Evening star., 1926-10-10

.
demands by reason of the legal pro
Scription referred to. The post Uffic"
! tlthOritieS have told me that they
could use all the motor vehicle 5unl;
/ | could give them. as they have con
slant need Tor parts in their crCa-
motor system.
Instead Of being able to suppl.
their needs, however. ! am forced Iv
+ law 10 put these machines on the a,ic.
lina block, where they often bring far
, less than IT has cost the Governmen-
10 keep them i'll storage and meet th'
selling costs
Deputy Marshal Callahan, in SUP
port of his chiefs assertion. displaye..
4 current auction report, i'll viii,
! one automobile Was sold for only 9
10 Il local junk dealer whereas thr
storage dVayagc and auction fees had
to:aied more than $40. Seldom doe
tn" price reG iiZrd on machine ~
these sales leave a profit for the Gov
cr!!:neHt. h" declared.
The marshal will support an amend
!n"nt 10 the cxis'ins law authorizinG
I his office tn ,lispn.c of extra confis
cated automobiles T." tn" Federal d.
it ttincnts havin" need fer them.
In this connection II is 70 allied that
lie narsial'S whole hearted desire tu
IL; ke som" tlIoney for Uncle sam ON
til" auriI' ned ears nearly got him into
! trouble at one time. II seems lie Eit
ul"n the brilliant plan of spending q
few dollars on paint and polish with
Which tu tidy up The diSreputablc
locking machines. su that they would
, 1t more s;aiable. Accordingly. a small
~ l"urt Of money was expended in
th!s way ON several of the cars. and
sure enough. the marshal collected
. .i..k aEll 10 i,
sharp contrast tn the deficits which
formerly had worried him.
HUt economy. il was found. has Cel-
ta.u limits, one Of them being that in
i'i';rti"inG it II Government officer
nll->t not exceed the letter of the Law
regarding Use Of Federal moneys ar-
propriated fox specific purposes.
In due time the marshal's office was
advIsed f'T tine controller General.
t" whom economy means naught
vent Uline ou; Of legal bounds, that no
more crippled. wheezv or unSightlv
HIsNt''S c'.uid be dressed up for their
official debut on tn" auction block
Since t!idt time She sc:ly.looking ae
. %rc-atIon OF diS%raCed machines, witi
tops SMASHED in. radiators leaking
paint missing. tires blown out am.
fenierS dragging. have been sent to
the auctioneer's mart "as is" Be
! cause of their dubious apppa rance
! the great majority OF them are
snubbel by private individuals it
quest Of secondhand cars for family
use. and they naallr are Knocked
down To the "Vcr-present junk dealri'
fUr It SONG
II IL Il in"st unfortunate state of
affairs. Mr.. Snyder declared. "If thu.
Government cannot dispose Of thesn
cars protitahly hy selling them. /,
seems In me some way should I,..
! found I" turn them over 20 depart
mentS which have need for them
That would be real economy"
n ) has been stated hereinbefore. MOI
all Of the moonshining equipment
seized by prohibition agents is sa!
Vaged. The great watts Of fermentinc
mash. of course. are good for lust on"
purpose, and this purpose being in ,li
rect conflict with Mr.. EOlstead's fa
nous prohibition law. there IS no al
tentative but to pitch in with axes
ana picks and destroy the whole ooZr
mess. The large wooden boxes which
hoid the porridge of corn meal. or rye
ar" hacked into a thousand bits and
tn nir contents allowed to poliute the
bubhilng waters of the inevitably pres
ent woodland stream.
similarly. slight use can be found
| fot the heavy iron steam furnaces
which often are an integral part az
! the Stills. They are too heavy to carr
over the rough sylvan roads To -,
nearest highway and thence into th..
citN. anyway. SO the perspiring raid
: erS leap upon the still-srnoking boilers
ard rend them CRATE from valve. cast
ing the defenSeless pieces hither and
yGn.
Put the worst part of it is that not
! inir"qucntly the raiders have no trans
p"rtation facilities at all beyond their
own touring ears, and these must bo
loaded To the gunles with the very
vital evidence Of wrongdoinr--in
cludinS. more than likely. some
mighty human evidence IN addition tn
the products of the still.
In such instances. II is sad to relate
hrse quantities OF perfectly good
| meal. sugar. copper and glassware
nave been permanently destroyed or
The spot. rather than run the risk or
, having the valuable goods fall again
| into unrighteous hands Reliable re
, ports have II that sack after sack of
meal has been rendered unfit for use
by I'll" addition Of gaSolin" or kero
Sene. and hundreds of pounds Of pure
sugar have been dumped into Mary
| land "cricks"
Marshal Snyder points out that the
revenue authorities are handica pped
/ too often by lack of trucking facili
ties They are doing remarkable sal
wage work under existing conditions
however. and are to bn highly com
! plimented by the American taxpayers
i for the assistance they render in say
Ing the Government money.
Nearly ! Ol0 pn IlnuS If ,la1e.,,rn.t
alcohol brought in by arduous raid
ers have been poured into the radia
, tors or departmental automobiles sine,
! IL became available for such usage
Instead Of burning its way down the
, parched throats of guilty.eyed hu
mans. II now inJects healthy. stirnl,.
atinS Kick into the circulating svs
TENS of score Of Government cars.
rendering them impervious To wintry
blasts.
Kegs which Of ynre were pregnant
with rum blossom now offer blossoms
, of less questionable variety--to the
admiration Of hundreds Of visitors tu
the Botanic Gardens.
Ana one Still--a particularly inter
esting little cOntrap ption. however one
looks at N-sO impressed officials with
its evident desire to lead better Nf.
that IL was spared from the crafts
man hammer ana saw and installed
In the Treasury garage at 31S -Four
teenth street. where it now performs
most creditable service in the role of a
distiller of sweet, unadulterated AQUA
piira for automobile batteries.
Such are the transformations being
effected by earnest servants in the
pubic cause-their contribution to
ward the administrations concerted
campaign for economy.
There is no "hlack magic involved
II is Just "a simple little sleight.oC
hand performance staged by I-ncie
Ca co1aiy- foy tho y>nooa1