Smyrna times., 1932-02-03
chicken HOUSE At BETHANY
BEACH IS RUM STOREHOUSE
COAST GUARDSMEN FIND 264O
QUARTS OF FANCY LIQUORS
No Arrests Were Made and No One
Present When Seizure Was
Made; To Question Owner

No Arrests Were Made and No On,
Present When Seizure Was
Made; To Question Owner
' The worlds most valuable chick.
en- house has been discovered neal
Bethany Beach. And it wasn'i
filled with chickens, either. Coast
guardsmen, going there Tuesday
afternoon of last week, discovered
22O bags containing 2,64O quarts
of fancy imported liquors, most of
it said to be Golden Wedding
whisky. At current bootlegger
quotations, it is said to be worth
$26, 400. The chicken house was
supposedly empty. No arrests were
made. Captain John Gibbs, in
charge of the Bethany Beach Coast
Guard station, denied that he had
received two kilograms from New
York, offering to pay him well if
he would withhold any report of
his discovery of the liquor cache.
The liquor was taken to Lewes on
Thursday and turned over to u.
5. Customs officials. Word had
been received by Captain Gibbs, in
charge of the Bethany Beach Coast
Guard station, some months ago,
that new rum ringAwas operat-
ing and landing liquor along the
Atlantic Coast, between Ocean
City, Nd, and Bethany Beach. 1t
was stated that, due to the recent
difficulties in Delaware, it was be
lieved safer to try to run it in
from rum row through the lower
part of Delaware and Maryland,
rather than try to run it up the
Delaware Bay and River to river
shore points in Kent or New Cas-
tie counties. No one was about
the chicken house when the seizure
was made. The owner of the
chicken house will be questioned
about the presence of the liquor
there. Asked about the kilograms
said to have been sent, asking
him to suppress the report, Cap
tain Gibbs said, IF they were
sent never received them. All / /
know is that we found the liquor
and sent it to the Customs House
in Lewes and that the case is be
ing Investigated" The liquor was
all Of Canadian manufacture, Cap
tain Gibbs said, most of it being
Golden Wedding There are about +
13 brands in all. The liquor, it is
believed, was either dumped in the
ocean and then brought ashore, on
was ferried in from power boats on
row boats at night Due to the
deserted character of the shore
line between Bethany Beach and
Ocean City, there has been much
conjecture as to just how much
liquor was brought over in that
section. There are few buildings
along the shore and it was believed
that since the seizure of a large
load of liquor at Ocean City, Md,
about two years ago, the traffic in
the section had been discouraged.
During the camping period of the
l98th Coast Artillery, Delaware
National Guard, in the Summer of
1880, information was received
that a large cargo of liquor was
to have been landed near Bethany
Beach, and members of the beach
patrol of the organization were
posted to keep watch and make an
investigation, but according to
hose in charge, information leak
ID out and the cargo was diverted
% some other place. Unless there
are arrests made, it is expected
hat the liquor seized will be de-
;troyed at Lewes. If arrests are
made, either the entire cargo will
De shipped to Wilmington for stor-
ige in the old Federal Building, !
Sixth and King Streets, or samples
will be taken from the seizure and
aiken to Wilmington. If arrests
ire made, which call for the prose-
tuition of persons arrested in the
District Court, then the liquor is !
tent to that district for storage |
Until disposition of the case.