Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16

Ms badge and began to plan his campaign He
vas the intelligence ofhcer and chief Of the
scouting division the strategist and tactician of
Ghis master battle. He knew every hummock
and creek in Hell Hole Swamp like a subway
guards knows Times Square station.
ON September ,, 1926, the Coast Guard cut
ter Yamacraw entered Charleston Harbor
with 100 deputies, modified from many States
TO take part In the gigantic raid. The utmost
secrecy was to be observed. The men were
placed in automobiles, and the next day they
invaded Berkeley County. Straight to He'll Hole
Swamp they headed, following the eagls-eyed
Mcknight. Unerringly the king of the boot
leggers entered his former domain this tirne
flying the colors Of law and order. without
hesitation he threaded that labyrinth of paths
and tracks over which he had been won't to
carry his whisky 10 market Through sand and
mud and brush and bog he led his troops into
the bootleggers' lairs.
The raid lasted two days Thirty-three men
were arrested, among them H. s. Gamble,
sheriff of the neighboring county of Williams
burg, and a former deputy named E. F. Halle
don, who were charged with conspiracy to
accept brides.
Seventeen stills were seized, and with ak and
hammer the offcers beat the copper worms into
&hapeless pulps They poured cut thousands Of
swamp was dried at last. Or so thought the
Government, as represented In Charleston.
But Hell Hole was not TO be outdone.
"BOotleggtng continues says j. L. Poppen-
helm. State constable who is familiar with
the section. mcknight might have cleaned ND
part Of the county, but it didn't help much"
The officer was testifying before the United
States Senate For the investigating finger Of
Senator Brookhart's committee on Southern
patronage had poked deep into Hell Hole Swamp
and stirred up its whole colorful story
Mcknight before he retired at the end Of q
year from the service Of the Government, had
said some very nasty things about one Alonzo
b. Seabrook, who also had been a prohibition
agent. He had said in fact, that during his
Bookkeeping days he used to pay Seabrook 50
barrel for whisky the agent failed to find. Sea-
brook was charged with accepting brides and
was tried in the Federal Court In Charleston.
He was acquitted Of the charge but enmity
ranked In his heart When the Brockhart
committee started smelling out things Seabroek
bought ticket to Washington and helped
them smell. He helped so well that the com.
mittee called J. D. Z. Meyer. the district attor-
ney who had hired Mcknight, and q lot Of
other people from the Hell Hole neighborhood.
Back in the files Of the Department Of Justice
somebody unearthed a report made on District
Attorney Meyer. The good Senators were
shocked
do you mean to say you hired the king Of
the bootleggerS to be a prohibition ofieer?"
Senator K. d. Mcclellan Of Tennessee asked
Meyer. Meyer said the appointment was with
the knowledge and approval Of Mrs. Mabel
Walker Willebrandt and Gen. Lincoln c.
Andrews.
you are not at to continue in ONCE" Sena-
tor McKellar fumed. It was easy to see that
he was shocked at the conditions In Hell Hole
Swamp. In Tennessee, where the cousins Of
the South Carolina swamp dwellers migrated
long ago. the moonshiners build their stills in
the coves which nestle in the sprawling ridges
Of the Cumberland Mountains. They make the
same vile-smeling corn whisky. But In Ten
nessee they don't hire the king Of the Cum
berland moonshiners to enforce prohibition. Or
80 Senator Mcclellan implied. He did more than
imply that Meyer must no longer be connected
with the Government. And the committee
recommended that he be discharged.
That was last october. Mcknight has gone
back into Hell Hole Swamp. where he does
little farming and q little numbering. People
say he has quit the whisky business Many
marvel at his return to the place where he
once ruled as king of the bootleggers after hav-
ing led a foray into their midst. Rumor has It
that Mcknight once was shot at. He Is sttl1
alive, however. Perhaps the Hell Hole folk
are forgiving lot Anyway, they rebuilt their
stills and went back TO making whisky. District
Attorney Meyer has resigned.
a FTER ALL the Federal authorities and the
Mcknight episode furnished only one act
In the continuous performance which has been
going on in Berkeley County for the last seven
br eight years.
Gov. John G. Richards, pious man, has pro-
6uced several good laughs. He is the man who
three years ago gained Nationwide fame by
diving into the mIlSty statute books Of South