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Pages of History
ryon By November 1931, the “noble experiment” known as Prohibition was widely viewed as a failure. The report of the Wickersham Commission issued earlier that year suggested the Volstead Act had led to police corruption, fostered a general disrespect for the law, and was nearly impossible to enforce. By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President a year later, it was estimated that approximately three-fourths of the voters favored repeal.
Prohibition laws may have been difficult to enforce but that didn’t stop federal agents from rounding up some of the small fry in Northeast Nebraska. After a carefully planned surveillance of suspected bootleggers in Cedar and Knox Counties, federal agents swooped down and bagged four men and one woman on Saturday, November 7, 1931.
The arrests were made by Deputy Prohibition Administrator W.D. Rowan and five men from his department.
The first arrest was made when Ted Hoesing of Crofton was taken into custody. According to Row- an, Hoesing was found to be in possession of more than a gallon and a half of some- thing resembling whiskey and 84 quarts of beer. Of even greater interest, however, was Hoesing’s account book which was found to contain the names of some of Crofton’s most prominent citizens. None were identified or arrested.
Driving next to Fordyce, the federal agents picked up Otto Asbre and Mrs. Katheryne Tramp.
Asbre was in possession of one pint of whiskey, 24 quarts of beer, and 25 gallons of beer in progress.
Mrs. Tramp, who operated the hotel in Fordyce, was apprehended with three quarts of whiskey and 68 quarts of beer. Suspecting that the lady named Tramp had more hooch than met the eye, the agents ordered her to open the hotel safe.
When she refused, the agents broke it open and found an additional two and a half pints of Nebraska moonshine.
Two carloads of officers and three prisoners then drove to Hartington where the former paid a call on Robert Mallatt. A search of Mallatt’s room in the Mackey Hotel found colored whiskey and clear alcohol. Another prisoner was taken.
With three men and one woman in tow, the agents made the final raid of the day in Laurel where they busted Ervin Ward in the process of breaking bottles. In addition to a pile of broken glass, they found 400 unbroken bottles and enough liquor to fill at least some of them. Four men and a lady were taken to Dakota City where they were brought before Judge Sherman McKinley. After being ordered to appear at the next session of Federal Court in Omaha, the five defendants were released on $500 bail -- no small amount in 1931. Otto Asbre furnished bail for co- defendant Ted Hoesing. Hoesing returned the favor for Asbre. W.H. Mallatt bailed out his nephew, Bob. Fred Tramp bailed out his wife. C.H. Smith posted bail for Ward. The results of the trial were not reported.
In other news of November 1931: Drinking alcohol was illegal but drinking water could be hazardous to the health.
That was the advice given by Dr. Temple Fay, a distinguished neurosurgeon associated with Philadelphia’s Temple University. Drinking too much water, said Fay, is responsible for sending many persons to an early grave.
Dr. Fay estimated that between a quart and a quart and a half of liquid each day was sufficient for the average person.
Drinking too much water, he said, sends an excess of fluid to the brain where the resultant pressure interferes with the proper circulation of the blood and can lead to early senility. Fay also noted that excessive water drinkers often tended to be overeaters, a situation which created additional problems.
In other news of November, 1931: A total of $621,757.71 in state, local, and school taxes had been collected in Cedar County during the year 1931 as com- pared to $683,801.67 in 1930.
The barbers of Laurel announced that they had reduced prices to 15 cents for a shave and 25 cents for a haircut. That was still 60 percent more than “dot, da, da, da, da ... dot, dot” (Shave and a haircut, two bits) price of the 1890s but 4150 percent less than the $17 this writer paid for a hair and beard trim last week.
Editor’s note: This column is being republished from April, 2010.
