Sterling, Rock Falls and Fulton all figured in raids on liquor law violations made Saturday [08/31/1929] night, closing the month of August with a successful effort to tighten law enforcement in Whiteside county. Three men and one woman were arrested and taken to the county jail at Morrison by Sheriff Jerry W. Kelly and his deputies, who conducted the raids, with the assistance of Sterling and Rock Falls police. The following were arrested on charges of violating the liquor laws: Clifford Curley, of Fulton; Mrs. Etta Bruns, 501 Third avenue, Rock Falls; Ray Hurless, 407 Wallace street, Sterling, and Guy Jones, 609 Avenue L, Sterling. Pearl Williamson of Rock Falls, apprehended by the raiding party at the Burns home, managed to escape. Several parties presumed to be liquor customers were found at the Hurless place were not arrested. In all of the places raided evidence of liquor law violation had been previously reported to the sheriff’s office by investigators who were working on the cases, and in the course of the raid further evidence was secured in the form of alcohol and intoxicants of various kinds, which were added to the considerable quantity already stored in the county jail storerooms.

On the basis of evidence secured by investigators, State’s Attorney Vincent A. Bell filed informations in the county court and capiases for all the men who were apprehended were issued by County Clerk Joseph Mann, on order of Judge O. M. Grove of Mt. Carroll, county judge of Carroll county, who was called by County Clerk Mann at the request of State’s Attorney Bell. A capias is the same as an indictment, and with these and search warrants, the raiding parties were prepared to meet any argument as to their legal right to search the premises they raided. The bail of each person arrested was fixed at $2,000 by Judge Grove.

Sheriff Kelly and Deputies Louis W. Harrison and Martin Bielema of Morrison started the night’s work about 8 o’clock by going to the bungalow of Clifford Curley, a mile and a half north of Fulton on the west side of the Thomson road, said to have been a beer joint. Curley evidently had a hunch that a raid was impending when he saw the car approaching, and started to destroy evidence. The raid was a “dry haul” as far as any stock of liquor was obtained, but the officers reported evidence of recent destruction of intoxicants. Mrs. Curley was at home at the time and demurred against furnishing a light for the officers to search the premises. The sheriff and his Morrison deputies then came to Sterling-Rock Falls. Sheriff Kelly, Deputy Charles C. Siddles, Chief Albert E. Berlin and Officer George Frye of Rock Falls and Chief Curtis Bucher and Officer Soren Hansen of Sterling went to the residence of Mrs. Etta Bruns in Rock Falls at 10 o’clcok, and found the place dark. Deputy Sheriff Harrison and Chief Bucher then went to the Hurless place on Wallace street in Sterling, where they were joined by Chief Berlin and Officer Frye. At the same time, shortly after 10 o’clock, Deputy Sheriffs Siddles and Biejema and Officer Hansen went to the Guy Jones place on Avenue L. Sheriff Kelly went from the Hurless place to the Jones place in time to take part in both raids.

The sheriff and the officers first named then returned to the Bruns place in Rock Falls about 11:30 o’clock. It was still dark, but they saw, by the use of flash lights, that it was occupied, and when Sheriff Kelly rapped on the door, Pearl Williamson, who lives there, let him in. The search warrant and capias were read and no resistance was offered. Williamson was in his night clothes and began to dress, which gave him an opportunity to apparently hunt about for his clothes. While doing so, he dodged through a door into another room and escaped, probably through a window. A new place for hiding liquor was found by the officers at the Bruns home. A cement walk leads from the rear door, and under the walk a cache was hollowed out in which the searchers found a gallon can of sugar alcohol and six half-pint bottles of alcohol. Weeds along the walk helped conceal the hiding place. Mrs. Burns was arrested on a warrant charging her with possession of intoxicating liquor. The residence is rented in her name.

At the Ray Hurless place Deputy Harrison rapped on the front door while Chief Bucher guarded the back door. As the door was not opened, Deputy Harrison forced an entrance. Half a dozen men were in the place but they piled out windows and any way to get out, the officers being intent on securing Hurless. Sheriff Kelly and Officers Berlin and Frye arrived a few minutes after the first two, having come over from the first Rock Falls visit, and they stopped a man with a load of watermelons, who said he was from Harmon, as he was backing his car away, but they let him go as he was not intoxicated. Judging from their activity in getting away, none of the men in the place were drunk. While efforts had evidently been made by Hurless to destroy evidence, a pitcher still containing a little wine was found, the main contents having been dumped out of a window, judging from the smell of the wet grass. Wine glasses were found on a table and two pint bottles of moonshine and one pint of alcohol were found in the yard, apparently having been thrown from a window.

It was at the Guy Jones place that most of the capured liquor was found. No resistance was offered to the raiding party, though Mrs. Jones was inclined to argue with Sheriff Kelly when he arrived with Chief Berlin and Officer Frye of Rock Falls soon after Deputy Harrison and Chief Bucher had entered the place. The officers are inclined to think that Jones had a few minutes warning of the raid, as they found indications of efforts having been made to conceal evidence of liquor possession. The haul at the Jones place reported by the officers consisted of four gallon jugs of moonshine and synthetic wine, some full and some partly emptied, two pint bottles of alcohol, two one-half pint bottles of alcohol, two pint bottles of moonshine whisky, two other pint bottles of moonshine partly full, one pint of blackberry wine, one pasteboard carton of empty half-pint whisky bottles, four full cases of beer, 24 bottles to the case, three partly full cases of beer, and a gallon glass jug containing a quantity of uncut alcohol. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jones were up, but there were no others found there. A case against Jones, appealed to the appellate court from the April term of the Whiteside county circuit court is still pending, according to State’s Attorney Bell.

The raids were carried out without a mishap of any sort, with the exception of the escape of Williamson, who is still a fugitive from justice. The officers feel that they laid their plans and carried them out successfully and they are receiving many congratulations. Sheriff Kelly stated that the public little understands the difficluties in the way of a successful raid in liquor violation cases, and he believed it better not to raid at all than to meet with defeats in plans and thus encourage liquor law violators in the mistaken notion that they can continue to get by with it. State’s Attorney Bell is highly pleased with the splendid cooperation shown by the sheriff’s office and the police forces of Sterling and Rock Falls. He was told by Chief Bucher there are much fewer indications of bootlegging in Sterling now than there was some months ago, comparatively few cases of drunkenness being discoverable. Chief Bucher is of the opinion that drinking is noticeably on the decline here and successful raids on suspected places certainly tend to discourage those who believe there is big money to be made in the violation of the liquor laws.