New Britain herald., 1930-02-08
HUGE B00TLEGG|NG
 PLOT INVOLVES lO7
(Continued From First rage)

vice which marks all boom com- munities.
 The very court room atmosphere differs from the stern and formal air pervading the usual United States district court room. Judge Edgar $ Nausht, presiding. is a past in- ternational president of Lions clubs, and tho geniality Of his civic asso- cations has remained with Wm.
 Revelations during the trial have forced the resignation of Oscar Cor don, assistant attorney general charged with accepting a brjbe for silence after his Investigations had uncovered liquor oporauons and have involved the present sheriff of Pottavatomic county and chief Of police Of Shawnee, the countE's )arg- est city.
 The cast aligned on hotH defense end prosecution sides oi tho legal drama that has been in progress here for ten days has support of veterans Of other Oklahoma produc- 1ons which have drawn the nation- a spotlight in years past.
 ,iohns0n's Pal at Work
 On the government side. as an in- >ostigator, is W. W. tSuakcD ThoW- &son, one time associate Of W, r., Pussyfoot) Johnson, who lcapcd to world wide fame as militant pro- hibitionist fom a foothold of actiN- illes in old Indian territory. now a part Of Oklahoma.
 On the defense side is Randall Putnam, county attorney Of Fotto- Watomie county who prosecuted Thomson last summer in the pre- liminary trial Of q murder charge growing out of the killing hy one of Thomason's deputies, of two farm CTS in a raid near Tecumseh. Pit man Is accused. with Frank Fox. former sheriff, of organizing the liquor line" that operated alleged Iy with their protection and 10 their profit, and that broohcd no compc- 1Ition.
 Chief of the prosecution is Roy St. Lewis, energetic young district attorney. who is cousin of James J. Davis. secretary of labor.
 Arrayed with the defense as an attorney for Fox, is s. Prince Free ling. former attorney general of Oklahoma.
 Boom Began In 1926
 It was late in 1926 that the line of oil derricks crossed from Sem mole county to the eastern side of Pottawatomie county. With ii moved the caravan of small busi- nesses, both legitimate and parasitic seeking to reap golden harvest from the generous wages paid the hady oil workers.
 Earsboro, a. village in the midst of the new oil development over night, became a city Of tents and hastily erected boarded shacks.
 Homer knappenberger, who hal served as mayor of Earlsboro for several years before the coming Of oil, testified that Marion Fulle~. then his chief of police. suggested an opportunity for them to share in the new affluence of the town tE oIacting protection money from tue influx of bootleggers and div keepers. Knappenberger. who has pleaded guilty and is awaiting se1- tCnce, said he and Fuller organized a city line collecting both fro T wholesalers and retailers of liquor
 ''Merged' With County Group
 Soon afterWard, it is alleged, the city line "mergcd' with a monopo'y established in other communities by county authorities. and whiskcy aud beer concessions were sold on T basis of weekly payments Of protec- ton money. Prosperous men. 4t- tracted by the lure of huge profits and immunity from the law. flnan.- cd would be bootleggers and took a double 'cut" from bootleggers an l law enforcement officers.
 Five violent deaths and innuln~T- able shooting affrays have been It. tributed to jealousIes aroused by prosperity of the "line.' A princj- pal witness Of the prosecution die ] under what was described s suspi- clous circumstances on the night EC- tcre the trial was to open.
 District Attorney Lewis has hcn mentioned as q logical candidate for the republican gubernatorial rorH- nation in the campaign starting his spring. Putnam, a dcmocraf, has charged that possible political advantage, coupled with Pitmau's prosecution of Thomson, las sti'a- lated the young district attorney m his activities in the conspiracy ca Y.