Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-10-30
LONE WOLF" A
VICTIM OF POISON
Was at Winchester Once Upon a
Time--Known In Valley

James Leroy clone Wolf'') Asher
picturesque figure of the prohibition
enforcement service and former Bal
timore saloon keeper, died suddenly
in Chicago, Sunday
1t is reported Asher's death 'oc-
Cured under circumstances which
led the police and enforcement Off
cials to believe that he had been poi
soned by bootleggers, whom he has
harassed during his three years as a
federal agent.
Edward C. Yellowley. prohibition
administrator for the Chicago district
was the first to advance the poison
theory, saying that the agent had
been threatened many times. Mr.
Yellowley is assisting a coroner in
an investigation of the death An au-
topsy is to be performed to deter
mine the cause.
About o'clock Sunday morning
Asher complained to his wife of a
severe headache. He then took a
hot bath and went to bed, saying he
thought he was dying. A physician
at his hotel was called to attend him,
but he died in about an hour and
half. The doctor said death was
due to cerebral hemorrhage.
Was Under Cover" Man
Asher had been active for the last
several weeks as an under cover"
man for prohibition agents operat-
ing in Chicago. On evidence obtain
ed by him, scores of saloons had been
closed by injunction.
One of the places padlocked on his
complaint was owned by a man
known as Sawed Off" because he
attached that signature to a recent
letter to President Coolidge, defying
the President to enforce the dry law
in Chicago.
Prior to his campaign in Chicago,
Asher had figured prominently in the
newspapers through wholesale raids
instigated in Peoria, ILL.,, dubbed by
prohibition officials as 1.-The wettest
town in Illinois"
The campaign he directed there,
was characterized as one of ruthless
ness and wanton destruction of
property. His operations were the
subject of special grand jury inves-
tigation order by the judge of the
Peoria County Circuit Court.
Asher was familiar figure in Bal
timore. In hundreds of prohibition
cases tried in the United States Dis
trict Court there he was the prose-
cution's principal witness He head
ed many raiding parties and was as
sailed by mobs on numerous occa-
sions. He was the center of jeering
crowds in operations carried on in
the open.
Similarly, he was the storm CEN
ter in many other eastern cities in
which he worked prior to his trans
fer to the Chicago areas this sum-
mer. In Philadelphia he was indict-
ed on charges of second-degree MUIR
der and manslaughter in connection
with the death of saloonkeeper, but
was acquitted.
Used Spectacular Methods
Asher came into prominence
through his spectacular methods of
obtaining evidence and conducting
raids. He was especially noted for
his use of DISCUSSES in which he went
after evidence as asheart driver,
bricklayer, Kentucky colonel, fisher
man, common bum and countless
other characters. His stealthy meth
DDS and the fact that for a long time
he was considered single-handed
operative. brought him the sobriquet
Lone Wolf" Even later, when it
was learned that at all times he was
accompanied by an assistant, the
nickname continued to be applied to
him.
Asher first doomed on the horizon
of star prohibition agents with a SEN
sational cleanup program in Wash
ington. There, early in 1928, he
conducted series of raids on estab-
lishments ranging from corner sa-
looms to fashionable bathrooms that
resulted in hundreds of arrests and
many convictions.
Visited Many Eastern Cities
His success there prompted his as
signment to many cities and towns
of the East. He would enter unan-
nounced, don his various make-ups
and DISCUSSES and mingle with vari-
GUS persons. 1t was his habit, after
obtaining liquor at illegal dispensa-
ries, to pour samples of it into a
specially constructed rubber contain
er secreted in his coat pocket
| Asher was A years old and, &C
cording to Mr.. Yellowley, had son
in the prohibition enforcement serv-
/ ice.
ARMY's WILD WEST SHOW