Evening star., 1937-01-30

supply rather than upon speakeasies
and other retail outlets Of illegal
hootch, 81 ,504 Federal liquor law vio-
lators were arrested during the 1886
fiscal year, more than half the number
arrested in comparable year during
prohibition. Most Of the arrests were
Of persons engaged in moonshining.
Because Of the continuance OF
moonshining on large scale the busi.
ness Of being a Federal dry" agent
Is still a dangerous one. Not as many
agents are murdered as during pro-
hibition. Of course. but there are still
tragedies. Two agents were killed in
1885 and the same number in 1885.
Scores were wounded. Brutal. half.
savage mountaineers, guarding their
copper coils and mash watts in the
backwoods, are still out cunning for
the despised "revenooers" Before re.
peal, however. as many ss IA agents
have been slain in one year.
Among the faculties of a well-trained
investigator for the alcohol tax unit
Is a knowledge of the terrain in which
he Is working. He should know that
stills are to be found near streams,
for they must have a water supply.
It's well that he know. too, where .
moonshiner Is likely to be lurking.
squinting along the barrel Of q shot.
gun or squirrel rife. An agent recent.
ly approached his quarry too rapidly
and had his left arm shot away.
Except in the realm of moonshiners.
the Illicit liquor business has under.
gone q change that would bring tears
to the eyes Of AL Capone in his cell
at Alcatraz The big shot" among
bootleggers, II he managed to escape
a prison sentence, has sought other
pastures-gambling principally. The
black sheep Of prohibition times is
gambling on the lea. He may have his
limousine and his diamond rings. but
they are the products of the numbers
game. bookmaking or other forms OF
betting other peoples money.
The liquor law violator of 1887, &C.
cording to Federal enforcement OH.
GERS, Is the same individual or type
Of individual as the liquor law violator
of 1880, but he Just hasn't the organ.
ization that he used to have. The
large Illicit liquor syndicate is almost
a memory. The bootlegger's business
has been taken away and with his
business went his color" Today
groups engaged in illegal whisky traf-
f1c are only shadows OF their former
selves.
Also in the limbo are the elaborate
speakeasy and the speakeasy on busi-
ness property. The blind tiger" OF
today Is in shoddy industrial or slum
areas, in a private home or upstairs
fiat. Patrons are poor men who drop
in for q cheap shot" Government
alcohol control administrators have
found that, generally, people who
have the money to buy tax-paid
liquor buy 1t. They know what they're
getting.
Illicit alcohol WHOLESALERS currently
for about S2.25 a gallon and in some
sections the finished" product can be
obtained for as little as SITS or So q
gallon. Tax-paid alcohol costs, whole.
sale, about IS or s6 a gallon. Moon.
shine, white mule" can be obtained
In some places, at the still, for 81 q
gallon. In other sections bootleg alco.
hol will be sold for SIS for e. five.
gallon can. Prices were higher during
prohibition because demand was great
er. The law Of supply and demand
governs Illicit trade, officials pointed
out, just as it governs legal trade.
Home brewing, according to one Of.
fetal source, is virtually non-eNstent.
So is wine making at home. Beer
and wine are so cheap that personal
manufacture is no longer profitable,
for the homemade stuff can't compete
with the legally manufactured prod
uct, either as to quality or price.
nESPITE the late and unlamented
decline and fall Of large-scale
bootlegging, the "revenooers" con-
tinue to have enthralling cases. There
was the one, for instance, Of the Gior-
dana gang of 'leggers from New York
and Atlantic City. In 1884 this canny
crew established a diStillery in q re-
mote spot near Camden, N. j.. Osten.
sibly they were engaged in the manu-
facture of roofing paint and the rec
lamation of crankcase oil. They ex-
planned their out-of-the-way location
by stating their methods were highly
dangerous, presenting the possibility
Of an explosion. Tony Giordana, the
head Of the ring, was an "alky" rack
eteer with four aliases. His principal
partner was crony named Sam Wald-
man, who took the name of Whitcombe
and represented himself as president
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