Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-07
BOOTLEG
RING IS UNCOVERED.
BRITISH SHIP SEIZED
Bankers of Two Nations Ac-
cused-Acid Test for
New Liquor Treaty

claimed to have caused the col
lapse of an Anglo-American banker
bootlegger alliance which, in the
! past six months, has flooded this
part of the country with Illicit
Iquo4.
AS a result of three months in
vestigation coast guardsmen seized
the 376-ton steamer Frederick B.,
and her crew of twenty men fifteen
miles off Monmouth Beach, N. T.,
which the federal officials call the
! first real test of the liquor treaty
with Great Britain.
Bankers of Montreal and New
York, and distillers and shipping
lhen in London and Halifax are said
to be members of the international
Bookkeeping ring which, the dry
raiders said, has 100000 behind
its operation of a four-ship fleet.
In addition to the prize capture
| of the Britisher, four smaller craft
| fleet motor boats that bring the
| liquor from the rum fleet to the
| Long Island and New Jersey shores
were taken. The captures, which
| included a half hundred cases of
whisky and fifteen prisoners, were
made by the marine police.
! One lone police boat, with lights
| out, got three of the little craft off
| the RockaWays single-handed. The
fourth was taken at Staten Island
| while her crew were unloading
/ whisky on a dock.
A novel ruse was employed by the
| federal agents to involve the crew
| n inly in a. fnC 90 11a
| new treaty which extends the an
cient three-mile seizure limit to the
distance of an hours sailing.
Race Against Time
After handing the vessels master
100000 in cash and checks to make
u fat liquor purchase agreement
binding, agents asked for twenty
five sample" cases to take ashore
at once. They put the stuff
aboard the fastest speed boat they
could get and raced ashore in forty
two minutes. This, assert the
agents, involves the bootleg ring in
a violation of the Anglo-American
treaty. t
Their race against time completed,
the agents pressed the coast guard
cutter Manhattan into work. That
formidable armed little vessel steam
ed alongside the whisky-laden Fred.
erick r., placed under arrest the
crew and two women found aboard,
and proceeded with the ship to an
underguard anchorage off the Statue
of Liberty.
John II. Clark assistant United
States district attorney, later said
the capture was the most important
since the United States entered into
the new seizure limit treaty with
Great Britain.
Although the captors were inclin-
ed to be reticent about the affair,
a few facts were cleaned concerning
the Frederick b., and her operators.
1t was learned, for instance, that
one of the women aboard-she is
about 26 and rather strilingly dress.
ed--Was the daughter of one of the
English ''higher-ups'' in the rum
running conspiracy. Her compan-
ion, said to be a woman of about
40, was described as the younger
ones chaperon.
Two of the crew, who said they
were Harry Klein and l.. Fletcher,
both of Newark, N. j.. were ar
raigned before a United States COM
missioner and held in $4,000 BAIL
| liz CiSlllCcu OIuCIS OIL IU6 crew
were held for appearance before a
federal commissioner next Monday
r. G. Meryyrk, divisional prohibit
ton chief, wa. credited with having
directed the setting Of the trap. The
actual investigation, in which six ac-
lively participated, was under the
| leadership of William A. Walker, OF
Washington, general field superin-
| tendent of federal agents, and Saul
Grill, a local sleuth with long
record of successfully tricked boot
leg cables to his credit.
Huge Lots Landed
Grill and Walker posed as Penn
| sylvania bootleggers, who scorned all
deals involving less than /, 200 case
| lots. a series of champagne dinners
| ashore and wild parties aboard the
vessel followed their introduction as
big time bootleggers" to members
or the syndicate backing the Frede-
rick b, and her sister rum ships. ,
| In the past six months, Grill learn
| ed, the fleet had landed at least 100,.
| 900 cases of whisky on this coast.
Grill and Walker negotiated for.
the purchase of $4,000 cases of whis-
| ky at $22 a case-a $550,00O transac-
ton. Two weeks ago the Frederick
b put into port with the first con-
signment of this order, but the willy
agents considered the seas too rough
to permit of their speed test trip
from ship to shore. SO they per-
suaded the Frederick BIS crew to
dispose Of the stuff" through other
channels.
The Frederick B returned from
st. Pierre Miquelon, last Sunday.
with 1000 cases aboard. She an
chored off Monmouth Beach. and
there the deal was completed. the
money passed and the 25 Sample"
cases were taken from the deck load.
IL was planned to get the remaining
l4,OOO cases here within the next
week aboard one or more of three
remaining boats, which the dry raid
ers claim constitute the syndicate's
fleet
A customs official tonight said the
frederick 3 formerly was the Ber-
ndrd M, steam trawler. Her name
he said. was changed last June 21. at
Halifax The vessels former port
OIL registry was Kingston, Jamaica.
a port owner, the official said, was
Charles Stewart, said to be the SUPER
cargo. He was one of the men made
prisoner. The captains name was
given as Edward Wells.
Several high powered rifles were
taken from the ship after she had
been anchored in the upper harbor.
brace e. CO