Evening star., 1951-03-10
Checkup Is Planned
On DC. Man Named in
Illegal Liquor Case
Illinois Concern Accused
Of Running Whisky Into
Dry Areas of South

Chairman Alan w. Payne Of the
District Alcoholic Beverage Con-
troll Board said he would check
Monday to see if a liquor license
is held here by a Washington man
linked with a $50 million-a-year
business running liquor into dry
areas of the South.
The Senate Crime Investigating
Committee was told late yester-
day that Ruby Wishnia. 7700
Eastern avenue NV, was one OF
the big shots In a Cairo nl.)
wholesale liquor house shipping
whisky without paying State taxes
e. E. Goldstein. assistant coun-
sci of the committee, said Wishnis
was listed as vice president of the
Foster Distributing Co. and the
Potomac Wine & Liquor Co. here
The last city directory listed the
Potomac firm but neither COM
pany is listed in the current yel-
low pages Of the telephone book
Payne to Make. Check.
Mr.. Payne said Wishnia's name
was not familiar to him, but he
would check on the name and the
two firms to determine their
license status, if any.
Mr.. Goldstein told the commit
tee that when he sought to have
Wishnia subpoenaed Thursday, he
was informed Wishnia had gone
to Cairo.
Wishnia's name came into the
testimony while two Tennessee
undercover agents were unfolding
their story of worming their way
into the operations of the M. g. B.
Co., a Cairo whisky firm.
Harry Lauderdale. Tennessee
liquor investigator, told how he
posed as an ex-policeman who
wanted to buy liquor to haul into
dry territory. He recalled an oc-
casion when he was arrested in
Alabama with two sets of bills.
One set he said was made out for a
delivery in Alabama to avoid the
Mississippi "black market" tax.
The second set of papers, for use
in case he ran into trouble, he
said, showed the whisky was des-
tined for Columbus, Miss.
Wanted Bills Back.
The M. and B. people, he said,
wanted the Alabama bills back so
they could falsify their records. He
testified that he heard the Cairo
Office call Wishnia in Washington
to assure him the Alabama bills
had been recovered.
Other witnesses commended the
District and Maryland for their
cooperation in halting the flow
of Illegal liquor into the South.
Robert w. Winston, chairman
of the North Carolina Beverage
Control Board, said when he took
Office in June, 1949, he discovered
a flood" of liquor coming from
Maryland, the District and Cairo.
At his request, Mr.. Winston said,
Maryland and the District
clamped down on illegal inter-
s.ate shipments but the operators
hele moved into Cairo and con-
tinued their actiy lies.
Other Developments.
There were these other devel-
opments at the nine-hour hearing
on whisky violations:
Chairman Kefauver said his
crime investigating committee will
make public records aimed at
cleaning out at least part of the
criminal element in the Nations
liquor industry.
Dwight Avis. assistant deputy
commissioner of the Bureau of
Internal Revenue. said his agency
will make use of the information
to deny Federal wholesale liquor
permits to applicants with
criminal records.
Witnesses testifying about the
purchases of liquor in Cairo for
shipment to dry states reported
many persons getting Federal re-
tail liquor dealers stamps use
fictitious names and addresses.
Mr.. Avis disclosed that a case
involving Justification of docu-
ments, based on investigations by
the Federal Alcohol Tax unit of
the Cairo operations, has been
(See CRIME, Page A-3.)