Evening star., 1924-06-15
Four D. c. Men, on Raid in
Leonardtown, Bluff Crowd
Until Help Comes.
REINFORCEMENTS SENT
BY HEADQUARTERS HERE
Kept Prisoner Six Hours; Shooting
by Prohibition Officer
Caused Trouble.
From a StaT Correspondent.


of hotel here tonight, while a mob
gathered outside and dared them to
open the door, four prohibition agents
from Washington bluffed the crowd
into believing an automobile load of
policemen from Washington was COM
ing to their rescue, and after spend
ing six hours singing rag-time songs
and banging a piano to keep up their
spirits, were rescued by two OF their
brother agents, who arrived from
Washington and dispersed the crowd.
Agents Thomas E. Wheeler. Robert
II. Williams, L. J. Tut and W. L.
Burrell, reaching Leonardtown early
this morning on a search for stills
operating in the vicinity, left their
car just outside of the town while
they tramped through woods and
marshes to find and confscate thee
stills. Returning, they discovered
their automobile gone and a crowd
waiting for them, making dire threats
but using no weapons.
Seek Safety In Hotel
Things got hot enough for the pro-
hibition agents to seek safety in the
hotel. They ducked into a room on
the first floor with the crowd at their
heels, slammed the door. locked it
and drew their guns. But the crowd
paused on the porch. Several min
utes of tense waiting, the crowd made
no further effort to come in. and the
agents tried to reach Washington by
telephone.
Every effort was met by the tele
phone girls polite answer that the
Line is busy" After an hours effort
the connection was made and the
agents got Lieut.. Burlingame of No.
9 precinct on the wire. They started
to tell him their troubles when the
connection was cut OF. More trying,
and finally Lieut. Burlinganle an
swered He was told OF their situa-
tion.. e.ee tsr-,
i've got ten men here. I'll get
permission, If I can, and shoot them
down there in car" said the lieu
tenant.
Crowd shouts Threats.
More waiting. while the crowd be-
gan to grow and men pounded on the
locked door, shouted threats and
dared the agents to come out.
One of the agents, Wheeler, can play
ragtime on the piano. He sat down and
began to dash it off, while the other
three, with guns in hand, stood by
the piano and sang. The crowd.
meanwhile, kept up their noise.
The telephone rang again. 1t was
Burlingame, telling the men that he
couldn't get permission to send aid.
but he had notified prohibition head
quarters and two agents in An auto
mobile were on their way.
Conversation Disperses Crowd.
The prohibition agents then began
making loud and distinctly audible
remarks concerning the size and gen
eral efficiency of the squad of police
coming to their rescue. The crowd
got wind of it and gradually dimin-
ished, although enough men were left
to keep the prohibition officers pris-
oners. After six hours Imprisonment
a car dashed into Leonardtown, its
siren shrieking. The mob, now
grown thin, vanished.
The car drove up to the hotel, the
agents jumped in, and were whisked
away to Washington.
The visit to Leonardtown today by
the prohibition agents was their third
in three consecutive days. They
came down Thursday, raided some
stills, and went home. They came
yesterday, raided more stills, and
went home. Coming this morning,
Leonardtown and vicinity were taken
by surprise. The agents left their
car, hired machine, with the chauf-
feur guarding their coats and papers,
near town and struck out through a
swamp.
First they found an old and ap-
parentiy deserted house with a one
hundred gallon capacity still, the mash
warm. They destroyed it and struck out
through a swamp. They located an
other STILL this of 00-galion capacity.
and destroyed that. Sometime later,
they found a smaller still. destroyed
that, and sent one of their number,
BurrelI. back to town to get their
car.
He returned, painting from a hard
run, with the news that their car and
the chauffeur had been chased out of
Leonardtown at the point of gun.
Hailing a Ford that rambled along the
road about that time they jumped in
and drove into Leonardtown. There the
mob was waiting for them, and they
were chased into the hotel.
The agents said that the trouble
had its origin several weeks ago
when Wheeler, one Of the agents, got
in a row with Argue Jones of Peters,
burg, Va, who was in Leonardtown,
and shot him, wounding him slightly.
Since then. they said.' Leonardtown
has been laying for them.