The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-11-09

ing Liquor
Supposing you were en- route t
Yellowstone Park on vacation tril
and you met fellow autoists who's
car was in the ditch alongside thu
road?
You'd help them out, wouldn't you
for the Good Book says something
about rescuing your neighbours mule
if you find it and the owner in the
ditch beside the road.
But
Suppose when you had gone on
your way, you discover, after you
have played the Good Samaritan, that
the ungrateful or grateful men in
the ditch had placed the following
articles in your car, all unbeknown
to you:
One container with a little less
than a gallon of spirits frumenti.
One container with a full gallon
-four quarts-of the same fluid.
And then, supposing you are
pinched by a brace of dry snoops and
hailed into court and charged with
having intoxicating liquor, to wit:
"hootch" in possession?
Would it make you sore?
Victims of Mixup
This situation is what confronted
Milton B. Wall, William T. Morelli
and Emmett Burke, three Helena
young men who have just returned
home from Bozeman after a jury in
the district court had solemnly con-
10, oil 70 nh nd
pronounced them guiltless of wrong
doing Maybe the liquor was in their
possession" for the sleuths got it
out of their car last August, but the
jury, after listening to the story told
by the trio of capital city youths, as
to chow come" decided they weren't
to blame for having possession of it.
Shocking Developments
All this is contained in the story
told by the Bozeman Chronicle, which
in part follows:
'The young men were arrested
during the time of the Bozeman
Roundup, when the sponge squad,
working out of the Helena office, was
making it's wholesale raids. Accord
ing to the statements made the trio
had left Helena with their camping
equipment to make trip through the
Yellowstone National park, and had
stopped over in Bozeman to attend
the roundup.
"They arrived in Bozeman late in
the evening of August g., and had
stopped their car in front of one of
the dance halls. While inside, one
of the prohibition officers searched
their car and found two gallon con-
tainers with moonshine in them. Ar
rests were made and fines were paid |
to the city by the young men for
minor offenses, and later, informa-
lions were filed against them for the
more serious ones of violating the Ii
quor laws.
The Good Samaritans
"On the witness stand the young
men explained how they came into
possession of the liquor. They said /
they had started from Helena late in
the afternoon of August for Boze-
man, their first stop. When they
arrived short distance this side of
Three Forks, they met car with
two men in it. The car was in the
ditch, and the men were having a
hard time in getting it out. The Hell
ena men stopped and lent assistance,
with the result that within a few
minutes the car in the ditch was on
the road, and everything was all
right.
1t Was Cool Night
while assisting the men in
trouble, gallon container of moon
shine was produced by them. They
passed the liquor around and all of
them took drink-in fact, several
drinks. 1t had been raining through
out the evening and they were cold
and chilly, and more or less fatigued.
The liquor had the effect of dispell-
ing some of the gloom.
Wasn't That Fierce?
CATER the two parties had depart
ed, in fact after they had gone so 5
far as to be entirely separated APP !
pears the cars were going in oppo- !
site directions - Hall, Morelli and /.
Burke discovered they had through |
an error, not only put the gallon con-
tainer from which they refreshed {
themselves, into the car, but to their
horror, had also placed the full one q
beside it. Well, it was too late to 7
make amends, and the moonshine 3
happened thereby to be in the car |
when they reached Bozeman. Z
Character Witnesses
Character witnesses brought y
down from Helena, went on the stand :
and spoke good word for each and
all of the defendants. :
"Messrs Garner and Stepech, of U
the sponge squad, also went on the
stand and admitted they were look
ing for rum runners and not for o
these particular young men.
''That was that, and after all of
The testimony in the case was heard,
he lawyers agreed to submit it to III
he jury without argument. The re- III