Evening star., 1926-12-03
YACHT RELEASED
|NuQUOR INQUIRY
Andrews Doubts Legality OF
Seizure of Laurentian
at Norfolk.
nv sne Associated Press.

~ She Associated Press.
NORFOLK, Va, December 3-Ke
lease from bond Of the pslatial steam
yacht Laurentian and dropping OF
charges against Its master were rec
0mmended by Lincoln G. Andrews. AS
ststant secretary of the Treasury. In
charge OF prohibition enforcement. in
a letter read IN Federal court. during
q hearing on q petition filed by Rus
sci A. Alger, owner OF the yacht, to
release 1t from a bond Of $4,000.
The Laurentian was seized in local
vasers last Summer by the Coast
Guard after 724 quarts of whisky
had been found In q locker which was
supposedly sealed and locked. She was
under charter TO G. X. G.. Billings
millionaire sporteman. who vas on
board with a party OF guests.
Martin Taylor, New York lawyer,
presented the petition for the release
on hshaIf Of Mr.. Alger, who .s II! at
his home IN Detroit.
Gen. Andrews wrote his letter TO
Mrs Mabel Walker Willebrandt, AS
ststant Attorney General. not only rec
ommending release Of the yacht. but
reiterating his policy OF concentrating
on prosecution of jOr prohibition
offenders rather than petty violators.
HnS letter atAO Cu "oS NV
satisfied with the procedure OF the
coast Guard in searching the vessel
and quoted District Attorney Paul
Ksar OF Norfolk as declaring that he
personally questioned the legality or
the seizure.
Five Days fOr Answer.
Judge D. Lawrence 0roner gave the
district attorney Ave days in which to
file an answer to the petition, and gave
the attorneys for Mr.. Alger Ave days
IN which to submit briefs.
''The department recommends tnat
this case be dismissed in the best IN
tsrests of law enforcement, bcause In
my Judgment the facts OF the case
are that the shipnlaster and lessee
and owner were all innocent of any
possihle intention to violate the pro-
, hibition law" Gen. Andrews wrote.
The only mistake. as / SEQ 1t. was
one Of negligence in not taking some
steps, before the ship was leased and
taken TO sea again. to get rid of the
contents Of the sealed locker. rather
than leaving ii a matter of an un'
certain future.
"Furthermore. arm not satisfied
with the procedure OF the Coast
Guard officer who made the arrest, in
tha& he boarded tue boat without rea-
sonable grounds for suspecting 1t OF
carrying liquor and without search
warrant, and discovered the liquor
only by the captain frankly answer
ing his questions as to whether he
had any liquor on board by telling
him that he assumed 80, inasmuch n
as he had a sealed locker, etc"
Left Yacht I'm Porto Rico.
In his petition Mr.. Alger said he
had not been aboard the yacht since
the Fall Of 1915. when he became i'll
and went ashore at San Juan, Porto
Rico. While at San Juan all liquor
on board the vessel was placed in a
locker, which was sealed by a United
States customs official and locked. the
petition related, and q clause was In
oorporated in the charter to Mr.
Billings which expressly stated that
the vessel was not to he used IN any
way that would violate the prohibi-
ton laws.
An affidavit by the captain asserted
that he never had the key of the
locker in his possession, but that 1t
was in the custody Of Mr.. Alger's at
torneys in New York.