Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-07-24
Edinburg Coming Week. August
SCALPS
IN VALLEY
"Weazel' Bootleggers Bring Scalps
From West Virginia For Bounty


The "weazel" bootlegger is the lat
est addition to the gentry doing an
unlawful business in Winchester. The
'weazel'' bootlegger is the term ap-
piled to persons who kill predatory
animals and birds in West Virginia,
bring the scalps over into Virginia
and procure the bounty offered by
Frederick and other Virginia coun-
ties bordering along the West Vir-
ginia boundary.
The state of West Virginia does not
offer a bounty on the scalps of pre-
datory animals, such as foxes, weaz-
els, hawks, owls, etc. The state of
Virginia does give such bounty,
ranging all the way from SO cents
to $500 per scalp. The bootleggers
obtain the worthless scalps from the
animals, which are thicker in the
mountains of West Virginia, which
border on Virginia, than they are in
+ this state, then apply to the county
clerk, who issues warrant for the
money, and it is paid by the county
treasurer.
Unearthed BoOtIegger Gang
Game Warden Pingley recently un-
earthed a gang of the scalp bootleg
gers, who have been doing thriving
business in Winchester at the ex-
pense of the taxpayers. One man
was noticed to be presenting an I'M
usually large number of scalps of
animals of all sorts. upon which he
received the money out of the coun-
ty treasury.
This man was followed by the
game warden and was seen to join
a gang of the suspected bootleggers
in the county hitching yard. Here,
division of the money was made.
The runner" for the gang was ap-
pretended and he confessed that he
had been hired by the gang to pre-
sent the scalps at the clerks office,
obtain the wrrants and the money
and then he divided up with the boot
leggers. One of the latter, who does
big business in buying hides of
animals, was approached and he
finally confessed that many of the
animals whose pelts he had bought
were killed in West Virginia, the
scalps removed, which were given to
the runner, who secured the money
for the scalps from the county treas
urer.
No arrests were made in this in
stance, because the runner, who sold
the scalps for the bounty, is regard
ed as a supplemented fellow, who
is the goat" of the bootlegger gang,
and it would be impossible to convict
the gang on the runners unsupported
testimony.
However, it is believed a crimp
has been put in the gangs operations
by which the county of Frederick has
lost considerable sums of money,
while Hampshire and other border
counties in West Virginia have been
getting rid of their predatory ami
mails, without any cost to the tax
payers there, while Frederick and
Shenandoah counties have been hold
ing the bag.
Court Clerk Not Naturalist
AS result of a confidence game
played on the county clerk, whereby
a county man procured sass for two
packages he claimed contained scalps
but which were found to hold only
tissue paper, rule has been put in
: to effect at the Office that hereafter
: the game warden must be present to
identify the species of predatory ami
NAL whose scalp has been presented
for the bounty. There are certain
species of hawk, and owl for which
there is no bounty. The clerk is not
naturalist or ornithologist; he is
supposed to know many things and
his knowledge may cover a wide
range of subjects, but ornithology
and zoology are not two of them.
So hereafter when scalps are pre-
sented for the bounty, the game war
den must determine whether such
scalps are from screech owl, which
carries no bounty, or the horned owl,
which does pay premium; or
whether fox scalp really came from
fox or was removed from a red
headed tom cat A boy recently
passed off some whipporwill scalps
for hawks scalps, received his money
and departed. The difference was
not discovered until the expert, the
game warden, was called in and he
pronounced the scalps to be from
whipporwills.