◆ SpookStack

Sa ctl oR AT THE NEW ERA bad. Suddenly money was easily earned without hard work. Many adventurers joined the colors of one of the warring countries. | The advent of the U. S. into the War in 1917 in- tensified the quickly changing situation. Men were removed from quiet communities and contented work to become hardened to bursting shells, blood, misery, crippled limbs. The world became filled with shell-shocked dissatisfied individuals who wondered _ how, and why this all came about, tracing the. cause to an invisible master-force at the top, so flexible, so vast, that no finger could point it out. It was during this time, when men and women were occupied with the largest event in the world’s history that reformers, with the aid of “Big Busi- ness” leaders, amended the U.S. Constitution to pre- vent the use of Liquor as a beverage; a principal ar- gument being that only sober people are safe with intricate machines. After the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, as the Amer- ican Nation’s heroes returned from countries that have no illusions about the pleasures of home life, they found a changed homeland. Their gathering places were vacated, many of them with “closed for one. year” signs on the doors; while housewives simply could not understand. why it was a crime to crush fruit to make wines. . - No revenue to the state was necessary in order to make beer or stronger drink, but if anyone were ee rr ree pp nninin, EA RRAEI TS WARS OF THE GANGS caught doing so a jail sentence or possibly .a bullet from an investigator was the result. So-called “snoopers” were ridiculed and held in disgrace by fighting men who laughed at “the adventure.” Taxes increased. Work decreased. A law-making orgy just then seemed to infect the daily-grinding law makers. It was estimated that two million laws, each with penalties attached were being enforced. The country became a camp of law breakers. Bootlegging became an art that was not considered either crim- inal or offensive’ to the average citizen. Extremely alert and energetic men became “rum-runners.” Out- standing among these were the large dealers, who had zoned agents. The amount of money supplied for prohibition enforcements, although mounting fast, -were almost useless in face of the fact that a large majority of the public considered the whole “experi- ment” impractical. / Lack of law enforcement, Political corruption, and the breaking down of {the Courts was the natural re- sult. Juries would not often convict! Headlines of newspapers seldom even mentioned new inventions, social scandals or other news. Gang wars between zoned liquor agents, Political Murders, Bomb explo- sions, Battles with officers in which machine guns, armed boats, armored cars and airplanes were used on both sides, were common occurrences. Murdered men or women were found at almost any place. Police