The Dry Squad
JERRY PERSON
The skyline of Huntington Beach changed drastically from its first
decade of small beach cottages.
In 1920, wooden oil derricks rose up to the sky while smoke and
noise from the many donkey engines filled the air around for miles in
our booming oil town.
Men poured into town looking for work from the black gold.
Working on an oil rig was not only hard work, but could be very
dangerous too. So when quitting time came for the men, it was not
unusual for these hard-working men to stop on the way home for a cold
beer or drink to wash the oil taste out of their mouths.
But all that came to a halt with the passage of the 18th
Amendment, better known as the Volstead Act, on Jan. 16, 1920 that
ended the sale of alcohol throughout the country.
But oil workers were not ready to have a soda pop after work and
so a few locals began making beer, wine and the hard stuff in their
homes to supply these men and also some patrons at some of out local
cafes.
Bootlegging in Huntington Beach also helped out some local
families supplement their meager family income.
But as time went on, bootlegging became a big business, not only
in Huntington Beach, but in a good part of Orange County. Repeated
squads of some of the finest federal lawmen failed to get evidence on
the bootlegging fraternity.
In November of 1924, two young ladies from Arizona came into our
town and began making friends. These two girls had a liking for
liquor and were soon seen at our cafes in the company of local
bootleggers.
The girls’ beauty and friendly manners soon captivated these men
and the girls were soon accompanying the bootleggers to their
supplier. The girls even bought bottles of booze and packed their
suitcases full with the stuff.
But our police officers became suspicious of these two young
ladies and arrested the girls with their suitcases full of contraband
liquor and they were taken to our jail.
The girls were locked up for several hours before Huntington Beach
Police Chief Jack Tinsley had the girls released, but not before he
gave them a talking to. A couple days later the girls left Huntington
Beach for other parts of Orange County.
By now you may have guessed that these two girls were not just
ordinary ladies out looking for booze, but were federal agents,
members of the “Dry Squad.”
They reported their findings to headquarters in Los Angeles.
On the evening of Nov. 19, 1924, 16 cars loaded with federal
agents, with their headlights blazing, entered Huntington Beach at
8:30 p.m. and were met by Chief Tinsley and our entire police force.
Under the leadership of Chief Tinsley and chief federal officer
L.E. Tyson, this dry squad fanned out Huntington Beach with 50
warrants in hand.
Six carloads of agents and our police spent the night arresting
surprised men and women of our town and local area.
Raid after raid was carried out by this dry squad until 13
violators of the federal Prohibition laws from Huntington Beach,
Sunset Beach and Fountain Valley were arrested and brought to our
jail in City Hall.
Included in that night’s arrest were N. Hudson at his small
cottage at 13th Street and Main in Huntington Beach. In Fountain
Valley C.H. Ellis and his wife were arrested at their home and in a
Sunset Beach lunch and soft drink establishment, Edwin Arnold and
E.S. Richards were taken into custody. A surprised Lawrence Fernandez
and Gus Barkus from the Golden Lion cafe, at 226 Main St. saw the
inside of our jail. A year later the Golden Lion would change its
name to the Golden Bear cafe.
Taxi driver J.C. Teeters was arrested by the dry squad while
driving in his cab. The Brown residence at 103 First St. in Huntington Beach was raided and its occupants taken into custody.
The dry squad raided a home out on Florida Street and recovered a
still that supplied local bootleggers and a Downtown cafe. This still
was operated by Tony Garcia and Hersus Fernandez who were taken into
custody.
But Johnnie Dunnigan of the Tupman cafe didn’t like being arrested
and put up a big fight, and in the end had to be taken to the county
hospital in Santa Ana.
By 4:30 a.m. it was all over and the agents departed Huntington
Beach for other parts of Orange County.
The clean-up was a total success and those arrested that night
would face trials in federal courts and would be fined or given jail
time to think over their deeds.
It would be another eight years before our oil workers could
legally enjoy a beer or two again. There would still be alcohol to be
had in Huntington Beach, but not to the extent it had been before the
dry squad came into town.
Huntington Beach would never forget that night when the town was
raided or those two young ladies who made it all possible.
* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach
resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box
7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.
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