• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

July 1931: Prohibition Agents Seize A Still Near Lake George

July 8, 2020 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Prohibition Agents Seize StillDuring Prohibition the social life of so many Americans was made criminal overnight. Here’s a little nugget from the July 2, 1931 Ticonderoga Sentinel.

One wonders if the men arrested here ever served any hard time. I suspect they did.

Federal prohibition agents, assisted by state troopers, early Tuesday morning seized a [1,500-gallon] still in a remote section of West Hague, Warren county, and placed under arrest five men who comprised the “night shift” of the establishment.

The men were held in the Ticonderoga jail until Tuesday afternoon when they were arraigned before U.S. Commissioner David S. Fisk in Hudson Falls, who released the prisoners on bond of $1,000 each.

Two of the men, Natale Morino of Rutland, Vt., and Joseph Goricalo of Witherbee, were released pending a hearing tomorrow, and the remaining three waived examination, and were ordered to appear before Federal court at Malone on July 7th. The trio gave their names as Patrick Natti and John LaFerne of Newark, New Jersey, and Patrick Chioffi of Troy.

The plant was reported as one of the largest ever seized in this part of the state, and it is believed by Federal authorities that the still served as a source of a large proportion of the alcohol illicitly sold throughout northern New York and eastern Vermont.

The distillery was equipped with the most expensive apparatus, and the raiders estimated the cost of the complete outlay at about $3,500. The agents reported they found 300 gallons of alcohol, sixty barrels of yeast, two tons of coke, 34,500 gallons of mash, four 3,000 gallon vats and one 1,500 gallon vat.

Also Included in the equipment was a 25-horsepower upright steam boiler, a 1,500 gallon still and a 50 gallon condenser.

All the apparatus was dismantled and taken to Albany. The alcohol and yeast were destroyed.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Hague, Lake George, liquor, Prohibition, State Police, Warren County

About John Warren

John Warren is founder and editor of the New York Almanack. He's been a media professional for more than 35 years with a focus on history, journalism and documentary production. He has a master's degree in Public History and is on the staff of the New York State Writers Institute, a center for literary arts based at the University at Albany. John lives in the Adirondack Park. His weekly Adirondack Outdoors Conditions Report airs across Northern New York on the North Country Public Radio network.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Ed Zahniser on Poetry – ‘Wir Haben Wegener Gefunden Tod Im Eis’
  • Linda El Bey on The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and NYC’s Minority Plumbers
  • Will on A New History of the Wallkill Central Schools
  • Jim Osekowsky on Working the Bugs Out of Firewood
  • Pamela Carlucci on The Rise and Fall of NY’s Taylor Wine Company
  • Lynne Westra on NY’s Frank Myers Of The 54th Massachusetts: Correcting The Historical Record
  • Catherine Berkley on The Shooting of Adirondack Guide Alex White
  • Michael A Mazza on French Canadian Rev War Veteran Antoine Paulin’s Grave Being Marked in Champlain
  • peter Waggitt on Raines Law, Loopholes and Prohibition
  • Anthony St Phillips on War of 1812: Carrying the Great Rope

Recent New York Books

Without Concealment, Without Compromise
Washington’s Marines
Major General Israel Putnam hero of the American Revolution
v is for victory
The Motorcycle Industry in New York State
Unfriendly to Liberty
weeds of the northeast
Putting Out the Planetary Fire: An Introduction to Climate Action and Advocacy
Seneca Ray Stoddard An Intimate Portrait of an Adirondack Legend
rebels at sea

Secondary Sidebar

Mohawk Valley Trading Company Honey, Honey Comb, Buckwheat Honey, Beeswax Candles, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar
preservation league