HOME



The Infamous Black Bird Southern Oregon History, Revised


Prohibition
See also the pages on Saloons and South Front Street.

Sheriff Charles Terrell and Deputy L. D. Forncrook behind the county jail in Jacksonville, circa 1922.


IN EARLIER DAYS
By Fred Lockley
    We of today are apt to think the wet and dry question a modern issue. Therefore it may be interesting to look up some of the earliest documents in our state archives. Among the first acts of the provisional government was the passage, in 1844, of a prohibitory liquor law. Under this law a fine of $50 was imposed for importing liquor, $20 for each sale and $100 for manufacturing any form of intoxicating liquor in the Oregon country.
    At the next meeting of the provisional legislature the law was amended so that a penalty of $50 was attached to giving liquor away as well as selling or bartering it. The same law made it the particular duty of every officer who learned of the distillation of any kind of spirituous liquor to seize the distilling apparatus and turn it over the nearest justice of the peace or judge. The justice of the peace or judge was required to arrest the offender. The punishment was forfeiture of property and a fine of $100.
    The legislature which met in December 1846, after a spirited debate, in which the advocates of liquor said that as the Hudson Bay Company sold liquor it was only fair to let American citizens sell it and secure the profit, finally passed an act allowing the manufacture and sale of liquor under stringent restrictions. Oregon's first governor, like Oregon's present governor, disapproved of the liquor business and also, like our present governor, favored law enforcement. On December 17, 1846, Governor George Abernethy returned the "wet" bill, with his veto, accompanied by the following message:
    "Oregon City, Dec. 17, 1846--Gentlemen: I return to your honorable body the act entitled 'An act to regulate the manufacture and sale of wine and distilled spiritous liquors' with my objection to the same.
    "Previous to our organization as a provisional government, public sentiment kept liquor from being manufactured or sold in this territory. Heretofore every act of the legislature has been, as far as ardent spirits are concerned, prohibitory in character. The act before me is the first act that has in any manner attempted to legalize the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits. At the session of the legislature in June 1844, an act was passed to prevent the introduction, sale and distillation of ardent spirits in Oregon; and, as far as my knowledge extends, the passage of that act gave satisfaction to the great majority of the people throughout the territory.…
    "It is said by many that the legislature has no right to prohibit the introduction or sale of liquor, and this is probably the strongest argument in defense of your bill. But do you not as effectually prohibit every person who has not the sum of one, two or three hundred dollars to pay for his license, as does the law now on the statute books? Are not your proposed fines and penalties as great or greater than those of the old law?"
     "Where, then, is the benefit to the people? There is no doubt in my mind but that the law will be evaded as easily and as often under the new law as it was under the old, and, in addition to this, there will be legal manufacturers, importers and sellers who will be able, under the sanction of the law, to scatter all the evils attendant upon the use of alcoholic drinks. We are in an Indian country; men will be found who will supply them with liquor as long as they have beaver, blankets and horses to pay for it.
    "It has been proved before the house of commons that one-half of the insanity, two-thirds of the pauperism and three-fourths of the crimes of Great Britain may be directly traced to the use of alcoholic drink. The testimony of our most eminent judges in the United States shows that the same proportion of crime is attributable to ardent spirits in this country. Statistics might be produced showing the enormous evil and expense of the indiscriminate use of liquor. As to revenue, the small amount received for license,  instead of being revenue, would be swallowed up in the expenses attending trials for crimes caused by the crime of these licenses.
    "But leaving all other countries out of view, let us consider our own state. Surrounded by Indians, no military force to aid the executive and other officers in the discharge of their duties, not a solitary prison in the land in which to confine offenders against the laws, there is consequently no way of enforcing the penalties of the law. I think these things should call for calm and serious reflection before passing your final vote on this bill.
    "My opinion is, the people are opposed to legalizing the introduction and sale of liquor in this land. I may be mistaken and therefore should be in favor of the old law of referring the whole matter to the polls at the next general election. If the people say 'no liquor,' continue to prohibit; it they say, through the ballot box, 'We wish liquor,' then let it come in free, the same as dry goods or any other article imported or manufactured. But until the people say they want it, I hope you will use your influence to keep it out of the territory.
    "It is with regret I return any bill unsigned, but I feel we both have duties to perform and when we think duty points out the way, I trust we may always be found willing to follow it.
        "GEORGE ABERNETHY."
Oregon Journal, Portland, October 26, 1914, page 8


IN EARLIER DAYS
By Fred Lockley
    After a most exciting contest between the "wets" and the "drys," the "drys" have won out, carrying not only the state by a large majority, but winning in every county in the state. As a matter of fact, it is no new thing for Oregon to be dry, for Oregon started its history as a dry state. It was a live issue, however, even from the very first, when Oregon was a provisional government, and later in its territorial days.
    On December 7, 1847, the governor, in his message to the legislative assembly of Oregon Territory, said: "The act entitled 'An act to regulate the manufacture and sale of wine and distilled spirituous liquors,' passed at the last session of the legislature, I would recommend for revision. An act to prevent the introduction, manufacture and sale of ardent spirits in Oregon would be far preferable to a majority of the people in this territory. In our early history, ardent spirits were unknown among us. Every effort was made to keep it out of the territory, and to a great extent successfully, until 1846 when, owing to the defect in the law passed at the session of 1845, some persons violated the statutes, and liquor was made and sold in the territory. It was not done openly nor carried on to any great extent.
     "The last legislature licensed the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits. I hope the present legislature will repeal the license law. Would it not be better to have the law opposed to ardent spirits than to have the manufacture and sale of it legalized by statute?
    "It is argued by some persons that you have not the right to put it down, and by others that it is interfering in the liberties of the people and deriving them of their rights. I think you have the right to prevent its introduction. No one can dispute your right to regulate it down to the medical profession.
    "With regard to taking away the liberties of the people, prohibitory laws are passed by all legislatures. I will simply give one instance: In a law of Massachusetts, passed March 23, 1833, it is declared that any person who shall, in violation of the law, sell a lottery ticket, or knowingly offer one to be sold, in any building owned or rented by him, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than $100 nor more than $200; and that if any person, after conviction, shall repeat the offense, he shall be sentenced for every subsequent offense to labor in the house of correction or in the common jail for a term of not less than three months, not more than 12 months. This was not considered by the people as taking away their liberties. They do deprive some of the liberty of ruling themselves and others from making money out of their ruin. And is not this statute founded in the true principles of legislation--not to license evil, but to defend the community from it?
    "When a crime is committed by any person under the influence of liquor, where does the responsibility rest? The individual, when sober, informs us he did not know what he was doing. The seller says 'I have a license to sell liquor, and sold it to him according to law.' Would it not be for the interest of the territory to take away this plea from the seller? The license system throws a bulwark around the dealer in ardent spirits, behind which he entrenches himself. Remove this bulwark, place the law against him, and public sentiment will put him down.
    "The temperance cause is an onward one. We hear of state after state deciding through the ballot box that no license to sell liquor shall be granted within its bounds, and the supreme court at Washington, to which several cases have been carried from the circuit courts, arising from the liquor question, decided at the last term that the states have a right to regulate the trade in, the licensing of, and the selling of ardent spirits.
    "The question, 'Shall a license system be continued, or shall the introduction, manufacture and sale of ardent spirits be prohibited,' is in your hands. I hope, in deciding upon it, you will take the happiness and future prosperity of Oregon Territory into consideration. I leave the question with you, sincerely hoping that should we come under the jurisdiction of the United States the coming year, we may be found with a law on our statute books prohibiting the sale of ardent spirits in this territory."
    This sounds as if it were written last week in place of nearly 70 years ago. It is very evident that if the question of wet or dry had been left to Oregon's first governor, Oregon would have remained throughout all its history what it soon will be--a dry state.
Oregon Journal, Portland, November 8, 1914, page B4


    TEMPERANCE ADDRESS.--There will be a temperance address at the M.E. church, on Tuesday evening next, at early candle lighting, by Rev. G. W. Roork. All are invited to attend. After the address, business of importance to those interested in the temperance cause will be transacted.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, October 12, 1867, page 2


    The still of Claiborne Neil was seized by Dep. Collector Sutton for alleged violation of revenue laws.
"Jackson County," Salem Daily Record, February 14, 1868, page 2


    I.O. of G.T.--The lodge of his order in Jacksonville appears to be in a flourishing condition. It numbers 36 members, and the organization is sustained with much interest. Temperance is a good thing, and the order throughout the state have raised many a weak and erring brother to usefulness.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, January 2, 1869, page 2


    POSSESSED BY A DEVIL.--Last week a poor miserable man, whose appetite is stronger than his reason, started on a spree. He sold his furniture, bedding, clock, clothing--everything--literally stripping his family, who took refuge with some friends, and drank up the proceeds. On Tuesday night he was verging on delirium tremens--a homeless wanderer, with no place to lay his head, and as wretched a looking wreck of decency as eye ever saw. He was furnished some food and given temporary lodging in the station house. Certainly a demon must possess the breast of any man who will thus act, and we can only say, God pity him!
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, February 6, 1869, page 3


Jackson County Prohibition Convention.
    MEDFORD, April 30.--Prohibition speaking throughout Jackson County last week resulted in a county convention here today. A full ticket was nominated. For representatives--D. H. Hawkins, of Ashland, E. F. Walker, of Medford, and W. W. Miller, of Eagle Point; county judge--Fred T. Downing, of Central Point; sheriff--W. W. Willits, of Flounce Rock; county clerk--David C. Herrin, of Medford; treasurer--C. B. Kingsbury, of Ashland; assessor--C. H. Gillette, of Ashland; school superintendent--Lake France, Sams Valley; commissioners--Charles Carney, of Eagle Point, and L. A. Rose, of Phoenix; surveyor--W. H. Newton, Gold Hill; coroner--Dr. George Kahler, Phoenix. There was a ratification meeting tonight.
Oregonian, Portland, May 1, 1888, page 2


Prohibition Outburst.
    Prof. A. B. Wolfenbarger, the talker, and Prof. A. B. Huckins, the singer, held forth Tuesday evening to a crowded house at Granite Hall, in behalf of the national prohibition party. Their work made a fine subscription in money and a long list of names who pledged themselves to vote the prohibition ticket provided that this list gets the names of 1,000,000 voters by next August. Wolfenbarger is from Nebraska and goes after the liquor issue like a big burly blacksmith handles a sledge hammer. He mauls everything in sight. He said the Democrats made no bones about being a whiskey party. This received applause from the crowd, but when he said Harrison and Wanamaker were touring around the country drinking wine to the health of college boys; scored Wanamaker for that $400,000 campaign boodle; tore up Levi P. Morton, our vice president, for running a saloon at the nation's capital and said he was elected an honorary member of a liquor league, the crowd did not applaud his utterances. The prohibitionists as a body have great respect for established things and for capital and in Ashland never applaud such disrespectful (but truthful) indictments of our national administrators. They would sooner believe the little tin god idea inculcated in the Geo. Washington and his hatchet story. Mr. Wolfenbarger must have felt the tone of his audience on this point and was evidently somewhat surprised, for he defended his remarks by deprecating the notion that a high office should shield men from having the truth told about them.
    Wolfenbarger and Huckins are an able team in their work. Huckins does some little talking too, being the funny man. Wolfenbarger does some singing. Together they talk prohibition into the audience, sing it into them, hammer it into them, work it into them and drive it into them, any way to get it into them.
    A new feature is dialogue singing. They have a comic song about Levi P. Morton and his Shoreham Hotel and saloon which they give in variety theater song-and-dance style that takes the house down. This was the most successful meeting held in Ashland in many a year, and beats anything ever undertaken by the two old political parties.
Valley Record, Ashland, March 3, 1892, page 3


    The "passing of the drunkard" is noted in the industrial world. Complicated machinery, requiring steady hands and clear brains to work it; electricity, demanding in its handling that men shall have their wits about them; steam, to which railway coaches and cars transporting hundreds of thousands of sleeping passengers and millions of tons of valuable merchandise from place to place are attached, require strong nerves and a clear brain for their control, while the accounts of the transactions of business and commerce cannot be accurately rendered by men whose working forces of mind and body are strained and shattered by alcohol. The business world does not declare openly, perhaps, that it has no use for men who drink to excess, even periodically; but the fact that such men are seldom in these later years found in responsible vocations tells the story of the passing of the drunkard from business life in terms that cannot be mistaken.
"Brief Mention," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 1, 1899, page 1


    Ashland's council last week adopted three ordinances relating to the liquor traffic. One provides for a "restrictive list" of chronic drunks or indigents with their families, and after the council has declared them such there is a penalty of $10 to $50 for any licensed saloon selling liquors to these parties. The others relate to the issuance of liquor licenses and the regulating of saloons. Minors and women are prohibited from entering a saloon. The method of securing a license is radically changed. It provides that the applicant must first secure a majority of the real estate owning taxpayers and residents of Ashland. All licenses expire January 14 of each year. The saloon interests were not consulted in regard to the ordinance.--[Record.

"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 22, 1899, page 3


Anti-Saloon League Organized.
    At a meeting of temperance people called for at the Christian church Monday evening there was started an organized effort to grapple with the saloon question in Ashland. Henry C. Galey was elected chairman and D. H. Hawkins secretary of the meeting. The question "what opportunities of a practical nature are now open to the people of Ashland looking to the suppression of the saloons" was discussed. A spirit of enthusiasm for the cause was manifested by all present, and the necessary committees were appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws for an "Anti-Saloon League." Over 30 signified a willingness to become members, and on Tuesday evening's meeting it was swelled to 50.
    The special issue to be met will quite likely be the city election in December, and the concentrating of the anti-saloon forces upon the new method of voting on the license question, which allows only resident male real estate taxpayers to sign saloon license petitions and remonstrances and will make the saloon petitions all come up at one time for license applications.
Valley Record, Ashland, November 2, 1899, page 3


An Editor Takes It Hard.
Klamath Falls Express.]
    On Monday the mixologists of Ashland were granted an unlimited holiday, and the town council with the "Antis" standing at its back took charge of the "100 fights to a barrel" dispensaries, by serving notices of "Thou Shalt Not" on the various proprietors.
    Eastern Oregonians will now avoid Ashland as a plague-ridden, Easternized god-fearing town of "Antis" and no-swizzle.
    To our good Klamath County friends who have moved to Peachblow Paradise we extend the hand of sympathy, for now you have got to be good, willy nilly and we know how hard it will go with you. Look at--and--and--and all the others! How they will pine away and suck the cholera morbus out of peaches and take a nightcap of prune juice and catnip tea, while they look at the sluggish Bear Creek and long for the rocks and rills and rock and rye of Klamath County, where the templed hills put a man in a more proper spirit than can the entire Keeley cure of Peachblow Paradise, where they can now drink slough water and gamble for stewed prunes and Sunday school cards by spitting at a crack.
    Go to, with your pennies in the contribution box, your pink teas and your "bean, bean, who's got the bean" games, for we are too raw and untrammeled out here to analyze the essential joys of such jejune and microscopic pleasantries.
Valley Record, Ashland, January 25, 1900, page 1


SALOON LICENSES REJECTED.
The City Dads, Wearied of the License Question, Kick the Old Cat Out of the City Hall--Will the Cat Come Back?
    The city council of Ashland met Jan. 15th, all in attendance. The session lasted from 8 p. m. until 12:30 the next morning when the petitions for applications for liquor licenses were thoroughly canvassed and were found to be short of the number of names required. This was painful news to the majority of the city councilmen who had secretly hoped there would be a majority of legal petitioners and that they would be relieved of the awkward situation confronting them by the expectations of both factions to a well-organized campaign covering many months including the finish for the last 30 days. The figures showed plainly that the saloons were defeated according to Ordinance 194 and the council would have declared it so if that would have put an end to their trials and tribulations. They temporarily relieved themselves of their embarrassment by adjourning one whole week, alleging a desire to further investigate, but which in reality was a Micawber move, expecting "something to turn up." Monday evening of this week was the time set but Councilman Reader sent word he could not be present, having an urgent case--presumably a confinement. The councilmen met and promptly adjourned to Tuesday evening. Reader was again absent. The council had received no new light that could turn the minority into a majority, but immediately entered into a general talk and all kinds of reasons and explanations were indulged in as to each councilman's "position" on the subject, past, present and prospective. Councilman Beswick had little to say but he was square-toed in favor of the councilmen doing their duty as laid down in the charter, and for himself he was in favor of no monkey business but for issuing licenses. Whitney was full of conversation and traversed the whole realm of his thought on the subject. He wanted to kick over all the present ordinance and issue licenses to whom the councilmen saw fit. Hunt wished his job belonged to somebody else and he desired to give them all licenses until the June election and then submit the question to the voters. Holmes was in favor of rejecting petitions and standing by present ordinance and letting the saloons try it again or do as they pleased. Trefren stood by the ordinance as the best possible expression of the substantial citizens of Ashland on the subject and made a very plausible explanation of the council's purpose in adopting the method and showing that less than a dozen solid taxpayers were thus deprived of a voice in the matter. He was in favor of only one compromise--the raising of the license to $600 or $800 and granting of licenses under reasonable safeguards upon the simple petition of the applicant. Reader may have had views but he was not present. Mayor Colton was in favor of present ordinance or submitting to special election. Whitney moved and Hunt seconded a motion to grant licenses to the applicants.
    Roll call showed Whitney, Hunt and Beswick in favor, Trefren and Holmes against and Reader absent. The motion was declared lost by the mayor.
    The council adjourned to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to give Reader another chance to be present. All being present, the question was reopened and discussed. Trefren demanded that the present petitioners be relieved of the suspense and injustice being done them by rejecting their applications, and then having the council compromise and settle their differences afterward, his resolution reading:
    As it does not appear that any of the petitioners for saloon licenses have complied with the ordinance providing the manner of obtaining the same, I move that all the applications be rejected and no licenses issued while said ordinance is in force unless its provisions are fully complied with.
    The resolution carried, Trefren, Whitney, Reader, Holmes, and Hunt voting yes and Beswick no. Whitney, seconded by Hunt, offered the following resolution:
    Be it hereby resolved that owing to imperfections of list of taxpayers furnished by the recorder and in consequence causing it to be impossible for petitions for license to obtain sufficient names to constitute a majority, that ordinance No. 194 be hereby repealed and that licenses be issued to the petitioners as follows: Houck & Dame, I. W. Burriss, N. Bourgeois and High & Taylor for the period of one year dating from January 15, 1900.
    Here Councilman Reader, who had seemingly taken no hand in any of the councilmen's contentions, packed his things together, coolly put on his hat, walked out, never uttered a word, not even saying "excuse me," "goodbye" or "go to h--1." The councilmen and spectators were somewhat dumbfounded for a few seconds and the discussions were interrupted by numerous propositions--mostly facetious ones--as to the cause of their brother councilman's sudden and strange disappearances. None of the motions encumber the records however.
    The Mayor declared the Whitney-Hunt motion an illegal one.
    The absence of Reader--who was expected by the license people to stand fire and vote with Hunt, Whitney and Beswick--thus making a majority--and issuing licenses anyhow, again upset the situation. The defeated petitioners had been relieved of their suspense but the councilmen had not gotten rid of the question. Like Banquo's ghost it would not down. Here a general compromise took place, all of the councilmen and the mayor being apparently glad of the opportunity to shirk the duties imposed upon them by the charter and hug the delusion that turning the liquor question loose on the town would settle it--providing the saloons won the election, of course. Otherwise, the cat would come back. The special election was set for Monday, Feb. 5th, 1900.
Valley Record, Ashland, January 25, 1900, page 3


    Ashland is having an interesting time with the saloon question. A remonstrance against granting any saloon licenses, signed by 214 legal voters and 241 women, was presented at the council meeting Monday evening. The highest number of votes polled at any city election was 407. Four applications for renewal of license were before the council, but each lacked the requisite number of legal signatures, according to an ordinance previously passed, and the licenses were not granted. The matter was held open for further examination, however. Two of the saloons which failed to obtain license have closed and the others keep open, but, it is said, do not sell liquor. If all saloon licenses shall be refused, an extra tax levy of 5½ mills on property will be necessary. There is a disposition to raise the license fee from $400 to $600 or $800.
Gold Hill News, January 27, 1900, page 4


Prohibition Party to Organize.
    The Jackson County Prohibition Party is to be resurrected and reorganized after having been dormant for many years. E. V. Miller of Portland, field secretary of the state executive committee, has been in Ashland during the past week and witnessed the anti-saloon fight Monday leaving for Medford on the evening train. Mr. Miller has called a mass county convention to meet at Medford Saturday, Feb. 10th, at 1 o'clock p.m. for the purpose of effecting an organization of the party in Jackson County and to place a full county ticket in the field. Experience has taught these people that the old political parties are incompetent or unwilling to enforce the present laws against the saloon evil, much less to check it. They have had some recent experience with the elephant in Ashland that has demonstrated to their entire satisfaction that the Republican Party at least is operated by past masters in the art of duplicity and that people expecting temperance out of that party will get nothing but deceit to reward their hope and expectations.
Valley Record, Ashland, February 8, 1900, page 3


Jackson County Prohibitionists.
    MEDFORD, Or., Feb. 12.--The county prohibition convention held here Saturday afternoon declared for the single issue of the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquor as a beverage. The following county ticket was nominated: Representatives, C. H. Hoxie, Medford, and William Wydow, Central Point; county judge, A. S. Jacobs, Central Point; county commissioner, W. A. Cordell, Ashland; clerk, S. J. Day, Jacksonville; sheriff, J. W. Marksburg, Gold Hill; treasurer, Rev. E. Russ, Medford; recorder, J. S. Downy, Ashland; assessor, W. W. Estes, Talent; school superintendent, J. M. Horton, Jacksonville; surveyor, A. Andrews, Medford; coroner, J. W. Odgers, Medford. S. J. Day, Rev. E. Russ and J. M. Horton were elected as the county central committee. Active work will begin at once, and the assistance of J. G. Woolley, the noted temperance orator, is expected in May.
Morning Oregonian, Portland, February 13, 1900, page 4


REGULATING ASHLAND SALOONS
The Ordinance Concerning Removal of Painted Windows and Screen Doors, Closing at 11 O'Clock, etc.
    City ordinance No. 198. An ordinance regulating saloons.
    The people of the city of Ashland do ordain as follows:
    Section 1. No owner, keeper or attendant in any house or room where intoxicating liquor is kept for sale at retail shall maintain or allow to be kept, placed or maintained any screen, ground, painted or waved glass, or any glass except clear plate, nor any other device by which the plain view of the bar in such place shall be in any wise obstructed from the plain view of persons passing by on the sidewalks.
    Section 2. Every owner, keeper or attendant of any house or room where intoxicating liquors are kept for sale at retail shall close said house or room at 11 p.m. of each and every day of the week and not open or allow the same to be opened until 6 a.m. the following morning, and during the time such places are closed under this section no person shall be allowed in such premises except the proprietor or the usual employees at such place of business.
    Section 3. Every proprietor of any house or room where intoxicating liquor is kept for sale at retail shall keep a book in which he or his barkeeper or attendant shall register the name and residence of any and all persons who shall purchase any spirituous, malt or intoxicating liquors by the bottle, pint, quart or in any other manner than by the glass or drink over the bar, and it shall be unlawful for any such keeper or attendant to sell or give away any spirituous, malt or intoxicating liquors by the pint, quart, bottle or in any other manner than by the drink over the bar and drunk while in the room where bought, to any person who refuses to give his name and place of residence and if required, his age, for the purpose of such registration, which register shall be subject to the inspection of the mayor or any police officer of said city at any and all times.
    Section 4. Any person violating the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction therefor shall be fined not to exceed fifty ($50) dollars or be imprisoned in the city prison not to exceed twenty (20) days.
    Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its adoption and its approval by the mayor.
    Approved February 9, 1900.
Valley Record, Ashland, February 15, 1900, page 1


ASHLAND'S LICENSE LAW.
    Ashland's new council is reported to have passed an interesting license ordinance. It provides, first, that the bar shall be in plain view of every passerby. All saloons are required to be closed at 11 p.m. and are not to be opened till 5 a.m. Every proprietor of a saloon, or any place where liquor is sold, is required to keep a register, and anyone buying liquor in any way except by the drink is required to register his name and place of residence, and, if required, his age, and the register shall be subjected to the inspection of the mayor or any police officer of the city. The penalty for violation of this ordinance is a fine not to exceed $50, no minimum penalty provided, or imprisonment in the city prison not to exceed 20 days.
Gold Hill News,
March 10, 1900, page 4


    The anti-saloon league of Ashland won out in the city election held there last Monday. There were 426 votes cast in all, of which the anti's polled 216 votes against issuing license to saloons, while the saloon element only polled 197 votes. The new council just elected is composed of six members, of which four will oppose issuing licenses to saloons and two for, hence there will be no more licenses issued to saloons in Ashland after January 15.
Gold Hill News, December 22, 1900, page 5


REAPING ASHLAND'S BENEFIT.
A Medford Paper Gives its Opinion on What Ashland Will Lose
by Refusing to License Saloons.

From the Fruit World, Medford, Or.]
    The anti-saloon people of Ashland won a signal victory over the saloons at their city election on the 18th inst. The contest was a hard one, but the good citizens' ticket won by 19 votes. This speaks well for the moral standing of the city. If the people of Ashland can suppress the greatest evil for which the human family is heir to, they ought to be able to handle smaller ones, and no doubt will in a creditable manner. A citizen of this town remarked the other day that "Ashland had gone dry and Medford would reap the benefit." We hope not. Medford has too many of such "benefits" now. Medford has no desire to be the dumping ground for the toughs of Ashland. Rather than increase our police force and jail capacity we had better emulate the example of Ashland and "go dry." And now, while we are on this subject, we wish to call attention of the citizens of Medford if they are to "reap the benefit" of Ashland's drought, we had better look close to our city election and place affairs of the city in hands able and willing to pass the toughs of Ashland on to Grants Pass, where they may be able to find congenial fellowship--judging from what we saw of a few from that locality at our ball game last summer.
Valley Record, Ashland, January 10, 1901, page 1


    The licenses of the six saloons of Ashland expired at midnight on Tuesday, and the council which met Tuesday evening, following out the course which was expected of it in view of the advisory vote on the question at the recent city election against the further licensing of the sale of intoxicants, refused to even receive or consider the petitions presented by several saloon keepers for renewal of their licenses, one of which it is reported contained the names of more than a majority of the legal voters of the city, and ordered the license fees tendered, amounting to $1200, returned. No liquors are now being sold at the saloons, and the bars are all reported "dry," as far as intoxicants are concerned.

"Brevities," Ashland Tidings, January 17, 1901, page 3


Saloons Closed.
    The new city administration has met the saloon question, as the people voted for it and adopted a stringent law prohibiting the liquor traffic in Ashland. The ordinance was carefully drawn by attorney H. L. McWilliams, and the authorities are willing to go into the courts upon the issues involved.
    The licenses expired Tuesday at midnight and there has been no serious fracture of the law up to the present. The saloons are quite generally open, and as long as they do not sell liquor will be at liberty to remain so.
    There were several calls at drug stores for liquors, but all new demands were refused. Undoubtedly most people who have a taste for liquors had provided themselves in advance. As six saloons had existed here for years there is undoubtedly a large demand for liquors, and it is an interesting problem to see what will develop in their efforts to secure the same. There is hardly any doubt in the minds of anybody but that Mayor Neil will rigidly enforce the law so far as in his power.
Valley Record, Ashland, January 17, 1901, page 2


    Ashland will not be a dry town, according to reports received from there this week. The city council has granted a liquor license to the proprietors of the Hotel Oregon, and will undoubtedly grant similar licenses to the other saloons. The city voted to abolish the saloons at their last municipal election. The report is also circulated to the effect that over $4000 has been contributed by wholesale liquor dealers in San Francisco and Portland to contest the matter in the courts, should the city decline to issue the license when the applications were made.
"Additional Local," Medford Mail, January 18, 1901, page 6


SALOONS AND POPULATION.
A Medford Paper Predicts a Great Growth in Ashland's Population
on Account of Temperance.

Medford Fruit World, Jan. 19.]
    In the last issue of the World attention was called to the difference in the growth and prosperity of the towns in California where prohibition was in operation and those where saloons exist. For instance, in Riverside the growth in ten years was 70 percent; in Pasadena, 86¾ percent; Redlands, 152 percent; and in Berkeley, 156½ percent. Of the saloon cities and towns, outside of San Francisco, Sacramento made the greatest gain, and that amounted to only 10 percent. San Francisco only gained 14½ percent in ten years. Notwithstanding these figures, however, there are plenty of people who actually believe that the prosperity of a town depends upon the existence of the saloons. With such people actual facts cut no figure. But never mind now, just stand off and watch Ashland grow. If she doesn't beat Medford in the next decade then we miss our guess. It is simply an oft-exploded humbug that saloons ever did or ever will add to the prosperity of a town.
Valley Record, Ashland, January 24, 1901, page 2


EIGHT DAYS OF PROHIBITION.
The Town Moves On in the Even Tenor of Its Ways--
Liquor Owners Engage Lawyers.

    The Anti-Saloon League meeting at Christian church Tuesday evening after the religious service adopted resolutions congratulating the council and the people on the result of the recent city election and the new ordinance and expressing confidence in and extending the League's support of the city administration in the matter of closing the saloons.
    Wm. M. Colvig was up from Jacksonville Tuesday consulting with the liquor dealers of Ashland in regard to the new prohibition ordinance and the possibilities of their interests in the fighting the same. It is generally understood that Mr.Colvig and C. B. Watson have been retained to protect their interests in the courts in whatever proceedings may arise and that the law and authorities are now being examined with a view of tackling the new ordinance upon the ground that the charter delegates to the council the power to regulate and control the liquor traffic and that the council goes beyond its authority in attempting to prohibit it. In case this feature of the law is presented, the fight will be made upon the applications of W. E. Conner and Houck & Dame for licenses. Whether the liquor dealers will be able to agree among themselves and their attorneys as to a line of procedure and court a fight in the courts on legal grounds is not yet developed.
    While the owners of the late licensed saloons are not retailing liquor over their bars and to all intents and purposes on the face of the matter are obeying the law, there has not as yet been any general howl among reliable persons who use intoxicants as to their inability to get what they want and the presumption that some is coming from outside towns and some from the stocks in this city. The consumption of liquor, at any rate, has been greatly reduced without doubt, and if the law suffers no more serious infraction in the future than in the past eight days of prohibition it may be regarded as quite successful. But there is no assurance of permanency in this regard as far as voluntary action of the owners of liquors and the consumers of the article are concerned. As they become accustomed to the new order of things and gradually work into each other's confidence their mutual interests and desires may blend sufficiently to develop quite a business. Should this state of affairs come into existence Mayor Neil and the city administration will without doubt enforce the ordinance, which will bring on a contest before the courts and juries.
Valley Record, Ashland, January 24, 1901, page 3


    The Valley Record says that Ashland has had fifteen days of prohibition law, and though retail liquor-selling has been abolished, no one is suffering for the want of it. Several ex-saloon keepers have informed chief of police Brunk that they will sell liquors to him, the mayor or councilmen by the gallon. The authorities have not yet moved in the matter, presumably taking their time.
    Ashland, according to the Portland Mercury, will not be a dry town, according to reports received from there this week. The city council has granted a liquor license to the proprietors of Hotel Oregon, and will probably grant similar licenses to the other saloons. The report is also circulated to the effect that over $4,000 has been contributed by wholesale liquor dealers in San Francisco and Portland to contest the matter in the courts, should the city decline to issue licenses.
"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 7, 1901, page 3


SALOON MEN ARRESTED.
The City Administration Begins Its Operations
on the Illegal Selling of Liquor in Ashland.

Mayor Neil Has His Fighting Habits On and Will Bend Every Nerve
to Crush the Outlawed Traffic in This City.

    The saloon question, which has been brewing in Ashland for some months past, came to a head Tuesday by the serving upon Deston High and W. C. Sonnichsen, and Jesse Houck and Joseph Dame, and Hermann Salomon, warrants of arrests for the illegal sale of whiskey in the city of Ashland. The warrants were served by Chief of Police H. J. Mattoon and all parties appeared before City Recorder Milton Berry and asked for bail and time in which to secure attorneys. They were given until Wednesday morning to plead, and no bonds were exacted for their appearance, being out on their recognizance. Later in the afternoon C. B. Watson appeared and informed the recorder that himself and W. M. Colvig were the attorneys for the defendants. Mr. Watson and Attorneys H. L. McWilliams and W. C. Hale, representing the mayor of the city of Ashland, agreed upon next Monday, May 20th, as the time for defendants to plead and a trial of the case. The city recorder so fixed the same.
    The complaints are all subscribed and sworn to by Chief of Police H. J. Mattoon and the several parties are all charged with selling liquor to one K. J. Johnson, by the drink and in half-pint bottles. Houck & Dame and High & Sonnichsen are charged with the offense on the 29th day of April and Hermann Salomon on the 7th day of May.
    The complaints are alike in general form and have the appearance of being carefully prepared and will likely be used right along in the complaints against the illegal sale of intoxicating liquors. In order to give the reader the wording of the complaints we herewith append one of the same:
----
Recorder's Court, City of Ashland, Oregon.
    The City of Ashland, Plaintiff, vs. Jesse Houck and Joseph Dame, Defendants.
    I, H. J. Mattoon, do by this complaint, accuse Jesse Houck and Joseph Dame of a violation of an ordinance of the City of Ashland, said city being an existing city, duly incorporated and organized under the laws of the State of Oregon, which said ordinance is entitled "an ordinance declaring the illegality of keeping or maintaining a bar-room, drinking shop, drinking saloon, tippling-house, club house or club room, or other place in which spirituous, vinous, malt or intoxicating liquors are kept, sold, disposed of, or given away, and the selling, disposing of, furnishing or giving away spirituous, vinous, malt or intoxicating liquors, without first having duly procured a license therefor from the City Council of the City of Ashland, Oregon," which ordinance was passed by the City Council of the City of Ashland and approved by the Mayor of the City of Ashland, March 12, 1901, committed as follows:
    The said Jesse Houck and Joseph Dame on the 29th day of April, 1901, within the limits of the City of Ashland, Jackson County, Oregon, did then and there unlawfully sell and deliver to one K. J. Johnson, one drink of spirituous liquor, to wit, whiskey, without having first obtained a license so to do from the City Council of the said City of Ashland, contrary to the ordinances and laws in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the City of Ashland.
H. J. MATTOON.
State of Oregon, County of Jackson, City of Ashland, ss.
    I, H. J. Mattoon, being first duly sworn on oath, depose and say that I am Chief of Police of the City of Ashland, Oregon, and the complainant named in the foregoing complaint, and that the said complaint is true as I verily believe.
H. J. MATTOON.
    Subscribed and sworn to before me this 29th day of April, 1901.
MILTON BERRY,
    Recorder, City of Ashland.
----
    At a special meeting of the city council Monday evening Mayor Neil was formally and officially authorized to employ attorneys for the prosecution of the liquor cases. The motion was made by Councilman Simpson and seconded by Councilman Hunt. All were present except Councilmen Holmes and Powell.
    As is already known, attorney H. L. McWilliams has been advising with and acting as the attorney for Mayor Neil in all the proceedings, having drawn the ordinances and amendments to the charter on the subject that are now in the laws of the city of Ashland. Some weeks ago Mayor Neil also engaged the services of ex-Circuit Judge W. C. Hale of this district, now practicing law at Grants Pass, who has also gone over the entire network of the law and the practice in the liquor cases. Both Attorneys McWilliams and Hale and Mayor Neil are thoroughly satisfied as to the impossibility of being tripped up on any details or technicalities of the law and the practice. If the saloons go to the circuit court on a writ of review the matter can come before the supreme court in a prompt and direct manner without waiting for the slow process of the customary appeals from the circuit court. This will give an early decision as to the validity of the charter and ordinances from the highest court that they can get into on any pretext whatever. They are certain that there will be but one result and that a prompt one.
Valley Record, Ashland, May 16, 1901, page 2


    Fleming Bros., who are traveling overland through the country with the Edison Waragraph machine, gave an entertainment at the Medford opera house Monday evening. Owing to the fact that the entertainment was not well advertised they did not have a large house, but the exhibition was good throughout and thoroughly enjoyed. A feature in itself well worth the price of admission was the scenic production of Mrs. Carrie Nation on one of her celebrated joint-smashing crusades.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, May 24, 1901, page 7


    The state president of the W.C.T.U. will deliver a lecture at the Presbyterian Church Saturday evening, June 1st, on the subject of "Mrs. Nation and Her Hatchet." You can't afford to miss this opportunity to hear this gifted lady.
"Additional Local," Medford Mail, May 31, 1901, page 6


HOT AIR BUBBLE BURSTED.
The Circuit Court Decides the Saloon Cases in Favor of the City of Ashland.
Salomon and Lewis Do Not Meet the Mayor the Second Time and Are Supposed to Be in California.
    The cases of the city against the saloon keepers of this city, H. Salomon, V. S. Lewis, Houck & Dame and Wm. Sonnichsen, was decided by Circuit Judge Hanna Monday.
    These parties were convicted of selling liquor without a license in City Recorder Berry's court and after giving bonds appealed to the circuit court on a writ of review. This action made the city the defendant in the case. The case was tried on the points of law involved and decided in favor of the City of Ashland. C. B. Watson and W. M. Colvig were the attorneys for the saloons and H. L. McWilliams, W. C. Hale and J. R. Neil for the city. The order of the court is as follows:
----
    Now, on this 15th day of July, 1901, after careful consideration of said cause the Court finds that there was no error of law in the trial of said cause in said Recorder's court, in said city of Ashland; or in the rendition of the decision thereto. It is therefore ordered that the petition of plaintiffs be denied and that the Recorder's Court of the City of Ashland be and it is hereby directed to proceed in the matter reviewed in accordance with its decision.
    It is further ordered that the defendant have judgment for costs and that the clerk of this court spread on its records the proceedings herein as proceedings had in vacation.
----
    This is simply another chapter in the same old case of attempts to regulate the liquor business in Ashland and while temporarily compelling the saloons to hunt their hole it will not be long before they gradually come out again in some different form. Nothing but a continuous sitting in the city jail would keep the business down permanently.
    Today the three saloons are not selling any liquor, and V. S. Lewis near the depot has boxed up his stock and shipped it away--his clerk says back to the wholesale houses from whence it came. But it is likely that it will return when the storm blows over.
    Houck & Dame have a sign out "This place for rent" and have quit selling liquor.
    Wm. Sonnichsen quit the business soon after his conviction and is not now engaged.
    H. Salomon, a gentleman with pronounced Hebrew accent and the gait and swagger of a typical "Sheeney," is a recent importation from Redding, Cal., and being possessed of means and a disposition to "show these lop-eared Oregonians" a few pointers has set himself up as a new Moses who was to lead the hosts of Mammon and John Barleycorn out of the wilderness of Higher Ideals and into the commercialism of a wide-open town, is now very much disgusted with the refusal of the powers that be to become instantly converted at the shrug of the shoulder and the alle-ke-san high sign of the New Moses. He promptly issued circulars offering to sell out the McConnell Grocery (which he also owns) and threatened to leave Ashland and let the entire bottom drop out of the town. Mayor Neil had a conference with the new master yesterday in which Salomon showed a very prayerful spirit and indicated that he was willing to pay the fine and costs and sin no more. But Mayor Neil spoke to him in parable saying unto New Moses: "He that stealeth horses daily and then offers to repent by paying for one horse doesn't go in Ashland as in Redding." As Mayor Neil has a string of offenses against the saloons of Ashland which by pressing means several thousand dollars in fines, the confiscation of the liquors, and some considerable time in the city jail, the New Moses did not need an interpreter. Mayor Neil went to see Salomon this morning to see if he was any wiser but the new leader had taken the midnight train for California--it was explained on mining business.
    Mayor Neil has a string of complaints ready to be served and unless a settlement is made today attorneys Hale and Neil will be here and with Attorney McWilliams will be ordered to begin the work of crushing out the illegal liquor dealers through the processes of the law.
    In the conferences between the saloon men and the mayor the basis of settlement has not been agreed upon yet. The mayor expects to compel them to pay the city an amount that will cover all the costs and expenses that the city has been to and sufficient more to prepare the city to fight them in the future should they again get the mistaken idea in their head that the emblem of authority of Ashland is "a sucker." They can either settle at a nominal cost or get a larger penalty. As the saloon men did considerable fretting about the city of Ashland losing so much license money and wasting the taxpayers' money prosecuting them they can do a little sacrificing themselves by putting up about double the amount of this expense.
    Mayor Neil was preparing to continue yesterday's conference with the saloon men and inform them that a settlement must be made today. V. S. Lewis and H. Salomon could not be found, having left town. These two bought into the saloon fight after it began.
    Houck & Dame were at Jacksonville yesterday and had informed Mayor Neil that they would not appeal.
Valley Record, Ashland, July 18, 1901, page 2


WHISKEY REBELLION CRUSHED.
Mayor Neil Makes His Words More Than Good
and Drives the Liquor Dealers Out of the State.

Judge Hanna's Decision in Full to the Writ of Review--
An Appeal to Supreme Court Taken.

    All of the Ashland saloon men under conviction of selling liquor in Ashland against the city ordinances left town hastily between two days, taking the midnight train on Wednesday night of last week for the California state line. In last week's paper we only noted the disappearance of Messrs. Salomon and Lewis, not being positively aware of the departure of Houck & Dame on the same train. Wm. Sonnichsen missed the night train and got aboard of Thursday noon's California express.
    Mayor Neil was somewhat surprised at the scattering of his friends, expecting to hold another conference with them in the matter of settling up the accumulated charges that the city has against them for the same offense. The saloon men had put up a bold front since they acquired Salomon to their ranks, and the claim was generally put forward that the wholesale liquor merchants were also standing in. As Messrs. Houck & Dame were old residents and substantial citizens of the community and as Mr. Salomon had during his brief career become identified with the town as proprietor of a hotel and a grocery store it was not generally suspected that they ever intended to leave the town where they could always have personal friends go their bonds and in themselves were financially able to furnish themselves with all their legal rights and privileges.
    Their attorney, C. B. Watson, says they left the state because Mayor Neil threatened to arrest them and force a trial on a multiplication of offenses if they did not settle with the city by paving a large sum of money.
    By leaving the state these actions could not be commenced on them and as the state does not extradite persons charged with misdemeanors, and the saloon men did not expect to continue in business here they reasoned it out that they were paving themselves good wages by leaving their happy homes in Oregon and the jurisdiction of the chief of police of Ashland.
    Mayor Neil has dealt the saloon business in Ashland a solar plexus blow and one that he did not wish to be compelled to deliver to them. He tried diplomatic means to get the saloon men to retire without a fight and had more or less encouragement from all of them and success with others when H. Salomon appeared on the scene. His inordinate conceit and Mr. Houck's stubbornness again complicated matters when Mayor Neil called their bluff and informed them that the fight was to a finish and that he would camp on their trail until he had either ruined them or placed them behind the bars. As mayor of a civilized American city he proposed to uphold the dignity of the will of the majority as directly expressed in the ballot box. The parties kept up their anarchy and violations of law, and Mr. Salomon as their new leader was heralded as the man who would "show them," and he did "spread it on" like a prince until the circuit court handed down its decision when he immediately crawled down from his throne of glory and beat an inglorious retreat for the California state line, accompanied by his associates.
    Mayor Neil had the support of the citizens in the enforcement of the law. Ashland people as a rule realize that under our civil and political institutions the majority must prevail, and when laws are enacted and defied the offenders must be compelled to observe them.
    The question as to the best method of the city of Ashland handling the liquor traffic is one which honest men can differ upon and be entitled to that splendid inheritance of this free republic--the privilege of expressing and voting his convictions.
    While the conduct of the saloon men and their failure has seemingly for the present only left one party in Ashland, yet the question of what is best to do with the liquor trade in Ashland is an open one. The late crisis means that hereafter whatever regulation is adopted by the legal authorities will be obeyed until changed or modified. Ashland citizens will insist upon the forms of order being maintained. They do not want any whiskey rebellion or Carrie Nation "joint smashing" exercises. The majority must rule.
SALOON MEN APPEAL.
    The saloon men scattered very hastily when Mayor Neil informed them that they were expected to reimburse the city for their violation of its laws. After a few days attorney Watson got in communication with his clients in California and on Saturday filed notice of appeal and secured from Judge Hanna a writ of probable cause in the cases pending in the circuit court. He will have five days in which to file the appeal with the supreme court and 20 days additional to prepare a brief. Stay of execution was issued.
----
Judge Hanna's Decision.

    In the Circuit Court of Oregon, in and for Jackson County,
    Jesse Houck and Joseph Dame, plaintiffs, vs. the City of Ashland, defendant. Findings of Law and Judgment on Writ of Review.
    The above-named plaintiffs and Herman Salomon, V. S. Lewis, Deston High, W. C. Sonnichsen sought to review and set aside a judgment rendered against them severally in the Recorder's court at Ashland, Or. On a hearing before this court the action of the Recorder's court was sustained, and the following reasons offered for so doing:
    On a hearing of a return to a writ of review in this court nothing can be considered except what appears in the transcript brought from the lower court. The transcript in these cases shows that defendants were convicted of selling intoxicating liquors without first obtaining a license for the sale thereof. On the trial the defendants severally filed a demurrer to the complaint filed against them. The errors relied upon on the hearing in this court are the overruling of the demurrers in the Recorder's court.
    The demurrer alleges six separate grounds for setting aside the complaint. The first is that said complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a crime. Second, that the court has no jurisdiction under its ordinances of the crime attempted to be charged. Fourth, the plaintiff had no authority for the passage of the said ordinance under which this action is brought, and in the sixth assignment of the demurrer it is alleged that the legislature exceeded its constitutional power in attempting to grant the city council the right to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors.
    These actions are brought under the provisions of section 2 of ordinance 208 which is as follows:
    "It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or dispose of any spirituous, vinous, malt or intoxicating liquors within the city of Ashland, without having first duly procured from the city council of the city of Ashland, Or., a license therefor."
    The wording of this ordinance is in effect identical with the provisions of the state law. The complaint clearly shows a violation of said ordinance, and demurrer was properly overruled as to the first cause assigned. The second and fourth grounds of demurrer can only be determined by an examination of the city charter, as it is only through the powers derived from that instrument that the council can lawfully act in these matters. The plaintiffs very earnestly contend that the city charter does not authorize the enactment of the ordinance under which they stand convicted, and further that the legislature cannot delegate to the city council the power to prohibit the sale of spirituous liquors, as it contravenes the state law. If either of these contentions be true, the plaintiffs were wrongfully convicted, for no man can be convicted of crime or misdemeanor unless there has been a violation of a valid existing law.
    Section 3 of an act amending said city charter approved February 15th, 1901, provides that the city council shall at the times designated vote upon the question as to whether or not spirituous vinous, malt or intoxicating liquors shall be sold within the corporate limits of the said city, and that if a majority, or one-half of the said council together with the Mayor vote against the issuance of license for the sale thereof, then no license shall be granted therefor.
    This in effect gives the city council power to prohibit the sale of liquor within the city limits. It must be conceded that this is a delegation of legislative powers, and seemingly unwarranted. But the courts now almost universally hold that legislatures may delegate such powers to municipal corporations, as a part of the necessary police regulations.
    Black on intoxicating liquors Secs. 217 and 226. I "Dillon on municipal corporations" Sec. 363.
    The language of one author is "It is entirely in accordance with the principle of local self-government so thoroughly recognized in our political systems, that the power to enact police regulations, on a matter so closely connected with the good order and prosperity of the city, should be lodged with those best qualified to judge of the measures adapted to meet the exigencies of their particular situation."
    I know of no other theory upon which these decisions can be sustained.
    Lower courts are not warranted in declaring void an act of our legislature except upon clear and unmistakable grounds.
    In the absence of a decision of our supreme court, the holding of this court must be in accordance with the authorities cited.
    There are other grounds embraced in the demurrer upon which the court is asked to declare the charter and amendments illegal and void, but I have not found sufficient reasons to warrant me in so holding.
Jacksonville, July 15, 1901.
    H. K. HANNA, Judge.
Valley Record, Ashland, July 25, 1901, page 1


    The supreme court on Monday handed down a decision sustaining the action of the circuit court, in what is known as the Ashland liquor cases. The defendants, Jesse Houck and Joseph Dame, were convicted before Justice Berry, of Ashland, for violating the ordinance against selling liquor in that city. They appealed to the circuit court and Judge Hanna sustained the justice. Appeal was then taken to the supreme court which has just decided as above. The effect of this decision will be to establish a precedent whereby municipal incorporations may vote the town "wet or dry" at will.

"City Happenings," Medford Mail, November 29, 1901, page 7


    Ashland had a city election on Tuesday, the issue being the same as it was last year, to wit: Whether saloons should or should not be licensed. The litigation resulting from the success last year of the anti-saloon party and the consequent refusal of the city council to grant license to saloons was finally disposed of a few weeks ago by the decision of the supreme court, upholding the action of the lower courts in finding for the city in the contention. Tuesday's election resulted in electing two prohibition and two license councilmen, together with a license mayor. The two councilmen which hold over are prohibitionists--hence the town will be "dry" for another year.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, December 20, 1901, page 7


Prohibition Ticket in Jackson.
    MEDFORD, March. 6.--The Prohibition ticket for Jackson County was held here yesterday, and the following ticket put in the field. Senator, H. D. Hawkins, Ashland; Representatives, Rev. E. B. Lockhart, Central Point, and C. E. Hoskins, Gold Hill; Joint Representative, Rev. C. H. Hoxie, Medford County Clerk, E. C. Wolfer, Medford; Recorder, G. T. Richards, Medford; Sheriff, L. F. Lozier, Medford; Treasurer, H. J. Boosey, Jacksonville; Assessor, H. S. Brumble, Medford; Coroner, A. W. Jacobs, Ashland.
Morning Oregonian, Portland, March 7, 1902, page 4


    The prohibition alliance of Medford will meet at Academy Hall next Monday evening at 8 o'clock.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, August 1, 1902, page 7


    Mayor Grant, of Ashland, has appointed A. L. Kitchen, president of the Ashland Anti-Saloon League, a special officer to enforce the city ordinances against the selling of liquor, and gambling. It is a notorious fact that the granite city's prohibition laws do not prohibit, and strong effort will now be made to enforce them.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, November 21, 1902, page 7


    It is the will of our people that we license no saloons, and the necessary resultant is, there are none; as for Ashland--well, I've heard that even the hydrants send forth a stream of "booze," if you turn the faucet with the right pressure.
"Talent News Items," Medford Mail, December 5, 1902, page 5


Ashland Will Have Saloons.
    Ashland's council, in accordance with the result of the late municipal election, has decided to allow the opening of saloons in that city. The vote was a tie; but Mayor Provost cast the deciding vote in favor of license. The minimum rate is $800 a year, which is high enough to restrict the number of saloons to three or four. This is a sensible solution of the problem which has rent Ashland during the past two years. Nearly if not quite as much liquor was privately consumed there as when saloons were allowed to run wide open, and the city lost the revenue that would otherwise have been obtained by license, only to be raised by taxation. Prohibition has not prohibited any more in Ashland than elsewhere.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 14, 1903, page 2


    A majority of 24 voters declared for a "dry town" [in Ashland] at the annual city election held today, the vote being 282 for license and 306 against.
"Ashland Goes Dry," Morning Oregonian, Portland, December 16, 1903, page 4


"WHEN THE TOWN GOES DRY"
An Exodus of Saloon Keepers After Jan. 15th--Practically All of the Holders of Licenses Will Go Out of Business and Leave Town.
    The saloon licenses all expire January 15th.
    The council at its first meeting in January, which will be next Tuesday, will formally and officially declare "no license" as the policy of the city for the ensuing year in accordance with the wish of the majority, as cast in the recent municipal election.
    The saloon licenses that will expire on the 15th are as follows:
    Ed. Zeiss, corner A and 4th streets.
    E. W. Riddle, corner A and 4th streets.
    Nollop & Norris, A Street.
    H. S. Sanford, Hotel Oregon.
    Schultz & McManus, Plaza corner.
    E. M. Selby & Co., Ashland House.
    Peter Murray, Main Street, over the bridge.
    All these are new men in the liquor business in Ashland--that is, none of them held licenses previous to the prohibition reign of 1901 and 1902--and all are either new hands in the liquor business or are newcomers in the city. What they intend to do under the new order of things is of local interest.
    Mr. Zeiss announces that he will go out of business and move to Portland. He is a stepson of Wm. Faber, the wealthy brewer of Portland, who owns the Albany brewery. Just after the successful breaking down of the prohibition reign a year ago Mr. Faber came to Ashland and purchased the three lots and frame buildings at corner of A and 4th streets for $6000, and besides establishing a saloon he also secured storage rooms at the Ashland Ice Co.'s plant which was a depot for the sale of his beer to other saloons and in adjoining towns. In case matters went right, Mr. Faber intended erecting a large modern brick or stone structure at the corner of A and 4th streets this year. He was in Ashland Tuesday and said the result of the election was no surprise, as the liquor people here were divided among themselves and could not be gotten together to make a united fight. As to his future course in Ashland, he said the bar would of course be discontinued and that he would sell his business corner if he could get his price.
    The next corner just across the street from Mr. Faber's property was purchased at the same time for $6000 from J. W. Haun by Max Weiss, the Roseburg brewer. It consisted of a two-story brick and the lower story was remodeled and E. W. Riddle succeeded Haun's grocery with a saloon which was the agency of the Roseburg brewery. Mr. Riddle will close out promptly and move back to his old home at Riddle, Douglas County, and engage in the saloon business there. His clerk, Joe DeGuire, who is an experienced restaurateur, will open a chop house in the place of the saloon.
    The third place at the depot was that of Nollop & Norris, who hung out the banner of Weinhard's Brewery of Portland. They were discouraged and announced before the election that they would not seek another license.
    Coming uptown the first place is the Hotel Oregon bar, which is concealed in the large building in such a way that a stranger would not know it was a saloon. The party who sees that this place is kept orderly quietly gave the inquiring reporter a tip that it would be different than in former periods--that this time the town would be closed up tight.
    Schultz & McManus, who bought the old Houck & Dame stand a few months ago, have no intention to place themselves at war with the community. Mr. Schultz, as soon as the election returns were announced, packed up his family and returned to their former home at Dallas, Polk County. Mr. McManus is only remaining until the license expires, when he will close up the place and return to the Willamette Valley.
    E. M. Selby, who came here only a few short months ago from Tacoma, Wash., and opened a new saloon in the Ashland House, took the excursion for San Francisco to seek a new location.
    Peter Murray is a miner by occupation and does not conduct the saloon, which has of late been operated by a nephew who is a newcomer here.
Valley Record, Ashland, December 31, 1903, page 3


    The present prohibition campaign in Jackson County is not a recent growth, but dates from pioneer days when the first settlers in this valley took up the cause of temperance with quite as much vigor as characterizes the advocates of today. The first temperance society in Southern Oregon was organized in Jacksonville in the spring of 1856, and was a lodge of the Sons of Temperance, an order that at that time was quite extensive in the United States.
"Oregon Sidelights," Oregon Journal, Portland, November 4, 1904, page 4


Anti-Saloon Workers Organize.
    At a meeting of anti-saloon workers held at Ashland Monday, Rev. H. C. Brown was elected chairman and Rev. F. W. Carstens secretary. The executives committee offered the following recommendation, which was adopted:
    That this committee organize a permanent committee to be known as "The Jackson County Anti-Saloon
Committee," that it shall have as a nucleus an executive committee of fifteen members at large, and that these shall be empowered to select and appoint from one to three members from each precinct in the county, the first one named to be chairman, etc. The chair then appointed the following committee on nominations for the central committee: Rev. R. C. Blackwell, of Medford; J. Merley, of Central Point, and Mr. Judy, of Butte Creek.
Medford Mail, November 18, 1904, page 1


Medford Is Half and Half.
    MEDFORD, Or., Dec. 2.--J. C. Hall, a saloon man of this city, whose place of business is in the "wet" precinct, is applying for license to sell liquor for one year, and the Prohibitionists are working with a remonstrance trying to prohibit his obtaining it. When the Prohibitionists, who lost out in North Medford, and the saloon men, who lost out in South Medford, both went before County Judge Dunn, trying to have the recent election contested, the Judge decided that according to the statutes of Oregon he could make no decision, therefore would take no action. The election thus stands as the returns show, leaving one-half of the city "wet" and the other half "dry."
Morning Oregonian, Portland, December 3, 1904, page 4


Medford Saloon Men Win.
    MEDFORD, Or., Dec. 7.--(Special.)--At the Medford City Council meeting last night Young & Hall, proprietors of the Medford saloon, won a decisive victory over the prohibition forces of this district, the occasion being a hearing on their application for a renewal of their license. It was a significant fact that their petition contained 327 names as against 134 names on the remonstrance, the majority of the business men and larger property owners of the community appearing on the petition for the license.
    Although the prohibitionist leaders attended and addressed the meeting, the sentiment of the Council was clearly in favor of granting the license, and this was done by unanimous vote.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, December 8, 1904, page 6


No Reading Room.
    MEDFORD, Ore., August 6, 1906.--Medford has no place where the laboring man can spend a few hours profitably and pleasantly. The pool rooms, saloon and the gambling dens are the only places that solicit their presence and offer accommodations and attractions. If the professed Christian people would work as diligently for their cause as the saloon man does for his these conditions would not exist. It is not expected of merchants to arrange seats for the people and entertain them, but it does appear to me that a town the size of Medford, with its thrift, growth and enthusiasm, with its various churches and large membership, should have a reading room, where we could spend a few hours intelligently, though not necessarily an expensive one. I believe the citizens and business men of city and country, when they seriously consider the subject, will favor the same. I am not a pool player or a saloon patron, but on the other side vigorously opposed to both. I do not censure the saloon keeper as severely as some do. I believe some of them will contribute liberally and cheerfully to the much-needed enterprise. I have never known a saloon keeper that was a Christian or even professed to be, but have known scores of men who do profess to be Christians who will on election day vote for men who make the laws that legalizes the saloon to make the drunkard, and then criticize the saloon. It isn't the saloon man who is the most to censure. The church people hold the balance of power, and if they would vote to suppress the cursed traffic instead of making it lawful our cities would be in much better condition and the criminal records would be greatly reduced. I have no vote for the saloon, but have five dollars for a reading room.
LABORER.
Medford Mail, August 10, 1906, page 1


Liquor Issue in Jackson.
    ASHLAND, Or., Feb. 2.--(Special.)--One of the most potent political organizations in the forthcoming campaign in Jackson County promises to be the anti-saloon movement, the leaders of which are girding on their armor. They announce their intention of carrying the war against the saloon into every precinct of Jackson County. Ashland's "dry" vote at the recent city election has unquestionably given an impetus to the movement to put the whole county "dry," and many believe that the prohibitionists have a good chance of carrying the day. Medford, heretofore a strong saloon and license town, it is said, has seen a great change in sentiment, and the vote there under the local option law in June promises to be pretty evenly divided.
Morning Oregonian, Portland, February 3, 1908, page 14


Temperance Rally
    Sunday morning at the Presbyterian church Rev. J. R. Knodell, organizer of the Anti-Saloon League movement for the state of Oregon and whose headquarters are at Portland, preached on the subject: "The Man with a Vision." He showed from numerous biblical and historical facts that those who have wrought reforms revolutionized labor by successful inventions, and rendered other invaluable services to their age, are those who, holding an ideal steadily in mind, have amidst discouragement and seeming defeat established the ideal as the real.
    A main meeting at the opera house Sunday afternoon filled the main audience room to overflowing and was largely representative of the business interests of the city. Selecting as his topic "The Saloon and Business," Rev. Knodell demonstrated that the saloon was a detriment to business by developing the points:
    1--The saloon increases crime, and hence taxation must be higher. 1--The union increases the number of insane, and hence there are more helpless women and children. 3--The saloon destroys men, hence it destroys business. 4--On comparison of cities having saloons with those having none, it is a fact that where the saloon is driven out civic improvements are better, educational influences are higher and business is equally good.
    By most stringent measures the saloons have been driven out of McMinnville, Albany, Eugene, Ashland and other cities of our state, while in the southern and eastern states row after row of counties have gone dry, these affording the careful observer abundant opportunity to formulate for himself opinions as to the success of Local Option where it is in force.
    Prominent citizens were given an opportunity to voice their sentiments from the platform.
    H. C. Garnett, hardware merchant, "The time has come to line up on this proposition no matter what the personal sacrifice."
    C. H. Pierce, real estate dealer, "I receive many letters inquiring about the moral and religious advantages of this city." Mr. Pierce spoke quite at length upon the subject and voiced his sentiments plainly as to his opinion of what constituted moral and religious advantages.
    J. G. Gore, farmer: "It is most important that we provide the best environment for our growing families--the saloon affords the worst."
    J. S. Howard, "The evils of the saloon were forced upon me during my tenure of office as mayor. Then many women came to me begging me to do something to save their husbands from drink."
    H. H. Tuttle compared conditions in North Dakota before and after the saloon was driven out and gave it as his opinion that the absence of the saloon made better municipal and business conditions.
    J. K. Howard said that in Garfield, Washington, a town of fifteen hundred inhabitants, there were no saloons, the high school advantages are excellent, the main streets are paved, the water and sewerage systems are of the best and the taxation less than in Medford. Our city council has appropriated $60,000 for a water system and better high school privileges are sought, which will raise our taxation, a burden cheerfully born if we can drive out the saloons and better the conditions of our young people.
    W. P. Dodge said, "I've been burned out, flooded out, and passed through every calamity visited upon man, but the worst has been the almost destruction of my boy by the saloons. Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, I call on you to help me drive out the saloons and save my boy [John M. Dodge]."
    W. M. French made the statement that young girls from good families frequented the back rooms of saloons. "For the sake of the virtue of our young women and the manhood of our young men let us put out the saloon."
    J. F. Hutchason, merchant, sent his word, "I cannot be there, but tell them I'm opposed to the saloon."
    Sunday evening the opera house was filled upstairs as well as down and Mr. Knodell spoke on the subject, "The Retail Liquor Business a Crime." He quoted from Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt and David Starr Jordan, the Bible, history and the supreme court, to show that the liquor traffic is under the ban of our best and brightest men.
    Monday evening, February 3rd, at the M.E. church delegates from Ashland, Central Point, Gold Hill, Woodville, Eagle Point met for organization for the county campaign.
    A central committee was appointed and the efforts of Sunday and Monday resulted in an addition of $175 to the Anti-Saloon League Campaign Fund.
XXX.
Medford Mail, February 7, 1908, page 4


ASSAILS MEDFORD MAYOR
Dr. Brougher Says Official Is Tool of Liquor Interests.
    The liquor question and the fight for local option on the East Side was taken up by Dr. J. Whitcomb Brougher last night at the White Temple in his sermon on "Home Rule: Fighting for Home, Honor and Happiness." He said in part:
    The liquor men oppose with all their power the making of any laws regulating their business. If they cannot defeat the enactment of such laws then they defiantly or surreptitiously break them. This insolent disregard for all law has been one of the potent agencies for arousing public opinion against the saloon and the liquor business. The liquor men have no regard either for the laws of God or of man. In harmony with this principle of action, the liquor forces of the state are once again endeavoring to destroy our local option law. The Mayor of Medford, a tool of the liquor dealers, has presented an amendment to the Constitution of our state whereby it is proposed that incorporated towns and cities may have what he terms "home rule." The real purpose of this amendment is to nullify all the criminal laws of the state as far at cities and towns are concerned. Now  here are several reasons why I am opposed to this amendment.
    A little town of 200 people could incorporate and run saloons and dens of vice in the midst of a county where the overwhelming majority of the people were opposed to the liquor business. A county might vote "dry" but 125 voters in a town of 200 citizens could vote to have the saloons in that town and thus force upon the people of the entire county to accept the presence of saloons and also make the people of that county, bear the entire expense of the poverty, crime and misery produced by the damnable business.
    In the second place, this proposed amendment would permit the lawless element to control the whole question of regulating the saloon, the gambling den and all other places of vice. The people who are willing to make a living by debauching and destroying the boys and girls of our cities and towns would virtually be beyond the power of the state to control. They could run wide-open towns by colonizing enough votes to carry the town "wet" and by electing their own officers, absolutely ignore all public sentiment for moral decency and once again be in a place where they could defiantly ask the people, "What are you going to do about it?"
    To pass this amendment would mean the nullification of our local option law and place the whole state in the hands of the gamblers, the dive keepers, liquor dealers and the entire horde of corrupt politicians who in the past have lived by graft and the exploitation of city vices.
    1 am opposed to this amendment because it is proposed by those who have no regard for the moral welfare of the community. There is not a solitary moral argument in favor of this amendment. The whole purpose is to once again put the government of our towns and cities into the bands of the immoral forces. The people who believe in the progress of our state, commercially, morally, intellectually and politically will work and vote against this amendment. The friends of local option need to be aroused. The people need to understand that this proposed amendment is simply a deception both in its wording and in its purpose. In the wide sweep of temperance reform across the country, Oregon will have a foremost place. The people now have an opportunity to defeat this amendment with such an overwhelming majority that the liquor dealers will learn that it is a waste of time and money for them to attempt to destroy our local option law or dodge the enforcement of it when once the people in a district or county have decided that the saloon must go.
    There is not a solitary moral argument in favor of the saloon. It is a lawless business and the center of lawlessness and crime. It pauperizes labor and destroys its efficiency. It injures business, for there are hundreds of towns that can testify to the large increase of business where  the saloons have been abolished. It is the most deadly foe ever conceived of the American home. Shame, disgrace and degradation follow in its wake. No government can afford to take revenue from a traffic that causes ten times as much expense to take care of its results as it brings revenue to the government. What shall it profit a town, a county or a state to gain revenue and debauch its citizenship? I trust the people will vote "No" to the Reddy amendment and at the same time wipe out the saloons on the East Side by an overwhelming majority.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, May 4, 1908, page 2


Sunday School Pupils Parade.
    MEDFORD, Or., May 30.--(Special.)--Headed by the band and carrying banners with inscriptions "Save Our Boys; Protect Our Girls," "A Dry Town Is a Live Town," etc., and wearing placards "Vote Out the Saloon," 250 Sunday school pupils, accompanied by their teachers, made demonstrations for prohibition this afternoon. The body was assembled at the park and marched down Seventh Street, halting at three of the business corners where they formed the letter "S" and sang songs in the cause.
Sunday Oregonian, Portland, May 31, 1908, page 7


JACKSON VOTES OUT SALOONS
The Count Indicates 300 Lead for Chamberlain.
    MEDFORD, Or., June 2.--(Special.)--Official count from 21 of Jackson County's 33 precincts, Medford not included, gives Cake 874, Chamberlain 1008, Hammersley 943, Kubli 879, Miller 889, Purdin 782. The two latter are Statement No. 1 men and the final count in Medford may place Purdin in the lead of Hammersley, in which case both Statement No. 1 men will be elected. Little local interest has centered in Hawley, and for that reason there are no figures to be had on his vote here.
    Prohibition has 1154 and anti-prohibition 881. The Medford count cannot possibly change the result, though there will be a majority in favor of the saloons. Anti-prohibitionists gave up the fight at noon today. The election of county officers is conceded to Dunn, as County Judge; Jones, Sheriff, Democrat; Coleman, Clerk; Percy Wells, School Superintendent; James Cronemiller, Treasurer, and Burnett, Recorder. Medford and Ashland have not yet completed the counting.
Medford Oregon, Portland, June 3, 1908, page 5


SALOON KEEPERS WIN IN COURT.
Oregon Judge Decides Incorporated Towns Can Control Liquor Traffic.
    Jacksonville, Ore.--Although Jackson County went dry at the recent election, the incorporated towns of Ashland, Medford and Gold Hill may still have saloons. This important decision was made by Judge Hanna in the Circuit Court in a test case.   
    This opinion will have a far-reaching effect in Oregon outside of Jackson County. Klamath Falls voted in favor of saloons, but Klamath County as a whole went dry. As a result of Judge Hanna's decision Klamath Falls may retain its saloons. Judge Hanna held that incorporated towns could control the saloon question to suit themselves, irrespective of how the county at large voted.
    Several saloon keepers of Klamath Falls, who had understood that they must go out of business on July 1st, were prepared to move over into Siskiyou County, California, and begin business in Butte Creek valley.
Lompoc Journal, Lompoc, California, June 27, 1908, page 1



TAKE CUE FROM MEDFORD
Other Jackson County Towns Try to Nullify Local Option Election.
    JACKSONVILLE, Or., July 2.--(Special.)--J. M. Whipple and Ole Olson, of Woodville and Gold Hill, respectively, have begun injunction proceedings to restrain the County Court of Jackson County from declaring prohibition in force in those towns. Other injunctions will follow preventing the court from extending the order to any precinct in the county.
    The temperance people carried the county for prohibition by an overwhelming majority, after a spirited campaign, only to find the condition of the county now worse than before the election. If these injunctions are sustained there will be no dry precincts in Jackson County. These complications all grow out of the fact that the Medford city charter contains a clause giving the city power to regulate saloons within the incorporation, irrespective of any state law that may exist on that subject.

Morning Oregonian,
Portland, July 3, 1908, page 6



    ANTI-SALOON CASE.
    Attorney W. M. Colvig, who returned Sunday from Salem, where he went in the interests of the advancement of the anti-saloon appeal case, reports that he was unsuccessful in having the case advanced to a hearing in the supreme court before the usual summer vacation of the court, but he was successful, however, in having the case placed for the very first one on the docket of the opening of that court on October 7.
    This means that Jackson County will still be "wet," at least until the appeal has been heard. This is not just what Mr. Colvig had hoped for, but when Judge Bean gave him an idea of the amount of work that court had ahead of it, he considered himself fortunate in getting the date fixed as early as he did.
Medford Mail, August 7, 1908, page 5


Oregon Town Wins Fight
    SALEM, Ore., Oct. 27.--The supreme court of Oregon decided in effect today that a city may elect to remain "wet" after the county in which it is located, or the whole state for that matter, had voted in favor of prohibition. The local option statute provides that the question of prohibition shall be submitted to a vote of the people. There is also an act which provides that amendments to the charter of a city may be made by popular vote. Jackson County, as a whole, elected to become a "dry" county. Medford, a city in that county, conferred upon its council subsequently the power to regulate the liquor traffic inside the municipal boundary.
Los Angeles Herald, October 27, 1908


CITY CONTROLS SALE OF LIQUOR
Medford Exempt From Local Option Law, So Supreme Court Decides.
SPECIAL CHARTER CLAUSE
Estacada and Condon Only Other Oregon Towns Enjoying Special Privilege Granted by Legislature in Session of 1905.
    SALEM, Or., Oct. 27.--(Special.)--That the charter of the city of Medford, enacted by the Legislature in 1905, permits the city to license the sale of liquor notwithstanding the county of Jackson voted dry at the election of 1908, was declared by the Supreme Court today in the case of J. C. Hall against the County Court of Jackson County. Justice F. A. Moore wrote the opinion of the court, affirming the decision by Circuit Judge H. K. Hanna.
Special Charter for Medford
    Briefly stated, the facts are that the local option law was adopted in 1904 permitting the people to vote by precincts or by counties on the liquor question. In 1905 the legislature amended the Medford charter authorizing that city, among other things, to license the sale of liquor irrespective of any general law of the state on this subject enacted by the Legislature or by the people at large. In 1908 the liquor question was submitted in Jackson County as a whole and the county went "dry" by a vote of 2138 to 1881. At that time J. C. Hall held a saloon license in Medford, and when the County Court was about to enter an order prohibiting the sale of liquor in Jackson County he brought an injunction suit to enjoin the County Court from so doing so far as the mandate might affect the City of Medford. A demurrer interposed by the defendants was overruled and the injunction made permanent; whereupon the County Court appealed. After stating the facts at some length, the opinion of the Court holds that this is a proper case for the exercise of jurisdiction by an equity court, and then says:
Exempt from Local Option Law.
    The Legislative Assembly, when not interdicted by amendments to the organic law of the state is a law-making body of co-ordinate authority with the people when the latter exercise the initiative power which they have reserved. The Legislature, evidently reaching this conclusion, at the next session after the enactment of the local option law, granted to several municipalities charters, in some of which it was provided that the power conferred to license the sale of intoxicating liquors should be subject to the provisions of the local option liquor law. A clause to that effect appears in the charter of Brownsville, of Halsey and of Junction City. Other charters were granted at the same time containing clauses which were evidently intended to exempt certain municipalities from the operation of the provisions of the local option enactment. Thus the charter of Condon stipulates:
Specific in Condon's Charter.
    No provisions of the law concerning the sale of . . . liquor in Gilliam County or any law of the state of Oregon now or hereafter enacted, shall apply to the sale of the same in the City of Condon.
    The charters of Estacada and Medford contain similar provisions.
    It is quite probable that the attempt thus to exempt the cities of Condon, Estacada and Medford from the provisions of the local option law, and to prevent any further encroachments thereon, impelled the amendment (in 1906) of section 2 of article 11 of the organic law of the state, so as to prohibit the  Legislative Assembly from enacting, amending or repealing any municipal charter, and also induced the granting of such power to the legal voters of every city and town, but limiting their authority; in such enactments as might contravene the constitution or subvert the criminal laws of the state. The local option liquor enactment has been held to be a criminal law, the provisions of which cannot be violated by the electors of a municipality in legislating in respect to a city charter.
    The opinion also holds that the amended Medford charter expressly repeals the local option law so far as it applies to Medford and that it would have such effect by implication if it did not expressly.
Decision Not of Wide Effect.
    The decision of the Supreme Court, in the Medford liquor case is not of very wide effect, since the decision can apply only to Medford, Condon and Estacada. These were the only cities that had charter bills passed in 1905 giving them control of the liquor traffic, and since that time it has been impossible for any other city to secure a charter of that kind. In 1906 the amendment was adopted giving cities exclusive power to adopt their charters, "subject to the Constitution and criminal laws of the state."
    The Supreme Court had held that the local option law is a criminal law, and no city charter adopted since 1906 can evade the local option law. Even these three cities can be voted "dry" by an amendment to their charters.
    The Anti-Saloon people have taken great interest in the Medford case, assuming that the decision that would be rendered by the Supreme Court would be of sweeping effect. It is said that the Anti-Saloon people spent considerable money fighting the case and that they are considerably wrought up over the decision. As a matter of fact, the decision is of consequence and can be of consequence in only the three cities mentioned. To illustrate the situation under the law and the decisions that have been rendered:
Special Privilege Limited.
    Albany is a city in a "dry" county. If the city should attempt to amend its charter so as to authorize the sale of liquor, the charter would be invalid in that respect, because in contravention of that section of the Constitution which provides that city charters must be "subject to the constitution and criminal laws of the state." In the case of Fouts vs. Hood River, the Supreme Court held that the local option law is a criminal law. If a large number of cities had obtained charters in 1905 granting them the power to license the sale of liquor, regardless of the local option law, the decision would have had a wide effect, but a search of the records shows that only these three cities, whose charters were enacted in that year, contained the clause granting this power. There were several cities whose charters of that year authorized the licensing of saloons, but they did not expressly annul the effect of the local option law, and the Supreme Court holds in the case of Renshaw vs. the City of Eugene that these charters were merely reenactments of existing charters and did not take the cities out from under the limitations of the local option law.
    All charters enacted prior to 1905 were superseded by the local option law, so far as control of the liquor trade is concerned in a town in "dry" territory. All charters enacted since 1905 are controlled by the provision that all charters must be "subject to the criminal laws of the state." Only those charters enacted in 1905 which expressly exempted the cities from the provisions of the state liquor laws had the effect of evading the local option law [and], as shown above, there were three of these, Medford, Condon and Estacada. The people of these three cities can make them dry by amending their charters, so as to make them subject to the criminal laws of the state.

Oregonian, Portland, October 28, 1908, page 7



MEDFORD STILL WET.
The Supreme Court Handed Down Decision Tuesday.
    Word was received in Medford yesterday to the effect that the [state] supreme court had upheld the decision of circuit judge Hanna enjoining the county court of Jackson County from declaring the result of the majority of votes at the last June election in the county in favor of prohibition, insofar as it affected the city of Medford.
    The injunction case was brought by J. C. Hall, a saloonkeeper in this city. His attorneys were Robert G. Smith, E. E. Kelly and Snow & McCamant of Portland, while attorney W. M. Colvig represented the prohibitionists. The decision was based on the fact that the city charter was passed by the legislature since the referendum law, and where two laws conflict, as the court claims, the last one passed is the one to be taken.
    There are now two courses open to those who are determined to continue the fight for a dry town. One is to get a bill through the legislature at the next session reaffirming the referendum law and the other is to elect the majority of the councilmen in the city at the next election. The latter course will probably be the one taken. The next city election will be held in January.
Medford Mail, October 29, 1908, page 1


MEDFORD CHARTER.
Made Basis of Decision in Liquor Case.
    SALEM, Or., Oct. 28.--That the charter of the city of Medford, enacted by the legislature in 1905, permits the city to license the sale of liquor notwithstanding the county of Jackson voted "dry" at the election of 1908, was declared by the Supreme Court yesterday in the case of J. C. Hall against the county court of Jackson County. Justice F. A. Moore wrote the opinion of the court, affirming the decision by Circuit Judge H. K. Hanna.
Special Charter for Medford.
    Briefly stated, the facts are that the local option law was adopted in 1904 permitting the people to vote by precincts or by counties on the liquor question. In 1905 the legislature amended the Medford charter authorizing that city, among other things, to license the sale of liquor "irrespective of any general law of the state on this subject enacted by the legislature or by the people at large." In 1908 the liquor question was submitted in Jackson County as a whole, and the county went "dry" by a vote of 2138 to 1881. At that time J. C. Hall held a saloon license in Medford, and when the county court was about to enter an order prohibiting the sale of liquor in Jackson County he brought an injunction suit to enjoin the county court from so doing so far as the mandate might affect the city of Medford. A demurrer interposed by the defendants was overruled and the injunction made permanent, whereupon the county court appealed. After stating the facts at some length, the opinion of the court holds that this is a proper case for the exercise of jurisdiction by an equity court and then says:
Exempt from Local Option Law.
    "The legislative assembly, when not interdicted by amendments to the organic law of the state, is a lawmaking body of coordinate authority with the people when the latter exercise the initiative power which they have reserved. The legislature, evidently reaching this conclusion at the next session after the enactment of the local option law, granted to several municipalities charters, in some of which it was provided that the power conferred, to license the sale of intoxicating liquors, should be subject to the provisions of the local option liquor law. A clause to that effect appears in the charter of Brownsville, of Halsey and of Junction City. Other charters were granted at the same time, containing clauses which were evidently intended to exempt certain municipalities from the operation of the provisions of the local option enactment. Thus the charter of Condon stipulates:
Specific in Condon's Charter.
    "'No provisions of the law concerning the sale of . . . liquor in Gilliam County or any law of the state of Oregon now or hereafter enacted shall apply to the sale of the same in the city of Condon.'
    "The charters of Estacada and Medford contain similar provisions.
    "It is quite probable that the attempt thus to exempt the cities of Condon, Estacada and Medford from the provisions of the local option law, and to prevent any further encroachments thereon impelled the amendment (in 1906) of section 2 of article 11 of the organic law of the state, so as to prohibit the legislative assembly from enacting, amending or repealing any municipal charter, and also induced the granting of such power to the legal voters of every city and town, but limiting their authority in such enactments as might contravene the constitution or subvert the criminal laws of the state. The local option liquor enactment has been held to be a criminal law, the provisions of which cannot be violated by the electors of a municipality in legislating in respect to a city charter."
    The opinion also holds that the amended Medford charter expressly repeals the local option law so far as it applies to Medford, and that it would have such effect by implication if it did not expressly.
Decision Not of Wide Effect.
    The decision of the Supreme Court in the Medford liquor case is not of a very wide effect, since the decision can apply only to Medford, Condon and Estacada. These were the only cities that had charter bills passed in 1905 giving them control of the liquor traffic, and since that time it has been impossible for any other city to secure a charter of that kind. In 1906 the amendment was adopted giving cities exclusive power to adopt their charters, "subject to the constitution and criminal laws of the state."
    The Supreme Court had held that the local option law is a criminal law, and no city charter adopted since 1906 can evade the local option law. Even these three cities can be voted "dry" by an amendment to their charters.
    The anti-saloon people have taken great interest in the Medford case, assuming that the decision that would be rendered by the Supreme Court would be of sweeping effect. It is said that the anti-saloon people spent considerable money fighting the case and that they are considerably wrought up over the decision. As a matter of fact, the decision is of consequence and can be of consequence in only the three cities mentioned. To illustrate the situation under the law and the decisions that have been rendered:
Special Privilege Limited.
    Albany is a city in a "dry" county. If the city should attempt to amend its charter so as to authorize the sale of liquor, the charter would be invalid in that respect, because [it would be] in contravention of that section of the constitution which provides that city charters must be "subject to the constitution and criminal laws of the state." In the case of Fouts vs. Hood River, the Supreme Court held that the local option law is a criminal law. If a large number of cities had obtained charters in 1905 granting them the power to license the sale of liquor, regardless of the local option law, the decision would have had a wide effect, but a search of the records shows that only these three cities whose charters were enacted in that year contained the clause granting this power. There were several cities whose charters of that year authorized the licensing of saloons, but they did not expressly annul the effect of the local option law, and the Supreme Court holds in the case of Renshaw vs. the City of Eugene that these charters were merely reenactments of existing charters and did not take the cities out from under the limitations of the local option law.
    All charters enacted prior to 1905 were superseded by the local option law, so far as control of the liquor traffic is concerned in a town in "dry" territory. All charters enacted since 1905 are controlled by the provision that all charters must be "subject to the criminal laws of the state." Only those charters enacted in 1905 which expressly exempted the cities from the provisions of the state liquor laws had the effect of evading the local option law; as shown above, there were three of these, Medford, Condon and Estacada. The people of these three cities can make them dry by amending their charters, so as to make them subject to the criminal laws of the state.
Medford Mail, November 5, 1908, page 4


MEDFORD PROHIS ACTIVE
Propose to Amend City Charter So as to Make Town "Dry."
    MEDFORD, Or., Dec. 14.--(Special.)--On account of the decision of the Supreme Court, in which it was decided that because of a clause in the Medford city charter, territory within its corporate limits was exempt from any law that might be passed by the people at large regarding the sale of liquor, prohibitionists have made efforts toward having the city charter changed at the coming session of the Legislature. They are circulating a petition among the legal voters of the city, and already 200 names have been secured.
Morning Oregonian, Portland, December 15, 1908, page 20


MEDFORD STILL AN OASIS
Prohibition Defeated in Southern Oregon Town by Decisive Vote.
    MEDFORD, Or., Jan. 12.--(Special.)--In the liveliest election ever held in this city prohibition was defeated. Both sides have worked hard during the campaign, but so quietly was the matter carried on that neither side would venture this morning to make a guess as to the outcome.
    Medford, by its remarkable charter giving it the right to govern its political affairs, which charter was sustained by the Supreme Court of the state, had remained the only "oasis" in the south part of the state. The prohibitionists firmly believed that a vote of the people would decide the matter for some time, and fully confident of the outcome in their favor, they entered the campaign.
    The vote was the largest in the history of the city on a city question, 925 votes being cast.
    W. H. Canon was elected Mayor, John Demmer, V. J. Emerick and E. A. Welch were elected Councilmen. Prohibition was defeated by 127 majority, and the attempt to amend the charter to make it comply with the local option law was defeated by a majority of 170.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, January 13, 1909, page 1


MEDFORD STAYS WET
127 Majority for Saloons--Ballot Box Stuffing Alleged--Canon Wins
    Medford will be "wet" territory for awhile yet. The question was the sole issue in the annual municipal election Tuesday, which resulted in the people giving 127 majority for licensing saloons during the coming year and electing the license ticket, including W. H. Canon for mayor, by a margin of 8 votes, and Messrs. Welch, Emerick and Demmer for councilmen. The proposed amendment to the charter to make it conform to the state local option law was defeated by a majority of 167 votes. The total vote cast was the largest ever shown in a city election in Medford, viz: 924.
Election Laws Outraged.
    The Medford Mail of yesterday says:
    Charging that scores of illegal votes were cast and that wagonloads of men from points outside the city were brought into Medford to vote at yesterday's election, the prohibition leaders will conduct a searching investigation during the next few days, and if the evidence can be secured to justify taking the matter into the court, a contest of the result of the election will be instituted.
    That the miners from the Blue Ledge Mine--who have no actual residence, nor ever have had, in Medford--were brought in and voted is the claim put forth by the leaders on the dry side. They further claim that miners from the coal mine were brought in to participate in the election and that they cast their votes, some of them even after they were challenged by the prohibition leaders.
    More than that, it is alleged that people from other towns in the county were voted by the liquor interests. The men in charge of the "dry" campaign assert that they were able to prove that citizens of Ashland voted at the polls. In fact, several Ashland people were challenged, and some of them did not have the temerity to swear their votes in. However, a considerable number did, according to the statements of the dry people.
    Beside these, there were a large number of floaters, whose residence nobody knows and who had never been seen in Medford before, who cast votes at the election. These are not all the instances of illegal voting set forth by the prohibitionists, and they claim that a sufficient number of such votes can be shown to have been cast to more that overbalance the majority of 127 against the prohibition.
Ashland Tidings, January 14, 1909, page 1



    Medford stays wet, the charter amendment is beaten by a decisive majority, W. H. Canon is elected mayor by a small majority, all three candidates on the business men's and taxpayers' ticket for councilmen are elected and the library tax carries by a good majority. Such is the result of the city election held yesterday after one of the most strenuous and bitter campaigns waged in the city of Medford.
    The majority against prohibition was a surprise to everyone, the "wets" having the best of the balloting by a majority of 127. Contrary to all expectations the wets carried every ward, the result being the closest in the second ward, where the vote stood 163 for and 179 against.
    On the amendment to the charter to make the local option law of the state apply to Medford a hot fight was waged, and the result shows that some of the believers in prohibition were affected by the argument of "home rule," urged by those who opposed the amendment. The amendment was defeated by a majority of 167. In the third [ward] the vote was almost two to one against the amendment, standing 356 for and 523 against.
Excerpt, "Prohibition and Charter Amendment Are Defeated," Medford Mail, January 15, 1909, page 1
The complete article is here.

Prohibition cartoon, March 23, 1909 Oregonian
March 23, 1909 Oregonian

Ashland and Medford

A Dry Town and a Wet Town Compared.

    The Medford Tribune made a hasty conclusion that the 14-mill tax levied by the city council of Ashland for the ensuing year was due to the no license policy for which Ashland is noted and immediately announced in big, black headlines that "Prohibition comes high."
    The liquor money has very little to do with the big levy made for city purposes for the ensuing year, unless it would be that the increased majority against the liquor business in Ashland at the city election on the 15th inst. may have inspired the city administration to inaugurate a forward movement and introduce municipal advantages on a broader scale and secure to the inhabitants of the city a more rapid introduction of public benefits than it had ever thought of undertaking under a liquor license administration.
    There is no particular necessity of getting an intoxicated idea of how much revenue the saloon license regime will bring to a city, and Ashland voters take a cool and collected estimate of its value and not a bloated one. It means about 1½ mills. On a valuation of $2,594,265, one and one-half mills will bring $3,891.40. One and two-thirds mills will yield $4,323.77.
    Ashland is not a heavy drinking community, and from the experience of past years by those engaged in the liquor business here, it is known that the business cannot stand any more than five saloons at the minimum license fee named in the charter, which is $800 per annum. As a practical demonstrated illustration that was the number of saloons and $4000 the amount of revenue raised the last saloon license year in Ashland and is the most reliable estimate for a basis of figuring.
    For a number of years it has been estimated that the saloon license revenue was equivalent to about 1½ mills or $1.50 on every $1000. Of course this leaves out of the question the respective benefits to be derived by the inhabitants of towns under an administration that gets its money from the taxable property of its people or levies on a certain institution for a specific amount in the nature of an annual bribe in return for its existence as a public institution.
    The prevailing idea at Medford has been that this institution has been its mainstay and not only the inspiration of its prosperity, but prosperity itself. The prevailing idea in Ashland has been that as an institution it is baneful, is destructive of the most substantial elements of a true and permanent prosperity, has forfeited its right to exist as a public institution, and therefore its money offering has no better standing than the $200,000 that Pat Calhoun gave Abe Ruef to scatter among the San Francisco supervisors to secure the overhead trolley franchise.
    An examination of the respective tax levies of the cities of Ashland and Medford and the purposes for which the taxpayers' money goes in the respective towns docs not disclose anything to the disadvantage of the judgment shown by the city of Ashland.
    An examination of the general finances of the two towns shows a history of bad management and bad blunders for Medford that has simply amazed its own thoughtful citizens, while the achievements of municipal enterprise in Ashland has been a history of unusual and extraordinary successes and its blunders have been few, scattered along in several years and amounting to such small sums that nobody but those who take a conservative interest in the history and records could recall them.
    We do not wish to seem to be out with a "hammer" after our neighboring town, because the prevailing judgment there seems to be an anxiety to get something for nothing--for that seems to be the license money motive, from the Ashland point of view, yet it is a known matter of record that our down the valley neighborhood was paying interest the first of this year on a bonded indebtedness of $100,000, and for the sum of $80,000 thereof it had not a thing to show, and that sum at least is rated as its monument to experiment and failure.
    The city tax levy (17½ mills) for the city of Medford for the coming year is distributed as follows: General fund for city purposes, 4 mills; interest fund 7½ mills; park fund, ½ mill; general sewer fund, 1 mill; street and road fund, 4½ mills; the total assessed valuation of property within the corporation is $2,481,135. An idea of the amount of Medford's 7½ mills for interest can be had from the fact that Ashland's total levy last year was six mills.--Ashland Valley Record.
*     *     *
    The city records show 192 arrests from the first of January last, to the present time, December 30. Of these 117 were for drunkenness and 62 were for fighting and using obscene and profane language in the places of business and on the streets of our city. Nine-tenths, at least, of these 62 arrests were due to the drunken conditions of the men. This makes, therefore, 173 arrests in Medford directly chargeable to the saloon from the first of January last to the present time. There were only 19 other arrests during the year and these for comparatively minor offenses, such as jumping on or off cars in motion, riding fast on the streets, begging, etc. Here, then, we have 90 percent of Medford's crime produced by the saloons. And, still more, 173 of our fellow-citizens made so drunk and so criminal by our 11 saloons that the police authorities of our city arrested them, dragged them through our streets and threw them into the city jail to sober up and appear before the city court. This is dishonoring to the manhood of our citizens, and no amount of money can compensate for the evil done to society. The number of arrests is only a small percentage of all the drunkenness during the year. If one was arrested for every ten drunk, then on that basis we have had 1730 drunken men in Medford during the year. To verify these facts go to the recorder's office and see the records; they are open to the public.--Medford Mail.
Oregon Teachers Monthly, March 1909, page 382


PROHIBITION IN JOSEPHINE.
How the System "Works Wet" in a "Dry" County.
Grants Pass Observer.
    It is a little over a year since Josephine became "dry," and in that time there has been more whiskey drinking in the county than ever before. The prohibition leaders here know that, because they obtained a list of all shipments from the station agent, who was afterwards brought to task by his superior officers for giving the information. Anybody, man or boy, can send $3 to Portland and receive by express prepaid four quarts of whiskey. This is very much cheaper than whiskey could be bought in Grants Pass when the saloons were in operation, and it is probably safe to say that thousands of packages of intoxicants have been shipped to this city from other counties and states. That is not prohibition. Apart from the obtaining of liquors lawfully, there has never been a time during the "dry" period when intoxicants could not be bought in Grants Pass by those who knew the ropes. New "blind pigs" were opened to share in the traffic, and for a time liquor was sold practically openly. The large profits induced the risk. The seller has no license to pay of consequence, and he gets double the price for drinks. Beer at 10 cents for a reduced glass pans out money quickly when trade is good, and it pretty regularly is in Grants Pass. There are, too, blind pigs doing business in the rural districts at the same profitable rates, and no licenses to pay.
    Prohibition in Josephine County has failed dismally. The sum of it is that drinking goes on just the same and the city loses $6000 license fees and the county $3000. In the saloon days minors had difficulty in getting liquor, and few succeeded. Under prohibition many minors obtain intoxicants with out any difficulty. Half the people of the county hold the prohibition law in contempt, and it tends to breed contempt for all law. Men of average good character have engaged in the illegal traffic and criminalized themselves. A few have been punished, but the sale of liquor goes on and cannot be stopped. Prohibition makes criminals, and does no good, for those who want stimulants can easily get them, and those who do not want stimulants have no need of prohibition. Many people voted last year to bar other people from drinking while they fully intended to keep supplies for themselves. That is contemptible and hypocritical. There is nothing good in prohibition, and very many people who favored it last year do not favor it now.
    The road from here to Woodville, in Jackson County, is hedged with empty bottles. Thousands of dollars go to Medford for liquors. Gold Hill gets a share. People in the southern part of Josephine County now trade in Medford who never traded there before. The sawmills are closing down and the workmen scattering with full purses. Many of them will go to Medford for a good time. Grants Pass loses revenue, loses trade and gains nothing but new evils. The Observer's forecast has been abundantly verified. Prohibition could not be enforced in Canada, where laws are strict, and it cannot be enforced in this country where laws are loose. Under it the old evil continues in worse form and other evils are induced.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, August 28, 1909, page 8


TRY TO MAKE MEDFORD DRY
Plan to Place the Orchard City in the Prohibitory Precincts
    A Medford dispatch to the Portland Telegram of the 2nd inst. claims that as a part of the general campaign, the plans which are now being perfected in all the counties of the state to make Oregon a dry state, after the next general election, the Prohibitionists of Jackson County are preparing for a strenuous fight against the saloons in this county. At the last election, Jackson County went dry, but Medford, having a charter granted at the previous session of the Legislature that gave the city rights above that of the county in granting liquor licenses, a legal technicality was raised, and the courts declared the election illegal. From inside information that has become public, it is said that the temperance workers intend to have the prohibition question voted upon at the next general election, which will be in November, 1910.
    To avoid the legal complications that would ensue were Medford included and the vote taken on county prohibition, that town will be left out and the election will be had by a district made up of all the precincts of the county except the two in which Medford is located. If these precincts are made dry, then prohibition for Medford will be voted on at the municipal election the following January.
    The temperance workers claim that by this procedure they can make the election legal and thus force Jackson County into the list of dry counties of Oregon. The managers of the dry forces claim that they can easily carry these elections, as they have made a poll of the settlers within the last two or three years, and that two out of three of them are in favor of prohibition.
    Jackson County is now partially dry, the towns without saloons being Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Central Point and Eagle Point. Medford leads the wet towns with 11 saloons, and Jacksonville has four, Gold Hill three and Woodville one. There are in the county two gallon-houses, as they are called. These are country saloons that operate under a United States license to sell liquor only by wholesale, and in quantities not less than a gallon. One of these gallon-houses is located on Poorman Creek, back of Jacksonville, and the other is on Rogue River adjoining the Josephine County line. This latter saloon is but six miles from Grants Pass, which, with Josephine County, has been dry since the election a year ago, and it is doing a land office business, supplying the thirsty from that town and other parts of Josephine County.
Ashland Tidings, September 6, 1909, page 8


    The platform adopted by the Prohibition Party at its recent state convention, held in Portland, contends that the better the saloon the more pernicious it becomes. Such an argument is wholly unsound and can only result in disfavor among thinking men who are doing all in their power to promote the cause of temperance. One may believe that all saloons are bad, but it is hard to conceive that the orderly, well-kept places can, by any process of reasoning, be deemed of greater detriment to the community than the dive.
Medford Saturday Review, June 25, 1910, page 2


    A little girl who attended the temperance lecture at the tabernacle Monday evening was much interested in the song:
    "Oregon's going dry,
    Pass along the watchword
    Oregon's going dry."
    However she didn't catch the exact sentiment and was heard the next day lustily singing:
    "Pass along the washrag
    Oregon's going dry."
    A case of "wash and be made clean," possibly.
"The Inner Side," The Saturday Review, Medford, August 6, 1910, page 1

September 24, 1910 Medford Saturday Review
September 24, 1910 Medford Saturday Review


ANTI-PROHIBITION
Senator Ruth Delivers Lecture in U.S. Hall Wednesday Evening
    A. S. Ruth of Olympia, Wash. delivered an address in the U.S. Hall Wednesday evening under the auspices of the Oregon Home Rule Association. Mr. Ruth is a forcible speaker, and his presentation of the prohibition question was along somewhat different lines from those usually followed by platform orators.
    The speaker aimed to show by statistics that prohibition does not prohibit, and that in states where it had been tried it had proved a failure, causing deceit, hypocrisy, etc. The address was interspersed with numerous quotations from eminent preachers, statesmen, etc.
    The speaker claimed to be a believer in temperance, but held that prohibition would never help the temperance cause, merely changing the manner of drinking and quality of liquor used.
Jacksonville Post, October 8, 1910, page 1


"PROHIBITION" IN A SMALL TOWN
At Grants Pass, Or., More Liquor and Taxes, and "Stuff" Bought Elsewhere.
Oregon (Grants Pass) Observer.
    Let us review the prohibition of intoxicants in Josephine County since that system was inaugurated by popular vote in 1908. The law was put in force on July 1 of that year, and the licensed saloons were thence out of business. But there were a great many people, nearly half the population, who indulged more or less in alcoholic beverages, and these people were not willing to accept the prohibition order of their fellow citizens. The near beer saloons immediately following the licensed saloons were well patronized, but many persons preferred to obtain their supplies reputably. For some of these Portland and San Francisco were the main sources of supply. Numerous others preferred the social glass over the saloon bar, and found the conditions favorable at Woodville, in "wet" Jackson County, just across the county line from "dry" Josephine, eight miles from Grants Pass.
    Woodville did not count much on the map two years ago. It was little known, and yet there was a fine fruit and agricultural district surrounding it waiting to be discovered. Grants Pass visitors did the business. They inaugurated a steady flow of money from Grants Pass to Woodville, and a steady flow of empty bottles back to Grants Pass. Incidentally, the valuable resources of Woodville became known. Grants Pass money, however, had prompt influence. The little Woodville hamlet of two years ago is now an incorporated city. The little burg needed only a start, and the "dry"  conditions of Josephine County supplied it.
*    *    *
    Without going into the unfailing experience of all communities that have endeavored to prohibit the use of intoxicants by law, let us have a look at Grants Pass since it became "dry." The year 1909 was the deadest year ever known in this city. There was a well-intentioned "dry" administration, but nothing could balance the collapse of trade. There was 100 percent increase in city taxes, and at the end of that "dry" year an increased debt of $7000, with absolutely nothing to show for the large expenditure. The taxpayers revolted at the end of 1909, and elected a progressive administration. The retiring city council left to the new council an additional 50 percent of city taxation. Two years of prohibition increased the direct city taxes of Grants Pass exactly 150 percent and other taxes were pushed.
*    *    *
    The 1910 city council constitutes a business administration, backed by the leading business men of Grants Pass not passively, but actively. Much has been done. Grants Pass has assumed city airs with pavement and generous lights. There have been large payrolls but dull business. Too much money goes to Woodville and Medford. There is no prohibition that can prevent a class of working people in a "dry" town from spending their savings in a "wet" town. Not all for "wet" goods, but with the freedom to purchase "wet" goods a first consideration. So it was with a bunch of Josephine miners who came to Grants Pass a while ago for supplies. They didn't buy them here. Medford got the trade. Medford has grown big and fat by reason of the mistaken policies of Grants Pass and Ashland.
*    *    *
    What about the moral effect of prohibition on .the youth of the community? There is no need to philosophize on this question, but facts are always valuable. Under the city ordinances of Grants Pass, a heavy penalty was imposed for the selling of liquor to minors. It was a righteous law, and a few convictions under it speedily ended that abuse up to the passing of county option, which overruled the city ordinances. Under the county option law, any boy or girl, or woman or man, has a legal right to purchase intoxicants. Otherwise the informers who were here last year dare not report. It is the sellers who are liable to penalty. The youth of Grants Pass perfectly understand this. There was a little company of them about a year ago who indulged in spiritous liquors on Saturday nights, all minors. The same thing is reported from all the dry counties of the state. The liquor of Grants Pass boys was obtained presumably from Portland dealers, and required only a signed order and $3 enclosed for a gallon of whiskey. Under the saloon system this traffic in gallon was not previously known here, probably because of wholesale and retail restraints. Anyhow, boys of Grants Pass, as in other dry towns, obtained liquor supplies, and there was a little Saturday night jollification inaugurated. It developed, and presently the night policeman took a hand. He sought to capture one of the boys, but failed, probably willingly. There were in this bunch of boys the sons of some of the best families in Grants Pass. The city ordinances, enforced by the police, put a bar on this wrong. County option lifted the ban and the boys continue to pass under. But, after all, when a Grants Pass youth hits the train for the Oregon University or any other higher training school, and is piled up on his own resources, is it better that he should know something about the evils that threaten him, or be perfectly ignorant of his danger?
    Regarding the rural districts of Josephine County, the gallon parcel has been in open evidence these past two years. People who formerly drank 3 or 4 percent beers are now drinking 40 to 50 percent whiskeys, and it isn't good for them.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, October 29, 1910, page 10


ANTI-SALOON PEOPLE PARADE
    A great parade Monday, at 6:30 p.m., Nov. 7. The parade forms on 3rd and N. Oakdale and W. Main, and will start at 7 p.m. The parade will terminate at the Natatorium for a great mass meeting. The greatest parade ever pulled off in Medford. One cornet band, two martial bands of music. Automobiles, bicycles, floats, horseback riders and a great multitude marching in line. Everybody come, whole county is invited. Oregon dry in 1910. --(Paid advertisement)
Medford Mail Tribune, November 6, 1910, page 4


HAVE PARADE IN SPITE OF HEAVY RAIN
    The anti-saloon parade Monday night was of considerable length, in spite of the rain, which caused it to become one of the wettest dry demonstrations ever made in Southern Oregon.
    A program was held in the auditorium at the "Nat," consisting of short addresses by local and foreign prohibition orators. The Central Point band furnished music for the occasion.
Medford Sun, November 8, 1910, page 4


"DRYS" THANK BREWERY
Medford Temperance Union Expresses Gratitude for Donation.
    MEDFORD, Or., Aug. 17.--(Special.)--The singular situation of members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union officially giving thanks to a brewery was brought about today when the Medford branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union thanked local concerns for donations to an ice cream social recently given in the city park, and among them was Weinhard's Brewery.
    This brewery not only deals in beer and spirituous liquors, but manufactures ice, of which it donated a quantity for the ice cream social. Whether the members of the organization were not aware of the character of a brewery or believed it proper to encourage any concern of whatever character in helping along the temperance cause, has not as yet been learned, but the notice appeared giving thanks to the electric company, newspapers and the local brewery.
Sunday Oregonian, Portland, August 18, 1912, page 10


BLIND PIGS ARE RAIDED
Women of Butte Falls Win Victory by Complaint Filed.
    MEDFORD, Or., Sept. 21.--(Special.)--In answer to a petition of complaint from the women of Butte Falls, prosecuting attorney Mulkey and Sheriff Jones raided the blind pigs in that place today, arresting J. F. Brooks and seizing several bottles and one barrel of beer. Armed with a search warrant the officers descended upon the Pacific & Eastern depot, where they appropriated the barrel of beer, which was billed to Brooks.
    Several weeks ago the women of that place complained to Governor West of the non-enforcement of the laws regarding liquor sales, and it was at his request that the raid was made. According to current report the Governor is contemplating asking the resignation of the town officials for their delinquency in office. It is also said that the wet forces of the city put through the incorporation of the town about a year ago for the purpose of evading the liquor laws governing the county, but according to Mr. Mulkey there is no escape on the grounds of incorporation.

Sunday Oregonian, Portland, September 22, 1912, page 5


"BLIND PIG" KEEPER FINED
Petition of Butte Falls Women Leads to Raid and Arrest.
    On Friday night of last week Sheriff Jones and Prosecuting Attorney Mulkey raided the establishment of Joseph F. Brooks at Butte Falls and discovered a considerable quantity of liquor, which they confiscated. Brooks was placed under arrest and lodged in the county jail in this city.
    An additional supply of liquor consigned to Brooks was found by Sheriff Jones at the P.&E. depot in Medford.
    At a hearing held before Justice Dox Monday morning, Brooks, who at first was defiant, saying the officers would have to prove him guilty, entered a plea of guilty to the charge of illicit sale of liquor in prohibition territory and was fined $150 and costs. The liquor confiscated was destroyed.
    This arrest and conviction was the result of a petition addressed to Governor West by the women of Butte Falls, requesting him to put a stop to the illicit sale of liquor in their city. This petition was forwarded to Sheriff Jones and Attorney Mulkey with instructions from the governor to act at once.

Jacksonville Post, September 28, 1912, page 1


EAGLE POINT WILL VOTE WET OR DRY QUESTION
Judge Calkins Instructs County Court to Order Election
    Eagle Point will tangle on the local liquor question within the very near future. Overruling a demurrer filed on Saturday last, Judge Calkins, of the circuit court, instructed County Judge TouVelle to issue the order for a special election under the local option law. Judge Calkins held that the power of the county court is merely administrative in questions of local option elections, and decreed that the prohibitionists of Eagle Point should have the opportunity of determining whether that city shall henceforth be wet or dry. The question will be put to the voters of that city November 4th.
Gold Hill News, October 25, 1913, page 8


THE EAGLE POINT ELECTION
    An Eagle Point correspondent of the Ashland Tidings hotly denies the currently reported lack of interest in the recent local election which slated that hamlet for another season of licensed saloons, and the blessings that flow abundantly therefrom. "White Ribbon," for such is the nom de plume beneath the communication, asserts that every legal voter in Eagle Point, excepting two, participated in the election; and further states that the judges were saloon men, that eight unregistered voters were permitted to cast ballots, and that the "whiskey judges" cleared the room while the votes were being counted. The worst possible interpretation of every election day incident is brought to prove the invalidity of the victory for booze. The curse of the prohibition cause lies in its foolishly fanatical recruits--and in a disposition to attack the issue anonymously. With the exception of the unregistered voters, who were doubtless sworn in as provided, the charges of fraud are deserving of a champion whose identity is assured, and whose courage is sufficient to start the proper investigation. Viewed as presented they are unworthy of credence, and in their anonymous reflections against presumably honest judges of election constitute an exposition of the fact that unfairness may masquerade as well in righteousness as in rye.
Gold Hill News, November 22, 1913, page 2


    George E. Boos, now vice-president of the Jackson County branch of the Taxpayers and Wage Earners League, was in Gold Hill for the fair, having the "best of good times" and preaching the propaganda against statewide prohibition.
"Local News Notes,"
Gold Hill News, September 26, 1914, page 3

Prohibition 1914-10-10p2MMT
October 10, 1914 Medford Mail Tribune


Tavern Hotel
J. M. VOGELI, Prop.
MODERN WITH HOT AND COLD WATER
BAR AND BARBER SHOP IN CONNECTION
ACROSS THE STREET FROM DEPOT
Eagle Point, Oregon, Oct. 28, 1914
My dear John
    Yours of the 26th was forwarded to me here, where I have been doing a little campaigning.
    It is very hard to size up the situation here this year. The Democrats have the best organization, and Putnam of the Tribune exerts a greater influence than he is generally credited with. The estimates on results vary widely. Prohis claim Jackson by 2000--antis concede drys about 500. The conservative estimate is about 1000 dry majority.
    Chamberlain appears to be a strong favorite in Jackson--his majority being estimated at from 250 to 1000. The situation may be altered by Booth's visit here today and tomorrow and also by the final spurt of the Ladies' Hanley Club, led by Mrs. Ed Hanley & Mrs. Reddy, but it seems certain that George will get a substantial majority. The general idea seems also to be that Smith will carry the county, but by a smaller majority. They rely on a sweeping majority in Ashland on account of the strong prohibition feeling there.
    In Josephine they figure on a dry majority of about 250--about the same for Chamberlain, and a tossup for the governorship. These predictions are widely at variance with the registration figures, but represent the consensus of opinion so far as anything reliable can be ascertained. The Republican organization is really a joke, while the Demos have been working like H--l.
With best regards
    Holbrook Withington
Correspondence 1914, Mss 1500 6/10, Oregon Historical Society Research Library


Brewery Depot to Be Creamery.
    MEDFORD, Or., May 22.--(Special.)--Butter will replace beer in Medford when the state goes dry. Announcement was made today that the Jackson County Creamery has leased the Weinhard beer and ice depot and will install a modern creamery. L. P. Holgerson, an expert butter maker, has been employed to take charge of the creamery and an effort will be made to develop the dairy industry throughout the Rogue River Valley. Medford has one dairy now, there is a large one on the Applegate but, according to well-informed agriculturists, the valley has developed but a small percentage of its resources in this line.
Sunday
Morning Oregonian, Portland, May 23, 1915, page 9


Druggists Told How To Get Liquor for Use
    Salem, Or., Dec. 16--Attorney General Brown has rendered an opinion to the effect that the one means by which druggists can obtain rum, whiskey, gin or wine for medicinal preparations under the prohibition law is under the section making it permissible for any person or head of a family to receive from a common carrier two quarts of liquor or 24 quarts of beer every four successive weeks. The law makes no other provision for them to obtain any of these liquors, he held.
Jacksonville Post, December 18, 1915, page 2


    One Medford saloon man who, with all the others, is retiring from that business in this state, said yesterday, "I'm mighty glad it's at an end. There is not a redeeming feature to the business. As long as there's competition in the matter of making fools and paupers of men and women who have the liquor disease, those in it made the business appear as attractive as possible. The little children who have suffered on account of having dissipated parents in this generation ought to set this prohibition palace on a foundation as solid as that of Gibraltar."
    Ed. Brown, who beat the New Year to it by a day or so when he closed his saloon permanently on Wednesday evening, is now at work in the reconstruction of the interior of the building, on the corner of Main and Front streets, for the proposed cigar and confectionery business and soft drink parlor.

"Local and Personal,"
Medford Mail Tribune, December 31, 1915, page 2


SALOONS CLOSE DOORS FOREVER AT MIDNIGHT HOUR
    The remaining stocks of alcoholic liquors in Medford were being disposed of rapidly today in anticipation of the statewide prohibition law becoming effective at midnight. In many places, however, the rush to lay in stocks of liquor was not as heavy as expected, the slogan "do your New Year's shopping early" having been heeded by most of those who believe in preparedness.
    Many saloons opened their doors today more out of habit than for any other reason, as their stocks were practically exhausted. One saloon had already sold out and closed its doors Wednesday evening.
    The district attorney's office has made arrangements to see that the sale of alcoholic drinks stops with the end of 1915. After midnight, proprietors of saloons selling liquor will be liable to arrest under the common nuisance clause of the prohibition act.
    State and city authorities planned to see to the strict enforcement of the law throughout Jackson County, and the proprietors of all places where intoxicants are sold have made ready to see that the last drop has disappeared before the law takes effect.
    The druggists of this city, being permitted to carry only grain alcohol (brandy, whiskeys, etc., not being permitted, even for prescription purposes), may conclude to denature the alcohol. It may be, however, that, in deference to the wish of those who would occasionally prepare some of their old-fashioned medicines at home in which alcohol is used, they will carry it in both forms.
    The final farewell to the old year will be celebrated at the Hotel Medford tonight.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 31, 1915, page 8


    The Rogue River Canal Company is pushing its work on the Willow Springs extension as rapidly as possible, but is short of men. There is no excuse for the presence of an idler in this valley at this time. There is work for every man who desires it. Even the farmers are heard to complain of the scarcity of help this year. Usually the reverse is true. No one has offered a generally satisfactory reason for the existence of that condition at this time, unless it be that the prohibition law has driven the loafers out of the state, as well as workmen of good repute who prefer larger privilege socially and, being footloose, have gone where they can enjoy it.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, March 20, 1916, page 2



WOEFUL WASTE OF GOOD WINE IN CITY GUTTERS
    With Chief of Police Hittson as master of ceremonies and Judge Kelly as toastmaster, sixty gallons of wine, representing many days of painstaking labor and patience on the part of Paul Demmer, were today ruthlessly turned into the plebeian gutter that carries the dregs of everyday accumulations past the municipal bastille.
    Five barrels were rolled out of the metropolis prison. With a huge hammer Chief Hittson became a knocker for a few minutes, while he cleared the bungholes of the oaken casks and turned the crimson liquor into the street. A crowd had gathered to witness this drastic application of a provision of the prohibition law.
    Paul Demmer wasn't there. He had been fined $25 and costs for having sold claret from those barrels. All he asked was that the officials save for him the casks. They will do for vinegar, hereafter. So he spared himself the grief of witnessing the confiscation and destruction of his property in liquid form.
    The odor was rich, racy and rare. It soon suffused the atmosphere of bastille alley. Men bemoaned the pity of the waste. Others fervently thanked the officials who thus grimly enforced a righteous law. Flies and bees soon began to sip the wine from the gutter and to flutter about in their gleeful intoxication as if it were better than honey.
    Slowly the crimson flood rippled away until only the odor was left to suggest the utter waste of myriad headaches and the commonest cause of nervous disorder.
Medford Sun, March 29, 1916, page 6


    Sixty gallons of wine belonging to Paul Demmer were poured into the sewers at Medford Wednesday by Chief Hittson.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, April 1, 1916, page 3


BARREL A DAY OF BOOZE SLIPPED OVER SISKIYOUS
    Prohibition and the consequent aridity, which, like the German warships, is of a "low visibility," has brought to Medford and Jackson County an unincorporated organization, working as silently as the engine of $9000 auto, and with the deadly accuracy of a machine gun. The organization constitutes the main line of communication between Hornbrook and the hip pocket, and is three times as fast in delivery as the ordinary common carrier. They are the boys who bring across the deadline tabooed liquids to friends, thus throwing out a lifeline.
    It is becoming quite a custom in Medford among those who have not the time or the gasoline to go to Northern California, to have some of those who are on the jump most of the time between the desert and the oasis to bring back a bottle of this or that or the other thing. No friend would deny a friend so small a favor. Thus the stay-at-home gets his potations without the task of writing and waiting and calling at the express office, and also evolutes with considerable grace around that portion of the dry law restricting him to a stated number of quarts of snakebite per month. The gadder receives the exhilaration of his own imbibing and the satisfaction of helping out a thirsty native. It is estimated that in the neighborhood of a barrel of booze oozes into Jackson County between every sunup and sunset upon the wheels of friendship.
    There is no way to stop the practice which is assuming heft daily, except to declare a state of war and invoke "the right of search" along the border. Prohibition has sent the bartender back to the plow and the forge and counter, and in his place flourishes the life-saver.

Medford Mail Tribune, June 6, 1916, page 6


The Law We Have Is Good.
    The dry law, now operative in Oregon, is a good and logical law. Despite urging to the contrary, the thing to do is to stand pat upon the enforcement and efficacy of the law we have. On the one hand it is unthinkable and would be unwise and distinctly retrogressive to restore the breweries to legal status in this state, and on the other hand public sentiment does not demand nor will it approve a measure that proposes air-tight prohibition.
    The present dry law is not sumptuary in the offensive sense. It was not aimed at the personal right or liberty of any citizen, nor does it deny them. Its purpose was to be rid of the liquor trade as an economic evil, to banish the saloon and forbid the manufacture of intoxicants in Oregon, which mean the maintenance of the saloon in one form or another. This purpose it has achieved effectually. We are not going to undo the work, and we should not attempt to overdo it.
    Under the operation of the law we have, drinking is not one-tenth of what it was before that law went into effect, and the evil effects of the drink traffic, as they might be summarized, are not one-hundredth part of what they were. The law has served its purpose better than even its friends expected it would. It is in appreciable measure responsible for depressed commerce or other business conditions. If it were to be resubmitted to a vote today it would command thousands of votes that were cast against it when it was made part of Oregon's constitution.
    All this is simple statement of fact that attests to the logic, the service and the general approval of the law. If we are wise, we will not embarrass the operation of the law we have by re-establishing the breweries. That would be backtracking--and an about face toward the conditions we have abandoned. Neither do we need to seek the passage of a stricter law, in the mistaken assumption that it would be better. Either course would be a serious if not a disastrous blunder. The safe course and the wise course is to stand pat, keep the law we have and see that it is well enforced.--Portland Telegram.

Jacksonville Post,
August 12, 1916, page 3



    It is said that a line of jitneys, four in number, are making regular trips from Hornbrook, Cal., to Portland, carrying booze for the thirsty at the Oregon metropolis.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, December 16, 1916, page 3


    Medford druggists have decided not to renew their government license to sell alcohol.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, June 30, 1917, page 3


ESTES ARRESTED; EIGHTY GALLONS
OF BOOZE CONFISCATED
    The most important bootlegging arrests of the summer were made by three special liquor officers of the county on the Pacific Highway up in the Siskiyous late Wednesday night. In the car of Rankin Estes, well-known Medford man and proprietor of the Oaks pool and card hall on Front Street, was found 14 cases of whiskey, and in another car driven by a Portland man, who refuses to give his name, was found 13½ cases of whiskey. Altogether about 80 gallons of whiskey.
    The arrests were followed by a raid this morning on Estes' pool hall by Sheriff Jennings and deputies, who arrested two men connected with the place and after a thorough search carried away as evidence a small quantity of liquor.
    There is a mystery about the so-called Portland prisoner. He refuses to give his name or other information about himself. The car he was driving is a Chalmers Six, and bears the state license number 29118. The owner of this number is registered to Z. L. Dimmick of Grants Pass.
    County Prosecutor Roberts and the officers are still investigating the alleged bootlegging operations this afternoon. Mr. Roberts says that other arrests will probably follow. It is claimed by the county authorities and police that Estes has been in the bootlegging business ever since the prohibition law went into effect, but that they were never able to find sufficient evidence heretofore to cause his arrest.
    It is further claimed that Estes has made numerous bootlegging trips to Hornbrook, one of which was last Monday night.
Made by Special Officers.
    The arrests of Estes and the Portland man were made about midnight last night by Special Officers John B. Wimer, W. J. Carpenter and R. C. Porter, all of Ashland, and who formerly constituted the police force of that city. Sheriff Jennings and Paul Anderson, his deputy, were also on the mountain, but were some distance away watching for another suspected case.
    Estes and the Portland man came along in their cars together, but claim that they were not working in partnership. The Portland man is said to be a stranger here. The prisoners and confiscated liquor were brought to this city. The charge against each was that of illegally bringing liquor into the state.
    The Portland man said that he would be unable to furnish bail in any amount, and when the bail for Estes was set at $2,500 the latter declared that he would rather be imprisoned than furnish it.
Objects to City Jail.
    The officers were about to lock the men in the city prison, but Estes objected so strenuously to being locked in such a filthy place and demanded that he and the other prisoner be taken to the county jail, that the officers, especially as the men were state prisoners, had to accommodate them.
    They were locked up in the county jail and will be arraigned, by order of County Prosecutor Roberts, before Justice of the Peace Taylor this afternoon. The prisoners for reasons best known to themselves did not want to be arraigned today, although each claims he does not want to be represented by an attorney.
    After County Prosecutor Roberts had conferred this morning with Sheriff Jennings and the arresting officers the sheriff went before Justice Taylor and swore out a search warrant for Estes' pool hall. Then he and deputies Anderson and Leslie Stansell searched the place and found a small quantity of whiskey.
    "Guess they were just about out of stock," remarked Sheriff Jennings later, "and lots of the boys had to go thirsty this forenoon."
Employee Arrested.
    Following the raid Prosecutor Roberts swore out warrants for the arrest of Estes, W. J. George, a clerk in the pool hall, and Harvey E. Wilcox, who runs a barber shop in the hall. Later the prosecutor and sheriff became convinced that Wilcox had nothing to do with the alleged bootlegging operations, and he was released. George, when arraigned before Justice Taylor, pleaded not guilty, and his bond was set at $500 and his hearing for 2 o'clock Friday afternoon. The arresting warrant charged Estes and George with maintaining on August 30 a common nuisance known as the Oaks pool hall and in violation of the law by keeping whiskey for sale therein. Estes will also be arraigned on this charge this afternoon.
    Efforts will be made by the county to have the place suppressed. Mayor Gates several weeks ago at a council meeting also threatened to have the place suppressed on account of gambling complaints, but nothing ever came of his declaration.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 30, 1917, page 6


SHERIFF DESTROYS 112 GALLONS OF SEIZED WHISKEY
    There was excitement in Jacksonville Friday, when Sheriff Jennings and Deputy Sheriffs Anderson and Stansell destroyed 112 gallons of whiskey, by pouring it into Jackson Creek.
    The ordeal of witnessing such a wanton waste of (to them) precious fluid was almost too much for a number of the old-timers of the town, and those who were not running around aimlessly with their tongues hanging out of parched throats were in a dazed, tear-bedimmed condition
    The destroyed whiskey was that taken in the bootlegging captures of Rankin Estes and C. H. Smith of Portland on the Siskiyous Wednesday night, and the raids on Estes' pool hall and home in this city yesterday. The whiskey was destroyed in accordance with the law, by order of County Prosecutor Roberts.
    Last week, by Prosecutor Roberts' orders, another large quantity of whiskey taken from captured bootleggers was destroyed by being poured into Bear Creek. On these occasions of destroying confiscated liquors the officers always have competent witnesses present.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 31, 1917, page 2


    Rankin Estes of Medford and C. H. Smith of Portland pleaded guilty to the charge of illegally importing liquor into the state and were fined $500, and given a sentence of six months in the county jail by Justice Taylor at Medford Thursday afternoon. The men were brought back and placed in the county jail in this city. Thursday night Sheriff Jennings went to Estes' residence and secured about 35 gallons of whiskey which had been cached away. Friday morning the sheriff and deputies emptied about 112 gallons of booze into the creek, it being the whiskey found in the cars when Smith and Estes were arrested plus the 35 gallons secured in the raid on Estes' house Thursday evening.
"Local News," Jacksonville Post, September 1, 1917, page 3


CROSSING THE DEAD LINE.
    The Ashland Tidings gives the painful details of a humiliating episode near the state line the other night, when four young Medford men who had been making a foraging sortie into California drove into a net stretched by the officers of the law.
    The car in which the Medford men were speeding north was intercepted about three miles south of Ashland. A search revealed no liquor, and the deputies were greatly nonplussed, for they have a strong sense of smell. Then the idea seized one officer to search an automobilist for concealed contraband, and the victim, aware of his rights, demanded a warrant. The deputy, who was also City Recorder of Ashland, calmly reached in his pocket, brought forth several blank documents, filled them out and handed them to another official, who served them.
    Then, alas! there was a fearful exposure. Bottles were everywhere. "They had filled their pockets," avers the Tidings, "with quarts and pints. In the tops of their shoes and cuffs of their pants half-pint and tenth-pint bottles were found. In their hats, vest pockets, shirt fronts and every conceivable part of their clothing could be found small bottles of the wet stuff. About three gallons of liquor were taken from the men."
    The bootlegging industry, it would appear, will languish under the persistent investigations of obtrusive officials. Not even the insides of tires or extra gasoline tanks are now safe. Ingenuity will have to tax its resources and find some new scheme; and that, too, will in turn be discovered, provided the vigilance of the law equals the determination of the importers.
    Some day, perhaps, our thirsty citizens may reach the belated conclusion that the game is not worth the candle.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, September 20, 1917, page 10


    Rankin Estes, serving a six months sentence in the county jail for bootlegging, paid his $500 fine and costs and was released, the balance of his jail sentence being suspended. He had been in jail about two months.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, October 27, 1917, page 3


    Dr. F. G. Swedenburg of Ashland, who was arrested Saturday night in the Siskiyous for illegally transporting liquor into dry territory, pled guilty to the charge, claiming that the liquor was for use at his hospital. He was fined $25, and the sentence suspended.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, November 24, 1917, page 3


SPECIAL COPS FOR DRUNKS ON TRAIN
    The Southern Pacific has found it necessary to keep a special policeman on No. 13, southbound passenger train between Ashland and Redding, to keep order among the drunks. Men coming south from the dry states of Washington and Oregon strike an oasis of booze at Hornbrook, the first town in California where the train makes any considerable stop. The train always stops at Hornbrook for ten minutes to take water on the locomotive and for car inspection.
    This gives the thirsty traveler ample time to load up with bottles and flasks at the Hornbrook saloons. A similar stop of ten minutes is always made at Dunsmuir, the end of the division, and there it is easy to purchase more liquor. By the time the train is in Shasta County the full effect of the booze is apparent, and there is plenty of work for a railroad policeman to do to preserve order.
    Railroad officials say traveling in the smoker on No. 13 would be unbearable if it were not for the robust policeman who has authority to preserve order at all hazards.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 29, 1917, page 2


EX-BEAVER MAKES BUTTER
S. A. Kroschel Has Largest Creamery Plant in Jackson County.
    MEDFORD, Or., Jan. 10.--(Special.)--S. A. Kroschel, manager of the Jackson County Creamery, will build a new establishment at a cost of $25,000, with a capacity of 2000 pounds of butter a day.
    Mr. Kroschel was formerly the Weinhard Brewery agent in Medford, and when the state went dry he transformed his plant into a creamery. He now has the largest establishment of the kind in Jackson County. The old brewery building will be continued as an ice manufacturing plant. In addition to the new building, Mr. Kroschel has taken over the Medford Poultry and Egg Company and will conduct this business in connection with the creamery.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, January 11, 1918, page 7


BOOTLEGGING RAID CATCHES OLD OFFENDERS
    Rankin Estes and Carl Reed, of local bootlegging fame, each of whom has a suspended jail sentence hanging over him, are again in serious bootlegging trouble. They, with J. D. Buckley, well-known resident of the Applegate district, were arrested at Reed's home at 11 o'clock last night by Deputy Sheriff Paul Anderson and night policeman Timothy.
    This forenoon County Prosecutor Roberts caused a charge of illegally selling liquor to be placed against Estes, and two charges against Reed--that of possessing liquor and another of receiving liquor, and a charge of vagrancy against Buckley. When arraigned before Police Judge Taylor each of the prisoners pleaded and guilty.
    The date of trial and amount of bail of each was set as follows: Estes, Monday at 3 p.m., bail $500; Reed, Saturday at 2 p.m., bail $200, and Buckley at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, bail $100. Up to a late hour this afternoon the men were unable to raise bail.
    The authorities had been keeping a watch on Reed's home, at the corner of Fourth and Ivy streets, for several nights in hopes of catching him and Estes in the act of illegally trafficking in booze. It is understood that attention was first attracted through the alleged fact that Buckley has been drinking hard for a week or so and was a frequent visitor to the Reed house. Then, it is said, suspicion was further enhanced by the alleged fact that a number of Buckley's bank checks appeared in the city with Reed's endorsement on them.
    Late last night the officers were in hiding near the Reed house when Estes was seen to approach it. Estes and Reed then conferred on the porch, and it is claimed Estes was seen to hand over a quart bottle of whiskey to Reed. At this juncture the officers closed in quickly. One of them seized Reed and the bottle, who, when he saw them, did not wait to hand the other bottle to Reed, but ran away with it. After a short pursuit he was captured, but not before he had broken the bottle and spilled its contents.
    Estes last August was captured on his way home from Hornbrook with a large quantity of liquor in his auto. He was found guilty and fined $500 and sentenced to six months in jail. After he had served two months, on recommendation of County Prosecutor Roberts, the remainder of his sentence was suspended. For some time Estes has been working at the Gold Hill cement plant. For a long time prior to his first arrest it was common talk around town that Estes was selling whiskey at his pool room on Front Street.
    Reed is also an old offender. Last March he was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to ninety days in jail. His sentence was suspended after he had served two months. About two months ago night policeman Gerking suspected him of selling liquor to a man on the street one night and went to arrest him. On the approach of the officer Reed broke the bottle of whiskey he had with him on the street. In police court he was fined $12.35 for throwing broken glass on the street.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 25, 1918, page 6


ESTES SENTENCED TO YEAR IN JAIL AND $100 FINE
    Rankin Estes, arrested last Thursday night for bootlegging, upset the dope in justice court yesterday afternoon by pleading not guilty, instead of guilty, and a lively little trial resulted.
    Mr. Estes was represented by Attorney P. J. Neff, but did not take the stand, and no defense was offered after the state completed its case. Justice Taylor pronounced a verdict of guilty, and as this is his second offense Estes was fined $100 and given a year in jail. On motion of District Attorney Roberts, and in consideration of Mr. Estes' wife and seven children who depend upon him for support, the sentence was suspended for six weeks to allow Estes time to undergo an operation which will fit him to leave town and secure employment.
Estes Will Appeal
    Attorney Neff also gave notice of appeal which automatically suspended the sentence, but it is doubtful if the case will ever be brought before the circuit court.
    Estes did not appear saddened by his second appearance in court, nor particularly grateful for the lenience granted him, but adopted a rather belligerent and surly attitude, criticizing both the court and the state and taking on the air of one who had been unjustly treated.
    The evidence offered by the state was sufficiently convincing. "Coll" Reed, arrested with Estes, and ordered out of town, testified that he had frequently secured booze from the defendant, and that on the night in question he had a small supply at his home which, the evidence indicated, Estes had been called upon to replenish.
    "Did you get it"? Prosecuting Attorney Roberts asked.
    "No," was the reply, "the cops beat me to it."
Buckley Put on Stand
    The party at the Reed home was also described by J. D. Buckley of Applegate, another of the defendants convicted Saturday, and the testimony was completed by night officer Timothy, who assisted in making the arrests.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 29, 1918, page 2


BOOTLEGGER IS BANISHED
Medford Judge Sends Offender from City for One Year.
    MEDFORD, Or., Jan. 28.--(Special.)--A year's banishment from Medford was the punishment meted out to Collins Reed, a middle-aged bootlegger, when he pleaded guilty to his second offense before Justice Glenn Taylor Saturday. Reed was arrested Friday night with Rankin Estes, a former Jackson County constable, and J. D. Buckley, of Applegate, while the trio were enjoying a party at the Reed home in this city.
    Buckley pleaded guilty, and as he was guilty of consuming liquor rather than selling it, was fined $25 and costs, which he paid. The trial of Estes comes up Monday, and as this is his second offense, it is probable that he will be severely dealt with.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, January 29, 1918, page 17


    Rankin Estes of Medford, arrested last week for bootlegging, was given a hearing at Medford Monday afternoon. He pled not guilty, but upon trial was convicted, fined $100, and sentenced to one year in jail. In consideration of his wife and children, who are dependent upon him for support, the fine was suspended for six weeks. His attorney, Porter J. Neff, gave notice that an appeal would be taken, but it is doubtful whether the appeal will be perfected.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, February 2, 1918, page 3


Mystery Veils Local Air Fleet Movement
(Medford American.)
    Somewhere About Roxy Ann, Feb. 10.--The chief trouble on this front is that we have neither binoculars nor anti-aircraft guns. Hence, the enemy moves about with perfect freedom from harm, except that which may come from the eye-shot, and out here, where there are so few people to look, that doesn't hurt much. The air fleet that has been seen to operate in this sector has recently concealed itself in a crater-hole or gone to Eugene--our outposts don't know which. The fact that it was seen near Albany a few days ago suggests that it may have escaped by wing. This is the report which the Portland papers received by wire from Albany:
    "Albany, Or., Feb. 7.--Declaring that there can be no mistake about their observations, the crew of the Oregon Electric owl train, reaching here at 3 o'clock Thursday morning, reported having seen an airplane traveling south. When first seen the airship was west of East Independence, just as the train was leaving that station, and was flying high. It was flashing varicolored lights which Motorman Stevens declares he recognized as the international code.
    "After traveling at the higher altitude the machine descended to a level with the top of the Coast Range mountains and continued south, still flashing the signals. It finally passed out of sight. No noise was heard and the outline of the airplane could not be seen, but Conductor Ryan, Motorman Stevens and the brakeman, as well as several passengers on the train, are certain that the object was a flying machine. An effort was made to report the matter to Portland from Sidney, but connections could not be made at that point."
    Lew Tenant filed the following report at the Roxy Ann headquarters yesterday:
    "A booze bomb was dropped about the center of the Big Sticky terrain recently, the airship descending to a low altitude for that purpose. Rapidly ascending, it flew toward what is believed to be the station at the second airdrome, which is located in the Umpqua region. From there, after depositing a portion of its booze ballast, it flops over to the Willamette and delivers the remainder of its precious cargo in the vicinity of Eugene.
    "The above message from Albany probably describes this lone air bandit on its return to Hornbrook for another cargo of liquid fire.
    "You see, there is less danger, either from below or above, in handling that well-known revolution producer by airplane. It doesn't have to stop to permit the bone-dry inspector to meddle with it; it can carry more than an ordinary suitcase package; there's not so much risk of being overtaken in transit: the supply base may be located in the foothills anywhere in dry territory, and the signals may be given in code from on high as the machine passes to and from station to station. That is what the Albany plane was probably doing.
    "In addition to that, this monoplane outlaw may find it profitable to carry messages from the various wireless stations in the Cascade foothills to German spies in the various communities along the way. The communities of which Roxy Ann is the knob and center contain several hotbeds of seditious talk and enemy preparation. This is known locally and has been reported frequently to the proper headquarters; but the charge d'affaires at the proper headquarters evidently believes that we can take care of ourselves. And I wire this to say that it is about time we began to do so. It wouldn't do to disappoint the government in this matter of confidence in our ability to take proper care of our end of the fight.
    "Let's cut out the camouflage and buy a little hemp, a tank of hot tar, paint brushes and a supply of blacksnake whips. If we handle properly the mundane enemy, the heavenly host may fly its darned wings off without result. Do you get me?
"LEW TENANT, Com."
Ashland Tidings, February 14, 1918, page 8  The Medford American was a short-lived newspaper, only publishing January-February 1918. No issues are known to survive.


    Huston Cox, the colored porter of the Hotel Medford, recently convicted in the justice court on a bootlegging charge and who appealed the case to the circuit court, was found guilty by a jury in the circuit court Friday afternoon.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, March 9, 1918, page 3


    Huston Cox, the colored porter at the Hotel Medford, recently convicted on a bootlegging charge, was sentenced Tuesday to pay a fine of $100 and undergo imprisonment in the county jail for thirty days. It is reported that an appeal has been taken..

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, March 16, 1918, page 3


JURY REFUSES TO CINCH HENDRICKSON AS BOOTLEGGER
    Considerable surprise was manifested in Justice Taylor's court Saturday afternoon when after Prosecuting Attorney Roberts and those who heard the evidence against Roy Hendrickson, charged with selling a pint of whiskey to Acy Martin, thought that the state had made a sure case, the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty.
    Night policeman Adams and speed cop McDonald testified that while they were in the police headquarters office Saturday night a week ago, Acy Martin entered and declared that he knew where he could buy a half pint of booze for $5. The offers thereupon furnished Martin with a marked $5 bill and he at once left to make the purchase. Fifteen minutes later Martin returned with the whiskey, and the officers hurried to a cigar store and placed Hendrickson under arrest and found the marked bill upon him. Martin told the officers that he was driven in a taxicab by Hendrickson to the Jackson Street bridge, where he paid over the money and was given the whiskey.
    The testimony was corroborated in every particular by Martin on the witness stand, and H. R. Turpin, a taxicab driver, who was subpoenaed by the state and testified that he had taken the two men in his auto out to the bridge and back.
    Adams and McDonald also testified that after his arrest Hendrickson admitted to them that he was representing another man in selling the whiskey, but refused to divulge his name.
    On the witness stand Hendrickson made a complete denial of having sold the whiskey to Martin, and also denied the other allegations made. The attorney, Rawles Moore, placed H. C. Garnett and "Toggery Bill" on the witness stand, and these two business men declared that Acy Martin's reputation for veracity was worthless. The attorney also brought out the fact that Martin had been sentenced to jail for non-support of his family. Ben and J. L. Gentry, cousins of Hendrickson, testified that they had been with him a large part of Saturday night and saw nor heard nothing
of the alleged booze transaction. L. O. Coggins also testified that he had taken a walk with Hendrickson that night and neither saw or heard of the booze affair.
    The jury which returned the verdict was composed of Harry Lofland, C. J. Haas, J. W. Hockersmith, James Bolling, L. D. Bingham and Ernest White.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 10, 1919, page 6


    Harrison Riggs, an orchard foreman, was shot in the right shoulder by speed cop McDonald Monday evening, and is now in a hospital in a dangerous condition. The story, as published in the Mail Tribune, is to the effect that McDonald, who suspected Riggs of bootlegging, had boarded the car in which he was riding and demanded that it be stopped: failing in this, he jumped to the ground, pulled his revolver and fired six shots at the car, claiming that he aimed to puncture the rear tires. Four of the bullets fired entered the tonneau of the car, and one lodged in Riggs' shoulder. The wounded man is 30 years old, has a wife and four children, and it is said that he bears an excellent reputation among the orchard men of the valley.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, March 15, 1919, page 3


    In a recent article I spoke of the growth of the bootlegging industry since Oregon has become bone dry. I am writing this article from Medford. The issue here is a very live one. I sat down last evening in the lobby of the hotel next to a pleasant-looking chap who opened his heart to me on the matter.
    "Never again," he said. "If you want to sweat blood, just slip a few bottles of booze into your bag and bring them across the border."
    "If there is any type of man I despise," he said bitterly, "it is the practical joker. A few days ago one of the passengers, just after we had crossed the state line and entered Oregon, opened the door of the car I was in and whispered hoarsely, 'An inspector is in the next car. He will be here within five minutes. Any of you fellows that are smuggling booze into the state had better hide it. It means a jail sentence and a fine if you are caught.' Two minutes later that car was absolutely bone dry. One ministerial-looking man opened the car window and threw out his expensive-looking leather suitcase so as not to be caught with the goods. The practical joker was stunned by the results of his practical joke. He left the train at Ashland so the men who had thrown their booze overboard wouldn't do him physical violence.
    "For quite a while a bootlegger boarded every train at Ashland and rode to Medford. He would go through the train, pick up a suitcase, shake it, hear a gurgle and say fiercely, 'Whose suitcase is this?' The owner, of course, would be afraid to claim it, for he thought the bootlegger was an officer. The bootlegger would say, 'I have reason to believe this contains liquor, illegally brought into the state. I will have to hold it as evidence. If the owner wants to make any explanation he can take the matter up with me at my office in Medford.' Naturally, no one wanted to take the matter up, and he got all the stock for his bootlegging industry without cost, to say nothing of a choice assortment of suitcases.
    "You know that old Bible saying about a guilty conscience--something about 'the wicked flee when no man pursueth.' Well, sir, whoever wrote that knew what he was talking about. A friend of mine, a drummer, lives in Portland. He says a person can never tell when a snake might bite him, so he likes to have a quart of snakebite remedy handy. I guess he must have seen that inscription on a gravestone in Kansas:
Here in this grave
    Lies poor Andy,
Bit by a snake
    And no booze handy.
    A friend of his put him wise to one of the porters on the run between San Francisco and Portland who, if he knows a man is all right, will bring a quart or so from California for him. It is pretty expensive. He charges from $10 to $12 a quart to cover the risk he takes. My friend ordered a quart and arranged to meet the train this porter came in on. He was on hand when the train pulled in from the south. Presently he saw the porter get off the train and start across the platform carrying a suitcase. My friend spoke to the porter but he didn't respond except by quickening his pace. My friend followed him. The darkey again quickened his gait. So did my friend. When they had got a block away from the depot my friend called out, 'Hold on a minute. I'm interested in what you have in that suitcase.' The porter dropped the suitcase, dodged around the first corner, made the first block in nothing flat and only hit the high spots in the second block. My friend expected to pay $12 for one quart but he got eight quarts for nothing. My friend had a gray tweed suit and a tweed cap on when he went to the train to meet the porter, and the porter didn't recognize him, for when he had ordered the wet goods he was wearing a dark suit and a hard hat."
    Judge George Rossman, municipal judge at Portland, recently made a most interesting analysis of the booze situation in Portland. He said:
    "The bulk of the whiskey drunks are men that come in from the logging camps where they have remained for a matter of several months without an opportunity of spending their money. When they get a few days' vacation in the city and away from the woods, the first idea they have is to get a bottle of whiskey. They do not mind paying $12 or $14 for it, and the result is that the police soon pick them up. The men drunk on bay rum, medicinal preparations and alcoholic concoctions are generally a hard-looking set who became confirmed drunkards in the days of the saloons. They are ordinarily a set of men that have but little money but a strong appetite.
    "It is seldom that we have in court any young men on a charge of being drunk. Most of our defendants are men of 35 to 60 years of age. When the present generation that acquired its thirst for liquor in the days of the saloons has passed on, it seems reasonable to believe that the enforcement of the prohibition law will become a much easier problem."
Fred Lockley, "Journal Man at Home," Oregon Journal, Portland, March 16, 1919, page 8


    Speed cop McDonald has resigned his position as deputy sheriff and has gone to Portland, where he expects to locate.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, March 29, 1919, page 3


CHINESE LAUNDRY MAN FINED $200 FOR BOOTLEGGING
    Lou Jew, whose nationality does not accord with the sound of his name, an elderly Chinese laundry worker of the city, was fined $200 and costs and given a sentence of 30 days in jail in Justice Taylor's court this noon on the charge of having in his handbag enough whiskey to intoxicate a large part of Medford. Lou Jew was a jim dandy law violator, hence his heavy sentence.
    His frequent trips from the city to Ashland recently always with the same heavily loaded handbag aroused the curiosity of Charles Adams, night policeman, and when the officer saw the old Chinaman again get aboard the Ashland jitney last Saturday night he tipped a deputy sheriff to follow and watch him.
    When the jitney arrived at Ashland the deputy forced Lou Jew to open the bag, disclosing three gallons of booze. The prisoner was brought to Medford by the same jitney and locked up.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 7, 1919, page 6


MEDFORD POLICEMAN DRANK UP EVIDENCE IN CASE
By United Press
    MEDFORD, Ore., April 10.--Mayor Gates has compelled Sam Garrett, night policeman, to resign because it is alleged by the mayor and other city officials that Garrett drank up the evidence against a Chinaman who was charged with bootlegging.
Evening News, San Jose, April 10, 1919, page 1


HARD CIDER STIRS EAGLE PT. YOUTH TO GO OVER TOP
    There is a hard cider scandal brewing at Eagle Point which is being looked after by Sheriff Terrill and Prosecuting Attorney Roberts, but at present the details are lacking.
    Word reached the prosecutor the other day that there was considerable drunkenness in that vicinity, especially among the youth, and as a result of too much cider imbibing a boy went over the top with a shotgun and nearly ended the life of another boy. The prosecutor sent the sheriff out to investigate the cider.
    The sheriff had no difficulty in locating the fluid, two barrels and a half, but the owner was absent and so no arrest has yet been made. He brought in the half barrel Friday afternoon and cached it in the police station. Samples of the cider were taken to one of the teachers of the Medford High School for a chemical analysis to determine whether it contained explosives other than fermented apple juice.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 19, 1919, page 3



MEDFORD A MODEL CITY SINCE THE BOOZE EMBARGO
    Since the wartime prohibition act went into force, which shut off the keeping and sale of booze in California, Medford has become a model city as far as sobriety is concerned. Things have been very quiet with the police and sheriff's office, and only two or three booze arrests have been made, and those were made only a week after the act went into effect.
    The city is also very quiet late at night, the police having little to do, whereas formerly many drunks and half-drunks used to come back from Hornbrook and Hilt and raise more or less disturbance. Then the police and sheriff's force used to spend most of the time night and day looking for bootleggers and watching for drunks.
    Last Saturday night several well-known orchard employees who had gotten hold of whiskey someplace--probably had it in store for an exceptionally dry day--were in the city late and created more or less disturbance for a short time but left town before the night police heard of their presence. This was the first semblance of disorder for weeks.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 6, 1919, page 6


Chink Is Fined $100 for Selling 3 Pints Booze.
    As the result of a raid made last night on Fong Chong's Chinese laundry on South Riverside by Night Policeman Chas. Adams and Deputy Sheriff J. Wimer, the proprietor and two other Chinamen were arrested. Fong Chong had been suspected of bootlegging for some time and last night he was caught in the language of the police with the "goods on him." On Wong Han, one of the men arrested and who was a hanger-on about the laundry, a couple of opium pills and a small quantity of liquid opium were found. The third Chinaman was let go this morning, as there was no evidence against him.
    In Judge Taylor's court this noon Fong Cong pleaded guilty to the charge of selling a pint of intoxicating liquor to a Medford man Sunday for $8. He admitted that he brought three pints of booze back from Yreka last week which he sold. He was fined $100 and sentenced to 15 days in jail.
    Wong Han pleaded not guilty to having opium in his possession, and his trial was set for this afternoon. Both he and the Medford Chinaman who acted as interpreter claimed that the opium was nothing but a eye wash which he bought at Ashland and which is for sale in any Chinese drug store in this country. Two Medford druggists who analyzed the pills and liquid declared that the concoctions had opium in them.--Tribune.

Jacksonville Post, December 13, 1919, page 1


HOME BREW IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GUN PLAY
Tom Murphy of Medford Shoots George Douglas When Latter Insists on
Sampling Domestic Stock--Wounds Not Serious-Offender is Held Under $2000 Bonds.

    Tom Murphy, the local junk dealer, was cooking home brew yesterday evening about seven o'clock, at his residence on South Front Street. The seductive aroma of the mixture of hops and corn assailed the nostrils of George Douglas, the upholsterer, who was passing. George, who once imbibed of a Jacksonville mixture which raised boils on his neck, announced that he wanted a drink. Mr. Murphy left his kettle long enough to announce that the pilgrim of thirst was not welcome.
    "You blankety blank bum," proclaimed the upholsterer, "if you don't give me a drink I'll come and get it."
    "You enter this house and I"ll fill you full of daylight," was the reported rejoinder.
    Whereupon Douglas, who knows no fear when a drink is concerned, entered the sacred precincts of home brew and was met by a horse pistol about the size of Herr Krupp's Big Bertha. A wrestling match ensued during which Murphy fired two shots, one grazing the intruder's temple and the other inflicting a slight flesh wound in the chest. Murphy had the wounded man down and was endeavoring to rap him on the head with the heavy end of his firearm when Jack Plymale heard the rumpus and, sailing in, separated the two men.
    Night policeman Adams arrived at this point and placed Murphy under arrest, also corralling a copper boiler filled with what appeared to be sour mash and two dozen bottles, properly corked, filled with liquefied rough-on-rats.
    At a hearing before Justice Taylor this morning Murphy was held under $2000 bonds to the grand jury, charged with assault with intent to kill. Tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock Murphy will be given a hearing on having a homemade still in his possession.
    Douglas was able to be about as usual today, his wounds being of a very innocuous character. The affair aroused considerable excitement on South Front Street during the vesper hour. The trial promises to involve a hot legal battle over how far the proprietor of a home-brew castle may go in protecting his home and firewater.   
Medford Mail Tribune, August 3, 1920, page 1


    Tom Murphy, principal in the Front Street shooting affray last Monday evening, was found guilty of infringement of the bone dry law in Justice Taylor's court yesterday afternoon, and was given 30 days in jail and $100 fine. Two dozen bottles of hooch, a wash boiler half-filled with sour mash and several gallon jugs containing home brew were offered in evidence. Murphy's only defense was that he cooked the combination of corn and hops for the benefit of his stomach. Judge Taylor decided any stomach that could stand the evidence offered was not in a very serious condition. As Murphy was in jail anyway on the "attempt to kill" charge, now awaiting the October term of court, the sentence does not materially affect his future plans. Night Officer Adams, Sheriff Terrill and Deputy Sheriff Schrader were witnesses for the state. Murphy had no witnesses and refused the services of a lawyer.

"Local Briefs," Medford Mail Tribune, August 5, 1920, page 2



Illicit Still Discovered at Medford
    What is described as the largest illicit distillery and bootlegging headquarters ever located in Jackson County was discovered the beginning of the week in a house situated on S. Peach Street in Medford. The discovery of the plant came through W. T. Van Voris, who owns the property and rented it last July to a man giving the name of C. C. Russell, having occasionally to call on his tenant. Failing to gain admittance to the house, after repeated summons Mr. Van Voris used his pass key, and upon entering the kitchen discovered a complete still, including a gasoline stove, copper boiler with the lid fastened down with dough to make it airtight, a copper tank and coils of lead pipe which served as a worm, not to mention an old coffee mill in which barley used in the manufacture of the homemade decoction was ground. Elsewhere in the house was found quantities of corn, barley and wheat used in making "hooch," and 100 gallons of prune mash in barrels. Russell, who evidently suffered an attack of nerves, is reported to have departed from Medford about the middle of August, giving his destination as Portland, and there is no clue as to his whereabouts.
    The apparatus was left on the premises under guard of the Medford police force until Wednesday, when Sheriff Terrill removed it to the county jail.
    Sheriff Terrill now has in his keeping a supply of "hooch" that would bring tears to the eyes of a prohi or moisture to the mouth of a tippler, the entire floor space of a large cell at the county jail being filled with booze in flasks, bottles, demijohns and kegs.

Jacksonville Post,
September 11, 1920, page 1


TWO VICTIMS OF MOONSHINE NEAR TO DEATH'S DOOR
    Sheriff Terrill is looking for the dispenser of moonshine that nearly killed a citizen of Jacksonville Saturday night, after he had imbibed a bottle of it. When the citizen recovers sufficiently to talk he will be questioned. The sheriff's office also has a report that a colored gent at
Ashland drank moonshine and wandered "into the shadows of the valley of death," before he had been pumped out. According to the sheriff the moonshine now being delivered is made of grain, and highly effective, the distiller not understanding the fine point of getting rid of the poison therein.
    A man giving the name of Wilkie and carrying letters of recommendation from Portland, peace officers and Willamette Valley counties and towns came to town Saturday and claimed to be a federal narcotic agent. He also bore a letter signed with the names of Prosecutor Rawles Moore and Sheriff Terrill. These he presented to C. W. Ashpole, Sam Richardson, Ed Gore and other business men in an effort to get credit or borrow money. The names of the local authorities were forgeries, and it is thought that all were.
    Sheriff Terrill was advised of the man's activity and caught him near the city jail. He gave him a lecture, and ordered him out of town. Afterwards it was discovered that he had been presenting the fake letters, and displaying a deputy sheriff's badge.
    Among other things the stranger claimed to be looking for stills.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 11, 1921, page 3


    A keg of cider in the office of former Prosecuting Attorney Roberts of Medford, Oregon, exploded and the fermented liquor flooded the Medford National Bank beneath, keeping the office force, from clerks to President W. H. Gore, busy with mops and pails. The affair was reported to Prosecuting Attorney Rawles Moore, who defeated Roberts in the last election. Moore said the keg had been seized some time ago and in the confusion of office moving had been overlooked.
"World News Tersely Told," Sausalito News, February 26, 1921, page 1


POLICE CAPTURE BOOTLEG STILL ON BEAR CREEK
    There was some booze enforcing excitement in the city last night, caused by the sheriff locating an idle still in the brush along Bear Creek, south of the city, and the arrival of a man with two quarts of whiskey in a suitcase on the late train from the north. These incidents were not connected, only that they related to the violations of the prohibition law.
    As a net result of the excitement, the stranger with the two quarts of booze got away, no one knows who owns the still, and Bill Sham, the taxi driver who hauled the booze-laden stranger to a place in the residence district, was arrested later by Patrolman Hempstreet on the charge of intoxication, for which he was fined $25 and costs in Judge Taylor's court this forenoon.
    Sheriff Terrill, Deputy Sheriff McMahon and Night Patrolman Adams and Hempstreet took part in the excitement, which started by someone tipping the sheriff off to the fact the still was lying in the brush along Bear Creek. The sheriff and his deputy forthwith went there and pounced upon the still, which was a fine and complete one with coils, lying quietly in a grain sack. Then the arms of the law lay concealed in the vicinity for an hour or more waiting for the owner to come and get it, until they finally decided that he had been tipped off that they were watching for him. They then hurried back to town just in time to join in the other booze excitement.
    The conductor of the southbound train tipped off the police when the train arrived that a man had two quarts of booze in his suitcase. The man had jumped into Sham's taxi, which drove quickly away. The police waited until Sham returned, and then started at once for the house where Sham said he had delivered the passenger. He was not at this house nor could he be found in the vicinity, and it is thought that when he saw the police at the depot he suspicioned that they were lying for him, and had Sham drive to a house, in front of which he got out, and then when Sham drove away, cached his whiskey somewhere, walked away and disappeared.
    Sham was arrested later, and it is claimed he became intoxicated through the stranger treating him when they were driving to the latter's supposed home.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 20, 1921, page 8


MORE ARRESTS ARE EXPECTED IN STILL CASE
    Although the police and county authorities were and are very closemouthed about the facts in connection with the booze enforcement excitement of last Tuesday night more details are coming to light, and it is known that arrests are contemplated in connection with the finding of an unused still along Bear Creek, and the bootlegger who escaped the police at the depot.
    It is now known that the latter was a Gold Hill bootlegger who boarded the train at Gold Hill with two suitcases full of bootleg whiskey, and that the Medford police were tipped off by a passenger to this effect and not by the conductor of the train, as was previously stated. Train crews running through here have not attained an enviable reputation with the authorities in providing such tips.
    This bootlegger with his suitcases at once hurried from the train when it stopped here, to an awaiting taxi which sped away before the police or sheriff could act. It has been learned that this taxi took the bootlegger to a house near Phoenix where he was supposed to reside, according to the taxi driver, who on his return to Medford was nabbed by the police and induced to take the officers to the house in front of which he said he had discharged the passenger.
    The police awakened the occupants of the house who said the man did not live there nor had he been seen by them. No booze was found in the house. It developed later that the bootlegger instead of entering the house when the taxi drove away continued on through the premises, crawled over the back fence and in so doing tore a part of the straps off one of the suitcases. It is then presumed he walked away to some place where he cached his booze.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 21, 1921, page 6


    Twelve quarts of a perfectly reliable brand of the Demon Rum was consigned to the yawning maw of an old well in the NW ¼ of the NW ¼ of the courthouse grounds, by representatives of the sheriff's office Wednesday morning. A few wistful-eyed spectators attended the obsequies.
"Behind the Bars," Jacksonville Post, July 2, 1921, page 1


STILLS NEAR JACKS'NVILLE ARE SEIZED
Special Agents Arrest J. M. Rock, Farmer, and Ike Coffman, Homesteader--Former Pleads Guilty to Demijohn of Hooch--Raids North of City Are On Today.

SITUATION IN BRIEF
    Developments in the county-wide cleanup of suspected bootleggers and illicit stills up to one o'clock this afternoon were as follows:
    Finding of three stills in the Jacksonville Hill district, and the arrest of their alleged owners and operators Wednesday by state and county officials.
    Announcement that a special prosecutor would be detailed by Governor Ben Olcott to handle the cases arising from the raids and arrests.
    Departure of officers in two different directions this morning on a hunt for stills and booze peddlers.
    Issuance of warrants for the arrest of men alleged to be engaged in the whiskey traffic.
----
    In raids by deputy sheriffs and special agents in the hills back of Jacksonville Wednesday, three stills were located and seized, and two men, J. M. Rock, a farmer, and Ike Coffman, a homesteader, were arrested. Both were arraigned this morning in Justice of the Peace Taylor's court. Rock pleaded guilty to the charge of having a half-gallon demijohn of whiskey in his possession. Upon the plea that he was the father of five children, and a new arrival expected any day, he was allowed to go on his own recognizance until Saturday morning at 10 o'clock. The owner of the third still said he would appear today. A special agent, asked what Rock's name was, divulged the information that it was "Jim Stone."
    Coffman, through his attorney, George M. Roberts, was given until Friday morning at 10 o'clock to plead, and is at liberty on $250 bonds furnished by Jesse M. Taylor, a well-known Applegate rancher. Coffman is charged with having in his possession "a mixture of figs, prunes, and water in the process of fermentation."
"Squirrel  Whiskey"
    According to the arresting officers, the still alleged to have been operated by Coffman was an emergency source of supply for Medford moonshiners. They claim it was a highly unsanitary proposition. His mash was kept in a tin boiler in a deserted shack, and dead gray squirrels and bats were found around the still, the animals having dropped from the rafters into the brew, and cooked alive. The tin boiler, the officers said, was enough to ensure a partaker of the concoction instant death.
    Attorney George M. Roberts, counsel for James (Shine) Edwards and John Goodwin, taxicab drivers arrested early Wednesday morning, appeared before Justice Taylor this morning and asked for arraignment. The court set the time at 10 o'clock Friday morning.
    Edwards up to noon today had been unable to secure the $1,000 fixed for his release, after a day's search for bondsmen. One man was willing to go his bonds, but the second could not be secured.
State Prosecutes Case
    All of the charges filed to date have been on state charges, and U.S. Commissioner Roy Davis has no knowledge of any federal charges being filed. Up to last night District Attorney Rawles Moore had not been officially advised on the raids and the arrests, but S. B. Sandefer, special agent, with a commission from the governor, informed Justice Taylor that a special prosecutor would be assigned to handle the case. The claim that the arrests were due to federal activity is now discredited, and reliable information indicates that the Anti-Saloon League is furnishing the sleuths for the cleanup.
Many Suspects Flee
    A number of men have departed for parts unknown since the arrests started, and warrants have been issued for their arrest. This list includes some more or less well-known citizens. Rumors in circulation setting forth that warrants had been issued for officials, past and present, are not founded on fact, but simply the usual gossip that arises whenever factional lines become drawn.
    The probing squad left this morning for the Eagle Point and Gold Hill districts on a still hunt for stills and their owners.
Joy Ride to Lake
    It has been definitely established that five operatives, in charge of Special Agent Sandefer, arrived about two weeks ago. One of the sleuths immediately made his roll of bills conspicuous, and arranged for a joyride to Prospect and Crater Lake. Feminine company was furnished. The operative rode with the young lady on a back seat, and on the trip that took nearly two days received inside information on the local bootlegging situation. He was such a liberal spender that illicit liquor agents literally fell over each other in their efforts to secure his trade. To the surplus bootleggers he gave "tips" to where they could find a "live one," who were his brother officers.
    The arrests caused a flurry of excitement among the home brewers, but their fears are ungrounded, as the raiders are only after the wholesalers, not the retailers. Besides they are protected by the search and seizure clause of the Volstead Act, which prohibits the invasion of the home for liquor without a search warrant.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 18, 1921, page 1


FUR FLIES IN CLOSING PLEAS EDWARDS TRIAL
Lawyers for State and Defense Make Charges and Counter Charges at Conclusion of Bootleg Case--Moore Flays the Moonshine Ring.

    Charges and countercharges of "frame-up" and "unfair tactics" were hurled by counsel for both sides in the arguments to the jury this morning in the trial of James (Shine) Edwards, and bitterness cropped out in the state attorney's castigating the witnesses for the defense, and the defense directing the heavy artillery of their invective and scorn against A. B. Gates, star witness for the state and special agent.
    In his plea, the district attorney called the birthday party of Mrs. Ella Tull as a "bootleggers ball," and referred to her as "that estimable lady with a seven-room house and one child."
    The tactics adopted by Mr. A. B. Gates, special agent and star witness for the state, were defended by the prosecuting attorney, as "the only way to trap the gang. If the sheriff or the police of Medford had attempted to procure evidence against them, all would have been as peaceful as a May Day, but here was a traveling man, a good spender, and he played the game so well that 'Shine' Edwards hounded him to buy liquor."
    The prosecutor also declared that the only issue in the case was whether "the law or the bootleggers would be supreme."
    The action of the defense in pleading that they had been taken by surprise was labeled as "theatrics."
    The defense began their opening argument at eleven o'clock, attorney Roberts being the opening orator.
    Attorney Roberts in his remarks scouted the claim of the state that "there had been a frame-up" and filed a countercharge of frame-up, holding the defense witnesses.had not been shaken in their testimony "while Gates had told five or six different stories on the stand," the defense attorney declared. Gates looked down his nose and shifted his gaze, while Shine looked at the jury." He also called him "low down" and "unprincipled" and hooted the state's contention "this wonderful private detective" was gathering evidence.
    "What right has this man (Gates) to get dead drunk," and "why not have a raid of raiders, who induce innocent taxicab drivers to commit crimes."
    The war record of Edwards was also presented to the jury.
    Attorney Roberts in closing his plea said, "I here and now insist and demand a grand jury investigation of the paid investigators of Jackson County."
    Attorney Gus Newbury made the closing address to the jury at the afternoon session, and attorney Moore closed for the state.
    The court warned the jury "not to be influenced by comment for counsel for either side, but to try the case on its merits," and later, when tittering swept the audience, remarked, "witnesses in the back of the room are trying to testify."
Mrs. Edwards Testifies.
    Mrs. Edwards testified that while getting ready for the trip they had driven to the home of Mrs. Tull and borrowed "some hats and a camera" and that just before starting they drove "two blocks down Central Avenue from Main Street, and that when the auto horn was honked twice, a man came and handed Mr. Gates a package." She testified that afterwards she discovered this was moonshine. She said she took two or three drinks of it.
    On cross examination, the prosecutor asked the witness how much she could drink, the witness being indefinite on the subject, and in response to another query did not know whether the horn had been sounded "in front of Dud Wolgamott's house or not."
Rippey Backfires.
    Bert Rippey, husband of Fay Rippey, who testified Wednesday that she was a guest at Mrs. Tull's birthday party, was called to the stand by the state in rebuttal, and sprung a surprise by "backfiring" on the testimony expected of him. The state attempted to impeach him, by asking questions relative to statements made in front of the Rogue River Canal Company office Wednesday evening. Rippey flatly denied that he had told the prosecutor in the presence of Gates that he had seen Edwards at Mrs. Tull's birthday party and denied that there was anything to drink.
    He said he had talked about the case to his wife and attorney Roberts. On cross examination by attorney Roberts he said his testimony had not been influenced in any way.
    Gates was called in rebuttal and testified that "there was plenty to drink" at Mrs. Tull's.
    The first witness for the defense at this morning's session was Mrs. Frankie Edwards of Klamath Falls, a resident of this city.
    She testified she first met Gates in Edwards' taxicab on Main Street on Saturday afternoon, August 6th, before the trip to Crater Lake, and that she inquired of Edwards, "are you going to the dance at Prospect?" and was informed that the jaunt would be taken if a crowd could be gathered. She said she was introduced to Gates and that he asked her to go with him. "I told him 'yes,' as I did not care who I went with as long as I got there."
    She also testified that Gates was "too drunk to walk or dance."
    James (Shine) Edwards took the stand in his own behalf at the opening of the defense in his trial on an indictment charging selling of  intoxicating liquor.
    Edwards told the jury that Gates told him he "was a creamery man, and wanted to visit every farm in the valley that had a cow." He said the plans for the Crater Lake joyride were arranged by Gates, and that the women in the party were Mrs. Frankie Edwards, a sister-in-law of the defendant and Billie Duley, a waitress. He said they left Medford and arrived at Prospect about midnight, that Gates took drinks along the road, and that he was sick. He said at Prospect, Gates fell down and insisted on going into the dance hall, and that while there Gates met George O. Roberts, and offered him a drink. About 3 o'clock in the morning they left Prospect and drove to Crater Lake, where they procured breakfast. Gates, he testified, was sick and unable to eat dinner. He also said that en route to Prospect the car struck a bump and the resultant impact threw Gates against the top of the car, bruising his forehead.
    Edwards testified that the party returned to Medford that Sunday evening and that Gates paid him $50 for the trip.
Denies Taking Drink
    The defendant testified that on a day or two previous to the Crater Lake trip Gates hired him for a drive, and that at Tenth and Oakdale they met one George Grigsby in a Ford, and that Grigsby told them to drive to the King Street garage, which they did, and there Gates received a package, which [it] was alleged contained moonshine. Edwards denied that he ever took a drink, but went through the motions only. He also denied that he had ever been in Gates' room.     George O. Roberts testified that he saw Gates in Prospect on the night of August 6th and that he "was intoxicated."
    A. McLane, a Canadian war veteran wounded four times, and proprietor of the King Street garage, corroborated the testimony of Edwards that Gates had received a package in his garage on the afternoon of August 6th, from a stranger.
    John Goodwin, a taxi driver of Edwards', testified that he heard a conversation between Edwards and Sandefer, in front of the justice court in Medford, in which Sandefer told them, "If you fellows plead guilty I believe you will get off with a light fine."
    Mrs. Ella Tull testified that she gave a birthday party on August 8 and that Gates was among the visitors.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 27, 1921, page 6


DRY ENFORCEMENT COST JACKSON CO. $3795.60 IN 1921
    Prohibition enforcement in Jackson County up to December 31st, 1921, cost $3795.60, the major portion of this sum being spent for the series of raids conducted last summer. Its cost was $2870.51, which includes salaries, outlays for evidence, mileage, gas, and incidentals in the December expense list in the war against moonshine, the following items were allowed.
    $23.09, for gas.
    $100, salary advance.
    $348 to A. B. Gates, who collected the evidence in the bootleg trials, and the star witness thereof.
    $454 for salaries and other incidentals.
    On the other hand during December over $800 in fines were collected by S. B. Sandefer, special prohibition enforcement officer in charge, who also assisted in the capture of some speeders.
    In the trial of the bootleggers, three pleaded guilty and served county jail sentences, three stood trial in the circuit court resulting in the conviction of Ernest S. (Dud) Wolgamott, who is undecided whether to appeal the case or serve a three months' county jail sentence, with a $400 fine. James (Shine) Edwards was tried twice, the jury being unable to agree, the defendant since taking up his residence in Fresno, Calif., after a short sojourn at Weed and Yreka, Calif. John Goodwin was also tried on the same charge, the jury being unable to agree. The disagreements resulted from the testimony of A. B. Gates, which varied so much that the jury refused to convict upon it.
    Special Officer Sandefer has a contract with Jackson County for sleuthing until January 15th, and the county court is undecided whether to renew it or hire a new man, whose face la not so familiar to violators of the Volstead Act. County Judge Gardner expresses the opinion that Sandefer has made a good showing, in view of the fact that the general public had no particular aversion to walking upon the amendment in question, and, also believes that bootlegging will not be so funny when the people as a whole grasp its menace.
    For the scalps of wild animals the county paid in bounty during 1921, $1967, mostly coyotes, with an occasional wildcat, cougar and wolf.
    During the year, a total of 69 divorces, two less than last year, the heaviest month being June--the month of brides--when 22 annulments of the marriage bonds were granted.
    In 1921, the marriage licenses issued were 203, and in 1920, 252, a decrease of 49.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 10, 1922, page 1


WOLGAMOTT IS ARRESTED THIRD TIME
Local Bootlegger Apprehended When Early Morning Search Reveals a Secret Liquor Cache--Search Warrant Secured Late Last Night--
John Doe Gives Police Tip.

    Ernest "Dud" Wolgamott, who has twice faced bootlegging indictments returned by the grand jury, was arrested this morning on a third charge of bootlegging. The latter arrest was due to the activity of night officer Joe Cave and S. B. Sandefer, special state prohibition officer for Jackson County, and who procured a search warrant and found Wolgamott's alleged secret cache of liquor for customers in his home on North Central Ave.
    The arrest was made by Sheriff Terrill, who accompanied the searching squad of officers, and the information leading to the discovery of the booze cache came from a man who was arrested after leaving the Wolgamott home with a bottle of booze in his possession.
    Wolgamott was convicted in circuit court last fall on an indictment for bootlegging and was given a sentence of not more than three months in jail and a fine of $400. This case, however, is pending on a plea for a new trial, during which Wolgamott has been at liberty under $1000 cash bail.
    Wolgamott's arrest came about through night patrolman Cave putting two and two together, adding the sum and laying the addition and his conclusions before state officer Sandefer.
    When at 1 o'clock this morning Cave saw a man whom the police have long suspected of knowing something about bootlegging activities in Medford, walking along Central Avenue, he stopped him and found a quart bottle of whiskey on him. He placed the man, who is carried in the court chronicles as John Doe, under arrest and conferred with night officer Leggitt. They then summoned Sandefer by phone from the Hotel Medford, and after a consultation of the three, Acting Justice of the Peace Farrell was awakened at his home at 3 a.m. to issue a search warrant for the search of Wolgamott's house, sworn out by Sandefer.
    State officer Sandefer then went over to Jacksonville, awakened Sheriff Terrill and brought the latter official to Medford to serve the warrant and make the arrest if the expected evidence was found in the search. Officers Sandefer, Cave and Leggitt and Sheriff Terrill visited the Wolgamott home together.
    When the officers entered the house Wolgamott displayed a nonchalant air. He was notified that the officers carried a search warrant and that they intended to search his domicile for liquor, whereupon he invited them to "take a look around."
    Officer Cave evidently had the correct "dope," for when the search started it did not last long. Cave removed two loose panels in the woodwork of the room, one on each side of the fireplace, and behind each panel he discovered three quarts of (supposedly) bonded whiskey. When Cave removed the panels Wolgamott remarked that he seemed to know where it was.
    Wolgamott was then placed under arrest by Sheriff Terrill and was arraigned this morning in Acting Justice Farrell's court on a charge of selling intoxicating liquor. This is Wolgamott's third arrest on such a charge.
    The preliminary hearing of the case will be held in Justice Farrell's court at 10 a.m. Monday.
    Wolgamott has been released on $1000 additional bail. According to the records of the county clerk this additional $1000 bond places him under obligations totaling $2000.
    At the preliminary hearing it is expected that Wolgamott will be represented by attorney George M. Roberts, his attorney at his previous trials.
    John Doe, who gave the information as to the booze cache following his arrest, pleaded guilty in police court this forenoon to having liquor in his possession, and was fined $20 and costs. In consideration of his giving information, his identity is protected by the authorities.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 21, 1922, page 1


BOOTLEGGER IS GIVEN 30 DAYS JAIL, $250 FINE
    The usual weekly bootlegging sensation in Medford opened here today, with Sam W. McClenden being sentenced in Justice Taylor's court to 30 days in jail and a fine of $250 and costs, following his arrest late Saturday night on the charge of selling a quart of whiskey to Dan Pritchard, a canal company worker, who was also arrested, pleaded guilty and was fined $10 today in the same court on the charge of intoxication.
    This cleanup is due to the activities of S. B. Sandefer, Special Prohibition Enforcing Officer for the state, assisted by Night Patrolmen Leggitt, Cave and Adams.
    The arrest of McClenden for the second time on practically the same charge and under similar circumstances within three weeks, in itself furnished a local sensation, which was greatly added to through McClenden promptly confessing to the officers after his arrest that in the sale of the quart bottle of whiskey to Pritchard for $16, he was again acting as the go-between for Dud Wolgamott and the purchaser.
    Three weeks ago as McClenden was leaving the home of Wolgamott on North Central Avenue, he was arrested with liquor in his possession and confessed then to having just gotten it in the Wolgamott house. In his confession, he told that Wolgamott kept liquor for sale cached in behind secret panels in the rear of the fireplace. A search of the house by the officers resulted in finding the liquor as McClenden had told and the arrest of Wolgamott and his being bound over to the grand jury in $500 cash bail. A case against Wolgamott for bootlegging was then pending in circuit court and he was enjoying his freedom under $1,000 cash bail.
    The story of McClenden and Pritchard as to last Saturday night's events, to which it is understood that they had made affidavits, is to the effect that Pritchard gave McClenden $16 to buy a quart of whiskey of Wolgamott, and the two then went to Wolgamott's home to get it, Pritchard remaining outside on the street while McClenden went inside to negotiate the transaction with Wolgamott. McClenden came from the house with the information that they should walk on down the street a ways and that Wolgamott would deliver the quart himself.
    They walked away half a block, the two men claimed, when Wolgamott drove up in his car and handed the bottle over to Pritchard.
    It seems that McClenden and Pritchard were shadowed by officers. Pritchard then went to his room in a rooming house and invited a friend in to help him drink up the booze and they were engaged in that duty when the police closed in on them and arrested Pritchard.
    Up to the hour of going to press this afternoon no arrest warrant had been served on Wolgamott, and neither could information be obtained from Officer Sandefer or at the county prosecutor's office as to whether a warrant would be taken out.
    In Justice Taylor's court this forenoon Sandefer made a statement after McClenden had pleaded guilty stating that the latter "had come clean about Wolgamott" in his two arrests on bootlegging charges, and that he claimed that while he had sold much liquor for Wolgamott he had never received a cent of remuneration from him for such sales. Therefore, McClenden asked him to state that he thought this should entitle him to leniency should the court feel like extending such.
    "Thirty days in jail and a fine of $250," snapped Justice Taylor with flashing eyes.
    On McClenden's previous arrest he was carried on the records as John Doe, in consideration of his having given information about Wolgamott, which led to the latter's arrest, and his plea to the authorities not to have his name made public because he desired to keep his trouble from his aged parents. McClenden was taken over to the county jail immediately after he was sentenced today. Justice Taylor was away on his vacation at the time of McClenden's previous arrest.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 6, 1922, page 1


ROOMING HOUSE IS RAIDED BY DRY SLEUTHS
Mrs. Flora Manning Fined $500 and George Miller Gets 20 Days in Jail
and $250 Fine After Pleading Guilty.

    Mrs. Flora Manning, proprietress of the Park Rooms, and George Miller, and employee of Mrs. Manning, pleaded guilty this morning in Justice Taylor's court to charges of possessing intoxicating liquor. Miller was sentenced to 20 days in the county jail and was fined $250. Mrs. Manning was not given a jail sentence, but was fined $500, which is the maximum for the first offense. The court granted Mrs. Manning until Monday to secure the money.
    The defendants were arrested last night as the result of the discovery of seven bottles of moonshine whiskey in the Park Rooming House by a searching party headed by special agent Sandefer. Miller's brother was also taken into custody at the time of the search and spent last night in the county jail with the rest of the party. No complaint was filed against him, however, as his brother claimed the ownership of the liquor.
    The Park Rooming House, at the corner of Main and Holly sts., has been under observation by prohibition officials since December, and not until several days ago was sufficient evidence secured to allow the issuance of a search warrant.
    Patrolmen Cave, Leggitt and Adams, Deputy Sheriff Forncrook and Special Agent Sandefer took part in the search.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 24, 1922, page 1


    Last Saturday night there was the regular dance here and there was only a very few in attendance and there was, according to reports, one of the most disgraceful affairs we have had here for some time. I heard one of our prominent business men, in speaking of the conduct there, say that almost every one of the young men and larger boys were drunk and that moonshine was there in abundance and another reported that one of the boys put a bottle of moonshine in the center of the room and commenced to dance around it, but finally one of them kicked it over, spilling it over the floor. The conduct has reached the point where many of our young people treat our laws as a burlesque and defy our officers and make sport of the idea of enforcing any of the prohibiting statutes. For instance, I saw a small group of young men busily engaged at something on the sidewalk and I heard them laughing after the gathering dispersed, and one of them remarked, "Well, I skinned him out of six dollars," but who the man was who spoke or who he referred to as having been skinned I do not know. But what else can we expect of our youths, when men are arrested and brought to trial for violation of the law and men are selected to sit as jurors to try a case and will hang a jury and then admit that they were satisfied that the man was guilty, but that the principal witness for the state, in a bootlegging case, assigned as a reason that the witness was drunk himself. It is a common thing to hear men and in some instances women express their approval of the fact that certain ones are acquitted of a charge of crime simply because they object to certain laws that have been enacted by our representatives in the lawmaking bodies of our country.
A. C. Howlett, "Eagle Point Eaglets," Medford Mail Tribune, February 24, 1922, page 10


PHOENIX RANCH RAIDED, OWNER MAKES ESCAPE
    As a result of the raid on the Park Rooms Thursday night, Preston Phillips' ranch near Phoenix was raided Friday night and a large amount of cash, liquor, still and other accessories taken by the county authorities.
    Sheriff C. E. Terrill, Deputy Forncrook and S. B. Sandefer left this city shortly after 8 o'clock. On the way out they picked up Phillips in a Phoenix pool hall and he accompanied them to his place and unlocked the door.
    The worm of the still and three mash barrels were found at once and a careful search for the liquor began. Deputy Forncrook was in the corner of the room examining some boxes, Sheriff Terrill was extricating the worm from the barrel in which it was installed and Sandefer was looking under the bed in another room when he looked up and asked Preston a question. No answer to the query was heard and the officers found that the moonshiner had skipped. They went to the door and tried to pierce the thick blackness of the night but could see only a few feet. The sounds of Preston's footsteps as he ran could be heard and when he had reached quite a distance from the house he stumbled over a sleeping cow which was wearing a bell. The cow emitted unearthly sounds and rattled the bell in a lively manner, but the path the fugitive had taken was through thick brush and the others were unable to pursue him successfully. About two gallons of liquor were found last night.
    Deputy District Attorney George Codding accompanied the officers to the moonshiner's house this morning and all the property in the house was confiscated, loaded upon a county truck and listed by Mr. Codding. A search for the remainder of the still was conducted this morning and a large amount of the brushy land near the Phillips house was explored. No trace of the apparatus was found. Shortly after the search commenced, however, a five-gallon keg, half full of moonshine, was discovered in the bushes along the small creek near the house by Sheriff Terrill. A short time after this find had been made by the sheriff, S. B. Sandefer began searching two piles of laurel boughs which had been freshly cut and had been piled behind the house. The first of these netted nothing but in going through the second pile a full-sized barrel, half full of moonshine, was found This brings the total amount of the liquor found to a point between 30 and 40 gallons.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 25, 1922, page 1


SHINE EDWARDS CONVICTED ON BOOZE CHARGE
    James (Shine) Edwards, three times tried on a charge of selling intoxicating liquor, was found guilty by a jury in the circuit court Wednesday afternoon, after about three hours deliberation. In two previous trials the jury was unable to agree.
    The first two ballots, according to report, stood nine to three for conviction, the third ten to two for conviction, and the fourth and final one resulted in a conviction.
    Future legal action in the case is undecided, but it is said that the case may be appealed to the supreme court.
    The case, one of the hardest fought in the history of Jackson County jurisprudence, hinges upon the sale of liquor to A. B. Gates, a state prohibition officer. Edwards alleged in his defense that the liquor said to have been purchased from him was purchased from Joe Kidd, who is under indictment but uncaught. Much of the lively testimony of the previous trials relating to a joyride to Crater Lake and Prospect in the taxi driven by Edwards, in which Gates and women were members, was ruled out by the court.
    The trial of John Goodwin, also charged with selling intoxicating liquors, a previous trial resulting in a disagreement of the jury, was begun this morning, the work of selecting the jury now being underway.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 4, 1922, page 1


TO ESTABLISH SANITY LEAGUE IN JACKSON CO.
    The Sanity League of America, a national, incorporated organization seeking a modification of the Volstead Act so as to permit the manufacture and sale of light wines and beer under government control, is being organized here.
    W. H. Willis of Portland, who is the district organizer in Southern Oregon, says that the present law is producing lawbreakers by the millions; flooding the country with poisonous liquors causing untold sickness and death; and that the effort to enforce the law is costing $100,000,000 annually, which must come out of the taxpayers' pockets.
    "The saloon is gone forever," said Mr. Willis, "and during my canvass I don’t find one person out of a hundred who wants to see it back; but the Sanity League does believe that light wines and beer under strict government control would take the profits out of the moonshine and bootlegging business and automatically restore these lawbreakers to law-abiding citizens."
    Rev.  Baker P. Lee is president of the league, and its advisory board is made up of the following nationally known men:
    Congressman Julius Kahn, John D. Spreckles, Judge O. N. Hilton, General M. O. Terry, ex-surgeon general state of New York, U. S. Grant, Jr., Martin Bohrman, Crawford H. Ellis, Chas. Weinberger, G. B. Baldwin, Urban Koen, Warren C. Crane.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 1, 1922, page 3


STILL CHARGE EXPLAINED BY LOCAL LAWYER
Don Newbury, in Public Statement, Explodes Campaign Story That Sheriff Terrill Rented Still for Purpose of Making Moonshine.

    To the Editor: I have more than a passing interest in the vicious rumor that has been maliciously circulated throughout Jackson County for some time past that Sheriff Charlie Terrill has rented a still to private parties and a fraternal order for the purpose of distilling moonshine. T have firsthand information as to the basis of this vile charge.
    Sometime during last February, I, together with Olen Arnspiger and C. C. Lemmon, was placed on the dance committee of the local Elks lodge. This committee conceived the idea of giving a hard times dance, and to carry out that scheme, decided to obtain a still somewhere and place it in the ballroom of the lodge, and run sweet cider through it for the crowd to drink and for their information as to the character of a still, and for what amusement they might get out of the general idea.
    It was suggested at our committee meeting that we could probably obtain a still, for a day or so from the sheriff, and in pursuance of that idea, I went over to Jacksonville the day before the dance, and inside the county jail where the stills were ordinarily kept, and, in the presence of Bert Moses, S. B. Sandefer, and one or two other parties whose names I do not recall, informed the sheriff of the scheme. Those present took a decided interest in the matter, and each one of them lent his assistance and suggestions in picking out the most suitable still/ I brought this still over to Medford, placed it in the ballroom of the lodge, and ran cider through it during the dance, before some one hundred local Elks and their ladies. If there is any doubt in the minds of innocent persons who have been misled by this rumor that moonshine was distilled in the Elks lodge that night, I refer them to any person who was present at the dance.
    The morning after the dance, I returned the still to the sheriff at the county jail at Jacksonville, in precisely the same condition in which 1 had obtained it from him.
    The two parties above named as present in the county jail at the time the scheme was explained to the sheriff, and who are ardent supporters of the present recall movement, have, if not willfully, assisted in the circulation of this rumor, at least made no effort so far as I am able to learn to explain the circumstances to their cohorts, in accordance with their knowledge of the affair. In my estimation this is a most characteristic example of the methods being employed by some of the more ardent supporters of the recall against the sheriff, to poison the minds of the unsuspecting public against this official, and the rumor circulated in connection with it is as worthy of belief by the voters of Jackson County as any other rumor circulated about the sheriff that has come to my attention.
Yours very truly,
    DON R. NEWBURY.
        Medford, July 28, 1922.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 28, 1922, page 1


    A few days ago Charley Terrill and wife accompanied by Miss Mabel Haines, the secretary of the Red Cross Society, stopped on their way up to Derby to look after the condition of a family whose husband and father was confined in the county jail for bootlegging, and in the run of conversation Charley remarked that he had only eighteen in the jail at that time, although he had had twenty-one in there a few days before but that some of them were turned out, that they come and go, and that they were mostly in for violating the prohibition law, and that brought up the subject of the expense of their keep. It is a very common thing to hear one remark that one can bootleg a little, while there is good money in it and if they get caught that the justice of the peace will fine them only about ten dollars and ten to twenty days in jail where they will have good warm quarters and free grub during the winter and that there is no disgrace to go to jail for breaking that law, and we don't wonder at their making such a remark as that when the older ones are teaching them that very idea, especially when they can spend the winter in jail and save the expense of board, come out in the spring and get a job and go to work again. While their reasoning is very good so far as the upkeep and comfort of the jail is concerned, there is a way to meet just such cases, and by that means act as a motive for them to look on that kind of a life from a different standpoint altogether.
A. C. Howlett, "Eagle Point Eaglets," Medford Mail Tribune, December 15, 1922, page 8


STILL ON ROXY ANN IS RAIDED BY THE SHERIFF
One of Largest Hauls in Local History Made by County Official on Big Moonshine Plant--
4 Operators Make Escape.

    In a raid on a deserted house on the Rousseau coal mine property, on the north flank of Roxy Ann, at three o'clock Thursday morning, the sheriff's office seized two stills of 20 and 35 gallon capacity, three barrels of mash, 60 gallons of moonshine in the "second boiling" stage, a truckload of equipment used in the apparently flourishing bootleg operations. The four operators of the illicit outfit, whose names and addresses are known, and for whom warrants have been issued, fled upon the approach of the raiding party, their suspicions being aroused by an early morning hunting party.
    The first intimation that a still was in operation came from neighbors, who suffered from chicken thieves. The investigation of the henhouse depredations led to following up a stench. When the officers arrived, the fires were still burning under the stills, the dishwater was hot, and an unfinished epistle of one of the bootleggers to his sweetheart was found lying on a table. Tracks of the fugitives made in their flight down the creek bed were found. One made a mighty stride in his haste, footprints measuring nine feet from hoof track to hoof track.
    The seizure is the largest in months in this city or county, and the moonshiners did business on an efficiency basis. They kept a record of their output. On December 27th, four gallons and one quart were manufactured. They had been in operation for three weeks, maintained a house in this city as a distributing center, and had two automobiles. In protecting their activities, they maintained a lookout on the roof of the hovel, and always had an automobile standing in a narrow spot in the road to halt a speedy approach. One of the gang acted as lookout, two tended to the manufacture, and one was the downtown salesman.
    All the paraphernalia and concoctions seized was taken to the county jail for destruction, officially, and the two autos seized as contraband. Two witnesses, Attorney B. F. Lindas and Frank Corleis, were taken along by the sheriff as witnesses to meet the usual charges, when whiskey is concerned, that quantities of it were confiscated.
    The moonshine, recording to the sheriff, was wonderfully and fearfully made, in conditions of filth unexcelled in this world or the next one. The stills were crudely built, and smeared with dough and dirt. Quantity, not quality, was the motto.
    The output was 100 proof by test, and slate colored in the "second boiling." As a sanitary step, the mess was drained through charcoal. Then the decoction was colored with tobacco juice, and sold for $5 a pop bottle. Business was lively, and some of this product was represented as being from the booze car seized in Hittson's garage ten days ago. That nobody is in the morgue, the sheriff says, is a wonder.
    In one of the letters left behind by the bootleggers, a father at Roseburg urges his boy to "live right," and hopes "he likes his work in the coal mine." Another epistle written by the moonshiners says "that white-headed old fool of a sheriff is going to make trouble for us.'' Another told of how the stills were run day and night, and "a cleanup" was predicted.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 5, 1923, page 1


Ashland Wars on Rum.
    ASHLAND, Or., March.--(Special.)--War on bootleggers has been declared by Stanley Robinette, chief of police, and two arrests have resulted in the past two days. Jake Snyder was found to be in possession of two pints of liquor and fined $200 and sentenced to 30 days in jail. George Duncan, upon whose property in the vicinity of the Anderson mine, near here, were found condensers and a small quantity of liquor, was fined $250 and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Several other arrests are expected.
Oregonian, Portland, March 5, 1923, page 7


AGED MOONSHINE SELLER RETURNED TO JACKSON CO.
    W. H. Price, an aged man convicted last summer of moonshining and sentenced to serve a year and pay a fine of $1500, has been brought back to Jackson County from Multnomah County, where he has been incarcerated, and, according to Sheriff Terrill, who escorted him here, Price was before Governor Pierce Wednesday in a hearing of his case and investigation of conditions in this country.
    Price is 74 years old, sick and partially paralyzed, and was sent to Multnomah County under protest, as better fitted for the poor farm than the jail. What disposition will now be made of the aged unfortunate has not been decided upon, but the case will probably be given a rigorous airing, as many people have interested themselves in the case.
    Price was sent back from Multnomah County, under a recent ruling by the county court there, that the sheriff should be the sole judge of whom he would receive from outside counties as prisoners.
    Price lived on an island in Rogue River below Gold Hill, and a tin still was captured in a raid by prohibition enforcement officers. Price was painted as a particularly hard-boiled citizen at the time, with a penchant for guns.

Medford Mail Tribune, November 30, 1923, page 3


WINE CELLAR IN JACKSONVILLE IS ORDERED CLOSED
Sheriff Terrill Padlocks August Petard's Family Wine Cellar After Conference with Sandefer--Confiscation Action to Be Filed.
    The wine cellar of August Petard owner of the vineyard on the hill west of Jacksonville, was padlocked this morning by Sheriff Terrill, after a conference with County Prohibition Enforcement Agent Sam B. Sandefer, and the court will decide the right of the aged Frenchman and his family to retain the vintage, consisting of 600 gallons of wine, and 50 quarts of wine in bottles, cobwebbed and dirty with age. Action for confiscation will be launched in the circuit court.
    The finer legal phases of the prohibition law are said to be involved in the case, to wit: the right to have alcoholic beverages, upon claim it was made before the prohibition law became effective.
    Allegations and gossip have been flying for weeks that the wine was being retailed to bootleggers, but no confirmation of this has ever been made public.
    The Petards are French, and have lived in Jacksonville for ten years. According to their attorney, Herbert K. Hanna, "they kept to themselves pretty much, and practically lived on bread and wine."
    The Petards insist that their wine was used only for family purposes.
    In the cellar of the home was found, besides the wine, 24 empty barrels and 1000 empty bottles, besides other containers.
    After the legal action was taken, Petard was allowed to go on his own recognizance.
    Prohibition Officer Sandefer and aides, accompanied by Sheriff Terrill, visited the Petard home this forenoon.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 1, 1924, page 1


    Moonshiners, here's your chance of a lifetime--two 500-gallon and two 250-gallon redwood tanks will be sold at the courthouse tomorrow at ten o'clock by the sheriff at auction sale--the remains of the notorious Sams Valley distillery.
Jacksonville Post, June 6, 1924, page 1


TO HOLD COURT AT EAGLE POINT
    A novel procedure will begin Monday, June 30, when County Judge G. A. Gardner will sit in judgment in the trial of a number of alleged bootleggers at Eagle Point. A number of jurors will be drawn from the circuit court jury list to try these cases, and as it is the first instance, in this county at least, where the county judge has tried cases except at the court house, the outcome will be watched with interest.
    If reports are half true Eagle Point has a number of "bad actors," speaking in terms of the prohibition law, and up to date neither the peace officers nor the courts have been able to cope with the situation. If Judge Gardner can remedy these conditions many people will be agreeably surprised.
Medford Clarion, June 20, 1924, page 1


THEN AND NOW
    It is actually amusing to see how hard some folks take their prohibition. If a person speaks what most people think, they are said to be "wet"--whatever that is.
    In the "old days," folks who were thirsty and didn't care walked into the front door of the saloon and took their "setting up" exercises.
    The more timid ones used the back door. The thirsty, who had not the courage of their convictions, suffered their thirst at home, and "jined up" with the prohibitionists--as long as they had to deny themselves, they desired that others, less hypocritical than themselves, should be denied.
    The "result"--the country was voted dry.
    Now we have never favored liquor for any purpose, so we did not patronize the saloon before prohibition set in, nor the drugstore since. Neither do we experiment with raisins, etc. But the serious part of it all is that so many folks do.
    Of course, it is contrary to law, the same as we understand profanity to be--a fine comes along in the wake of the finding of booze, so a lot of folks profess to favor prohibition for the simple reason that they fear getting caught with the "goods."
    Children who would never have entered a saloon now open "Dad's" refrigerator and take a "shot" of poison. High school boys and girls, who never would have tasted the dirty poison dispensed by the saloon, now pour the drugstore brand of Jamaica Ginger into the "near beer" of the "soft drink" joint, and drink to their own damnation.
    Friends, you may call us "wet" if you wish. You may stop the paper if you do not like to read the truth. You may blind yourselves to the facts, but that does not change them materially.
    You may drink anything you wish, that is your business. If it kills you, you'll be dead a long time, but we cannot see any sense in "kidding" ourselves into thinking that the present brand of "prohibition" is a moral success.
    The Devil never had a better tool to work with than that "Jew-made" farce.
    Never before in the history of the United States was official corruption more rampant; never before was moral delinquency so prevalent, and yet this is the Utopia which prohibition promised.
    Social lists are now confined to "those who can be trusted," and the farce is kept up by the putrid efforts of paid lobbyists.
    Many folks who were ashamed to be seen in a saloon now get their daily dose of "rotgut" at home. Thus is American prohibition made a success.
    Now "curse" us if you want to, and break another "sacred law."
Pacific Record Herald, Medford, June 26, 1924, page 3


ROSEY FORCED TO PURSUE HOOCH CAR AT POINT OF GUN
    One of the big surprises of their lives was met with Monday forenoon when John M. Scott of Portland, assistant passenger traffic manager of the Southern Pacific; A. S. Rosenbaum, district passenger and freight agent of the same railroad, and Judge Wm. Colvig of Medford were driving in Rosenbaum's car between Anna Spring camp and the south entrance of Crater national park, en route to Klamath Falls.
    They were discussing the probable effect of a bumblebee sting on a piece of steel plate, paying no attention to a car ahead of them in the distance. Suddenly a burly man with an ugly-looking revolver strapped about his body sprang out from the roadside and, halting them after exhibiting his badge, said: "I am a government officer after four bootleggers in that next car who are desperate Indians from the Klamath Reservation and will shoot as soon as I tackle them."
    "Drive and pass that car," tersely continued the officer who had commandeered Rosenbaum's car. Then he got into the car and repeated the command.
    "Did y-y-you say those men would sh-sh-oot?" inquired Rosie tremulously.
    "Yes, drive on and hurry."
    The Medford railroad man did as commanded and as his car passed that of the bootleggers the officer sprang out and brought the latter car to a halt with his gun, while Rosenbaum sped on for the south entrance as he, Scott and Colvig expected to dodge bullets every second.
    They finally looked around, and the last they saw of the officer and the bootleggers was one of the Indians handing over to the officer a bottle. That is all they know about the case.
    However, when the cars passed Judge Colvig gave the other car a good look and saw that one of the men in it was an Indian he had prosecuted forty years ago for being mixed up in a shooting affray when the Judge was prosecuting attorney of this district, which then comprised Klamath, Lakeview, Jackson and Josephine County.
    He regards the coincidence of Monday as rather remarkable.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 19, 1924, page 8


SANDEFER'S CAR IS RIDDLED BY LEAD IN RAID
Prohibition Officer Target--Auto Body Bullet Punctured, Also Tires--
Identity of Assailants and Locality Kept Secret.

    The automobile driven by county prohibition enforcement agent Sam B. Sandefer was badly riddled with bullets from a .45 automatic revolver Wednesday night in an attempted arrest of bootleggers. A bullet sped through the front of the car, and the hind tires were punctured by the leaden pellets. The rear was showered with bullets. The official had a close call.
    Up to two o'clock this afternoon, no report of the affair had been made to the district attorney's or sheriff's office.
    Sandefer according to the garage employees, where he brought his car this morning for repairs, refused to say anything, except that he had been fired upon, when he surprised bootleggers he had been watching. He claimed he knew the names of his assailants, but refused to reveal their identity. He also refused to give the locality where the shooting occurred.
    Sandefer could not be located this afternoon for a verification or an account of the affair.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 28, 1924, page 1


SANDEFER TELLS OF GUN FIGHT IN SISKIYOUS
Dramatic Conclusion to Arrest of Bootleggers Delivering Moonshine--Youngest Gets Drop on Officer--Four in Arresting Party--Details of Fracas.
    Sam B. Sandefer, county prohibition enforcement officer, gives the following account of the gun battle early Thursday morning, on the summit of the Siskiyous, in which members of his party narrowly escaped death from a hail of bullets, and his automobile was riddled. The firing party consisted of two, and possibly three, men.
    According to the official, one of the bootleggers got the drop when he was in the act of putting the pair under arrest, emptied the moonshine, intended for delivery, and escaped in a fusillade of shots.
    "I received a tip Wednesday," said Sandefer, "that there was to be a delivery of moonshine, and with my daughter Francis, Clay Walker, and another man went to the Siskiyous near what is known as the Dinty Moore place, and waited. I stationed Clay down the road to watch.
    "In a little while a car appeared and stopped, and I parked mine nose to nose with it. A conversation followed in which the following sentences were spoken: 'We're a little bit late,' and 'Where is the kid?' I tried to get the two together, and seeing that they were too cute, I flashed my star and said: 'Boys, I want your booze, and you are under arrest.'
    "In the meantime, the youngest of the pair came up behind, and putting a revolver to my head, said: 'You're not going to pull anything like that.'
    "I replied, 'I guess you are right, brother.'
    "He then started to fumble with the two five-gallon kegs in the car and my daughter said, 'Papa, they're emptying out the moonshine." I knew it. I could hear it gurgle and hit the ground, but that did not interest me much. At this juncture the chap who had me covered ran for his car and I took to cover. They started their car, and after a short detour through the brush I reached mine and started to drive towards them.
    "I had gone no distance to speak of when a man bobbed up in front of the car and commanded, 'Halt.' Immediately he opened fire. When it began I shoved my daughter out of the car. One of the bullets passed through the seat and how it ever missed her I can't understand. I ran to a gravel pit and told her to stay there until I came for her. I could have opened fire on them from my cover, but I thought what is the use of telling anybody for a little moonshine. The pair then drove away, and we hunted for them until 2:15 o'clock. The shooting started at about 12:30 o'clock."
    Sandefer gave that during the proceedings he was more interested in the safety of his daughter than anything else, and that Clay Walker's pistol had something the matter with it. Another member of the party was in the back seat of the car. Seven bullets hit the car.
    Further developments in the case are scheduled.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 29, 1924, page 1


SHINE EDWARDS CASE UP AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY
    John (Shine) Edwards, now residing in Klamath County, a former resident of this city, Dale Smith and Hattie Smith, Frank McKay, and Mark and Viola Kunz will enter pleas Wednesday to charges involving violations of the prohibition law. All are out on bonds.
    The Edwards case has been pending since 1922, the Smiths are charged with possession and manufacture on West Second Street in this city; the Kunzes are charged with possession and manufacture on their place near Butte Falls; Pech is charged with possession and had his car confiscated, and McKay is charged with possession.
    In a roundup staged by the sheriff's office and federal prohibition authorities, four stills were seized in Jackson County last week.
    Next Monday in the justice court the preliminary bearing of George Neuber, charged with violation of the prohibition law, will be held. Neuber is at liberty on $1000 bonds.
    Elmer O. Peters, a youth, charged with forgery, will also enter a plea Wednesday.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 16, 1924, page 8


GASOLINE SETTLES IT
    A writer in a metropolitan newspaper takes the position that gasoline has forever settled the prohibition amendment, including the Volstead Act.
    His logic is good in the light of the facts. There are more than fifteen million registered automobiles and motor trucks in the United States, one for every seven persons.
    Is there any sensible person who will admit that any one of these fifteen million drivers should be permitted to drink? We scarcely think so.
    The locomotive engineer, who under railroad rules and discipline of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is not allowed to drink intoxicating liquor, was never under any greater strain than the man driving an automobile in city traffic or on [a] crowded country highway.
    He needs a cool head, a clear eye and a steady hand to protect not alone his own life, but the lives of those who ride with him.
    The power of the influence of public opinion is beginning to have its effect, because at least half of the people ride in automobiles, and they are demanding that drivers of machines shall abstain from strong drink.
    The influence for sobriety will grow with the development of the automobile, and it is already expressing itself in more stringent laws to punish drunken drivers. More and more judges are sending to jail men who are caught driving automobiles while intoxicated.
    Gasoline is undoubtedly going to settle the prohibition question for all time.
Ashland Daily Tidings, November 18, 1924, page 2


NOT GUILTY IS VERDICT RETURNED IN DAHACK CASE
        After 6 hours' deliberation the jury in the Dahack case at 3 p.m. this afternoon returned a verdict of not guilty.
    The circuit court jury in the trial of Everett Dahack of Eagle Point, charged with violation of the prohibition laws, began its deliberations at 10 o'clock this morning, and was still out at noon.
    The chief witness against Dahack was E. O. Bradley, who alleged that he purchased liquor from the defendant last July. A check given to Ernest Dahack, a brother of the defendant, was presented as evidence. Ernest said he remembered the check because Bradley had tendered payment for gasoline and groceries, "including more pigs feet than usual." From Dahack's testimony, it developed that Bradley was fond of them. Ernest could not remember the exact date he gave the check to Everett, and was pressed hard by Deputy Prosecutor Gaylord for a definite answer, who insisted upon one. Finally Ernest said:
    "I don't know for sure, but I gave it to Everett some time after I got it."
    Bradley in his testimony told of issuing the check and buying the rum and Attorney Kelly attempted to show a wide variance between his present testimony and what he said at the preliminary hearing.
    Bradley admitted taking a drink, but said he had reformed since, and interjected uncomplimentary remarks about the quality of the stimulants he alleges he bought.
    Bradley denied that the wound in the head, sustained during the war, made him irresponsible for what he said, but opined that the moonshine he imbibed would result in mental fogginess.
    The witness testified that he often wrote checks, with as "high as $100" in his pockets, but denied that he had told friends "that he didn't need to buy liquor because I am a good bootlegger myself, and have some buried on Ross Lane." Bradley said he never said it and did not know where Ross Lane was.
    A legal flurry ensued when Deputy Prosecutor Gaylord asserted that counsel for the defense "was fishing far afield."
    This aroused Attorney Kelly, who entered a denial that "I am either fishing, or in a field, and demand the withdrawal of the observation of learned counsel for the state."
    The court settled the uprising by ordering the case to proceed.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 20, 1924, page 7


JURY ACQUITS EVERETT DAHACK
    The jury in case of State of Oregon vs. Everett Dahack, after six hours deliberation, brought in a verdict of "not guilty." E. E. Kelly represented the defendant. The moral conviction of many who hear the evidence was that the defendant had undoubtedly been trafficking in moonshine, but the jury was unable to return a verdict of guilty on the evidence. C. C. Gilchrist of Sams Valley signed the verdict as foreman.
Jackson County New, November 21, 1924, page 1



    To the Editor:
    It appears in the press dispatches of the 13th inst. that Scribner & Sons have just published "a shorter Bible," from which are eliminated all references which seem to favor or uphold the use of wine. This new translation has been made by Prof. Charles Foster Kent, professor of Biblical literature at Yale, assisted by Frederick Harris of the Y.M.C.A. and Ethel Cutler of the Y.W.C.A.
    In the King James version, it is told that David dealt out "a cake of bread and a good piece of flesh and a flagon of wine," but in this bible of the prohis the word wine is eliminated and "a cake of raisins" substituted, therefore, again, where Isaiah refers to the children of Israel as loving "flagons of wine at their festivals," it is made to read "and loves to eat raisin cakes at their festivals."
    This "shorter Bible," however, does not change the words of the King James version where it says "wine is a mocker--strong drink is turbulent" and in other instances where the sentiment expressed seems to accord with the views of these modern reformers. I have not seen this shorter bible, and I am at a loss to know just how it renders some of the statements of Holy Writ, as for instance Paul's advice to Timothy, "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake" (1st Tim. 23) or "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts--Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." (Proverbs XXI:6-7). Shall we substitute "raisin cake" in these citations? In the first chapter of Esther it is stated that "the heart of the king was merry with wine." There is nothing wrong in being merry, but I wonder what effect "raisin cake" would have had on old Ahasuerus.
    The IX chapter of Genesis tells us that "Noah planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine and was drunken." Here I judge there is no need of substituting raisin cake?
    I do not know where these eminent theologians got their authority to revise the Bible, and make it accord with their intemperate views--for it is written, "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book    *    *    *    and if any man shall take away from the words of the book, God shall take away his part out of the book of life." (Rev. XXII-18-19).
    The entire chapter, telling of the miracle performed at the marriage feast of Cana--of turning water into wine--is omitted from this Volstead Bible.
    Now raisin cake is all right in its place, and the California boosters will rejoice at having their leading product advertised from the pulpits of the land in so signal a manner, but I submit that only a fanatic can appreciate such a bible.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, March 19, 1925, page 7


STILL IS RAIDED, AGED INVALID ALLEGED OWNER
    In a raid this morning by the sheriff's and district attorney's office a 15-gallon still, 200 gallons of mash, and seven gallons of moonshine were confiscated, and John Doe Sears, age 60, an invalid, is held as the proprietor thereof. The still was located eight miles northeast of Eagle Point, and was so cleverly hidden in the timber that it was hard to detect.
    When the raiding party arrived, Sears was in the act of building a fire for the day's run.
    According to the authorities Sears has been operating for several weeks, carrying his corn and sugar and other ingredients to the plant in small lots.
    A discarded tin boiler was found in the brush, near the still, and the authorities claim the bottom had been eaten out by the effects of the mash. The boiler in use was of copper.
    Sears will be arraigned for a preliminary hearing in the morning.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 28, 1925, page 3


MOONSHINERS IN JAIL STAGE FIGHT, GUARD DOUBLED
    A special session of the grand jury was called this morning, to dispose of liquor cases pending. It is expected to conclude the work by night. The cases include those of Bill Short, alias Shannon, who held up Sheriff Jennings and Federal Prohibition Officer McCredie, at the point of a rifle, when caught with illicit liquor on his ranch in the Applegate a week ago. Joe Palmer, a Los Angeles newsboy and preliminary fighter, charged with driving away the auto holding the moonshine and dumping the latter in a creek, and Garland, 14, and Agnes Reid, 19, brother and sister, arrested on the Short ranch, charged with alleged assistance in the making of the moonshine, are also held.
    Tuffy Reid, who was hanged at San Quentin prison last spring, is said to have been a brother of Garland and Agnes Reid. The mother is detained in the county jail, at her own request, and with no charge against her.
    Another case is that of H. T. Stonebreaker, 19, an Ashland youth, charged with possession of a still in the Emigrant Creek district, with Jack DeRondon of this city and C. Conway of Ashland.
    According to the authorities, Stonebreaker and Conway engaged in a fight in the county jail, in which Conway sustained a broken nose. Bad feeling over information given the authorities is said to have been the cause of the row.
    As a precautionary measure since the incarceration of the above prisoners, two jailers are on duty at the county jail until their cases are disposed of.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 3, 1925, page 6


VANILLA EXTRACT LEADS TO 60-DAY JAIL SENTENCE
    Because of his badly inebriated condition on vanilla extract which caused his car to go off the Pacific Highway three miles north of the city at about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon and tilt in a dangerous angle in a ditch, whereupon he went calmly to sleep inside the car, Francis Adair, about 50 years old, an Ashland restaurant proprietor, was given a sentence of 60 days in the county jail, a $100 fine and had his driver's license revoked for one year in Justice Roe's court at Jacksonville late yesterday afternoon.
    The arrest was made by Allison Moulton, assistant district attorney, in his capacity as deputy sheriff, although Chief of Police Adams of this city was at the scene at the same time, but had no authority to make the arrest, being outside the city limits.
    It is seldom an intoxicated man is hauled into court while still under the Influence, but under the circumstances Mr. Moulton thought it wise to introduce an innovation.
    It seems that when Adair's car went into the ditch that individual deemed it a good time to curl up and go to sleep. Then a woman from the vicinity phoned in to the Medford police station that she had passed a man asleep or dead in a car along the highway. Thereupon Chief Adams drove hurriedly out to the scene and was just awakening Adair when along came Assistant District Attorney Moulton, who was driving home from Ashland.
    When thoroughly awakened by the two officials the befuddled Ashland man was at first inclined to be quite abusive and started to make wild claims as to his identity, at times claiming he was a Texas bad man, a United States marshal from Texas, even going so far as to pretend to search for his badge; and finally claiming to be a prominent citizen of Ashland. On him was found one full bottle of vanilla extract and an empty bottle of the same fluid.
    Adair was finally bundled into the assistant prosecutor's car and hurried over to Justice Roe's court at Jacksonville. En route he juggled a handful of $20 gold pieces and ever and anon proudly proclaimed that he was going to court to get a light fine.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 9, 1925, page 3


STILL AND MASH SEIZED IN RAID IN SAMS VALLEY
M. E. Blakeley Thought Officers Were Customers--Wife Ill in Hospital--
Had Complete Outfit, Officials Say.

    A 26-gallon moonshine still, 300 gallons of mash and 42 gallons of moonshine whiskey were seized last night when federal prohibition officer Clatous McCredie and state special officer T. A. Talent arrested W. L. Blakeley on his ranch in the Sams Valley district. His preliminary hearing was scheduled to take place this afternoon before Judge Glenn O. Taylor.
    The still ish one of the largest that has over been seized in Jackson County and is complete in every detail, being of the latest design. The moonshine was "second run" product and tested 90 at a cold temperature. The mash was contained in six barrels sitting in the attic of the farm house, while the still was set up in an outbuilding near the house. The shed was divided into two compartments, one side of which contained the equipment and the other the finished product. The entire outfit, according to the district attorney's office, was clean.
    The place had been under surveillance of officers for some time past before the raid was made last night. Blakeley, thinking the officers to be customers, invited them into the house when they arrived and when apprised of their identity willingly told them where to find the contraband liquor and equipment, showing them where the mash, liquor and still were kept.
    At the time of his arrest Blakeley was operating the still, running "first run" moonshine through. He used a four-burner oil stove under a large dome-shaped copper boiler for the distilling of the spirits together with a "thumper," a device taking the place of the copper coil usually used.
    The 42 gallons in the store room were contained in 19 one-gallon jugs, two ten-gallon kegs and one three-gallon keg. Twenty gallons of the liquor were destroyed by the officers on the ground, and the remainder brought to Jacksonville, where Blakeley is now being held.
    The moonshine was not sold in retail lots, being sold in wholesale quantities to valley residents, it is said. The majority of his customers, Blakeley stated, lived in the central part of the valley.
    He also stated it had been his intention to quit the business at the first of the year, as by that time he believed he would have been remunerated enough to pay several outstanding debts. He recently purchased the farm with its large rambling farm house and had only eight days ago purchased a new Flint 40 touring car. On the land lay pipe, with which ho had planned to install a water system.
    Officers say that the moonshine odor was present on the road several hundred yards from the house, standing on a prominent knoll, isolated from other houses some distance away. Because of this isolation, Blakeley believed, it is said, to be safe from the law and free from suspicion.
    Yesterday afternoon Blakeley's wife was removed to the Sacred Heart Hospital suffering with pneumonia, contracted on the farm, and is said to be quite ill. The only son, William, was also arrested later in the evening on the highway by state traffic officer Talent for operating a motor vehicle under the legal age of 16, he being only 14. The boy was returning from the hospital where he had taken his mother. He was to have a hearing this afternoon also.
    The last large still to be seized in the county was taken in the same district two years ago when a 100-gallon still with several large tubs of mash was confiscated.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 21, 1925, page 1


80 GALLONS OF LOCAL MOONSHINE ARE DUMPED OUT
    Approximately 80 gallons of moonshine were destroyed this afternoon at the city dump with representatives of the district attorney's and sheriff's offices and federal and state officers present. The liquor was seized during the past summer and fall months and included one seizure of 50 gallons.
    The liquor destroyed is itemized as follows, with the names of the former owners: 60 gallons, Walter Dyreborg and John Bughner of Sacramento, Calif.; ten gallons moonshine and five gallons wine, O. Cataline and A. Vantura of Klamath Falls; 12 gallons, W. L. Blakeley, Sams Valley; one gallon, C. L. Spencer, Klamath Falls; three bottles moonshine, Claude McCormack, Seattle; one pint gin, F. L. Green, local; three quarts moonshine, D. P. Buckley, local; one quart, James Bell, local; one quart, Heath Childers, local; and one gallon, W. C. Barker, local.
    Each of the above violators have been disposed of through the district attorney's office. Prison and jail sentences were imposed and fines assessed, ranging from 30 days to five years and from $100 to $500. Three cars, as the result of the arrests, were confiscated by the state. Walter Dyreborg lost a large Studebaker, O. Cataline a Chalmers roadster, and W. C. Barker a Ford touring.
    Staff Special Officer T. A. Talent and Federal Officer Cletus McCredie, who took part in a majority of the arrests, were present at the liquor-destroying party, together with District Attorney Newton, C. Chaney, State Traffic Officer C. P. Talent, Sheriff Jennings and others.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 31, 1925, page 3


HIGH SCHOOL LADS CAUGHT STEALING CIDER WITH KICK
    Hard cider has its drawbacks, especially when surreptitiously taken, think four Ashland high school boys, arrested by local police Saturday night at the Rogue River Valley Canning Company, where the boys had appropriated five quarts of the beverage by bailing it from the large vinegar tank, where the cider was fermenting. The four were severely reprimanded by authorities this forenoon and given into the custody of their parents.
    The method of procedure used in taking the cider is simple, say police. The large cannery building is open and easily accessible to the nightly wanderings of daring and thrill-loving youths. The vinegar tank, located under an opening in the roof, afforded tempting opportunities to the boys to lower a pail into the several hundred gallons without resorting to burglary.
    The four were on the roof, according to officers, when they were apprehended with the small amount in their possession. This morning they were more or less remorse-stricken and seemed to be worried.
    It is said that hard cider thieving has been going on in the city spasmodically for some time past, but until last night, although careful watch has been kept, none of the perpetrators were ever caught. Police say lives were risked when the cider was taken, as it was an easy matter to slip from the roof into the tank.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 25, 1926, page 8


Gold Hill Boys Escape Friday, Caught Saturday
From Medford [Mail] Tribune
    "To evade arrest by running does not always serve the purpose desired, so say two Gold Hill youths, Merritt Davis and Aurele Meunier, arrested by State Special Agent T. A. Talent and Deputy Sheriff Lewis Jennings Saturday evening for alleged possession and transportation of moonshine, after they had evaded arrest the night before by speeding away when called upon to halt by the officers on a lonely road near Gold Hill.
    "A Chevrolet touring car used in the alleged bootlegging operations has been confiscated. Davis was sentenced to sixty days in jail and fined $100 by Judge J. L. Roe at Jacksonville on his plea of guilty Monday, and Meunier was sentenced to three months and fined $500 on the first charge and to two months and no fine on the second. The two are accused by the officers of having three quarts of low-grade moonshine, a small amount of which the officers have for evidence, after it had been thrown out of the fleeing coupe Friday night.
    "Believing illicit liquor operations to be going on in the Galls Creek country adjacent to Gold Hill, Officer Talent and Sheriff Jennings watched the road Friday night. They noticed the Meunier car come off the Pacific Highway at Rock Point bridge onto the Galls Creek road that leads east from the south approach of the bridge. When seeing it return to the highway the officers stood in the center of the road and, flashing the light on their badges, hailed the car to stop. Instead of stopping, the coupe was turned out of the road to strike them, tracks, the officers say, proving this conclusively. The two officers then shot at the speeding car several times and chased it with their own.
    "The identity of the men driving the coupe was a mystery until Talent and Jennings searched through Gold Hill and found it parked near the Gold Hill cement factory, where Davis and Meunier work. The coupe was identified with a bullet mark on the back and the fact that splinters of glass from a window broken by a bullet still lay within.
    "Davis after a short time admitted his guilt, and through questioning it is said that Meunier practically did the same. He is alleged to have said: 'I'll do it again,' when asked about his intent of striking the officers with the car. And when told 'You know you'd have your neck cracked if you killed one of those boys,' he replied, 'Undoubtedly I would.'
    "When the liquor was thrown from the Meunier car a half-gallon
fruit jar container is said to have broken, while a quart bottle failed to break, thus furnishing the evidence for the charges."
Gold Hill News, February 4, 1926, page 1


More G.H. Boys Arrested by Drys
    Edward E. Foster, 23, Everett Shoemaker, 19 and Chester Carter, 19, residents of Gold Hill, were arrested early this week by Terry A. Talent, Ralph Jennings and Clatous McCredie, on the A. Shoemaker ranch on Galls Creek, a short distance from this town.
    A six-gallon-capacity still was found hidden in the brush, and 80 gallons of corn mash, say officers, were destroyed by the alleged still operators a short time before the arrival of the authorities. The mash was found in the chicken yard unmolested.
    The ranch owner, A. Shoemaker, an elderly man, was not placed under arrest, as the three younger men are said to have accepted all responsibility.
    The raid was the direct result of Aurele Meunier's and Merritt Davis' arrest Saturday, believed to have come from the Shoemaker place. The boys were returning from the ranch, say officers, with moonshine manufactured there when they evaded arrest by running Friday night of last week.
    The still was found thoroughly dismantled, and the mash barrels were scrubbed clean. The alleged operators claimed they were going out of business and had sold but little. However, it is believed the operations ceased because of fear caused by the two youths' arrest.
    When the officers arrived the three young men were all on the premises, in addition to Shoemaker and a daughter.

Gold Hill News, February 4, 1926, page 1


Luke Jennings Had Sour Mash
    Luke Jennings, about 45 years of age, well known in this vicinity and in Medford, who for some time has been farming in Sams Valley, a former bartender at Albany, Oregon, is in jail at Jacksonville on a charge of possession of illicit prune mash following his arrest Friday. His ranch is near Antioch. It is understood that he was sentenced to 60 days and a heavy fine.
    A small quantity of moonshine is believed to have been destroyed by Jennings' housekeeper, Mrs. Jones, who saw the officers approaching the farm house from the main road. Although a thorough search was made, no still was found.
    The ranch house, located a mile and one-half from the Antioch store, has been farmed by Jennings for some time. The mash was found 20 feet from the farmhouse in a brick cellar, contained in one 50-gallon barrel and two 25-gallon crocks, and was in a fermenting condition. Following the arrest, about noon, the officers, who were Sheriff Jennings, Deputies Paul and Lewis Jennings, Clatous McCredie. and Terry Talent, spent the rest of the day traversing the expanse of the 300-acre farm in an attempt to locate a still.
    The emptying of the supply of liquor at the approach of the officers was supposed to have been accomplished by the housekeeper by pouring it into the pumping trough and flushing it away by pumping water briskly into the trough. The officers were forced to walk because of the muddy condition of the road to the house, thus giving the woman plenty of time to destroy the evidence of liquor possession.
    Two rifles, promptly taken by the Sheriff, were found in the house. Jennings, the farmer, showed no resistance when put under arrest.
Gold Hill News, February 18, 1926, page 1


Mother, Son and Hired Man Held
    Three Sams Valley residents were arrested and are being held on prohibition charges. The raid and arrests were made on Thursday of last week.
    Mrs. W. L. Blakely, wife of W. L. Blakely, now serving a 5-year sentence at Salem recently imposed for still operation, her son Lester, 14 years of age, and Kid McIntyre, 55, formerly of Lakeview, are the victims of a desire to violate the prohibition laws.
    A 15-gallon still, situated a quarter of a mile from the farmhouse, 80 gallons of corn mash, and five gallons of "moonshine" were confiscated by the raiding officers, who made the arrest at 9 o'clock at night. The product was of good quality, having been run through an up-to-date still, but was low in alcoholic content, testing but 55% according to officers. Mrs. Blakely and McIntyre, it is alleged, had perfected a retailing system.
    The officers, who were Special State Officer T. A. Talent, Federal Officer Clatous McCredie, State Traffic Officer C. P. Talent, Sheriff and Deputy Lewis Jennings, upon their arrival thoroughly searched the house and found one gallon of liquor and placed Mrs. Blakely and son under arrest for possession. Following this, relates Officer T. A. Talent, McIntyre came to the house apparently from the still, carrying another gallon, which he placed near the gate. When he came in, he was also arrested. A thorough search was made for firearms, but none were found, and the three prisoners were then brought to the county seat.
    The still was located the next morning situated in a specially constructed building, isolated from the other farm buildings. It was modern in every way, as far as stills go, and even had a pressure tank and was similar to the outfit Blakely himself had operated before his arrest a short time ago.
    The mother and son have confessed their part in the business and stated the product was being sold for $12 a gallon, six dollars of which were paid to McIntyre for making it. Mrs. Blakely declared it had been the plan to go to Salem next week to visit her incarcerated husband for a short time, thus breaking away from the illicit operations. The large Flint car, owned by her husband, was still in her possession, but she stated that it was to have been sold shortly.
    A mad dog, apparently a farm pet, had to be shot the next morning. It was found viciously biting trees and other articles near the still house and was frothing at the mouth. Officers declared the dog had eaten too much of the mash.
    When Mrs. Blakely and her son appeared before the county court; their case was taken under advisement to be decided later. McIntyre was bound over to the grand jury on a $3000 bond on a charge of setting up and operating a still. The accused is reported to have served two terms in penal institutes previously, according to officers, who state that he showed resistance when put under arrest Sunday. Mrs. Blakely and son declare McIntyre was operating the still on his own hook.
    The boy, who the authorities say is very clever, will probably be sent to the state training school on a petition of delinquency. He is alleged to have delivered the product from the still to the purchasers and upon the night of the arrest hurriedly put on his coat and hat upon the arrival of the officers, thinking they were purchasers, it is said. His mother is crippled, being afflicted with deformed hands.
Gold Hill News, February 18, 1926, page 1


EX-DRY AIDE OF COUNTY IS FOUND GUILTY
J. J. Carey, Convicted in Federal Court at Portland, Operated Here--Also Fugitive from Minnesota Reformatory--
Jury Tampering Charged.

    PORTLAND, Ore., May 6.--(AP)--J. J. Snodgrass, alias J. J. Carey, alias Jackson Streeter, former special dry enforcement officer in Jackson County, was found guilty in federal court today on charges of obtaining an automobile by representing himself to be a federal officer. It was the second trial of Snodgrass on charges brought through Mrs. Blanche L. Meeker of Medford. The jury in the first trial last winter disagreed.
    Attorneys for Snodgrass obtained ten days in which to file a motion for a new trial.
    He is held in jail under a fugitive warrant which charges that he is an escapee from the St. Cloud, Minn., reformatory.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 6, 1926, page 1


HIP POCKET RAID AT EAGLE POINT
    As a result of a concerted move by six officers, seven arrests were made at Eagle Point Saturday night on liquor transportation and possession charges. Six of the accused were scheduled to have hearings today in the Jacksonville justice court, while the seventh is to have a hearing next Wednesday.
    The largest quantity of alleged liquor found was a quart and that in the alleged possession of J. B. Rockwell and G. W. Rouse, of this city. Other quantities ranged from a pint down. H. Jeschke and A. V. Williams are at liberty on their own recognizance because of an alleged pint. Ivan Davis of Forest Creek is also at liberty on his own recognizance, as is Charles Jove of Butte Falls, who is scheduled to appear Wednesday.
    Officers taking part in the arrests were Sheriff Ralph Jennings and Deputies Paul and Lewis Jennings, State Special Agent T. A. Talent, State Prohibition Agent R. A. Young and jailer Ike Dunford. These officers completely covered the premises about the dance hall, thereby being able to keep watchful eye on all illicit activities about the scene. No arrests, it is understood, were made within the hall, all the alleged "wet goods" being cached or in cars outside.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 10, 1926, page 6



2 ARRESTED FOR BOOTLEGGING IN RURAL DISTRICTS
    Two more county residents were caught Saturday night in the net of prohibition enforcement. Today Nye Mathews of Eagle Point was placed under a $2000 bond when arraigned for sale and possession of moonshine, while Chas. Wydenes of Central Point was sentenced to 60 days and fined $500 on a possession charge. Mathews furnished bond and is scheduled to enter a plea tomorrow afternoon before Judge Taylor. A third liquor law violator was sentenced last Saturday.
    A party of six officers placed the Eagle Point man under arrest while making an alleged delivery of three gallons of moonshine to a soldier near his home place four miles from Eagle Point. The farm was thoroughly searched, but nothing incriminating was found. The liquor, according to officers, tested 110 percent and sold at $15 per gallon.
    Coming to Central Point a short time later, Wydenes, a native of Holland, was arrested while making a gallon delivery to a soldier in the rear of a hotel there. The moonshine is said to have been the same brand as Mathews' alleged product, but sold for $25 per gallon. Wydenes is a sheep herder and has resided in and around Central Point for some time.
    James Neff, local truck driver, arrested by Special State Agent Terry Talent last week, shortly after selling a quart, pleaded guilty before Judge Taylor Saturday to sale and possession. He was sentenced to 30 days and fined $250 on a recommendation of leniency by the district attorney.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 28, 1926, page 6


EAGLE PT. YOUTH IS FOUND GUILTY MOONSHINE SALE
    Deliberating but 15 minutes, the jury in the justice court trial in the city hall yesterday found Nye Mathews, Eagle Point youth, guilty of moonshine sale. Sentence was scheduled to be imposed today upon Mathews, who is at liberty under $1000 bond.
    The youth, only 18 years, was arrested last June near his home a short distance from Eagle Point, while making a sale of three gallons of moonshine, which was on exhibition at the trial in gallon jugs. Mathews is said to have received the money when the arrest was made by Special State Officer Terry Talent and others. The liquor, it is said, was sold to a soldier from Camp Jackson, where the Oregon National Guard held its annual encampment last June. He was brought to the local justice court a short time later, where he entered a plea of not guilty and released under bond.
     Mathews also has a similar charge awaiting him in circuit court, and indictment having been recently returned against him by the last grand jury. A recommendation was returned with the verdict yesterday, suggesting a light jail sentence and a heavy fine. the defense was represented by Attorneys Kelly and DeSouza and the state by District Attorney N. C. Chaney and Deputy C. D. Phillips.    
Medford Mail Tribune, July 30, 1926, page 7


ILLICIT LIQUOR SUPPLY BURNED AND POURED OUT
    No chance had those with unslaked thirsts, when late yesterday afternoon in the neighborhood of 300 gallons of illicit liquor was destroyed in a ravine a short distance from Jacksonville, in which city it had been stored in the padded cell of the county jail for several weeks awaiting destruction.
    Some hopeful topers, it is said, had expected to see the rum run in a stream down an incline and to surreptitiously take small drinks while arms of the law were innocent of their actions. To ensure thorough destruction, the officers, of whom there were several in attendance, liberally applied matches to the moonshine- and whiskey-soaked wood and sacks, which once had protected the bottles and jugs.
    The material would hardly burn at first, related one sad-eyed witness today, until finally a good start was reached. The moonshine before its demise produced heat--clouds of it which went floating into a snow-threatening sky--heat that came from billowing alcohol-fed flames, which made warm all those who came to witness the ceremonies, and to make sure no stray pint bottle, of which there were over 300, did not escape a fate which was meted out to its fellows.
Movies Taken.
    Motion pictures of the prohibition "booze party" which was held at Jacksonville yesterday were taken by Horace Bromley, Copco cameraman, for future showing by the "Copco Current Events" newsreel. Some good "shots" were taken of the law enforcement officials in the act of destroying the contraband liquor, which was contained in bottles, jugs and kegs of every size and description. A fitting conclusion to the film presented the "funeral pyre" of John Barleycorn, which was made up of the cartons, sacks and other inflammable material in which the booze containers were found. Instead of using kerosene to saturate the pile in order to make it burn in the damp weather, the officers poured on several gallons of moonshine, which served the purpose equally well. Those who see the motion pictures of this unique "booze party" should have no reason to doubt that the captured hooch was effectively and efficiently destroyed.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 14, 1926, page 3


BROTHERS JAILED AS STILL OWNERS IN RANCH RAID
    Two brothers, V. L. and B. J. Hartman, young ranchers of the Eagle Point district, are in the county jail awaiting hearings on charges of setting up and operating a moonshine still. They were arrested by Deputy Sheriff Lewis Jennings and other officers late yesterday afternoon after they had been under surveillance for a short time.
    V. L. Hartman, the youngest brother, who is 20 years of age, was placed under arrest on the ranch, situated along the Crater Lake Highway north of the Butte Falls road junction, while the older brother was arrested here. They claimed they had not been in the business long, having only used the still, which was found in the farmhouse, once before during the past several weeks and, according to officers, would have run off 50 gallons of corn mash tonight if the arrests had not been made. The 50 gallons would have made eight gallons of moonshine.
    The younger Hartman, who while at first denying running a still upon the arrival of the raiders, later told the officers the entire story, authorities alleged today. Speaking in a frank manner, he is alleged to have told how he operated last fall but shut down because of the number of other operators who were apprehended in that same district.
    The older brother, who is 22, when arrested here lost no time in confessing, it is said, telling officers that he cared not to see his kin take the entire blame for the still when he was half interested.
    The outfit is described as being capable of turning out high-grade product with the process of manufacture very slow due to the construction of the dome of the boiler, allowing a large share of the steam to condense and drop back into the mash. This caused a waste of steam, according to officials. A coil, a quantity of mash, several gallons of moonshine and the boiler were brought in with Hartman, who said last evening his moonshine had been bringing $12.50 a gallon by wholesale.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 5, 1927, page 1


STILL AND MASH SEIZED IN RAID AT TRAIL RANCH
    Arrested this forenoon at 11 o'clock, Monte Venham, 51, a rancher residing less than a mile from the first bridge over Rogue River on the Crater Lake Highway this side of Trail, is in the county jail facing charges of setting up and operating a moonshine still, which officers allege they found in the upper story of Venham's home.
    In addition to a small quantity of moonshine, 200 gallons of corn mash were seized by the four raiding deputy sheriffs, Oscar Dunford, Paul Jennings, Lewis Jennings and J. H. Leggitt, who brought the accused man and evidence to the county jail this afternoon. Venham has a wife and a six-year-old granddaughter and is believed to have been using the still for some time. According to officers, he readily confessed. His alleged equipment is regarded as being somewhat over the average used in moonshine distillation.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 26, 1927, page 1


MOONSHINE PAIR GET YEAR TERM IN PENITENTIARY
    Swift justice is demonstrated in the arrest of Monte Venham, 51-year-old Trail rancher, last Wednesday for operating a moonshine still and who yesterday was indicted and sentenced to one year in the state penitentiary when he entered a plea of guilty to the charge. Three other true bills were returned by the grand jury and two of the three defendants entered pleas of guilty and were sentenced, while the case of the third, because of extenuating circumstances, was dismissed.
    Venham, a Southern Oregon resident for a number of years, was arrested when officers raided his ranch a short distance from the concrete bridge over the Rogue River this side of Trail. V. L. Hardman, who was arrested February 4 on a setting up and operating charge, pleaded guilty on his indictment, was sentenced to one year in the state penitentiary, while C. J. Hartman, who was also indicted on the same charge, was dismissed. His arrest did not take place when officers arrested his brother, V. L., at his ranch north of Eagle Point, but was apprehended in Medford.
    Eddie O'Malley, a transient youth apprehended for the theft of a car at Ashland, was sentenced to two years when he pleaded guilty.
    No other business came before the jury, which was called to dispose of the four cases that were on hand, making it possible for the county to save board bills in having the sentenced men moved to the state penal institution.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 26, 1927, page 3


FORNCROOK OUT AS DRY AIDE
    Concerning a former well-known deputy sheriff of Jackson County and resident of Medford, the Klamath News says:
    "Len Forncrook, for the past year connected with the county prohibition department, with a state commission, left Klamath Falls the early part of the week for Medford, severing connections with the local prohi headquarters.
    "Through action taken by District Attorney William Duncan, the entire work of the county prohi department is now under the jurisdiction of the sheriff's office, with the usual three-fourths prohi funds, maintained through the district attorney's office.
    "Cutting down on county expenses in all possible departments under his office is the reason given for the dismissal of the county employee."
Medford Mail Tribune, March 3, 1927, page 5


BOYS DRUNK ON STOLEN CIDER
    Complaints have been brought to the attention of the police department during the past winter in regard to youths stealing cider, which is turning into vinegar in a large open vat in a cannery on South Front Street, and becoming intoxicated as a result of drinking the distasteful beverage, which is obtained by lowering small buckets into the vat from an opening in the roof which is easily reached.
    Several youths were found last evening in an inebriated condition and were scheduled to come before Chief of Police McCredie today.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 11, 1927, page 8


ILLICIT LIQUOR IS POURED INTO JACKSON CREEK
    Approximately 400 gallons of contraband liquor, seized by county and state officers during the past several months and valued at more than $4000, was destroyed yesterday forenoon when dumped into Jackson Creek a mile or so this side of Jacksonville. The destruction of this lot took away every keg, jug and bottle which had been stored in the county jail, which as a result is now somewhat less crowded.
    Moonshine had the heaviest loss with the destruction of 19 ten-gallon kegs, and one 20-gallon keg, while pure grain alcohol was next with 14 one-gallon and 14 five-gallon containers. Sixteen cases of gin, with 12 quarts to a case, and a sack and one-half of gin were destroyed in addition to 12 miscellaneous bottles of wine and moonshine.
    The destruction, which was in charge of Deputy District Attorney George Neilson and Deputy Sheriffs Ike Dunford and Lewis Jennings, took more than two hours and a half.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 4, 1927, page 3


YELLOW CAB RUSE USED TO SNARE DRY VIOLATORS
    The announcement given out in apparent good faith some time ago by a man who, it is since thought, was a non-resident state or federal prohibition law enforcement officer, that the well-known Pacific Coast concern, the Yellow Taxi Cab Company, would establish a branch of its business in Medford, operating four cabs, was apparently a ruse adopted by this operative to enable him to round up some local liquor law violators.
    Anyhow, operation of the Medford branch was not begun this week as forecasted by the operative, and the rumor has been general for weeks past about the city that it never will be begun, because of the alleged ruse having been successful in apprehending a number of local youths on bootlegging and liquor possession charges.
    The boys, who fell for the hoax perpetrated by the sleuth hound operative, were "hired" it is said by the latter as drivers for the mythical bus line branch and were then later implicated in a booze roundup and given fines and short jail sentences.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 3, 1927, page 2


DERBY RANCHER SEIZED IN RAID AS STILL OWNER
    Following a number of attempts to apprehend him during the past several months, Harry Scott, a 35-year-old Derby rancher, was arrested last night and was scheduled to have a hearing in the Jacksonville justice court this afternoon on charges of setting up and operating moonshine stills. Two stills, five gallons of alleged moonshine and seven barrels of corn mash were seized by the raiding officers, who included Deputy Sheriffs Lewis and Paul Jennings and J. H. Leggitt, State Traffic Officer J. J. McMahon and City Officer Joe Cave.
    The stills are both of the five- to eight-gallon size, capable of running approximately five gallons each per day. One, according to the sheriff's office, was located 10 feet from the house in a woodshed, while the other was located approximately 100 feet away in a clump of willow bushes. Scott is said to have told officers that the moonshine produced by his equipment was "the best in the country," and that he had been operating since November.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 19, 1927, page 3


POLICE TO DUMP BOOZE SEIZURES
    A "wet party" was scheduled to take place this afternoon at the police station with the destruction of numerous bottles, jugs and jars of moonshine whiskey, gin, home brew, wine, rum and white mule, all of which was confiscated by the police department during the past year or less. The supply was to be poured out of the bottles near the station with witnesses present to see that the destruction is complete. A considerable share of the liquor was taken in small quantities such as pints and half pints. However, 17 quarts of Gordon gin is included in the lot, in addition to a four-gallon keg of moonshine.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 25, 1927, page 3


NINE ARRESTED IN COUNTY UPON BOOZE CHARGES
    A wholesale cleanup of alleged bootleggers, which commenced Friday night with the arrest of Pat Padelford, local boxer, on a moonshine sale charge, ended late yesterday afternoon after nine arrests had been made in Medford, Eagle Point and Butte Falls, under the direction of the sheriff's office. The nine will probably be given hearings in Judge Taylor's court tomorrow on moonshine sale and possession charges.
    Padelford, F. Starboard and T. DeVinney were arrested Friday evening on sale charges, and yesterday at noon Wallace and Geo. Rigsby were arrested by attaches of the sheriff's office two miles above Butte Falls on sale charges. A crude still, one of the crudest ever captured by officers in Jackson County, was seized as property of the Rigsby brothers.
    A little later yesterday afternoon, Hillery W. Todd of Indian Creek, some distance above Eagle Point on the Crater Lake Highway, was arrested on a possession charge, having a keg with a quantity of alleged moonshine and a quantity of alleged mash, which officers say had been used for the distillation of moonshine. Joe Mayham was arrested in Eagle Point on a sale charge and Bert DeWolf, who was arrested this month last year on a moonshine charge, was apprehended yesterday afternoon on another sale charge. He has a family of several children.
    The party of arresting officers was composed of Deputy Sheriffs Lewis Jennings, Paul Jennings, Oscar Dunford and J. H. Leggitt and officer Cave. The arrests they made yesterday are expected to tend to give Medford an exceptionally dry Christmas and holiday season.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 18, 1927, page 8


EAGLE P. RANCHER HELD WHEN STILL FOUND ON PLACE
    Being so well hidden that officials failed to locate it on the first search, despite determined efforts, a complete moonshine still was found yesterday afternoon on the second search of the Ralph Dunlap ranch near Eagle Point by attaches of the sheriff's office and the state prohibition department. Dunlap was scheduled to have hearing this afternoon in Judge Taylor's court, where five bootleggers entered pleas of guilty yesterday afternoon and were given sentences and fines.
    The Dunlap ranch was visited last week by a raiding party of officers who passed within 20 feet of the still and failed to see it. Dunlap was on the place and invited the officers to return at any time for another search. The invitation was accepted and the officers looked for some time yesterday afternoon until they found the still, which had been dismantled and pieces of which were scattered about the place.
    Twenty-five gallons of alleged mash was found in a barrel, which was hidden in a rock pile some distance above the small Dunlap ranch house, which faces the Crater Lake Highway. A short time later the still was found. A 24-foot copper coil, the longest ever captured in Jackson county, was located hanging high in a tree, and other pieces were found hidden in scattered spots. Dunlap claims that he does not own the outfit, and it is probable that he will enter a plea of not guilty. He had been living on the place for the past three weeks, having moved down from Prospect, where he had been employed. He has a wife and a child.
    The raid was made by Deputy Sheriffs Paul and Lewis Jennings and State Agent Dudley.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 20, 1927, page 5


TALENT CAPTURES TRAIL RANCHER AND MOONSHINE
    When given a hearing in Gold Hill justice court yesterday on a moonshine possession charge, following his arrest Saturday night by federal officer Terry Talent near Ashland, Boyd Miller of Trail was fined $250. A 1921 model Dodge touring car, the ninth to have been seized in the county during the past month by officer Talent, will be confiscated by the government.
    The arrest was made by the officer at midnight when he stopped to assist Miller in repairing a stubborn motor, which refused to function. The officer found 10 gallons of moonshine in the machine and placed Miller under arrest along with Ralph Goedker of Trail, who was with Miller. No disposition has been made of Goedker's case.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 28, 1927, page 3


TALENT CAPTURES TRAIL RANCHER AND MOONSHINE
    When given a hearing in Gold Hill justice court yesterday on a moonshine possession charge, following his arrest Saturday night by federal officer Terry Talent near Ashland, Boyd Miller of Trail was fined $250. A 1921 model Dodge touring car, the ninth to have been seized in the county during the past month by officer Talent, will be confiscated by the government.
    The arrest was made by the officer at midnight when he stopped to assist Miller in repairing a stubborn motor, which refused to function. The officer found 10 gallons of moonshine in the machine and placed Miller under arrest along with Ralph Goedker of Trail, who was with Miller. No disposition has been made of Goedker's case.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 28, 1927, page 3



BOOTLEGGERS IN COUNTY PAY WAY
Cost of Enforcement and Profit to County Made by Fines
    That bootlegging in Jackson County not only paid its own costs of enforcement, but made the county a neat profit was revealed last night when District Attorney Newtown C. Chaney, who administers prohibition affairs in Jackson County, turned over $1,837.30 to the county general fund.
    Still left in the county prohibition fund was $2,000, and the state had claimed a goodly portion of bootleg fines.
    Under the Oregon law, the state gets half the county fines until $50,000 is reached. The county then gets all its fines. Two thousand dollars is kept in the county dry law war chest, while all over that amount goes into the general fund, helping reduce taxes.
    Steadily decreasing cost of enforcement was given by Mr. Chaney as the reason for the amount turned over to the general fund. Enforcing the dry law cost the county a huge amount during the days of County Administrator Sandefer. In 1925, $51.61 profit was turned over to the general fund. Last year it was $71.61.

Medford Daily News, January 1, 1928, page 1


DRY AIDE CHASING YOUTH ON BOOZE CHARGE, TOPPLED
    Federal agent Terry Talent narrowly escaped serious injury late yesterday afternoon on South Bartlett Street in the performance of his duty while pursuing an alleged bootlegger, Clifford Moore, 20, who tripped the officer by suddenly falling on "all fours" in front of his path, causing the officer to fall heavily on his left arm, spraining the wrist, and to fall on his left leg, badly skinning the knee. Moore was finally caught near the Shell service station on Eighth Street and was today awaiting a hearing in the Jacksonville justice court on a charge of moonshine possession.
    Moore had been under the surveillance of local officers for some time and yesterday afternoon was seen by policeman Joe Cave, deputy sheriff Louis Jennings and officer Talent carrying a package under his arm while Moore was walking on East Main Street near the Palmer Music House. The officers, according to agent Talent, waited until Moore turned down South Bartlett Street and then commanded him to stop.
    Instead of stopping, Moore began to run, with officers Jennings and Talent close behind, and when Moore reached an alley in the rear of the music building, according to the officers, he threw the package, which contained a gallon jug of alleged moonshine, on the pavement and ran faster. When Moore reached the Sanderson Motor Company building he suddenly crouched down, taking Talent so by surprise that that officer fell in a heap, after falling on his arm and knee and badly tearing his uniform.
    Moore then crossed Bartlett Street, according to the story told, and crossed Eighth, with both officers, Jennings and Talent, the latter having picked himself up in a remarkably short time, close behind. On the other side of Eighth Street, Moore again attempted to trip Talent by crouching down, but this time his plan failed to work as perfectly, though officer Talent was forced to fall over Moore again. However, this time the officer had not been running as fast and was prepared for the fugitive's tactic, which was reversed as the officer fell directly on top of Moore, who then surrendered.
    The chase attracted considerable attention from motorists and pedestrians, and a large number witnessed the race, which might have been longer had not Moore attempted his tripping stunt the second time. Officer Talent was limping badly today as a result of the skinned knee, and his left wrist was swollen far over its normal size as the result of having fallen on the hard sidewalk.
    Officer Talent said today that Moore was the same person who escaped arrest from Sheriff Ralph Jennings last fall when that officer attempted to apprehend him in the southern part of the city. In that chase, while running, Sheriff Jennings fell and broke his arm near the shoulder, incapacitating him for several weeks.
    This is not Clifford (Racy) Moore, high school honor student and football star.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 15, 1928, page 3


WOMAN ARRESTED ON RUM CHARGE; HOME IS RAIDED
    Mrs. Goldie Dunlap is in the county jail today charged with the possession and sale of alleged moonshine, following her arrest last night at 9 o'clock when federal officers Terry Talent and C. A. Herr and policemen William Peck and Ray Sloneker raided her home at 322 North Oakdale Avenue, where they also arrested Vernon Williams of Medford for possession and George Siever and Kenneth Wattenberg, both of this city, for intoxication.
    Mistaken identity played a large part in the woman's arrest, inasmuch as she invited officer Talent into her house when he knocked at the door, not knowing at that time who he was. According to his story, officer Talent walked in and found his way immediately to a sink where three quarts of alleged moonshine were standing in several containers. He placed Mrs. Dunlap immediately under arrest, and other officers arrested Siever and Wattenberg for intoxication and placed Williams under arrest for the possession of one quart of alleged moonshine.
    Officers say that nine men were in the place, and all had apparently been drinking. Five serving glasses were seized by the raiding party in addition to the liquor. The Dunlap home had been under surveillance for some time by authorities, to whom a number of complaints had been brought in connection with alleged liquor selling that was said to have been carried on there.
    Mrs. Dunlap was to have been given a hearing today in the local justice court, where Williams, Wattenberg and Siever were also scheduled to appear.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 30, 1928, page 3


LOCAL RESIDENTS AWAIT HEARINGS ON RUM CHARGE
    Pete Allen and George Edwards, two local residents, are in the county jail and were scheduled to have hearings in Judge Taylor's court today on charges of possession and transportation of moonshine, following their arrest early this morning near Ashland by Deputy Sheriff Lewis Jennings and night policeman Moon of Ashland. The officers were forced to chase Allen and Edwards for nearly ten miles before the arrests were made.
    A large Studebaker touring car which the pair were driving will be confiscated. In this car, the officers allege, Allen and Edwards were bringing a cargo of moonshine to this city for the local trade. Officers also allege that the pair had been in the moonshine business for some time and were en route from some California point when the chase commenced near the Kingsbury Soda Springs, with the officers close behind but unable to stop the fleeing pair, who apparently drove their machine at full speed.
    In an attempt to destroy evidence, several gallon jugs of alleged moonshine and numerous pint bottles were thrown from the fleeing car, but the officers, following the arrests, located a one-gallon jug and eight pints of alleged moonshine, which will be brought into court as evidence. A pint of moonshine was also found in the machine when it was finally stopped hear the southern city limits of Ashland.
    Last night's capture is the first booze-running car to have been seized in Jackson County for several months and is the second one this year.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 10, 1928, page 3



Wilkie Issues Statement
To the Editor:
    Replying to your editorial last night, abusing me and congratulating Chaney, I want to say that Chaney and I were over at Lakeview, Ore., at the same time in 1922 or 1923. And he was an applicant there for an "undercover" job, which I was informed--and I know he has done undercover work elsewhere. I am a cripple and unable to do hard manual labor and was compelled to do this work at times to support my wife and family. Chaney has no such excuse.
    I was brought to this trial against my will and was threatened nearly every day before the trial by officers, attorneys and other friends of Chaney weeks before the trial, and in Medford my wife and self were insulted and bullied by officer friends of Chaney and finally arrested and jailed on a fake charge which was advertised to the jury to help Chaney.
    My past record of way back may be had, but I supposed it was Chaney who was on trial and not me.
    Two stool pigeons testified. One had no interest and was under all sorts of threats; the other had every interest and motive. The jury apparently believed the man with the greatest reason to lie. Remus was also acquitted.
    Do you have any idea that Chaney, wise as he is about stool pigeons and their work, paid me over $500 for twelve days' work?
    God knows, I hate a stool pigeon now, and always have, but did do it in my past--but never again. I can truthfully say that I never planted on no one, but was asked to do so in Medford in 1926. It is a low, rotten job. With a lot of local stools in Medford, why pick on a cripple and leave these healthy crooks out of it?
    During the time I worked in Medford I had my both eyes open and can say prohibition here is aimed at the poor and those without pull.
    Think it over and recall, if you can, any prosecution against prominent citizens under Chaney that was not whitewashed.
W. M. WILKIE.
    Medford, May 19.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 19, 1928, page 4


GUNPLAY IN RAID ON MOONSHINER BUT NO ONE SHOT
    Nye Matthews of Eagle Point is in the county jail today awaiting a hearing on a charge of moonshine mash possession, following his arrest last night by Sheriff Ralph Jennings and Deputies Oscar Dunford, Joe Cave and Frank Wright. Matthews had been under surveillance of officers for months and served a term in the county jail last year on a liquor charge.
    The Matthews ranch is located three or four miles north of Eagle Point on the Crater Lake Highway. The 300 gallons of alleged moonshine mash, a pressure tank and a portion of a still were found by the officers a mile or so from the house in thick underbrush.
    While scouting in the darkness, Deputy Wright came upon Matthews, who at the point of a gun made his escape from the officer, telling him not to move or he would shoot. However, officers found their man a short time later at the ranch house, where he was arrested and brought to the county jail.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 22, 1928, page 4


NYE MATTHEWS DENIES CHARGES
    The preliminary hearing for Nye Matthews, who was arrested last Thursday evening in the Eagle Point district for the alleged possession of 300 gallons of moonshine mash, a pressure tank and a "still" part, will be held in the local justice court next Monday afternoon. Matthews, who was arrested by the officers after the contraband was seized, maintains that he had nothing to do with its possession and knows nothing about it. He was arrested in the neighborhood of five miles from the scene of the seizure. It is probable that the case will go to a jury to trial.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 23, 1928, page 3



ALLEGED LOCAL BEER MAKERS IN CITY ARRESTED
    A. B. Henderson and Francis Woodberry are in the county jail awaiting hearings today on charges of homebrew possession, following their arrest last night on Alder Street, where over 300 bottles of alleged beer were seized by the raiding officers, who included federal officers Terry Talent and Worden, deputy sheriffs Louis and Paul Jennings and policemen Clatous McCredie and William Peck.
    Henderson and Woodberry claim they were making the beer for private consumption and were not selling it. However, officers claim that the two men were in the beer-selling business, inasmuch as two of them, Talent and Worden, had placed an order for a case of beer last week. The homebrew was contained in 17 cases and is said to have sold around nine dollars a case.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 31, 1928, page 2


LIQUOR RAID IN CITY THURSDAY, FOUR ARRESTED
    Federal officers Terry Talent and Clarence Worden, assisted by deputy sheriff Paul Jennings and state prohibition agent Ackerman, made a booze raid here yesterday afternoon, and the four prisoners taken in that raid were to be given a hearing this afternoon before Justice of the Peace Roberts in Ashland.
    Three of the four men, W. R. Turpin, Eddie Wyatt and W. A. Collins, were arrested on North Central Avenue with 14 pints of moonshine in their car. When the officers appeared Wyatt leaped from the car and attempted to escape, but was captured by Worden, the federal officer, after a struggle.
    After taking the three men to the jail the raiding officers went to the house at 303 Beatty Street, where the prisoners resided, and there found G. R. Cavin, who was also arrested, and it is alleged a still outfit, including kegs, jugs, hose, coloring and labels.
    In Justice Roberts' court yesterday afternoon at Ashland J. B. Higley of Medford on his plea of guilty to possession and transportation was sentenced to pay a $500 fine and to spend 60 days in jail, and Mrs. Louise Sargent, driver of the car loaded with booze when it was intercepted last Wednesday night near Talent by federal officers Talent and Worden, was sentenced to a fine of $200, which she was unable to pay, and hence was remanded to the county jail.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 3, 1928, page 5


LOCAL RUM RING BELIEVED BROKEN, ASHLAND ARRESTS
    The arrest of nine alleged leaders in what is said to be one of the best-organized rum rings ever operated in Jackson County was effected today by federal officer Terry Talent, assisted by the local sheriff's office.
    C. A. (Blackie) White, known to enforcement officers here as the local bootleg king, was taken in Ashland, along with his associates Carroll Brown, Ruth Taylor, Mrs. Tina Martinez and Ted Brown, Portland wrestler.
    The first arrest was made at seven o'clock this morning when Tom Ulsted, alleged member of the ring, was intercepted as he was making a five-gallon delivery to a local auto camp. His car was seized by the officers, after which they proceeded to Ashland.
    There they arrested Blackie White and the other four who were found at the Fairview rooming house, which has been under surveillance for some time. That a quantity of moonshine whiskey and other intoxicating beverages as well as serving glasses and other paraphernalia were found and seized was also stated by federal officer Talent.
    Following the arrest of the alleged Blackie White ring, the officers took into custody Jim Fitzgibbons, ex-night clerk of the Hotel Nash, who is charged with sales and possession; Mary Winkler, landlady of the Johnson rooms; J. A. Rose, of North Ninth Street, both of whom are also charged with sale and possession.
    The hearings of all the defendants will be held the first of the week. Whether abatement proceedings will be placed against the Fairview rooming house at Ashland or not has not been decided, according to officer Talent.
    Officers who assisted in the arrests today are: Terry Talent and Carleton Staley, the only federal men; deputy sheriff Paul Jennings, Joe Cave and Bill Peck.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 20, 1928, page 2


OFFICERS ARREST STILL OPERATOR
    A raid made by the authorities at 8 o'clock last night on the upstairs portion of a house at 229 Apple Street, which G. R. Mackey, 35, had rented for some time past of a Mrs. McGarvey, disclosed a 20-gallon wash boiler still in Mackey's upstairs portion. Six gallons of very low-grade finished whiskey--in fact poisonous stuff, the officers say--was also found with 100 gallons of grain mash consisting of wheat, oats and barley, and five gallons of strawberry wine. Mackey was placed under arrest and confined in the county jail to await hearing on a still possession charge.
    The raid was made by Terry Talent, federal prohibition officer, assisted by Deputy Sheriff Louis Jennings and officers Ray Sloneker, Joe Cave and George Prescott of the city police force.
    It is not known by the officers just how long Mackey had operated the still, as they allege, but from the fact that he seemed to be a gentleman of leisure with plenty of money and no employment he had been under surveillance for some time past, they say.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 18, 1928, page 8


RAID OPEN HOUSE NETS GIN SUPPLY
    Netting one of the biggest liquor hauls of the year in Medford, members of the police department and sheriff's office last night at 8:45 o'clock arrested Ray Campbell and J. B. Johnson at 413 Benson Street, seized 21½ gallons of moonshine, 7½ gallons of gin, 7 gallons of alcohol and bottling equipment. The two men, who are believed to have been in alleged liquor traffic for several weeks, will be given hearings tomorrow in the local justice court.
    The offices had little trouble in making the raid, being practically invited to enter upon arriving at the house, where the officers found a large demijohn filled with five gallons of gin, for which the men told the police they had been receiving $40 per case, with one gallon of alcohol along with water and juniper making a case.
    Johnson and Campbell declared they had been here only two days, but several empty alcohol containers indicated they had been here for at least two weeks, according to officers, who also found four dozen empty gin bottles, a capper and a supply of labels.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 25, 1928, page 3


MOONSHINE STILL FOUND YESTERDAY
    Jefferson Lindsay, 56, arrested last evening by federal and county officers for the possession of two moonshine stills and mash in the Dodge bridge district this side of Trail, was scheduled to have a hearing this afternoon in the local justice court. Lindsay is believed to have operated for the past year and had a cleverly concealed outfit, using a cellar for the main portion of his equipment.
    One still was a small affair and the other was of a 40-gallon capacity and had recently been in operation. Two gallons of alleged moonshine and 100 gallons of alleged mash were found on the premises.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 5, 1928, page 3



TWO GIVEN HEARING MOONSHINE CHARGE
    Accused of the possession of a moonshine still, seized a short time ago when Jefferson Lindsay was arrested near the Dodge bridge, Ted Smith and Al Gotcen of Eagle Point were given a hearing in Judge Taylor's court this afternoon, when bail of each was set at $500. Smith was arrested on a game violation charge yesterday by Deputy Game Warden Roy Parr and Gotcen was arrested last evening when he called at the county jail to visit Smith.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 11, 1928, page 5

A moonshine still somewhere in Appalachia circa 1930.
A moonshine still somewhere in Appalachia circa 1930.

BOOZE TRAFFIC STILL ACTIVE IN CITY
Number of Dealers Greater Than in "Wet" Days
VOLUME OF SALES SMALLER, HOWEVER
Hootch Much Rarer Here Than in Days of Saloons
Legal Red Tape Is Bar to Rigid Dry Law Enforcement
    On the last day of legalized selling of liquor in Medford--away back in 1916 [the last day was December 31, 1915], when manufacture, sale or importation of liquor into Oregon was prohibited by state law--witnessed the closing of 14 places where liquor had been legally sold. In the county there were no distilleries and two breweries.
    Now, according to those who are charged with seeing that no alcoholic drinks are sold, there are many more places where alcoholic drinks can be obtained than there were prior to the enactment of the Oregon dry amendment. There are many times more distilleries and many more breweries--to say nothing of the homemade apparatus for making beer and wine for family consumption.
    The only trouble is to prove it.
    In this city--long known as a home-loving community, exemplifying the law-abiding calmness of Oregon--the local resident who can't chase up at least a pint of liquor in an hour is an inexperienced about-towner indeed. Even a novice can purchase the wherewithal of becoming drunk by walking into any drug store and almost any pool hall--and do it in a legal manner. All he has to do is ask for one of many "tonics" manufactured and sold under government permit. Some consist of alcoholic bitters and some of high-powered wine with a taste slightly spoiled by beer extract.
Traffic Is Steady
    It is with the illegal liquor business, however, that county and city officers are most concerned. Although public drunkenness is rare in Medford, officials are quite aware that selling--of liquor ranging all the way from beer to grain alcohol--is going on steadily, and that there are more people engaged in the business than when it was a legal occupation.
    They can even estimate fairly accurately how many people are engaged in the booze traffic in Medford.
    Counting the hip pocket pikers, there are from 24 to 30 bootleggers in Medford. The estimate of illicit distilleries in Jackson County is about eight.
    In addition, it is common sense to believe that more than one person is running in liquor--meaning grain alcohol, "bonded" goods and moonshine--into the county for wholesale delivery or delivery to a local list of consumers.
Volume Is Less
    Of course, Medford is much bigger than it was in 1916, and your liquor dealer of today probably sells less in a week than a bartender did in a day, but the fact remains that, state and national laws to the contrary, booze is still being made and sold.
    There is no "wild night life" here.
    There are no "gilded dens of vice and pleasure."
    There are no institutions that encourage flaming youth to strut itself and flame the limit.
    A home-loving, industrious, progressive city of 100 percent Americans is Medford. The average citizen is pictured as the type that sits at home evenings and reads comfortably of the sins of New York and Chicago before going to bed at the locally conventional hour of 10:00 p.m.

    There must be, however, a small population that imbibes steadily, or else a rather large population that drinks occasionally, for booze sales are not uncommon.
    Before 1916, breweries made beer, wineries made wine and distilleries made stronger drinks, on the same standardized basis that Henry Ford makes cars.
Methods Trifle Crude
    Today, some of the methods need to produce alcoholic drinks would startle the old-time manufacturers, to say the least.
    The conventional outfit captured in Jackson County is a copper vat and worm, heated by a gasoline plate set under the "can" and connected with a pressure tank. Corn meal forms the basis for mash. Some of the "cans" are big and clean. Some are made of wash boilers [omission] and green with filth. One still captured was made of an iron gasoline barrel and a couple of joints of iron pipe--hardy people, local inebriates, to drink the product of that still and not go blind, at least.
Hardy Drunkards
    Once in a while the police pick up an insane drunk who melted a tin of "canned heat," strained it through a handkerchief and drank everything that strained through. There are still a few odd souls alive who believe that if you swallow some mentholatum, wood alcohol won't kill you.
    And then there are the brewers and the wine makers whose product is the work of nature, insofar as it is made perilous by filthy equipment or amateur attempts to generate more "kick."
"Bonded Stuff" Is Faked
    Clever fellows are the producers of "bonded" liquor. Given some labels, some grain alcohol, some glycerine and some flavoring, they can--and do--produce liquor for the "high class" trade.
    The alcohol, the queerly shaped bottles, the labels, the flavoring and the coloring is all shipped into Medford, but the "bonded stuff" is a home product. That is, it was a home product. Recently a "Gordon's Bonded Dry Gin" plant was seized, and as far as officers know, there are no more of them in Medford.
Way to Wealth
    With about $10 worth of alcohol--at wholesale prices--a plentiful supply of water and another $10 worth of bottles, labels and other furnishings, a gin maker can turn out two gallons of synthetic product. In short-quart bottles with four-colored labels, wrapped in fancy tissue paper and with a "chemist's analysis" printed on a slip of paper thrown in, along with a fairy tale about each and every bottle crossing the briny deep from England into Canada and then through divers perils into the United States and your private stock, the stuff sells for around $3.50 per quart, or $36 profit for the $20 invested in labels and alcohol. Considering the story that goes with "bonded stuff," the price is reasonable.
Was Versatile
    From the starting point of alcohol, water and glycerine, one manufacturer arrested near Medford some time ago was able to produce either gin or Bacardi rum. To make rum he put in coloring and flavor extract instead of juniper extract, and poured it into a different bottle.
    At that, the two local makers of "bonded stuff" who have been captured haven't shown much originality. One Italian rum runner caught two years ago had 12 different varieties of "bonded stuff," eight of them made with the same flavoring. But he was a city slicker from San Francisco, and that doesn't count.
    Northern California supplies a not inconsiderable part of Jackson County's liquor. In addition to varieties made here, they turn out "grappa," a drink made from grape mash and reputedly containing more alcohol than straight alcohol itself.
Hard to Catch
    Police and the sheriff's office can estimate fairly closely how many house manufacturers and salesmen there are working, but catching them is a different matter.
    It's hard for an officer to know all the bootleggers, but in a place of this size it's no trouble at all for all the bootleggers to know the cops. In spite of this, however, local and county officers have an enviable record throughout Oregon for their efficiency in enforcing the prohibition law, indicating that Jackson County isn't the only county with its liquor troubles.
    Fundamental laws of our government designed to protect private citizens from official tyranny clash with other fundamental laws concerning an arid nation where attempts to enforce the prohibition law are concerned, with the result that enforcing the law is a sort of game of hide-and-seek in a mass of red tape.
    For instance, if an officer is certain the resident of a house is selling liquor there, he must get a search warrant before he can enter the house and hunt the liquor. To get a search warrant all he has to do is get someone to swear that they bought liquor there from the suspect.
No Cooperation
    The prohibition law is outstanding for the failure of the public--both drinking and non-drinking--to aid officials. The public attitude seems to be: "We passed the law and hired you to enforce it. Tag, you're it, now try and do it. If you don't we'll cuss you, and if you do we'll cuss you anyway."
    Aside from neighbors irate at being kept awake by parties in the booze joint next door, few people report a suspected house. Even fewer will either volunteer or be forced to aid in getting out a search warrant by swearing they got liquor there.
    In the first frenzy to enforce its brand-new law, the state used stool pigeons to make the purchases and swear to the warrants. In many cases the stool pigeons were worse to have around than were the bootleggers. Using them was largely a matter of desperation, and officials who hired them were usually rewarded by defeat at the next election. The public added another rule to the ones the officers had to follow in the hide-and-seek game.
State Sleuths
    With all local officers known by sight to the law-dodgers, and with stool pigeons taboo, the method was evolved of using salaried state and federal officers for the undercover work. They are shifted from one place to another, are thus kept unknown to the alky boys, and because they are of a decent type have been able to function so far without a public uprising at the polls.
    All the troubles of catching a bootlegger who works in a residence and more are involved in arresting one who serves from the hip pocket or makes deliveries. They must either be caught with the goods on them, making a sale, or at their cache. In this case, also, officers are under the handicap of being known by sight to the men they seek to arrest. In liquor cases, circumstantial evidence doesn't seem to mean a thing to juries--and try to catch them with the goods.
    In spite of all these troubles, however, added to the fact that an officer has several hundred other laws to enforce, Medford has the reputation of being dry and getting drier all the time.
Homebrewers Busy
    "Every man his own brewer" is no idle slogan. Beer, as a general rule, doesn't run very high in alcoholic content, in spite of the fact that the law makes no distinction between it and grain alcohol. Homemade wine, however, can be--and frequently is--far from light.
    Both federal and state amendments forbid the manufacturing of intoxicating beverages and class both beer and wine as such, but again the job is to prove it. If a citizen had the facilities, kept his wine at home and didn't sell any of it, he could make a thousand gallons and drink himself to death with no greater legal danger than being suspected. Without evidence of a sale an officer couldn't come in his house to see if wine was being manufactured. Of course, if the citizen went downtown drunk he might be arrested for violating a city ordinance, or if he lent his neighborhood a bad reputation they might close the house as a nuisance, but he'd be safe from prosecution on liquor charges.
Medford Daily News, December 25, 1928, page 1


LOAD OF LIQUOR BRINGS TROUBLE FOR LOCAL PAIR
    Lee Metcalf, 35, of this city is being held as authorities following his arrest last night south of Ashland for the possession and transportation of 50 gallons of alleged moonshine, destined for Medford consumption, according to the arresting officer, Terry Talent. Mrs. Anna Neil, 24, of Medford was taken into custody with Metcalf, and it is not known whether a charge will be filed against her.
    The moonshine was contained in wooden kegs and was being transported from Northern California to this city, according to officers. Last evening police searched the dwelling of Mrs. Neff and today reported the finding of 40 empty gallon jugs, which Mrs. Neff claims she purchased for a certain price in order to sell them at a higher price, making a profit of a few cents on each jug.
    Metcalf was scheduled to have a hearing in the Ashland justice court today.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 5, 1929, page 6


DUMP MOONSHINE IN CREEK TODAY
    The flow of Bear Creek was enriched by wine and moonshine, valued at $1000, when 126 gallons were dumped into the creek by Deputy Sheriffs Paul and Louis Jennings at McAndrews ford in the presence of several witnesses. The liquor, with the exception of a few gallon jugs, was contained in kegs and 56 gallons of wine taken last week from Louis Sanquinetti, south of Ashland, and 60 gallons of moonshine and 10 gallons of wine seized from L. Farnaro. Both men were en route from Northern California to Klamath Falls, according to officers, and are now serving sentences in the county jail of two months each.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 4, 1929, page 5


SHERIFF ARRESTS BEAGLE RESIDENT MASH POSSESSION
    Following his arrest yesterday afternoon by Sheriff Ralph Jennings and Deputy Louis Jennings, Luke Jennings of the Beagle district is in the county jail awaiting a hearing on a charge of mash possession. The arresting officers found two barrels of 50 gallons each, filled with alleged mash, believed to have been set out last week.
    Jennings has been arrested before by the sheriff's office on moonshine charges, and it is probable a felony charge will be placed against him, carrying a sentence of from one to three years in the state penitentiary. The accused is a man nearing his 60th year and operates a good farm, well stocked with turkeys and sheep. He has a wife and a two-year-old daughter.
    Officers attempted to find a still on the property but were unable to find the contraband apparatus, which they believe is hidden some distance from the house. The arrested man is no relative of the sheriff.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 9, 1929, page 2


EXPECT CLOSE OF MOONSHINE STILL TRIAL TOMORROW
    Begun in circuit court this forenoon, the trial of William Goetchen and Ted Smith, charged with the possession of a moonshine still, is not expected to be completed until tomorrow, according to the present progress of the trial. Sheriff Ralph Jennings was the only state witness examined this forenoon and was to have been followed by several witnesses for the state this afternoon.
    The defense, represented by Kelly and Kelly, also has several witnesses for examination. The defendants are accused of the possession of a still seized last year in the Eagle Point section, and while it was found on the property of another, they are implicated in its ownership on the testimony of others, it is said.
    The jury, as accepted by both sides, is as follows: Rufus Dietrick, Earl F. Moore, Adam H. Beagle, Andrew McCallan, Harold Reichstein, Guy Randles, James Whipple, LeRoy Merson, Floyd Land, A. L. Hill and Sherman Morehouse.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 11, 1929, page 2


CAR BONDED BOOZE SEIZED YESTERDAY BY OFFICER MOORE
    The first auto load of bonded whiskey this year was seized late yesterday afternoon when State Traffic Officer Herb Moore arrested Frank Calcagno of San Francisco in Josephine County, just over the Jackson County line. Calcagno had a cargo of 13 cases of alleged three-star Hennessey whiskey, with which, officers say, he was en route to Portland from San Francisco.
    Calcagno was driving a late model Chrysler coupe and claimed he was receiving $100 to drive the load to Portland for San Francisco bootlegging interests. Officer Moore, accompanied by Fred Farmer of the state public service commission, stopped the young Italian on suspicion he was driving a stolen car, but found the liquor following a short inspection of the machine, each bottle wrapped in a straw jacket. The liquor was quoted at $15 per quart.
    Calcagno was taken to the Josephine County jail in Grants Pass, where he will probably be given a hearing today.

Medford Mail Tribune, March 12, 1929, page 9


HEAVY SENTENCE METED LEABO ON LIQUOR CHARGE
    L. B. Leabo of the Trail district, following his arrest at Gold Hill last Saturday night by Deputy Sheriff Louis Jennings of this city and Sam Prescott of Ashland, was fined $250 and sentenced to 30 days in the county jail yesterday afternoon in Judge Taylor's court, on his plea of guilty to a possession of liquor charge.
    This is the heaviest sentence administered in this court for some time past and arises from the fact that Leabo had a bottle of moonshine in his pocket and 10 or 12 bottles in his car, presumable for dance consumption, at the time of his arrest, and also because at that time he started to resist arrest until a couple of well-planted blows of Prescott's fist caused him to change his mind.
   Leabo is said to reside in the Trail district, and a brother of his lost his life some time ago when his car overturned on the Crater Lake Highway.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 19, 1929, page 6


ARREST ROBERTS FOR MOONSHINE
    Rufe Roberts of Central Point is in the county jail today awaiting a hearing on moonshine possession charge, following his arrest last evening on Riverside Avenue by Deputy Sheriff Paul Jennings.
    One gallon of alleged moonshine was seized from Roberts, who was driving an old model car at the time of his arrest. The car will probably be confiscated.
    Roberts had been under the surveillance of officers for a short time.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 21, 1929, page 4


OTTO KING GIVEN HEAVY SENTENCE ON STILL CHARGE
    Another example that liquor law violators may expect little leniency when they appear before Circuit Judge H. D. Norton was shown this forenoon when Otto King, arrested last month by officers for the possession of a moonshine still, was sentenced to serve one year in the state penitentiary and fined $500. The sentence might have been more severe had it not been for King's wife and small daughter, these facts being taken into consideration before sentence was passed.
    King, also known as Battling King, a boxer, entered a plea of guilty in circuit court early this week, following plans to have a trial. He had been under the surveillance of officers some time before he was arrested at the same time a dismantled still was seized at his home on Benson Street, where a quantity of moonshine was also seized.
    Several character witnesses, including George Porter, Verne Marshall and George Browne, testified in behalf of King, who, before sentence was passed, also spoke in his own behalf. Facts of the raid were given on the witness stand by Chief of Police McCredie.
    King's wife, accompanied by her little daughter, broke into tears following the sentence and left the court room sobbing.
    In passing sentence, Judge Norton declared possession of a still implied operation, making possible a source of supply for bootleggers selling moonshine to the retail trade. He indicated the only proper way to quell liquor violations is to strike the source--eliminate the maker from further production.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 21, 1929, page 5


WOLFF HELD FOR MASH AND STILL
    Charged with possession of a moonshine still, George Wolff, well-known resident of Forest Creek, is in the county jail following his arrest yesterday afternoon by the sheriff's office. Wolff is charged with the possession of a wash boiler still and 200 gallons of alleged mash, ready for use. Officers say they found three dead rats in one of the four barrels that had been dead apparently for several days.
    Wolff had been under the surveillance of officers for some time, it is said, and was taken into custody yesterday before the raid was made when officers found him in Medford. Wolff accompanied them to his property in the Forest Creek district near the head of Foots Creek and after a short search they found the alleged contraband equipment and mash.
    The outfit was reported as one of the most unsanitary ever seized in Jackson County.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 7, 1929, page 8


WIMER 'SHINERS' FOUND AT STILL
    Charged with operating a still two miles south of Wimer, A. H. Rose and Tom J. Owens were placed in the county jail early this afternoon by Deputy Sheriffs Paul and Louis Jennings, who made the arrest shortly before noon.
    That they found 150 gallons of mash and the still in operation when they raided the camp in the Wimer district was also stated by the officers. Rose, according to Louis Jennings, will come up before Judge Norton's court charged with setting up and operating the still. Owens will have his hearing in justice court, the technical charge as yet unannounced.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 11, 1929, page 2


RAID NETS PAIR JAILED FOR SALE AND POSSESSION
    Two men are in jail as the result of raids in Medford last night and are facing liquor possession and sale charges. T. McCreary of Phipps Auto Camp is in jail as the result of selling three pints of alleged gin to Federal Prohibition Agent Terry Talent, and Fred Knox of Almond Street was [arrested] by a party of officers, composed of Deputy Sheriffs Louis and Paul Jennings, Policemen Joe Cave and William Peck and Federal Agent Talent.
    McCreary made the sad mistake of failing to identify Talent when he appeared at his auto cabin to order a supply of moonshine. The officer was told there was no moonshine, but could sell him gin. McCreary did not question the officer when he told him that he was a garage mechanic at a local garage and that he had purchased liquor from him before.
    "If you don't believe I work there," said Talent assuringly, "go and call the garage up. They'll tell you who I am."
    "Oh! that's all right," answered McCreary, who then disappeared in some brush to get the liquor. Upon his return, he was placed under arrest.
    On Almond Street, officers seized 24 quarts of beer and 300 empty beer bottles. They say Knox had been operating for some time, and is alleged to have annoyed neighbors with parties.
    Both men will appear in justice court Monday to have preliminary hearings.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 28, 1929, page 8


JAIL POPULATION INCREASED TO 26 BY DRY EFFORTS
    Including four prisoners arrested yesterday on booze charges, the county jail now has a population of 26 prisoners, with indications the number may be swelled before the end of the week as the result of continued operation by dry forces.
    Sam McClendon, Eddie Keeler and Clyde Atree were arrested here, and Joe Mayham was arrested at Eagle Point yesterday. Eleven men have been arrested since the first of the week on booze charges, the others including George Wolff, Autie King, S. L. Cyphert, George Reed, Winton Keeler, R. E. Burns and Fred Knox.
    Keeler was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail and fined $100 for sale. Burns received a sentence of 40 days, while Knox, accused of home brew possession, was fined $50.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 8, 1929, page 2


FRONT STREET BITTERS BARS HIT BY RAIDS
    As the result of a carefully planned dry raid campaign, led by federal officers, nearly 20 arrests have been made in and near Medford since Monday, with the possibility of more this week. The raids began Monday afternoon in the Forest Creek section with the arrest of six local men, three of whom are proprietors of soft drink establishments on Front Street.
    It is possible the federal government may institute padlock proceedings against the Idle Hour, Estes and Pastime pool halls on grounds of being public nuisances. Rankin Estes, Phil Rinehart, proprietor of the Pastime, W. Taylor, bartender, and Archie Sutherland and Harold Sutherland of the Idle Hour are accused of selling bitters by the drink and for beverage purposes.
    Taylor and Harold Sutherland are in the county jail, and the others are at liberty pending preliminary hearings scheduled to be held this afternoon.
    The sale of bitters and other medicines containing alcohol in small quantities as stimulants is prohibited by federal law and in the state is prohibited as the result of the recent passage of a law restricting the sale by only licensed drug stores.
    Mrs. Jane Wolgamott, a woman of 50 years, was arrested on East Main Street this forenoon on a warrant alleging sale, and she will have a hearing today or tomorrow. Ray Sargent was arrested in the Griffin Creek section on a warrant alleging sale, and he has been released on his own recognizance, pending hearing. The release was ordered in view of his sick wife demanding his attention at home.
    Yesterday Dewey Akers was arrested at Phoenix on a warrant sworn on a sales charge. His was the first arrest of the afternoon, and was followed by the arrest of Joe Mayham at Eagle Point on a similar charge. Coming to Medford, Eddie Keeler and Sam McClendon were arrested on charges of sale. The same charge also caused the arrest of A. E. Carpenter at a local auto camp. Carpenter is alleged to have been selling liquor from the same cabin where Ted McCreary was arrested last week for selling Officer Talent three pints of gin.
    Arrested by the police, Winton Keeler, brother of Eddie Keeler, and R. E. Burns were sentenced Monday in justice court on booze charges to terms in the county jail. Fred Knox, arrested Saturday for possession of home brew, was fined $50 in justice court.
    When they appeared for arraignment yesterday afternoon on charges of possession of moonshine, George Wolff was given until today to plead, as were the three others, L. Cyphert, Autie King and George Reed. Wolff's bail was set at $1000, while $750 each was the bail set for his three alleged partners. Officers say they found 40 gallons of alleged moonshine on the Wolff place at Forest Creek, with 15 gallons found under a woodpile and other jugs found hidden under bushes. It is possible Wolff may be turned over to federal authorities.
    Evidence for the warrants was obtained by two federal undercover men who allege they made purchases from the different defendants.
    The officers taking part in the raids included L. O. Shirley, district federal enforcement head; Terry Talent, Clarence Worden and Deputy Sheriffs Louis and Paul Jennings, and the two undercover men.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 8, 1929, page 3


SALE OF BITTERS ON FRONT STREET COSTLY TO THREE
    William Rinehart, Archie Sutherland and Rankin Estes, proprietors of three Front Street card rooms and soft drink establishments, were fined $250 each in justice court yesterday, on charges brought against them by federal officers for selling bitters and other medicines containing alcohol for other than medicinal purposes. Harold Sutherland and Harvey Taylor, bartenders, were each fined $75 on the same charge. A sixth defendant, Dave Lynch, also clerk, was scheduled to plead today.
    The arrest of the six men came as a part of an extensive dry raid campaign, netting over 20 prisoners, principally on charges of sale. It is possible more arrests may be made.
    So far, disposition has been made of the following cases: George Reed, sale, five days and $500; Lida Wolgamott, sale, $100 fine; Leland Shidy, 40 days and $350 fine; Autie King, sale, four months; George Wolff, bound over to federal court on sale charge; Joe Mayham, bound over to federal court.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 9, 1929, page 3


BITTERS FINES TOTAL $2500
    Since last Monday fines in 16 cases, amounting altogether to $2,500, have been levied in the court of Judge Taylor in his capacity of justice of the peace, for selling intoxicants or bitters, due to the raids made by Terry Talent, federal prohibition enforcement officer, assisted by deputy sheriffs. Several more arrests are yet to be made on the same charge of persons who could not be found after arrest warrants were sworn out. In addition to fines as related above, the cases of several persons arrested on selling charges were turned over to the federal authorities for prosecution.
    All of the fines imposed in the state cases go to the state, as the Medford city government cannot obtain any portion of a fine imposed in a state case.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 10, 1929, page 5


BITTERS BARS LOSE LICENSE ACCOUNT RAIDS
City Council Revokes Pool and Card Table Permits of Three Establishments--$500 Bonds Also Declared Forfeited.
    Backing up their recent letter sent to the proprietors of the card and pool rooms of the city to obey the city ordinances and state laws governing such establishments in regard to games of chance, gambling and sales of intoxicants, and keeping of general order, in which letter it was expressly stated, among other things, that if any proprietor was found guilty of violation in court, his license would be forfeited, the city council at its special meeting this forenoon declared the licenses of Wm. Rinehart, A. C. Sutherland and Rankin Estes revoked and their $500 bonds forfeited.
    These proprietors, who were arrested in the recent raid by prohibition enforcement officers, all pleaded guilty in court when arraigned to the charge of selling intoxicants, or "bitters."
    Mayor Pipes called attention to the fact that in view of this letter it was up to the city officials to back up their warning letter, or "be made monkeys of by violators."
    The council men saw the situation the same way and unanimously voted to revoke the licenses and to declare the bonds forfeited.
    After doing this the mayor and council instructor Chief of Police McCredie to at once gather the licenses from the three pool and card room proprietors.
    The latter can still conduct their places of business in the way of selling tobaccos and lunch, and can even continue to sell "bitters," if they want to take the chance of repeated arrests for such selling, but they cannot operate their card tables or pool or billiard tables.
    This is because the city only issues licenses for operation of pool and billiard tables and card playing tables in such establishments. A license is not granted until a suitable bond of $500 for each place is accepted.
    However, with their licenses revoked, the Rinehart, Sutherland and Rankin establishments are placed in a very embarrassing financial position, through not being able to operate their main sources of revenue--the card tables and pool and billiard games.
    They cannot operate again in full until they seek and are granted new licenses by the city council, and it is a foregone conclusion that the city officials will not grant such licenses, with new bondsmen, until thoroughly satisfied that these three proprietors give rock-ribbed assurance of no future violation of city ordinances or state laws, and then only with airtight bonds furnished.
    The next move is up to the proprietors. The city has shown its hand. On and after June 1st next the new state law which confines the sale of "bitters" only to drug stores goes into effect.

Medford Mail Tribune, May 14, 1929, page 1


McCLUNG COUPLE FINED ON LIQUOR SELLING CHARGE
    While the main raid was over last week, state and federal prohibition officers are still making arrests on booze charges, and today in the Ashland justice court Mr. and Mrs. F. M. McClung of this city, arrested on a sales charge, were each fined $150 with the understanding they leave the country. Their attorney, T. J. Enright, appeared for them in court.
    George Wolff, arrested some time ago on a sales charge, pleaded guilty in the Ashland court on a sales charge and was fined $350. A heavier sentence was not recommended in view of a trial he will face here in a short time in connection with the alleged possession of a moonshine still. If he is convicted on this charge, he will be sentenced to the state penitentiary.
    Arrested in Medford last evening on Cedar Street, Gene Young also was scheduled to appear in court today. He was arrested by Federal Officer Terry Talent and State Officer Buck Marriott.
    Mr. and Mrs. McClung are alleged by officers to have been selling moonshine at 722 Dakota Avenue for several months past.

Medford Mail Tribune, May 16, 1929, page 3


REOPENING OF POOL ROOMS IS DEEP MYSTERY
Mayor Noncommittal on Granting License to Raided Proprietors--
Rumor Spreads Other Places 'Tipped Off' on Raids.
    Although the three pool and card room proprietors whose licenses were revoked and their bonds declared forfeit by the city council last Monday forenoon, because of their having pleaded guilty in court to selling "bitters" or tonics, by the glass, following a raid made by federal prohibition enforcement authorities, and their friends have been beseeching Mayor Pipes ever since to lift the ban and grant new licenses and bonds, on their promise to hereafter not to sell any intoxicants, these pleas have evidently had no effect.
    When asked this noon as to whether he was going to permit these establishments to open up again, and if so when, Mayor Pipes only smiled and said he had nothing to say on the subject. Asked specifically if the city administration was going to relent in its attitude and permit the three pool and card room proprietors to take out new licenses on or before the city council meeting next Tuesday, he answered "no," said the meeting had nothing to do with the matter, and intimated that if ever new licenses were granted, the period would be indefinite.
    The mayor has impressed on the three proprietors and the many others who have been laboring with him in their behalf that the amended city ordinance governing card and pool rooms, and which will be passed by the city council next Tuesday night, would have teeth incorporated which would make the hair curl of the card and pool room proprietors.
    It is understood that the three whose licenses were revoked have all come voluntarily to the mayor and declared they would never again sell "bitters" or other intoxicants, and would obey to the limit every city ordinance, and asked to be permitted to take out new licenses and open up again. These establishments have been financially hard hit since their licenses to operate card and billiard and pool tables were revoked. They can only sell tobaccos, lunch and the like now.
    The raiding of these three out of all Medford's card and pool rooms has roused much comment generally about the city, and especially as to why two such places, which had made a practice of selling "bitters," were not raided. These two places were reported to have had the heaviest sale of bitters.
    The public general talk is gradually growing more pronounced as the rumor spreads that other card and pool rooms had been "tipped off" in time, so that the undercover federal prohibition agents were unable to buy "bitters" in these places and thus obtain evidence against them.
    This talk about certain card and pool rooms having allegedly been "tipped off" has been so widely circulated that even a minister of the city visited the mayor and asked why the other pool and card rooms were not raided and closed.
    The only general answer that can be given to this question is that the raiding authorities were unable to obtain evidence on which to make arrests, through the inability of their agents to buy bitters in them. It seems that all of a sudden sometime prior in the raid these establishments ceased selling bitters to anyone not known to them, and thus evidence could not be obtained.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 16, 1929, page 8


    The three pool halls and card rooms on Front Street, the licenses of which were recently revoked by the city, are mostly deserted places since the licenses were taken away. Card tables and chairs are empty, and billiard tables are no attraction. The licenses were revoked as an aftermath of the arrest of the proprietors of Front Street establishment for selling "bitters" by the drink.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, May 18, 1929, page 2



WOLFF GIVEN YEAR IN STATE PENITENTIARY
    The jury was out only 10 minutes before it returned a verdict late yesterday afternoon in circuit court against George Wolff, Forest Creek resident and miner, on a charge of possessing a moonshine still. Circuit court convened today to hear the trial of Luke Jennings, Beagle resident, charged with the possession of alleged moonshine mash, following his arrest last winter.
    The defense in the Wolff trial attempted to show the still was planted on Wolff's property and that he had known nothing of its presence until it was discovered on his place by officers. He was sentenced to serve one year in the state penitentiary and fined $1000.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 28, 1929, page 3


MRS. LINTT SOLD BOOZE, IS CHARGE
    With the arrest of Mrs. Macey Lintt last night at a dwelling on Dakota Street, local officers believe they have succeeded in breaking up a well-organized alleged local moonshine ring. Mrs. Lintt was arrested at 10 o'clock last night for the sale of a quantity of alleged liquor to Federal Officer Clarence Worden, and was being held in the county jail today in lieu of bail. It is likely Mrs. Lintt will be given her liberty with the understanding she will leave Medford.
    Officers L. A. Ackerman, Terry Talent, Paul Jennings and Clarence Worden also arrested Winton and Eddie Keeler and Earl Parker on a charge of moonshine possession. The trio was arrested near Jacksonville, accused of having a gallon and several quarts of moonshine in their possession. Parker's car, a Chrysler, will be confiscated by the government.
Medford Mail Tribune,
June 21, 1929, page 4


MRS. LINTT DRAWS BIG FINE ON BOOZE CHARGE
    Mrs. Macey Lintt, arrested in Medford last Friday for the sale of moonshine to a federal officer, was fined $400 in the Ashland justice court Saturday afternoon with the understanding that she will leave Jackson County. Winton Keeler, arrested the same evening for moonshine possession, was sentenced to five months, and his brother, Eddie, was sentenced to three months. Earl Parker, arrested with the Keeler brothers near Jacksonville, will be sentenced next Tuesday.
Medford Mail Tribune,
June 24, 1929, page 2


BEER JOINT HERE RAIDED, MANAGER FINED AND JAILED
    Peter Fisher, charged with beer possession, was fined $250 and sentenced to 30 days in the county jail this morning by Justice of the Peace L. A. Roberts at Ashland upon his plea of guilty.
    The home of Fisher, at 19 Jeanette Avenue, was raided last night by the sheriff's office and Federal Prohibition Officer Terry Talent. Ten gallons of beer malt and 12 quarts of beer were seized. Four customers in the place were dismissed by the raiders. Neighbors have been complaining of the Fisher operation for some time, as the patrons of the "beer garden" were inclined to burst forth into song at late hours, and fight among themselves. The resort did a lively business on hot evenings, the authorities say.
    It was also said that the product Fisher made and served was quite palatable.

Medford Mail Tribune,
August 12, 1929, page 3


PAIR HELD AFTER RAID FOR SALE AND HAVING RUM
    In a raid on the home at Plum and Peach streets last night, occupied by A. R. Hull, he was arrested on a charge of sale and possession, and R. A. Petty was held on a charge of possession. They are held as federal prisoners, and may be prosecuted in the federal courts, Talent said.
    Hull was arrested as he returned to the house with a gallon of moonshine. A half gallon of moonshine was found in a serving pitcher, and held as evidence. Hull's automobile was confiscated.
    Petty was arrested when he attempted to flee the scene.
    According to Federal Officer Terry Talent, the house has been under surveillance for some time. The raiders, Talent said, watched the house for an hour. The blinds were left up, and the sales and drinking viewed with ease.
    Four customers in the place at the time of the raid were not detained, as they appeared to be just casual callers.
    The officers making the raid beside Talent were Deputy Sheriff Paul Jennings, Ike Dunford, and policeman Joe Cave.

Medford Mail Tribune,
August 25, 1929, page 3


    RAID BEER JOINT NEAR HILLCREST
    Jack Harris was arrested late last night and lodged in the county jail following a raid on the alleged "beer joint" at his home near the Hillcrest orchards. Nearly 47 quarts of beer were found in the house, officers state.
    C. C. Clark and H. H. Dynge, also arrested last night, were each fined $15 and costs in city court this morning when they pled guilty to being intoxicated on the city streets.
    A. J. Lenton was fined $10 and costs for driving at night with no tail light, and L. B. Thorson paid $10 for having four passengers in the front seat of his car.

Medford Mail Tribune,
August 27, 1929, page 3


Old Jail at Jacksonville Serves as Morgue for Confiscated Booze
    Thousands of gallons of "evidence" are stored in the old county jail at Jacksonville--an accumulation of many months--some of the stuff dating back to "Sailor Jack," one of the most widely known bootleggers who ever operated in Jackson County, according to Federal Prohibition Officer Terry Talent, who transferred the 135-gallon haul made early this morning to the "morgue" at Jacksonville.
    Alcohol predominates, but there is moonshine of every variety, in every stage of fermentation, included in the big stock.
    Then there are stills--several of them confiscated during the last year, all stored in the old jail, which housed many famous prisoners, but  now is used solely for storage purposes.
Ashland Daily Tidings, September 17, 1929, page 1


RANCHER SHOT BY LOCAL DRY AIDES
SHOOTING ACCIDENTAL IS CLAIM
Officers Talent and Hickman Say They Shot in Fleeing Moonshiner's General Direction--M. Zimmerlee of Trail is Victim--Slight Chance of Recovery.
    At press time today hospital attendant's reported that Mr. Zimmerlee was growing steadily weaker.
    Mansford Zimmerlee, 35, a rancher of the Trail district, is in a critical condition at the Sacred Heart Hospital today with a bullet wound through the abdomen as the result of a moonshine raid at his ranch last night at 11 o'clock by federal officers Terry Talent and state officers Claude Hickman and J. Zimmerman and Chief Deputy Sheriff Paul Jennings, who arrested T. M. Trusty of Elk Creek a short time later on a moonshine sale charge.
    It could not be learned today whose gun did the shooting, for the bullet, after striking Zimmerlee on one side of the abdomen, emerged on the other. However, the only shots fired came from revolvers in the hands of officers Hickman and Talent, both of who claimed this afternoon that they did not attempt to hit Zimmerlee, who had broken away from Talent after having been put under arrest on a moonshine sale and possession charge.
    They claim to have fired only in his general direction, over his head and at his feet, in an attempt to make him halt. Zimmerlee not only refused to stop but continued running and then swam the icy waters of Rogue River at the point where a county ferry was maintained years ago a mile and one-half or two miles the other side of the bridge near the Shady Cove resort on the Crater Lake Highway. Zimmerlee then walked two miles to a service station near the bridge and was there given first aid.
    The officers did not learn that he had been wounded until this morning, believing that he had made his escape and had planned to have a warrant for his arrest issued today.
Officers Feared Trouble
    Frequent reports have been turned into the sheriff's and district attorney's offices in regard to Zimmerlee, who is alleged to have been selling moonshine to high school boys for some time past. A number of such reports came from Sams Valley, and the remainder are said to have emanated in Medford and nearby, causing Zimmerlee to be put under surveillance. He was regarded by officers as being a desperate character and always armed when making a moonshine sale, according to District Attorney Newton C. Chaney. The raiding party feared trouble when departure from the local police station was made last evening.
    Deputy Sheriff Jennings left Medford first and was accompanied by the two state officers, who left Jennings' car and secreted themselves together in the brush along the river bank to await officer Talent's arrival in another car. Deputy Jennings was moving slowly when the two state officers left his machine and he drove on down the Crater Lake Highway some distance and parked. He stayed in his car during the entire raid.
Talent's Story.
    Officer Talent, according to his own story, arrived at the Zimmerlee ranch approximately at 11 o'clock, wearing his regular clothes. He had his cap off when he asked Zimmerlee for two gallons of moonshine and acted as if he had been to the ranch before on other liquor buying trips. Zimmerlee, according to the officer, did not hesitate in selling Talent contraband.
    "I must have waited 25 or 30 minutes," said officer Talent this forenoon, "when Zimmerlee returned with the moonshine, for which he was asking $10 per gallon. He shined the flashlight directly into my face, somewhat blinded me and I could not see whether he was armed. Having the evidence before me, I placed him under arrest, showing him my badge and covering him with my gun."
    "I'm a federal officer and you're under arrest. Talent's my name," I told him.
    "'Talent,' he replied in an odd tone, and immediately he made a grab for my gun."
    "There was a tussle and I succeeded in keeping the gun and there were a few blows exchanged. Then Zimmerlee ducked and ran. I ordered him to stop and he refused. I shot twice in his general direction and that only seemed to make him run the faster. I continued to chase him and kept my flashlight on his body and he ran east to the Crater Lake Highway, where he was again ordered to stop, this time by officer Hickman, who fired in his general direction also."
Chased on Highway.
    "I joined Hickman," continued officer Talent, "and for approximately 100 yards we chased him along the highway, firing several shots over his head and at his feet in further efforts to make him halt. At the end of the 100 yards, more or less, he left the highway and headed for the river through the brush. We did no more shooting and attempted to keep our lights on him.
    "Zimmerlee perched for a moment on the bank of the river and disappeared in a dive from sight, to reappear a moment later in the ice-cold water of the river. By this time, officer Zimmerman, who had been on guard in the ranch barn, joined us and we all continued to call after him that he would be drowned if he attempted to swim.
    "We kept our flashlights on him," continued officer Talent, "as he swam in the water. We watched him drift downstream for a distance as he swam and saw him later get into shallow water and the safety of the other shore. We decided that he had made good his escape and that today we would have a warrant issued for his arrest. We had no idea he had been shot. We left the scene and departed for the Trusty place on Elk Creek, where officer Hickman arrested Trusty.
    "The first scuffle," concluded officer Talent, "took place in the barnyard next to my parked car, in which I had been waiting."
    Officer Hickman, in his version of the affair, in part, said: "I was stationed with Zimmerman along the banks of the river, approximately 75 yards east of the house. That was after we left Deputy Jennings' car. We must have waited there for 15 or 20 minutes when we heard a dog barking at the house and shortly afterward there was some whistling as if someone was calling for help. We thought that perhaps Terry had made his arrest and needed us. We went inside of the barn and shined our lights into the loft. We saw a man, Dave Crowell, lying there. He told us he was just staying on the place and Zimmerman stayed to watch him and I went back to my station at the river bank.
    "I stayed at my post for possibly 15 minutes," continued officer Hickman, "when I heard shots in the barnyard, where Terry's car was parked. I rushed to the road in time to see Zimmerlee running. I ordered him to stop. He didn't. He had something in his hand--some dark object. Thinking that it might be a revolver and that perhaps he had shot Terry. I shot in his general direction in the thought he would stop. But he only ran faster.
    "In a few moments I was joined by Terry and the both of us chased him to the river, shooting several times at his feet and over his head. We did not shoot after he left the road. We watched him jump in the river and when Zimmerman joined us, Zimmerlee was half way across the river. We yelled to him to stop and come back, for fear he would drown, and he never answered. Like Terry, I believed he had made good his escape."
    Zimmerman's story dovetails with Hickman's, and he told how he watched Crowell in the barn loft after leaving the river bank with Hickman to investigate the noises around the barn. After hearing the first two or three shots, Zimmerman left the barn and was not able to join his companions until Zimmerlee was half way across the river.
    The party of officers, believing that Zimmerlee had made a successful escape, left for Elk Creek, where Hickman effected the purchase of two gallons of moonshine from T. M. Trusty, who will probably have a hearing today or tomorrow. Trusty made no trouble.
    In making the statements this forenoon, the officers, who returned at 2:30 this morning, took pains to bring out every detail and expressed regret that the raid had taken such an unexpected turn. The officers had planned to make another arrest last night at about the same time as the Zimmerlee raid, but were unsuccessful.
    It is held a miracle that Zimmerlee was able to swim the river, walk nearly two miles with a bullet hole through the abdomen, causing his intestines to be punctured 15 times. An operation was performed on him this forenoon by Dr. C. T. Sweeney, which may save the man's life.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 29, 1927, page 1


HOLD QUIZ TONIGHT IN RAID DEATH
Coroner's Inquest at 7:30 o'Clock--Officers Leave for Scene of Fatality--Witnesses to Give Last Statement of Zimmerlee, Who Died of Wounds Today.
    Mrs. H. W. Todd, resident of the Trail district, to whose home Mansford Zimmerlee, rum raid victim, came after the affray for aid, told a representative of the Mail Tribune this afternoon that Zimmerlee told her the night of the shooting that he had no quarrel with prohibition officer Terry Talent, that Talent had pointed a gun at him, that he became frightened and ran, that when he had gone about twenty feet a shot was fired which hit him, that he then ran and jumped into Rogue River, and that shots were fired at him while he was swimming and running, but missed him.
    Statements of Mrs. Todd were verified by other Trail witnesses. Dennis Zimmerlee, a nephew of the dead man, asserted that after the shooting, members of the raiding party came to the Zimmerlee home and "cursed out the family," and said that "they had got him."
    County officials are at the scene of the shooting this afternoon interrogating witnesses and going over the route of Zimmerlee's flight.
    An inquest is scheduled to be held at 7:30 this evening over the remains of Mansford Zimmerlee, 35, resident of the Trail district, who died at 4:20 this morning at the Sacred Heart Hospital as the result of a bullet wound through the abdomen sustained Wednesday night when he attempted to make his escape from prohibition officers Terry Talent and Claude Heckman, after having been put under arrest for possession and sale of moonshine. The inquest will be held at the Perl funeral home.
    Before undergoing an operation yesterday morning, after he had been brought to the hospital from a service station on the Crater Lake Highway 20 miles from Medford, Zimmerlee made a verbal statement to the attending surgeon, Dr. C. T. Sweeney, and hospital attendants in regard to the shooting. The statement was made with the warning that it might be the last he would ever make and he was told to adhere strictly to the truth.
    However, Dr. Sweeney at noon today refused to make it public, saying that he would give it at the inquest this evening. The doctor will probably be the main witness, and his testimony will be corroborated by three or four hospital attendants who listened to Zimmerlee give his version, which was brief.
    District Attorney Newton C. Chaney, Sheriff Ralph Jennings and Coroner H. W. Conger left early this afternoon for the scene of the shooting at the Zimmerlee ranch, one and one-half or two miles north of the Rogue River bridge over the Crater Lake Highway near the Shady Cove resort. They will go over the same ground covered by federal officer Terry Talent and state officer Claude Hickman when they attempted to stop Zimmerlee after he had escaped from officer Talent who had arrested Zimmerlee for selling him two gallons of moonshine in the ranch barnyard.
    The inspection party will attempt to follow the trail of the fugitive through the brush from the Crater Lake Highway and to the point where he jumped into the river and swam across. They will also try to follow his footsteps from the barnyard to the highway, where Hickman joined Talent in chasing Zimmerlee down the highway to the point he turned off to go in the river.
    It is possible that the inquest may not be held until tomorrow morning, according to the district attorney's office, should any unexpected information be unearthed at the Zimmerlee ranch.
    George Alexander, state prohibition commissioner, of Salem, and Capt. A. H. Burghduff, chief of the field force of the prohibition enforcement, are in Medford in connection with the cases of Mansford Zimmerlee and T. M. Trusty. This is Mr. Alexander's first visit here since his appointment.
Defer Sentence
    When given a hearing in Judge Taylor's court this afternoon, T. M. Trusty of Elk Creek pleaded guilty to a charge of sale and possession of moonshine, following his arrest Wednesday evening by state and federal prohibition officers. Federal officer Terry Talent appeared against the defendant, whose sentence was postponed until next Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock. His bail was set at $500 and indications were that it would be raised.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 30, 1927, page 1


JURY O.K.'S SLAYING OF TRAIL MAN 
Coroner's Jury Exonerates Terry Talent of All Blame in Shooting Zimmerlee--Death Declared Accidental--Maintain Defendant Resisted Arrest for Moonshining.
    That Mansford Zimmerlee, 46, Trail resident, was fatally wounded by a bullet fired by Terry Talent, federal prohibition officer, while in the discharge of his duties in a moonshine raid on the Zimmerlee ranch on the night of September 28, was the verdict returned by the coroner's jury, before which numerous witnesses testified at the inquest last night at the Perl Funeral Home. Talent was exonerated of all blame.
    It was indicated last evening that friends and relatives of the dead man, who died early yesterday morning at the Sacred Heart Hospital, following an operation the morning before, would demand a more complete investigation. However, last night's session continued for more than four hours and is said to be one of the longest inquests ever held in Jackson County. The coroner's jury was composed of J. F. Lawrence, Joe Brown, A. J. Hanby, John Demmer, Dr. W. W. Howard and F. Alexander.
Dr. Sweeney First Witness.
    Dr. C. T. Sweeney, who was called to the home of Hillery W. Todd on Indian Creek, a short distance from the Shady Cove service station on the Crater Lake Highway, was the first witness called. He explained the wound which killed Zimmerlee to the jury, which for the first few minutes was in the death chamber with Zimmerlee's body. He told how he had asked Zimmerlee just before he underwent an operation early Thursday morning if there was any statement he wished to make, with the possibility it might be the last.
    "I was shot by Terry Talent," Zimmerlee said, according to Dr. Sweeney, who then asked him how far away the shot was fired.
    "Not to exceed 20 steps and he was holding the flashlight on me while shooting." Zimmerlee replied.
    The testimony was substantiated by June Earhart of the hospital nurse staff and Dr. A. F. Kresse, who assisted in the operation. The names of Sister Lewis, who is in charge of the Sacred Heart Hospital operation room, and Misses Hansen and Roberts, nurses, were given as other witnesses.
    Zimmerlee was in intense pain, said Dr. Sweeney, when he reached the Todd home, where first aid measures had been taken to make him more comfortable. The wounded man reached the hospital around four o'clock Thursday morning and immediately underwent the operation, which revealed that his intestines had been punctured 15 times by the bullet, which entered in the back and emerged on the other side of the body. Following the operation, Zimmerlee was conscious at times until his death, but he engaged in no more conversation.
Niece Is Witness.
    Mrs. Mary Zimmerlee, who lived on the same ranch that was raided, but in a different house a short distance away, testified that she was in bed when the raid began, but was awakened by shooting and rushed to the window, seeing flashlights in the darkness. She claimed that the officers rushed to her house following the shooting and the apparent escape of Zimmerlee, knocked on her door and demanded admittance.
    "We got him. We got him." She claimed they said.
    "Who?" she questioned in return, according to her testimony.
    "You know," the officers replied.
    "I don't know."
    "Open the door, we want to talk to you." the witness testified that Talent said.
    "What do you want?" she returned.
    "We want to talk to you. You open this door. If you don't let me in, I'll come in." the witness declared Talent said.
    Mrs. Zimmerlee finally opened the door, according to the testimony, and after harsh talking and a short questioning, which satisfied the officers that there were no men around and that a search for more liquor would be futile, the officers left, with the admonishment to tell Mansford Zimmerlee to come to Medford the next day and give himself up to the authorities.
    She said the officers denied knowledge of having shot Zimmerlee and that she, with others, found him early in the morning at the Todd home a mile or so down the river on the other side. Up until three weeks ago, Mary Zimmerlee and her husband, W. R., had lived with Mansford in the same house, but since had moved to another building on the same ranch.
Sister-in-Law Testifies.
    Testimony by Mrs. Jane Zimmerlee, a sister-in-law of the dead man, corroborated that given by the preceding witness. She said she had known him for 20 years and that for the past three years he had stayed close to his ranch, after having spent a short time in Washington. Before his trip to Washington, he had also lived on the ranch. He was unmarried. She said that she and the younger Mrs. Zimmerlee fastened the door when they saw the officers come toward the house, after the raid was over.
    "They said they were going to search the whole ranch," Mrs. Zimmerlee related, "and they demanded entrance to the house. We told them there was nobody there but the children, but they could search if they wanted to.
    "Who did you get?" I asked Talent.
    "Mansie," was the reply.
    "Who?"
    "Mansford, then," the officer replied.
    "The conversation with the officers ended with Talent telling me that he was a federal officer and that I'd better tell Mansford to come down when he got back, or that the officers would have to hunt for him. He told me that he was Terry Talent and that they had the goods on him."
    The witness stated that three officers, J. I. Zimmerman, Claude Hickman and Deputy Sheriff Lewis Jennings, searched the ranch two or three weeks ago, but found nothing.
Mrs. Todd Testifies.
    Mrs. H. W. Todd, to whose home on Indian Creek Mansford Zimmerlee found his way after having been shot, told how she was awakened in the middle of the night by a noise on the front porch.
    When she went to the door, the following conversation took place:
    "Who's there?"
    Zimmerlee mumbled.
    "What's the matter, Mansford?"
    "I'm shot."
    "Who shot you?"
    "Terry Talent. I'm cold--swam the river."
    Mrs. Todd declared she had never seen a more terrifying sight than Zimmerlee, who seemed to be chilled to the bone and so cold that he could hardly talk. She was afraid to take off his clothes and put on dry ones. She called for help by sending her boy to Mrs. John Laden, with whom, and others, they made attempts to make Zimmerlee comfortable. A car arrived a short time later, her testimony continued, bringing Mrs. Mary Zimmerlee, Mrs. Johnson, Mose Johnson and Gene Crowell to the scene.
    Dr. Sweeney was called, and the injured man was rushed to the hospital as soon as possible.
H. W. Todd Gives Version.
    Hillery Todd, in testimony, declared it would be difficult to swim the river, even in good health. Todd declared that Zimmerlee told him that officer Talent had shot him and told him of incidents of the raid. A man, whom he thought was "all right," had ordered the whiskey, but when he returned with the two gallons, Talent was there to receive them. Todd testified that Zimmerlee told him that he commenced to run as soon as Talent made his identity known and that shots were fired as soon as he was under way. Zimmerlee believed that the first shot fired was the one that struck him in the back and said nothing about any blows, which officer Talent claims took place.
 Nephew on the Stand.
    W. R. Zimmerlee, a nephew of the dead man, told how he held up Mansfield's head on the trip to the hospital and listened to him tell of the raid, relating that two gallons of moonshine had been purchased by an "undercover man" and that officer Talent accosted him when the contraband was brought to the car to be sold for $10 per gallon. Mansford, said the nephew, commenced to run when he learned that Talent was there and that he was the target for numerous bullets, the first of which he believed struck him in the back. The dead man is said to have claimed that a bullet was also fired at him while in the water. However, this was denied by the officers.
    Mrs. John Laden gave details of procuring aid for the wounded man and repeated conversation with Zimmerlee in regard to the shooting, indicating that the shot was fired by officer Talent. Zimmerlee told her how he swam the river, walking a short distance and then swimming because he was too weak to walk. He said he heard "hollering" on the shore, but could not understand what was said. Mrs. Laden declared that Zimmerlee nearly died twice while waiting for the doctor to arrive.
    Evidence was given by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Winkle in regard to the shooting. They live across the river from the Zimmerlee ranch and heard the man swimming in the river, saw the flashlights on the other side and watched the guns spit fire. Dr. L. D. Inskeep, county physician, also testified in regard to the wound.
Talent Testifies.
    Federal officer Talent explained the arrangements made for the raid, telling how officer Hickman, Zimmerman and Chief Deputy Paul Jennings left first. Hickman and Zimmerman secreted themselves in the brush to await Talent's arrival. Officer Talent used a map in showing the position of the ranch houses, the highway and the river.
    An "informant," according to the testimony, made the liquor deal, while the officer waited in the car for 25 or 30 minutes for Zimmerlee to bring two gallons of moonshine in separate jugs. When he arrived, as if reaching for his money, Talent brought out his gun and told Zimmerlee he was under arrest for moonshine sale, showing his badge at the same time. The officer claimed that Zimmerlee was shining a flashlight into his face, which blinded him somewhat and that Zimmerlee attempted to wrest the gun away from him, but was unsuccessful. After several blows, Zimmerlee ran and the officer fired at the fleeing man, taking careful aim to see that he hit the ground.
Talent Shoots.
    The first two shots, he said, hit the ground, but he was not sure about the third. After the third shot was fired, Talent started the chase. When Zimmerlee reached the Crater Lake Highway, two shots were fired by officer Hickman, who believed that officer Talent had been attacked. Zimmerlee, said officer Talent, was a fleet runner and never faltered or indicated in any way he had been hit by a bullet. Running to the old ferry landing, Zimmerlee jumped into the Rogue River and swam, while the officers kept their flashlight on him. Talent testified that he was using a breast stroke, and was keeping his head well out of the water.
    Hearing him reach the other side, the officers decided that he had escaped and that they would "make the arrest tomorrow," never dreaming, he said, that Zimmerlee had been wounded. Hickman attempted to head Zimmerlee off in his flight to the river, but was unsuccessful and did not join Talent until after Zimmerlee had jumped into the cold water. Zimmerman, who had been on guard in the barn, rushed also to the river, but arrived after Zimmerlee was well under way.
    Each of the officers denied using harsh language and denied shooting at the man after he was in the water. They called to him to return to the shore, or else he would be drowned, but they received no reply. The party of officers returned to the house, and told Mrs. Mary Zimmerlee to tell Mansford to come to town and give himself up. At the house, officer Talent testified, no harsh language of any kind was used.
    Chief Deputy Sheriff Paul Jennings took no active part in the raid, being in a car some distance from the scene. He was to pass by the house every ten minutes to see if the raid had been completed.
    Testimony was also given by officers Hickman and Zimmerman corroborating their fellow officers. The two gallons of moonshine were on exhibit before the jury and were identified by the officers as the same purchased at the Zimmerlee ranch.
    There was a large attendance at the inquest, including a good-sized delegation from the Trail and Eagle Point districts. The inquest was in charge of District Attorney Newton C. Chaney and the witnesses were sworn in by Coroner H. W. Conger.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 1, 1927, page 3


LILJEQVIST IS NAMED QUIZ HEAD
Special Prosecutor Appointed to Conduct Grand Jury Hearing of Zimmerlee Shooting by Terry Talent--Will Be Here Thursday; Jury Starts Tomorrow.

    Assistant Attorney General Liljeqvist was appointed today special prosecutor to take charge of the Zimmerlee killing case, according to a long-distance call received from Salem by Prosecuting Attorney Newton W. Chaney. Liljeqvist is now in Marshfield and will arrive in Medford Thursday morning to take charge. The grand jury will assemble tomorrow, and Chaney will bring other matters before it to consume the time until the special prosecutor arrives.
----
    SALEM, Ore., Oct. 3.--(AP)--A special prosecutor to investigate before the Jackson County grand jury the fatal shooting of Mansford Zimmerlee, an alleged bootlegger, a few days ago, will today be appointed by Attorney General I. L. VanWinkle at the request of Newton Chaney, district attorney for Jackson County. VanWinkle, after conferring with Governor Patterson, said he had not decided whom he would appoint, and that he might send a man from his office.
    Terry Talent, federal officer, and Claude Hickman, state prohibition agent, the officers who did the shooting, were both present today at a conference in the office of Governor Patterson when Chaney's request was discussed.
    In a statement before his death Zimmerlee is said to have declared that he was wounded by the first shot fired, and accused Talent of doing the shooting.
    The affair has created a controversy in Jackson County. The grand jury convenes tomorrow.
    Chaney says that relatives of Zimmerlee accused him of prejudice in the case.
----
Talent Expresses Regret
    Officer Talent has expressed deep regret over the tragic incident and emphatically denied that he shot to hit Zimmerlee, whom he had hoped to stop by shooting at his feet.
    "In view of the incident which occurred September 28, resulting in the death of Mansford Zimmerlee," said District Attorney Newton C. Chaney in an interview today, "and the advisability of a full investigation before the grand jury, which has been called by Circuit Judge Corkins, at my request of Friday, Sept. 30th, and on account of the fact that the federal and state officers concerned therein, in the performance of their duties as such officers in the enforcement of the law, have been closely associated with this office, I have, therefore, requested the governor to appoint a special prosecutor, in order to eliminate any question or doubt that may exist as to a fair and impartial investigation of this matter.
    "In doing so I have acted on my own initiative and have not in any sense admitted, nor do I now admit, that my office would not make a full, impartial and unprejudiced presentation of all facts relative thereto before the grand jury. However, in view of the official association of said officers, as above set forth, and the fact that this office should at all times be kept above reproach and should perform its full duty in every situation that may arise, I have, as stated, requested the appointment of a special prosecutor.
    "I would strongly urge that all citizens who are in possession of any information that may be of any value whatsoever to the grand jury in this investigation appear before that body, whether they have been subpoenaed or not. Subpoenas have been issued by this office for all persons whom we have been advised know any facts relative to the occurrence under investigation."
    The special prosecutor will take charge only of this matter, according to the district attorney.
    While the coroner's jury came to the decision last Friday night that Talent fired the shot, the grand jury investigation will cover the entire ground and will act as if the coroner's jury had never been held.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 3, 1927, page 1


Press Comments on Shooting of Mansford Zimmerlee
Murder in the Name of the Law.
    The Capital Journal has frequently commented on the growing tyranny of the tin star, of the usurpation of power by the police. It has been well said that "the modern struggle for liberty is at root of a fight against the gradual extension of police power."
    Judge McMahan recently called attention to the frequent breaking of the law by officers sworn to enforce the law, in order to enforce the law, and asked why officers are permitted to shoot at random at citizens without knowing their guilt and without cause even if guilt is reasonably certain.
    A most flagrant instance of this abuse of official power has just materialized in Jackson County, and as usual, in connection with the prohibition law, which has been more productive of official outrages, as well as official corruption, than all the laws on the statute books combined.
    On September 28, dry officers acting as agents provocateurs called at the home of a Trail citizen and after inducing him to violate the law reciprocated his hospitality by setting upon him in a wanton, reckless and brutal manner, shooting him fatally in the back, and hunting and baying him into and across the Rogue River. He died the following day from the wound inflicted.
    The coroner's jury "promptly acquitted the officer for the outrage," just as a coroner's jury acquitted a speed cop for murdering on suspicion a man who had a wrong license number in Linn County some months ago, but public indignation has been aroused and demands an impartial and competent investigation, further charging in a petition being circulated to the governor that the law officers of Jackson County are seeking to whitewash the offense and that the interests of justice require that a special prosecutor be appointed for the task.
    The dry officers doing the shooting have records as gunmen. This is not the first notch on their guns. District Attorney Chaney of Jackson County was with Charles Talent, speed cop, when he killed the autoist near Albany and justified him in the act. He is the father of Terry Talent, one of the shooting dry officers. When the Trail shooting became known, Chaney came out with a statement alleging the man shot a desperate character and a gunman, when the facts were that he had lived 31 years in the county, never owned or carried a gun and was known for meekness and peaceable disposition.
    At the coroner's inquest, state officer Claude Hickman of Salem told of hiding along the road at some distance from the house, and when he heard the shooting and heard the hurried and frightened victim laboring down the highway, without knowing who he was or what he had done, took two pot shots at him.
    It is this wanton and bloodthirsty sort of law enforcement that is discrediting not only the prohibition law, but law enforcement generally. –Salem Capital Journal.
----
    A man living near Medford was slain by a federal prohibition agent when he fled from arrest on a charge of selling liquor. The officer has been acquitted as the coroner's jury found that he hadn't intended to shoot the other. It looks as if the death penalty is now in force for violation of the prohibition laws.--Grants Pass Courier.
----
ANOTHER VICTIM
    Another man is shot down and killed by an officer in Southern Oregon. The officer was attempting to make an arrest for violation of the prohibition law. The suspect fled. The officer shot him in the back at 20 feet and the victim died a few hours later.
    The victim was apparently guilty of the violation of which he was suspected. But since when has it become the province of officers to convict and sentence to death by gunfire those who violate the law? Since when has it become their province to shoot down those accused of a lesser crime, even though they may attempt to escape? Since when have officers acquired the right to pronounce death sentence and carry it into effect, even though a man is guilty of violation of the prohibition law and an attempt to escape?
    Reports indicate that the Southern Oregon victim made no attempt to struggle with the officer. He made no show to fight. He was not guilty of murder. He did not threaten the officer. He merely made an attempt to escape, when the death volley was fired into his back.
    If the hair-trigger officers continue to shoot down victims, if they continue to assume authority that is not theirs, if they continue to set themselves up as accuser, judge, jury and high executioner, if they continue to kill without provocation, there will be a reckoning some day for which their superiors and the courts which sustain them will have to assume the responsibility. --(Portland Journal.)                        
Medford Mail Tribune, October 4, 1927, page 2


Talent Did a Good Job
    To the Editor:
    I live in the district where the shooting of Zimmerlee took place, and in justice to the officers who made the raid on Zimmerlee, I would like to say that they did a good job, not that I think Zimmerlee deserved death, but if he had submitted to arrest he wouldn't have been dead. His nephew, William, who wrote the article in the Morning News, October 1, and testified at the inquest, claimed he had asked his uncle to refrain from selling any more moonshine, did not tell the truth, for he has a still in full operation his self and furnished the liquor for his uncle to sell and get killed over. William Zimmerlee was at the still operating it the night his uncle was caught. They have made their threats they would kill young Talent, and I still think they might do it. I'm taking a chance myself writing this letter, but I want to see justice done.
JAMES GORDON,
    Eagle Point, October 4.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, October 5, 1927, page 4


Press Comments on Shooting of Mansford Zimmerlee
NO RIGHT TO SHOOT.
That Jackson County Killing.
    In Jackson County a prohibition officer shot and killed a man who was violating the prohibition law. The facts appear to be that the officer fired at the man to halt his escape. The officer is credited with saying that he "shot in the general direction" of the fugitive.
    The man who met death was accused of a misdemeanor. He was charged with possessing intoxicating liquor. By killing him under such circumstances, the officer was a violator of the law, because no peace officer, under the statutes or Oregon, has the right to kill a man whom he arrests for a misdemeanor, unless the man whom he apprehends attempts to kill him. Then the officer may invoke the law of self-defense and kill his attacker, in order to save his own life. But the fact appears to be that the accused man in this case was not attacking the officer, but was fleeing from him.
    Official investigation of the shooting is being conducted and perhaps the findings may differ from the unofficial reports. But if the facts are as they have been published, the prohibition officer has made himself liable for a serious crime.
    The taking of a human life is a matter of tremendous moment. The life of a lawbreaker is more important than the punishment of any misdemeanor. Even officers of the law cannot take a human life while discharging their duties except in certain cases, clearly defined by law.
    The officer who takes a human life without authority weakens the cause of law enforcement. He opens the way for criticism. Particularly in the field of liquor law enforcement is the unwarranted taking of human life made the object of bitter attacks. Upholding one law by breaking another law is an indefensible business.
    The dead man, perhaps, broke a law. But it was not a law that was punishable by death. The statutes of Oregon were sufficient to deal with his case. He should have been punished in conformity with those laws, on being found guilty by a competent tribunal. But the officer had no authority to shoot him or to shoot at him, because he was running away from the officer at the time.--Albany Democrat.
----
TOO QUICK ON THE TRIGGER
    The Medford Mail Tribune, commenting on the recent tragedy wherein a moonshiner-rancher was shot and killed by officers of the law, while trying to escape, says the ready gun-users justified themselves by declaring "it was an accident." They merely intended to shoot in his general direction. Evidently they had no idea that they had a right to kill the fugitive. Or, perhaps, they have just now acquired that idea.
    Another paper, which professes to know the facts, reports that "on September 28, dry officers acting as agents provocateurs called at the home of a Trail citizen and, after inducing him to violate the law, reciprocated his hospitality by setting upon him in a wanton and reckless and brutal manner, shooting him fatally in the back and hunting and baying him into and across Rogue River. He died the following day from the wound inflicted."
    It would be interesting to learn if it is true that the dry officers partook of the rancher's illicit liquor and, if so, to speculate on what share of the responsibility for their act is traceable to the alcohol. Not that anything can be done about the liquor; only that some conclusion may be drawn as to the right or duty of officials to drink unlawful booze and then to shoot.
    Meanwhile, it is appropriate that Governor Patterson has decided to look into this latest Southern Oregon shooting, and to see what can be done about it.--(Portland Oregonian.)
----
Going Off Half Cocked
    Down near Medford the other day a couple of enforcement officers fired several shots at a mountain rancher, whom it was alleged was engaged in manufacturing moonshine. The results of the escapade was the death of the rancher, though the officers maintain their aim was not directed at the fleeing man, but on the contrary had shot in the air, "just to scare him." This is a mighty lame excuse for murder. Then, an officer whose ability is so exact in hitting the mark when shooting heavenward is a dangerous person to deal with the public. He might go off half-cocked most any old time--resulting in the death of innocent persons.--(Roseburg News-Review.)  
Medford Mail Tribune, October 6, 1927, page 4



16 DAY FINE HERE FOR INTOXICATION
    The city court had a good run of business last month, which was very profitable for the city, the 30 cases bringing into the city treasury in all $414 in fines, according to Judge Taylor's detailed report to the city council.
    There were 16 cases of intoxication, and of these eleven men forfeited $10 cash bail each, three forfeited $20 each, and one forfeited $15, while another was fined $10.
    There was one fine of $25 for possession of liquor and one $10 for disturbing the peace, and of eleven traffic violations 8 persons were fined $10 each, two $15 each and one fine of $100 together with suspension of license.
    One other case was investigated by the court but not docketed.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 6, 1929, page 4


ARREST ONE IN MOONSHINE RAID
    Following a raid at a dwelling at 638 North Central Avenue last evening, Rufus Roberts, 33, was arrested on a charge of moonshine possession and is scheduled to have a hearing in the Ashland justice court tomorrow afternoon. The raiding party was made up of Federal Prohibition Agent Terry Talent, Chief of Police McCredie, Traffic Chief Prescott and Deputy Sheriff Oscar Dunford.
    Officers allege that attempts were made to destroy the supply of moonshine by dumping it in the kitchen sink, but a sufficient amount was saved for evidence. Roberts was arrested by officers several months ago on a similar charge and had been under surveillance ever since.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 19, 1929, page 6


RUMRUNNERS ARE CAPTURED IN SISKIYOUS
    A portion of the holiday liquor of this season will never reach its destination, following the seizure early this morning on the Siskiyou Mountain of two alleged rumrunning cars and 50 gallons of alleged moonshine. Three men were arrested and were to appear before United States Commissioner Chauncey Florey this afternoon, when they will probably be bound over to the federal grand jury at Portland under heavy bond.
    Laddie Mann, said to be well known in the Southern Oregon bootlegging world and a former resident of Medford and Ashland, was arrested with Thomas Yokum, both of Roseburg, for the possession and transportation of 20 gallons of moonshine. Mann's car, a 1928 Chevrolet, will be confiscated by the government. Joe Resaro of Chico, Calif., was arrested in a second automobile, a new Ford coupe, with 30 gallons of alleged moonshine whiskey.
    The arrests were made by Federal Agent Terry Talent and Deputy Sheriff Sam Prescott of Ashland, who say the two cars were traveling together and bound for Roseburg. There are small liens against each of the two machines but they will be confiscated nevertheless, it is claimed.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 16, 1929, page 1


STIFF SENTENCES ON RUM CHARGES
    Several stiff sentences were meted out by Judge Taylor in his court last Saturday afternoon, two on liquor charges and one for reckless driving.
    Fred Gravelle was fined $300 and given a 30 days' sentence in the county jail at his hearing on a liquor selling charge, and Harvey Wilson received a 60 days' sentence and a fine of $300, also on a liquor selling charge. Because of the feeble health and advanced age of A. V. Wilson, father of Harvey Wilson, the liquor selling charge against the former was dismissed. The arrests were made by L. M. Ackerman, state prohibition officer.
    A fine of $50 and jail sentence of 15 days was imposed on Harvey Mondrell for reckless driving last Friday night when his truck struck the wrecking car of the Lewis Super Service Station on the Pacific Highway and seriously injured Mr. Llowd.

Medford Mail Tribune, December 23, 1929, page 2


ANOTHER VICTIM OF SISKIYOU RUM TRAIL
    William Tietjen of San Francisco was arrested in the Siskiyous this morning about four o'clock by Federal Prohibition Agent Terry Talent and Officer Sam Prescott of Ashland. Two gallons of gin and a new Oakland coupe were seized. Tietjen was bound over to the federal grand jury this morning by United States Commissioner Chauncey Florey.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 23, 1929, page 2


LOCAL LAD LANDS IN BIG CIDER VAT AS COPS PURSUE
    A cider bath on a chilly February night is not the most enjoyable way of spending an evening and is not the best for clothes, is a discovery made by Floyd Sullivan, who accidentally fell into the cider-vinegar vat at the Rogue River Canning Company factory on South Front Street last night. Sullivan was accompanied by a friend, V. Bergman, and the pair were quietly occupied in dipping cider out of the vat by means of a bucket and rope.
    The fruit juice was fermenting and perhaps was being sought by the two as a beverage. They probably had not meant to stay long or do any damage, but some neighbor living near the cannery must have seen them on top of the factory roof, as the police were summoned to the scene.
    The arrival of the officers startled the boys, and officers declare Sullivan started to run but his foot slipped and he fell with a sickening splash into the sticky fruit juice a few feet below. Shivering from dampness and uncomfortable because of the glucose nature of the liquid, Sullivan was ushered into the police station, the floor of which today still bears mute testimony of dripping apple cider. Two jugs that officers say were found in the boys' possession are also in the station and are filled with cider.
    The two were placed in the county jail and will probably be charged with petty larceny.
    Saturday night the police were called to the cannery because of alleged attempts of three other youths to help themselves to the cider. However, these young men did not know where the vat was located and, not having any cider, they were released shortly after they were brought to the station.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 10, 1930, page 3


TRAIL RESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY ON RUM CHARGE
    L. B. Leabo, resident of the Trail section, who was arrested here Monday by C. H. Bennett, prohibition officer for Jackson and Josephine counties, on Bartlett Street for having two gallons of moonshine in his car, and when arraigned in Judge Taylor's court later entered a plea of not guilty, and his trial was set for today, changed that plea when the case was called for hearing this forenoon.
    He was present with his attorney, Charles Reames, and pleaded guilty to a charge of transportation of liquor, whereupon after the attorney in addressing the court asked that the fine be made not too heavy for Leabo to pay, was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail and fined $250.

Medford Mail Tribune, February 20, 1930, page 3


MOONSHINER GETS 2-YEAR SENTENCE
    Arrested last week six miles above Jacksonville on Jackson Creek by the sheriff's office for the possession of mash, William Fairking, 49, was yesterday afternoon sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary on his plea of guilty in circuit court. Aaron Rhoten, 18 years of age, of Jacksonville, was also sentenced to two years on the same charge, having been arrested with Fairking. He was paroled and his fine of $500 was suspended. Fairking was fined $1000 in addition to the jail sentence.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 11, 1930, page 6


YOUNG TRIO PLEA GUILTY TO BOOZE; MUST PAY FINES
    A trio of local youths, T. H. Snider, William Drumm and H. J. McFarland, who Monday morning entered a plea of not guilty in the city court to having a pint of moonshine and were released on $50 bail each until their hearing today, changed their plea to one of guilty in the court this morning. Each was fined $10 and costs, and as they were broke, each was given a limit of 15 days in which to obtain work and pay his fine, else be sent to jail.
    It seems that the boys were driving around the city Saturday or Sunday drinking until they and their bottle fell into the clutches of the police. Fortunately, the driver of their car was not intoxicated.
    W. C. Moore, also arrested over the weekend on an intoxication charge, forfeited a cash bail of $10, which he had put up with the police, by failure to appear for trial in the city court yesterday.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 22, 1930, page 2


DEPUTY SHERIFFS NAB ALKY RUNNER ON PHOENIX ROAD
    The third big alcohol seizure to be made by the sheriff's office in a week occurred this morning when Deputy Sheriffs Louis Jennings and Charles Bennett arrested W. Free of San Francisco for the possession and transportation of 170 gallons of alleged alcohol. The arrest and seizure were made on the Pacific Highway south of Phoenix.
    Free was to have a hearing in justice court this afternoon. His car, a big Master Six Buick coupe, has been confiscated by the officers.
    The man claimed he was en route from San Francisco to Seattle on a regular trip. He was accompanied by his wife, against whom no charge will probably be placed.
    The cargo of alcohol, with the exception of a gallon, was to be poured into Bear Creek this afternoon. A law passed by the last legislature makes it impossible for state officers to save any of the alcohol for the benefit of hospitals or physicians having a legitimate use for it. Any violation of the law by officers means a penitentiary sentence. Alcohol captured so far by officers in this county has been destroyed, with the exception of a small amount saved for evidence.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 2, 1930, page 4


HUGE STILL DISCOVERED IN B.F. AREA
Hundred-Gallon Outfit  Declared Most Unsanitary--
Alleged Operator Is Taken in Raid by State and County Officers.

    Believed to be the largest moonshine still ever captured in this end of the state and possibly one of the most unsanitary, a 100-gallon moonshine still was seized by state and county officers early this morning in the timber country between Prospect and Butte Falls. E. A. Sutcliff, 65, was arrested as the alleged operator.
    Officers had watched the outfit for the past two weeks and for two or three days preceding the capture, camped a short distance away from the outfit, awaiting the arrival of mash to be run off into moonshine.
    Sutcliff, while arrested as the operator, is thought by officers to be working for unknown owners of the still. Officers are attempting to locate them.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 2, 1930, page 1


ALENDERFER SAYS YANKEE TIPPLERS AIDING CANADIAN
    Customers in the United States make the manufacture of liquor in Canada a lucrative business, O. O. Alenderfer, recently returned from a trip to Toronto, told members of the Kiwanis Club at the Hotel Medford at noon luncheon today. Despite the fact that there is no prohibition law in Canada, the speaker said he saw less intoxication there in the ordinary course of events than he would see in the     United States with prohibition.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 21, 1930, page 8


A Peculiar Slant
Banks' "Once in a While" Column Contains Many Amusing Chapters
    The writer was somewhat amused with the text matter in a column headed "Once in a While" and published by the owner of the Medford Daily News upon his first page. In this column he asks that all hypocrites stand up and be counted and vote against him at the fall election, at which time he will be an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate as an opponent to Senator McNary.
    In the course of the rambling editorial the writer dealt with everything from the Gold Hill dances and the conditions which he claims to have existed during a celebration in Medford to the gossip of the streets such as he might hear in any town in the United States.
    He states that America is suffering from a lack of respect of law and order such as it has never suffered before, and we are yet at a loss to decide whether he attributes this to the fact that he is not now Senator or to the fact that the 18th amendment needs repealing.
    He tells of many cases of drunkenness and disorderly conduct having been publicly flaunted in the city of Medford although his entire story is merely a series of aspersions and insinuations, written no doubt to lead the readers to the belief that some U.S. Senator had been drunk in Medford for several days to the extent that he could not properly conduct himself. We believe that the Medford writer is doing a great injustice to his city, its organizations and the public men who serve this state by merely dealing in generalities when discussing such items of scandal as he took occasion to fill his first-page editorial with.
    He charges that while a bootlegger was being arrested near that city that whiskey by the gallon was being dispensed by the leading public institution of that city. What is that institution? Is it the public library, the Chamber of Commerce, the Elks Club, the Methodist or some other church? Why didn't the Medford writer tell the whole story? Why did he leave so much to guess at? Is he afraid of the truth, or is his article composed of rumors and misstatements? Does not the text of the Medford writer's story incline one to believe that he too must stand up and be counted.
    Not content to revile the morals of the county seat, his home, Banks took occasion to tell of things he claims to have seen along the road between Portland, and evidently the nearer he got to Medford the worse the morals of the commonwealth seems to have gotten.
    He tells of finding three dances in progress, although he mentions only the location of two, and of cars parked along the highway. He relates having seen a young man supporting a very sick young woman who was endeavoring to relieve her system of the wicked bootleg whiskey her companion had given her. That piece of news might be refreshing. How does Mr. Banks know that the young lady had been drinking bootleg whiskey? Young ladies, we understand, get ill from other things than drinking bootleg whiskey, even in Gold Hill. Then, too, how does Mr. Banks know that the young ladies' companion furnished the bootleg, if that was what she had been drinking? And if he knew it was her companion who had furnished the liquor and that it was liquor that she had been drinking and in turn had made her sick why did he not do his duty as a citizen of the United States and of the state which he is asking support to be elected to the U.S. Senate, and have that companion answer for his crime? In all the vices that Mr. Banks tells of in his articles, we fail to find where he has at any time turned a hand to do other than criticize.
    Mr. Banks states that he is in favor of the repeal of the 18th amendment, but he fails to give a workable plan for handling the situation once the law is repealed. Does he contend that if it were made easy to obtain whiskey that the people would snub it because it is too common? If he does, we feel that he has another thought coming. Times have changed and so have moral persuasions since the days of the saloon and the passing of the 18th amendment. In those good old days even the young lady who might have been considered a trifle loose did not dance with young fellows who had been drinking, and now Mr. Banks says that an honest young lady is ostracized if she does not partake of the stuff. We size up Mr. Banks' article as a typical piece of political balderdash intended to poison the minds of his readers against his competitor in the race for the U.S. Senate. It borders too closely upon mud-slinging, and we have always noticed that in political fracases the one who sings the mud is usually doing so because he has a weak foundation upon which to stand.
Central Point Star, August 8, 1930, page 2


    Last night, the police arrested Florence Aller and Gene Austin, two local women, for the possession and selling of gin at a dwelling on Narregan Street. They were accused of selling gin at a certain price a drink, but the arresting officers were unable to find sufficient evidence on which to file a charge. The women were released this forenoon. The officers say they destroyed a number of empty bottles, seized a 12-gallon crock, an empty container that is believed to have held alcohol and quite a number of glasses.
"Transient Youths Steal Bread," Medford Mail Tribune, August 14, 1930, page 3



The Shame of Medford
To the Editor:
    Your editorial in Wednesday's paper entitled "The Shame of Chicago" was very good, but it would have been slightly more pointed and convincing if it had not followed quite so closely on the heels of Medford's recent racketeering assault. I refer to the slugging of a 20-year-old youth, a few days ago, for the high crime of refusing to be forced into the service of Medford's most prominent bootlegger.
    As a reward for thus respecting the laws, Wesley Coggins, day clerk at the Holland Hotel, found himself one evening last week staggering along Ivy Street with a mouthful of loosened and broken teeth wrenched from a horribly drooping, shattered jaw.
    Unable to talk or eat, he has spent almost two weeks of agony at the Sacred Heart Hospital, while dentist and doctors have been doing all humanly possible to relieve his sufferings and patch torn ligaments and broken bones. Their services have already loaded Wesley with a debt of from $400 to $500, his job at the hotel is gone, and at the very least he has before him the prospect of eight gloomy weeks of invalidism.
    Where are the scorching editorials, where the merciless publicity that would at least force our eminent booze purveyor to pay the boy's doctor bills and land his slugging henchmen behind the bars? Where are our vigilant police chief, our efficient district attorney, and brilliant sheriff? Are they all right on the job, filled with a fury of activity, making our streets safe for decency?
    Are the two thugs--one, the brother of the bootlegger, drove the car; the other, an ex-prize fighter, did the actual maiming--are they hunted down by an enraged populace like wild dogs, and like wild dogs hunted to extermination?
    Well, at this writing these ruffians are not even comfortably lodged in jail! A very careful search will reveal a couple of guarded references of the assault in the columns of your oh-so-impartial sheet, written in the usual stereotyped newspaperese of the jaded police reporter. And apparently the decent citizens of Medford do not realize the seriousness of a situation wherein a quiet, law-abiding youth fighting his way in an absurd and and impossible civilization is broken and maimed for daring to refuse to do the bidding of a booze runner.
    All the participants in this little affair are well known to the police and to many others. The matter is no carefully guarded mystery. However, perhaps it is just as well that our wealthy peddler of prohibited beverages be not too greatly disturbed, for a list of his customers would read like "Who's Who" in Medford; and it is possible that the disturbance might cause more talk to rise on the surface than had better be allowed access to sunshine and air. And then, too, Wesley is still in his teens. His friends don't count as yet. Politically he weighs just zero. Perhaps a lesson or two like this may put the fear of God into others of these white-collared, stiff-necked bell-hop bosses, and serve to point out clearly to the bell-boys themselves just what they had better do when the guest in room so-and-so demands the town's best.
    "The Shame of Chicago," say you. "Shame begins at home," say I.
Justice,
    (Name on file.)
    Ed. note: If the above facts are correct the victim has only to bring criminal action and he will receive ample publicity as far as this paper is concerned.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, August 24, 1930, page B5