The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-05-09

cf the largest ever seized in the eastern states.
 No One Found There
 NO one was on the premises when the raiding party of six fed eral men and several Waterbury nolicemen arrived at the place. ln- .xestigation this morning disclosed that the front building on the premises in the local headquarters Of the Hawkins Coal Company, and rented by that concern from the Waterbury Masons Supply and Coal Company, owners of the entire property.
 The rear property, where the stiii was actually found, is also owned 5by the Waterbury Mason Supply and Coal Company and was leased through Ralph and Angelina De- vino, owners of the company, to Domenic Mastroiana of 11O Rall- road Hill street six months ago. The buildings wherein the still and other equipment were found was reported to the federal men to 4have been sub-let two months ago to a man known as James Beano" sof unknown address. Mastroianna told investigators that he had taken over the place six months ago to use for storing his trucks and that he had sub-let 1t to "Beano" two &months ago when the latter said he Nwished to establish a cooperage plant there. He stated that ssBeano" had last been seen by him on May 2, when he came to pay another months rent,
 No Arrests As Yet
 No arrests had been made up to early this afternoon by the fed teral men, though rigorous investi- gation was underway. Chief ln- vestigator O'Kane would not say when any arrests might be expected. Y The end of the shed wherein the vats were located faced directly on {a railroad siding, with folding doors in place, apparently to load and unload freight cars. At one side was loading platform, shel- tered by a roof. Everything about the premises gave indication of bootlegging being done on huge scale and in most business like fashion.
 Dismantling of the huge plant began soon after the raid this morning and was still underway lat press time. The still had been taken apart piece by piece, and the coils were being cut down in- to small pieces to facilitate their removal from the premises. The vats. full of mash, were emptied of their contents, with federal men placing poison compound in the small quantities which remained, so that it could not possibly be used again.
 Well Equipped Plant
 The plant gave every evidence that no care or expense was spared in equipping it as completely and in bringing it as up to date as pos sibie. Each portion of the tower ana of the rear sheds had its own zbuzzer system; the place was we'll lighted and ventilated.
 In the rear of the shed was found an auxiliary tank. built Tn to below floor level and equipped wikh it's own motor which could be turned on or off at the pull of a switch. A storeroom was filled with empty five-gallon cartons, in- to which the illicit alcohol wouio be poured and shipped out, while neveral hundred cans already filled were found in another location. F A modern cooling system was used throughout the plant, while two oil burners gave the 2,000-gal- ion still its motive power. To has, fen Fermentation of molasses and water, there was an auxiliary heat ing system, which brought heat 10 the mixing vat and each of the other five 10,000-gallon vats.
 .Trailed for Some Time
 Mr O'Kane told reporters this 4n,orninr that the raid was the re-