Daily British Whig (1850), 21 Jun 1922, p. 12

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'When the Moonshi i ERE . superseding men a8 rum-runners. "Kicking and Squealing, Miss Dwyer Was Bundled Into These Coverings and Thus Dragged Away to Court." NNIE, the queen of the moon- shiners, and Bertha, the beautiful bootlegger, are no mere jokes. They are facts, Pret- ty girls are operating "stills" in their front parlors. Fashionably dressed women in limousines are Flap- pers with quarts concealed in hat boxes &re making home deliveries. Some are "on their own," others are hired by booze syndicates which prefer them to men. So numerous and. bold are th& bootleg ging Berthas that "treat 'em rough" or- ders, applying to women suspects, have been 'issued by prohibition enforcement officials, The principal hot-bed of the lady liquor dealers, according to records of the De- partment of Justice, is Washington. In the nation's cosmopolitan capital, where backwoods and aristocracy mix and fre- quently blend, the "honey bees," as the police call them, do a rushing trade. It was in Washington that prohibition agents tried to arrest Miss Ann Dwyer, who, they had been "tipped," was con- ducting a "speak easy," specializing in corn whiskey, When two agents crashed in the door of Miss Dwyer's apartment, they assert they found a copper pot bubbling merrily. Into the next room they rushed--and stopped suddenly. Miss Dwyer stood before them fu very scant attire. She had seen them from the window, darted into the bed- room and stripped of nearly all her clothes. "There!" she defled them spitetully, "You can't take me to the station house this way and I'm not going to put on a stitch!" The officors were nonplussed. Outside it was bright noon. Their "wagon" was &n open car. They geemed deadlocked between forcing a Lady Godiva ride. on Miss Dwyer or leaving her at home witn the copper pot and its fragrant contents. They decided on a "blanket rush." They pulled off their coats. Kicking and squealing, Miss Dwyer was bundled into these coverings and thus dragged away to court. Even there she still refused to put on more raiment. The officers pro- Posed to take her before the United States Commissioner in an overcoat. The Com- missioner didn't like the idea. He wanted Miss Lwyer to wear something that fit Just a little bit closer. Finally she was prevailed upon to don a bathing suit. In this sho was given a preliminary hearing. The case of Miss Dwyer was difficult, admittedly, for the Washington agents to - handle. But even more difficult, they say, are the instances of a number of society Wowen of limited purse but unquestioned prestige who, wink the wise boys, have taken to moonshining--and pros Mes. Alice W, Hod Popular matron in Was soclety, Was arrested by three dry sleuths who charged that she bought whiskey by the barrel, bottled it herself and kept it stored ' sa In a fashionable apartment which she called her "warehouse." For years Mrs. Hodgkins has moved in exclusive Washington circles. Her hotel suite is flanked by the apartments of con- gressmen and high government officials. Her gowns, her Jewels and her smart town car are the envy of many a senator's wife. She had the entree everywhere until Offi- cers Davis, Rese and Hines Suddenly ac- cused her of bootlegging on a large scale. Hines was introduced to her one eve- ning as an out-of-town business man with . a large thirst. He asked her to sell him a case of Scotch, he stated in his sworn rove him to the "ware- 2" and let him pick his brand: A few nights later he visited her again, accont- panied by Rose and Davis. This time they carried marked money, which, they have Sworn, she accepted in Payment for pur chased liquor. They arrested hor. "We have an airtight case against her," they asserted, "if Wwe can just get it to trial." "Ridiculous!" laughed Mrs. Hodgkins, after she had promptly given bond, "It's just a frame-up by some jealous busybody of a woman. I am not agitated about it even a littla bit." Getting women to trial is one matter; wetting convictions is quite another, They "vamp" the juries, say the officers, or clse u male confederate will shouldér the blame and the woman will 0 scot free. They are even harder to catch than they are to convict. Officers patroling the national y" between Washington and Baltimore hesitate to stop expensive limousines driven by modish beauties, or With a liveried chauffeur at the wheel, while milady lounges on the cushioned seats within. Yet these are the very cars which fre quently are loaded with case on case of aged whiskey and fine wines. One tour- ing car stopped on the outskirts of Wash. ington was driven by a pretty girl and Swarmed with. children. When the pro- hibition sleuth finally pried half a dozen youngsters out of the back, he found they had been sitting on sixteen cases of Scotch whiskey. Children are a favorite camouflage for the women rum-runners. If they have none of their own, they borrow the neighbor's. Mothers gladly lend their kiddies for a "ride in the country," never dreaming that the kindly friend wants them only 4s a means to Appeared in beat the block. ade. » Nothing so mild Court Attired as children is used by some of Miss Dwyer e Hej Well---They 4 Just Carried Her Off } as She Was, and Now the Crusading Order Against Beautiful Bootleggers Is "Treat 'em Rough" 3 PD | 2\W Ann Dwyer, Called by Washington Police the "Moonshine Queen," Who Failed as "Lady Godiva." Queen Dared Just Part of a Day's Haul of Liquor Taken by National Revenue Officers from Young Women of the "Bertha the Beautiful Bootlegger" Type, the bootlegging Berthas, After looking down gun-barrels held in dainty but deadly fingers, Washington dry agents have learned not to trust women motorists any more than to ignore them. One motorcycle officer sped his ma- chine even with a high-powered car on the Baltimore road and yelled to the driver to stop. She was a woman. Another woman sat ip the back of the car, where she had Spread the laprobe over a bulky heap that first attracted tke officer's at- tention. As the officer swung from his machine, the woman in the back of the car jerked out an automatic and fired. At the same instant, : the driver stepped hard onto the accelerator. The car leaped away and the policeman was left moaning on the ground with a bullet hole through his even bend under the burden of a travel collar bone, ~ ; ing bag. But never, to the uninformed Besides women rum-runners and women eye, does she look suspicious. distillers, Washington has "delivery girls" "We know that women are proving in- hired by prosperous gentlemen who occu- uable allies to the men in violating Py easy chairs in luxurious offices, book the prohibition Jaw says Commissioner orders wholesale and retail, dispatch R. A. Haynes, "But we find ourselves Copyright, 19%2, vy International Feature Service, Ine. Great Britain Rights Reserved. their messengers to the warehouse and thence to the customer's--and never so much as touch a corkscrew themselves. Washington "insiders" give an interest- ing picture of the methods of these boot- leggers de luxe. By a prearranged code, callers never mention whiskey by name. It 1s always "I've called about a little matter," or "two little matters," or "a case I want to talk to you about." Thus is the clue given in respect to quantity. The gentlemen in the easy chair punches a button. From another office appears a trim young girl with a notebook and a pencil. She takes down name and address. An hour or so later she appears at the front door of the customer. Per- haps she bears a brief case. Perhaps she swings a hat box from her arm. She may woefully handicapped in The as it is for t} Again, the large percentage of officers arc naturally cautious about arresting a woman when to all visual evidence she is in no way violating the law." Commissioner Haynes declares the in. crease of women' bootlegzers has made a situation which will have to be handled by tha superintendents of the various dis- tricts, working in harmony with the local authorities wherever poesible, In Washington, for example, Chief In. Spector Cliffcrd L. Grant bas issued or- ders tv his men guarding incoining roads to stop every automobile, regardless of the appearance of respectability of the passengers. Insist upon search before passing the car, he charged them, "Treat the women bootleggers with ne more consideration ' than you dol the men," Is hig edict. : Ry

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