Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-03
LARGE QUANTITIES
OF LIQUOR POURED
OUT HERE WEEKLY
Seizures of Contraband in
District Run to 1000
Gallons in Year.
FORMER BALL PLAYER
CHIEF BOTTLE BREAKER
Quality and Quantity of Whisky
in Washington Held Poorer
and Less

All the liquor confscated in the Dis
trict-and the quantity runs to $4,000
gallons IN a year-finds its way ulti'
mately to a drainage basin in rear o.
the Districts liquor storehouse or
Pennsylvania avenue between Four
tenth and Fifteenth streets. AND
Charles williams, who as prohlpltlor
agent in charge Of the place ha'
Knocked the tops off the bright colorec
bottles for the past eight years, says
that as to quality and quantity tht
LIQUORS are poorer and less"
Even so, he and his merry men nave
their breaking parties at least once
week and destroy hundreds OF gallons
Of contraband stuff In the seven-daH
periods. Stored in great basement
rooms under the TRAFFIC Bureau anc
LIQUORS and as fast as court oroerS
come down williams and his stat
dump the stuff in the drainage BASH
In the presence OF a United states
marshal.
Assisting him is James Shaw, who
10 years ago was member OF Inc
pitching staff of the Washington base
ball club. a teammate of Walter Jonn'
son. Shaw'S pitching days are over
He has sacrificed his speed for control
and on days when there are oottle'
to destroy his easy effortless swing Is
the delight of Williams eyes.
Famous Brands There.
! The shades of John Barleycorn, as
we'll as the names of many bootleggers
are to be found in the storehouSe base
rnerts. Synthetic stuff is there IN
great quantity, but also on the shelves
n
some fame attached in earlier days
Lawsons Scotch from Dundee, John
Dewars white Label" wat &c." a
Scotch of renown: French cham
pagnes and wines are on the ShelveS
awaiting the courts information that
criminal cases resulting from their
seizure have been disposed of. When
the orders come down Shaw's pitch
ing arm will turn the contents down
the drainage basin.
Ninety per cent Of the liquors seized
in the District Of Columbia come from
Maryland Williams has aScerta1ned,
and practically all the stuff seized In
the District is synthetic corn whisky
and gin. Once conflscated, the liquors
are taken to the Storeroom.
A quart bottle taken from a man
under arrest goes on Williams shelves
under a label showing the mans name,
address. when arrested, amount and
description of whisky, time Of arrest
and the arresting officer. It is kept
until the case is disposed OF. 1t may
he used as evidence. Each seizure is
indexed and filed away and from time
to time williams checks the files and
the cases involved. When he receives
3 court order setting forth that a par
ticuiar case has been disposed OF he
obtains an order for conflscation and
the liquor in the particular case goes
in the drainage basin.
Watches Each Case.
His problem for the most part is to
keep up with the individual criminal
cases and destroy the liquors as they
are disposed Of. So-called libel orders
covering conhScated whisky in which
arrests are not made enable him to
take care of as many as a hundred
seizures at time, and these libel orders
account for the great quantity OF liquor
destroyed at any one time.
Approximately 100000 gallons of
liquors have poured down the drain
age basin since 1922. williams figures
for the years, showing the number of
gallons Of all sorts of liquor destroyed,
gallons: 1925, 1919 gallons: 1926,
: 100 gallons: 1927. 7,S41 gallons; 1928,
1883 gallons. Thus far In the fiscal
year 1929 he has destroyed 1928 gal
Ions.
In the six-year period. 1896 court
orders have come down authorizing de-
struction, of which "a were libel orders
containing large number Of seizures.
ConfiScated alcohol is not destroyed.
but Is allotted to off1cial mechanical
uses. Alcohol seizures have fallen of
considerably in the last several months,
due, Williams thinks, to the tighten
ing Of restrictions on permits and with
drawalS from warehouses. One Of the
largest stills ever captured in the Dis
trict, a Reconsideration affair, taken
recently in mattress factory on L
street. was for the manufacture Of
alcohol.
Convictions Increase.
Williams, who has been connected
with the Prohibition Bureau for 81
years, is Of the opinion that conYic-
tions have been more numerous in the
last few years. He attributes a gen.
eral Tightening up of enforcement to
more stringent laws, such as the Jones
law.
Although his work is not of an ad-
ministrative character, his experience
has given him the opportunity to OBJ
serve nrSC nano the eHectS OF enforce
ment in the District and to form an
opinion Of the efficacy of prohibition in
general. He believes in prohibition.
"Is it a success?" Answering the
question, he quoted DR.. F. Scott Nc
Bride, general superintendent of the
Anti-Saloon League, who said that
prohibition at its worst is better than
icenSe at its best" Better or worse,
he and James Shaw knock the tops of
ell the bright-colored bottles they get
their hands on.