The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-09-01
CUNNING LEADERS IF RING ESCAPE ALL INVEST IGATION
Warehouses In SWampS, h.
 telIigence Corps And Runners Used
WASHINGTON BUREAU I
 THE AGE-HERALD Washington. ID. C.. Aug. 31


 The gigantic liquor scandal of Savannah, in which master minds" and not the cheap variety of boot leggers, were involved, will, in all probability, be paralleled in other south Atlantic and Gulf Coast cities If reports at the department of jus tice today materialize.
 -tI is known to be true that oper- Rtives of the department have recent iy made investigations in Charles ton, s. C.; Mobile, Ala; Calves ton, Tex, and a few other centers capable of proving safe ports of , entry for shipments from Cuba. While no official information is ob- tainable, 1t is understood from semi official remarks and almost direct Limitations that the operatives did not return to Washington without sensational developments might ulti- mately follow.
 The sole interesting feature con- nected with the situation is that the department is not concerned in any respect with the cheap bootlegger who operates in the alleys of all towns and cities, and is satisfied for his investment and the risk that he runs. It is big game the de- partment Is after, and if facts al- ready developed are sustained by subsequent investigation, prey as inn portant as that captured in Savannah . might fall into the federal dragnet . We'll Organized In south.
 !. It is explained by the department l. of justice officials that the big game .-ja the south is so well entrenched financially and politically that it's capture is achieved only after the surmounting of difficulties which would bafflo other than the shrewd- est and most persistent operatives in the service. It Is the impression ef the department that in cities other than Savannah liquor business runs into the millions, and that those who actually receive and by automobiles and fast motor boats distribute 1t into the interior and along the coasts /are supported by men high in so- able to form and maintain connec- tions with steamboat companies and with municipal authorities.
 It Is the influence of those who from the safety of their social posi- tions furnish the sinews of war to those who run the risks and do the manual labor, that makes the job dif- gicult, according to the department. Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt, an assistant to the attorney general. charged with the enforcement of the prohibition law, Is determined, how eVtr, to put an emu to DIE DuSl- aeas' in contraband liquor. It was two years before the "blow-off' that sht initiated the investigation at savannah. She has impressed Wash ington with the idea that her per alstency is one of her predominating efksacteristics, and the difficulties lnN the way of her present procedure 4It, instead of a deterrent, as slmulant. If reports of million dol t&r" businesses in South Atlantic and fhsuif forts. confirmed in part, at least, by investigation, are ultimately ysFified, Mrs. Willebrandt, it is be- iieNed here, will reveal the master minds and present proof by means Of which to convict them.
 Two years ago. Mrs. Willebrandt received information which led her tc believe that Savannah was the roan port of entrance for the liquor sutD!y of the south and east. She sen. investigators to the scene. But tpe ring" according to statements e' officials here, which maintained highly paid Intelligence" corps, As able repeatedly to spot" the federal agents and render their ef- forts void. After countless suspects h4d been uncovered in this game of wits, Mrs. Wilebrandt conceived 5hs idea of examining the income
 returns of severa, of the sus- 9g ted master minds" As a result,
 
 ~efe indicted for violations of the
 Arnal revenue act through failure fD make proper returns.
 Liquor Move Spreads.
 Then it was that 40 additional se- cret service men were dispatched to Savannah to assist in the final round up." The agent in charge be- came appraised. it is understood that the Savannah ring had done more than acquire steamboat, hnan- cial and political connections; more than build concrete warehouses in the swamps for the storage of liq uor; and more than establish & line of runners who served the south and the east, and even Chicago, by auto mobile and motor boat. It was his Information that Savannah had tied -itsels with other Atlantic and gulf ports, and that in those other ports there were rings" almost as power ful, operating either independent of or connected with, Savannah. It was concluded to follow eveSy thread, and with that purpose in view, agents were dispatched to Charleston, Brunswick. Gulfport. Galveston, New Orleans and Mobile.
 In part, these agents. it is uader- stood. have made report. It is ru- mored that they have unearthed some startling facts, and that at the proper time, the department will so strike as to reveal other cities in the garb that Savannah wesrs.