Used Pump To Get Wine Out of the Ground
The amount of wine necessary for the proper rearing of an Italian baby reached alarming proportions Wednesday afternoon when Mrs. Mary Mentala of 406 West Goodall Street told city officials all the wine she had was for her baby, and the officer found 150 gallons.
Mayor J.H. Clarida, Chief of Police H.T. Boyd and Officers Elmer Smith and John Smothers conducted the raid.
After searching the house the officers discovered four quart bottles of wine concealed in a folding bed. This, the woman insisted had been given her a long time ago for her baby. She also insisted that it was all the illicit alcohol there was on the premises, but the officers were hard to convince.
Out in the yard, a vicious dog was stationed near a pump. The dog was evidently placed there as a guard for something and his actions indicated that he was an efficient guard. However, the pump did not have the usual innocent and chaste appearance of the old town pump and the officers instituted an investigation of the affair which led to more than sensational developments. This investigation revealed three barrels, containing about 150 gallons of wine, buried about two feet under the ground.
The barrels of wine were destroyed and samples of the liquor retained for evidence. The woman was hailed before Police Magistrate L.B. Long where she pled guilty to a charge of possessing liquor in violation of the law and was fined $200 and costs. She told the court that her husband was away looking for work.
(Marion Daily Republican, Friday, May 23, 1924)