Evening star., 1926-10-10
E[DR|DCE REFUSES
BOOTLEGCERS' PLEA
Clamps Lid on Restoring Per-
mits-Senator and Clergy
man InterceSSorS.

A half dozen notorious Washing
ton bootleggers appealed pathetlcaiiE
to Traffic Director NJ. q. Eldrldge last
week for the restorat tion Of Their auto
mobile operators permits which have
been revoked because of numerous in
fractions Oi the rreni" tode A. Wen AS
the Federal statutes relating 10 the
TRANSFORMATION and Illegal possession
of LIQUOR In several Of these cases
the pleas were accompa MED bN leI'erS
from prominent persons. Respectfully
urging that due conSiderat tlon ana ut
most courtesy be gwen the requests
One was written by a United states
Senator: another hy prominent
member of the colored clergy.
Discla!mins any intention of being
hard. hearted" Mr.. F;idridge has
steadfastlv refused 10 return The per
mits. despite the pressure brought to
bear on him by the hnotlogsers. on
the ground that il would not he in
the public interest to do so.
Bad Records Shown.
One of the rum runners has rec
ord of Is arrests for such oTenses as
illegal possession OF liquor. using
spurious reVerue stamps and selling
liuuor Another has been arrested
eight times for similar offenses. in
addition to being charged with IL vio-
lations ot the traffic regulations.
ranging from reckless driving TO driv-
ing while drunk.
The bootlegger who Interested the
Senator and the clergyman in his
case. as We'll as several mercha ants.
has heen arrested eight times for
violating traffic regulations and an
equal numner of times in the same
period for ilega possession, trans
portation and selling liquor, in the
face of such a record, the Senator
wrote TO Mr.. EldlidGe that the man
in question informs me that his
drivers permit vas revoked some
few months ago, and he is now very
anxious to ha>e l. restored.
He tells me tha. this was his first
offense and prom. 10 he verT care
full in the future. and | would appre-
clate il if you can Consistently du so.
to restore to him his permit
Replying to the Senator's request,
Mr.. Eldr!dge SAID The man had been
arrested some Ii times.
The clergyman advised Mr. E!drl'lge
that he had known the hootleGger tor,
10 years and had found him To he "a
hard worker and earnest Christian"
In his own behalf. the hootleCger
had this to say: Mr.. Eidridse. th.s is
a letter that | am writing To yru con
cerning of my operator permit which
was taken about six months ago. Re
member | was talking To YOU Tuesday
and YOU told me to see the lady. You
talked as though You would let me
have my permit.
II know that | have made several
mistakes aGalnst the law. But | have
made it up in my mind To he more
careful about the law. | mean to
work hard and make an honest hV-
ing like | always have. I've heen
hauling ashes and trash. cleaning up
wards in the District Of Columbia for
IS years. | have Il wife and five chill
dren to support. | know that have
to obey tie law just as we'll as any
one else | have made mistake
through life hut not any more.
know all those different things look
very bad in yWlr sight. nut please
God forglVes. This won't happen any
more
This is the first time that We're
up for being under the Influence Of
whisky or being drunk in my life.
I've been driving around II Years and
I've never hurt any ore Ict. don
look az a whisky bottle now. Less
more than drinking IT. | hauis trash
for Mr.. --, Mr. -, Mr.. -. ---
G. Co. and NJ. ---- Al these people
| use to haul and clean olt their
trash for wears I've neve" been ac-
Cused of stealing or rnhhing "r as
sault or nothing like that, Now. Mr.
Eldridge, | hope YOU will have mercy
on me and give me another show.
Claims Business Injured.
Another bootleSser appeal led f"r the
restoration of his permit through his
attorney. The application explained
that the man has nothing against his
record since the date Of revocation.
but the Police Department records
have him charged with two cases Of
illegal possession of liquor. When his
permit was revoked. this man had
police record 20 cases long. the ma
iority of which were for violation of
the prob ihition laws
One Of the bootleCgers pleaded for
the return of his permit because it
was interfering seriously with his
businessman ulinC ice in summer and
coal in Winter. His police record is
not quite AS length" as the others.
only eight cases being charged
against HIM, including one for trans
porting iuuor and another for driN-
ing While drunk