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| Although not found in Sherburne County, this photograph illustrates the equipment needed to create moonshine. |
A
news report in the pages of the Sherburne
County Star News provides entertainment and also highlights the challenges
police faced enforcing the 1920s prohibition laws.
The
Sherburne County Star News reported
in February 1929 of a burglary at the county jail. “It is not often that anyone cares to break
into jail,” the paper wrote.
The
cause of the “jail break-in” began several days earlier. Saturday night, February 9, 1929, Sherburne
County police arrested an unidentified bootlegger. Police caught the man transporting 120 quart
bottles of whiskey from Fargo, North Dakota to Minneapolis.
After
a weekend in jail, the man pled guilty to bootlegging. He paid the $240 fine and left the
county. The whiskey remained in the
county jail waiting disposal. Tuesday
night, 12 February, an unknown thief broke into the jail and removed all 120
quart bottles. The police speculated the
bootlegger returned for the whiskey.
Tracks around the jail suggest the thief used a truck to hauled away the
alcohol. By the time of the discovery
Wednesday morning, police theorized, the bootlegger completed his delivery and
the alcohol distributed on the streets of Minneapolis.
In
addition to being an interesting story, the reports of bootleggers breaking
into jail highlights the monetary value of bootleg whiskey and suggests why
prohibition failed and was repealed in 1933.
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