“Officers Seize $50,000 Worth of Paraphernalia – Summons Man on Premises
“The biggest seizure of the season was made at 1 o’clock this morning in Chelmsford, by Federal Officer Walter H. Sullivan and Officers John Johnson and Harold King of the Chelmsford police, when a raid on a liquor manufacturing plant in Tadmuck Road netted $30,000 worth of paraphernalia.
“Joseph Tremblay, who was found on the premises, was summoned to appear before L. S. Commissioner Richard B. Walsh tomorrow morning.
“A $1,000 still, 500 gallons of alcohol, 90 percent proof, 900 gallons of denatured alcohol, pumps, steam boilers, 1,000 empty one-gallon cans, one ton of caustic soda, hundreds of packages of charcoal, mineral oil, and hoses of all kinds were seized.
“A storehouse on the Littleton Road which was used as a warehouse by the manufacturing company was emptied of 41 barrels of alcohol. The entire seizure necessitated the use of five 5-ton trucks to remove it to Boston.” (1)
Liquor raid on Tadmuck Road, August 25, 1927 (2)
“SAYS LIFE ON HIS FARM JUST THE SAME AS JAIL
“Chelmsford Farmer on Trial in Liquor Case is Held for U. S. Court by Commissioner Walsh – Tells Conflicting Stories as to Whom He Leased His Barn – Wouldn’t ‘Squeal’ for $1,000 …
“The commissioner held the Chelmsford farmer in $500 bonds for federal district court after the hearing. Tremblay was arrested after a raid on August 25 had unearthed a 500 gallon still in his barn in Tadmuck Road, Chelmsford. The find was made by Officers Johnson and King of Chelmsford, with Federal Agent Walter H. Sullivan making the seizure.
“Testifying in his own behalf today Tremblay told the commissioner he had leased the barn to a man named Koslowsky for $50 a month, the latter to use it for storage in connection with a trucking business. He received $100 for rental payment but had never seen Koslosky after the initial lease had been signed. He denied any knowledge of the still or the illicit manufacture of liquor.
“Agent Sullivan testified that with Agent W. C. MacBrayne he interrogated Tremblay after the seizure and declared that the latter refused to tell him to whom he had leased the barn. ‘I wouldn’t squeal for $1,000,’ were Tremblay’s words testified the officer. Agent Sullivan then said he had told Tremblay that it probably meant jail for him if he didn’t ‘come clean,’ and Tremblay’s reply was ‘I might just as well go to jail as stay out there’ meaning on his farm ‘for that is just the same as jail to me, with a mortgage, wife, and nine children.’
“Officers Johnson and King testified that they were attracted to the Tremblay place by a strong smell of distilled liquor. The defendant was represented by Atty. William J. White, Jr.” (3)
References:
- Article in the “Lowell Sun” August 26, 1927, page 19
- Chelmsford Historical Society photo print 2014.3.1
- Article in the “Lowell Sun” September 22, 1927, pages 1 and 4