it, witt
seemingly little reluctance, be-
cause the stuff Is difficult to get ant
HAHA a.