Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16
NO MINIS LIND " for DIR YAGENTS
Governments Drain IzeU Scamp
Paradise of Its Bootleg "Lkke Which Continues
Proportions Despite Concerted Attas of Prohibition enforcement Officers

farming and he engaged in TIA
lumber business, but in the new
order of things in He'll Hole Swamp
he became magnate of the moon
sinners. He did business on the
Share-crop plan-that is, he fur
nished the stills, the sugar and the
meal and all the other appurteu
nances, bought the product from tho
men who actually ran the stills and
built up a distribution system and
a market. Mcknight corn" was
known far and wide, not so much
for its quality, however, as for its
quantity. With Mcknight, who kept
somewhat in the background, WAS
his brother, Sammie, the active head
of the business. Their friends, the
Mitchums and the Johnsons, were In
on the company" too.
But a rival clan OF bootleggers.
under the leadership of Ben VILE
ponteaux. made up of the members
of his family, whose name Is legion,
and the Wrights and the AndersonS.
were cutting into the Mcknight
trade 1t is inevitable in o primitive
country such as Hell Hole Is that
feudism should be rife. Equally in
evitable is the danger of violence in
such a business as bootlegging. No
court of equity to settle disputes, no
cop around the corner to call in case
of a f1ght-each man his own de-
fender, and the devil take the hind
most.
With the clan spirit to the right
of them and the loss of business to
the left, the inevitable happened and
there was a fight. On the 9th day
of May, in the year of Our Lord
1926, and the anniversary of the
prohibition act, the sixth, the occu-
pants of two automobiles got out on
the highway near MonckS Corner,
the seat of Berkeley County, and
shot it out with shotguns and pistols.
When the smoke cleared, Sammie
Mcknight and his lieutenant, Jer-
vey Mitchum, we're dead. The other
member of their party, Glennie
johnson, was unhurt. On the other
side were jeremiah Wright, James
Anderson and Ben Villeponteaux.
"Ponteaux," as he was called, was
wounded, but ne recovered. The
others were unhurt.
The State rang with news of the
bootleggers' battle. Naturally, every
body knew there was bootlegging in
He'll Hole Swamp. And, naturally,
there had been efforts to enforce
prohibition there, but the efforts had
been feeble and lacking in results.
Agents would bog through mush and
mire, tramp through sandy wastes
lands and dive into briar patches
Occasionally they would blunder into
still. This they would smash with
much ado. while the operator, versed
in the wilds of his native heath,
would disappear.
Sometimes bootleg rivalry furnisl1s
ed a "tip" and then the nniniong "a
the law were more fortunate In 10
eating whisky plants. But for every
one they found q dozen were un~
noticed. Among those who laughed
at the puny efforts of 1.-The law
there was none who laughed so
heartily as Glennie Mcknight.
But this war-that was differ
ent matter. The Federal Govern
ment decided that something must
be done. 1t was not long afterward---
in August, to be exact-that the
Government added new man to its
employ. His name, according to the
records of the United States attor-
ney at Charleston, was Glennie Nc
Knight. The Government had hired
the king of the bootleggers to carry
prohibition to He'll Hole Swamp.
W Mcknight came to join his erSt-
mics, the prohibition men, is q moot
He had pleaded guilty to a charge
N Of the dry law some time before
aid fine. He was under indictment
ne charge when he received his COM
It was easily nolle pressed, however.
e those who whispered that Glennie
upset by his brothers untimely
as out for revenge. They said he
| competition by specializing in the
aux brand of stills when he did his
The Government has a different story:
ter element" of Berkeley County,
hat such there be, had gone to M. o.
Ind asked for a cleanup. They had
as the only man who knew
y well enough to find the moon
aunts and make effective raids. Nc
I'd been approached and was consid.
Governments offer to join the force
battle at MonckS Corner, so thaw
r the reason was. McKnigaat puNtsn