The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-01
RAIDERS SEIZE
HUGE ALCOHOL
COOKING PLANT.
Mammoth Stills Are Found
in East Market used
Furniture Store
LEADS TO AL CAPONE.
Chicago GangSterS Were in
Charge, City Police
Declare.
BY FRED HEDGES

A huge alcohol cooking plant, OPP
Grated, police say, by Capone gang
sters, that has flourished for three
months as a used furniture store"
at BIT East Market street, today
was smashed by indianapolis police.
The plant, with its stills totaling
1900 gallons in daily capacity,
yards and yards of pipe line, $50
gallons of finished" whisky, and
an aging tank with a capacity of
1000 gallons is the largest ever
found in this section of Indiana.
The raid was made by sergeant
Wayne Bear and patrolmen Sam
Ritter and Edward Moore, men,
bers of one of two crack" police
booze squads. The officers gained
entrance to the furniture" store
by picking a lock on the door.
While they searched the place,
Ornelio Pastoni, So, of Chicago,
entered and was arrested on a
vagrancy charge, pending action by
federal authorities. He refused to
talk.
InTee OLnerS arrive
Fifteen minutes later a car drove
up in front of the place in which
three men were riding. One came
through the door with a large
wrench under his coat. He was
John Manognia, Al, of Chicago, who
also is held for federal authori-
ties.
His two companions, who had
started to get out of the auto, fled
within the car when they saw the
officers.
The small brick building of two
stores contained five stills, the larg-
est of 1,000-gallon capacity, police
said. This was located on the first
floor in the rear of the building and
had whisky outlet an inch in di-
ameter.
Two fifty-gallon stills also were
wound on the first floor and two
dismantled 100-gallon stills on the
second floor.
aging" Tank Found
Access to the second floor of the
place was gained by ladder placed
against a hole in the first-floor
ceiling.
The 1000-gallon laying" tank
also was found on the first floor.
Discovery of six empty fifty-gallon
denatured alcohol drums and eight
dozen five-gallon cans led Bear to
the theory that the furniture"
trucks seen at the building in the
last three months had brought the
denatured alcohol and taken away
the finished" product.
Bear said information he received
about the place came from under
world sources and he knew the men
were agents of Capone. He said the
place was reported to be the de
pot" for central Indiana and Ohio
manufacture of small order" liquor.
Furniture as Blind"
Questioned by police, Harry H
Huff, so, of 1902 West Michigan
street, owner of the building, said
the two men arrested and several
others had rented the place three
months ago.
He said they brought small
amounts of used furniture to the
place and these were placed in the
fore part of the downstairs. He
said trucks had been there day and
night loading and unloading fur
niture."
He said he was not aware of the
still operation until police crashed
into the "alky'' cooking plant.
Apparently aware that their plant
was known to police, the man had
dismantled two of the stills and
had taken out the few pieces of fur
niture.
Huff told officers that the gang
sters started their exodus early on
Monday.