Sault Daily Star – August 30, 1957

Thessalon Man fined for Bootlegging Kept Liquor Supply in Baby Carriage

Thessalon – A fine of $200 and costs penalized a Thessalon man convicted in police court here Thursday on a charge of unlawfully keeping liquor for sale.

The offence was committed by Joseph Paul Turcotte from June 1 to July 14, of this year.

Evidence submitted by town constable Ray Goodall revealed he had made casual observation of the Turcotte residence on Genelle Street in the course of patrol duties. He noted unusually heavy traffic to and from the house, especially from midnight to four a.m. The constable said he noted that many persons entered the house from the front and left by the street at its rear.

Following a call reporting indecent acts being committed by men in Turcotte’s backyard, in full view of children, Constable Goodall carried out an investigation on the accused's premises. Accompanied by deputy mayor Arthur Mogg, the constable patrolled the area in which the house is located. There was a great deal of activity in the yard were 10 to 12 cars were parked in it. A search warrant was taken out. A search revealed three bottles of beer, one in a dresser drawer, a bottle of rye beneath a baby’s clothing in a carriage at the foot of the bed and two bottles of wine which had been concealed beneath a couch in the porch during the search. Empty beer cases and empty wine cases were found in a room off the kitchen.

At 6:15 on the day of the raid, all cars, with the exception of two had left the yard and within the house, only Turcotte’s family remained. Despite the fact Turcotte had been instructed to remain during the search he left the house once and made a second hurried trip this time to a bedroom.

Constable Goodall said the accused is a woods operator and makes frequent visits to his home in town. He is a married man and the father of nine children.

Purchase slips revealed Turcotte had purchased a total of 22 cases of beer and ale, 23 large bottles of whiskey, 16 small bottles of whiskey and 108 bottles of wine between the dates he was charged with selling.

Through interpreter Royale Provost, Turcotte said the large number of cars in his yard brought relatives and friends from Elliott Lake and the camps to visit. He said the large amount of liquor he had purchased during the period in which he was charged with selling was for the consumption of himself and his wife and for “treating” his relatives and friends on their visits to his home. The bottle of rye was concealed in the baby’s carriage, he said, to keep the bottle from the children and the bottle in the dresser was kept there, rather than the refrigerator because he like his beer “not too cold”. He said he hid the wine in the porch so that he could drink it when the police had gone.

Alternate to payment of the fine and court costs was a two month sentence. Turcottte’s residence was declared a public place.