Evening star., 1929-06-27
BY LEMUEL F. PARTON.

BY LEMUEL F. PARTON.
ST. ALBANS. VT, June 27.-This
town, Is miles frcm the Canadian bor-
der, is the goalkeeper in the never-end-
ing hockey match in which the rum
team is trying to shove the puck down
the field across the 110 miles of YER
mont and New Hampshire boundary.
Thirty-seven patrol officers, with four
boats on Lake Champlain few miles
10 the west, make up the Government
team for this district There are So
roads crossing the 80 miles of the YER
mont line. These roads, traversing
mountainous region, form network in
Northern Vermont, which. on the map.
looks like the interstices of lace cur
tain.
Once clear of pursuit in this maze,
the rum runner wins. His cargo Is as
safe as 1t would be in a New York
speakeasy. The decisive battle is on the
boundary, and 1t is there that the Gov
ernment forces are concentrated.
No Shooting In District.
There is no shooting and neither rum
runner nor innocent citizen has ever
been killed In prohibition enforcement
in this district Harry c. Whitehill,
customs collector of the Vermont dis
trict, with headquarters here, has rigid
ly enforced his ruling against the light
trigger finger. Thus the border nrelo-
drama along this particular stretch Of
the S.O00-mile battle line lacks the high
lights of gun play which have lit UP
President HooFer's move on the booze
line in other sectors.
While the patrol officer Is allowed to
carry revolver and to shoot in self
defense, the rum runners around here
no longer carry firearms. A law passed
by the Vermont Legislature a year ago
makes it a felony to carry firearm
while, engaged in the commission of
crime. This has brought the booze
runners arsenal down to an iron pipe
standard equipment--anda an occasional
knife or blackjack.
The Jones law, according to Mr.
Whitehill and his assistants, has driven
out the casual "small-time" runners
and recruited a desperate, rapacious and
daring band, skilled, above all, in tool
ing big jack rabbit over steep hillsides
and on the edge of a precipice at night
time with Government car roaring In
pursuit.
Autos Geared to Limit.
So, even with firearms eliminated,
there is no lack of hazard, no want of
desperate encounters, in this ceaseless
vigil and unrelentless attack. The
struggle has resolved itself into gears
and gasoline and into the matching of
courage and skill in driving an auto
mobile. Motor cycles were long since
abandoned by the enforcement officers
and they all use high-speed automo-
biles. These automobiles they get from
the bootleggers. about four week being
the average takings in this district.
/ They can get none better. The Gov
ernment has not purchased single
piece of motor equipment. These ma
chimes are almost without exception big,
luxurious touring cars or limousines,
geared to the limit of speed and power.
Here is how the game is played, al
most nightly, on these lonely mountain
roads. The rum runners. with spoilers
on both sides of the border, have kept
themselves fully informed of the move
ment of the Government cars. Bring
ing load across, they have perhaps
three or four cars as convoy, ahead OF
and behind the booze-laden automobile.
One Of these cars may act as decoy.
trying to lure the patrol car to side
road, or it may drop back and inform
the runner of the ambush ahead and
give 1t an opportunity to find a detour.
Great Danger for u. S. Men.
As the struggle narrows down to the
critical stage, the Government men face
their greatest danger. How to wreck
a Government car is the first precept
of the bootleggers' manual The fitting
of automobiles is not unlike the fitting
of the knights, encased in hardware, IN
medieval tourney, amplifled thou
sand times fold in speed and danger.
The bootleggers' endeavor Is to side
swipe the Government car and send it
| into ditch or over cliff.
The Government car is gaining in the
pursuit up steep hillside. The runner
Els master in the technique of hating
and reversing his car. He leaps as ne
sends his automobile shooting backward
down the hill to meet the upbound pur-
suer The patrol officer untangles him.
self from the wreck. A lurking convoy
takes the runner out of danger, to try
again the next night.
The booze car carries apparatus for
throwing up a smoke screen. Oil carr
ried in the rear Is ignited by an electric
spark. The Government man, pounding
along a 20 to 80 miles an hour and
drawing up on the fugitive, suddenly
sees q belch of black smoke rolling and
billowing In front of him. ohliterating
the highway and plunging him, at
breakneck speed, into sudden blindness
and chaos.
l08, 664 bottles of liquor In 1927 they
got 155 automobiles and 10,938 bottles
of liquor. Nobody knows how many
bottles are getting through.
Agent Has Army Of 81.
Driving through these deep forests
and long stretches of open farm land,
one can see that Mr.. Whitehill's little
army of 81 has a job somewhat harder
than that of Horatius holding the bridge.
Mr.. Whitehill has informed Washing
ton that he needs 242 men to do his
work effectively and close up the border.
That means nearly seven times the pres
ent force; it would mean an army Of
1000 or 1000 men along the entire bor-
der, with the same allotment for each
100 miles.
Mr.. Whitehill believes the law can be
enforced without killing anybody and
without recourse to spies and informers,
which he has never used and says he
will not use. He believes booze running
wifi be stopped when 1t is made un-
profitable.
This correspondent starts today on
prowl along the Vermont, New Hamp-
shire and Maine boundaries, hoping to
crash the gate for ringside seat at
the border booze drama.
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