In 1921, the thick woods around Hellertown would have provided ideal cover for the illegal manufacture of alcohol.
In 1921, Prohibition was still relatively new, having begun in January 1920. However, serious cracks in America’s controversial ban on liquor were already appearing, as evidenced by the following article. Published in The Morning Call on Oct. 9, 1921, it details the discovery of an illegal still near Hellertown. It would be nearly 12 more years until Prohibition was repealed with the passage of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution in December 1933, and during that time the ripple effects of the misguided law would continue to be felt, in Saucon Valley and around the country.
“TIPPED OFF” ON STILL NEAR HELLERTOWN
Acting on a tip, W.F. Harps, prohibition agent in Northampton county, took a trip to the woods in the vicinity of Hellertown, where he found the remains of a still supposed to have been worked by Gabriel Pearl, who, with Willie Loughlin and Robert Nierney, of Bethlehem, are charged with robbing an alcohol distillery near Bath.
The still was recently dismantled, the mesh being dumped nearby. The still had a capacity of about fifty gallons a day.
The finding of the still comes as a climax to the disappearance of Pearl, who jumped his bail of $2,000.
A few days after the robbery Nierney and Loughlin returned and surrendered to the police and are now out on bail awaiting a hearing before U.S. Commissioner Turner, of Easton. The hearing, which was scheduled for last week, was postponed, owing to the disappearance of Pearl, who implicated the other two in the robbery.
In October 1921, the discovery of a still used to illegally manufacture alcohol in the woods near Hellertown was big news. Prohibition, which was supposed to curb Americans’ appetite for spirits, would ultimately prove to be a colossal failure by no only having the opposite effect, but also leading to an increase in crime throughout much of the country.
About this column: Olden Days is a regular Saucon Source series in which newspaper clippings in the public domain are used to highlight area news from the early 1900s.