Odor Is Pete's Undoing — Smells A Lot Like Raisin Mash!

1920

Odor Is Pete's Undoing

Chief of Police Detects Raisin Mash and Sends Owner to Jail

JOLIET, Ill., Feb. 24. — Chief Hennessey, while driving past Pete Serrabba's house, believed he detected an old familiar odor. Turning his car at the end of the block he drove by the suspected place again. The odor was sufficient. The chief summoned a squad of detectives and the house was raided. A copper still and four 52-gallon barrels of raisin mash in different stages of fermentation were found in the basement. A jug of 140 proof brandy was also confiscated by the authorities. Scrrabba is said to have stated that he purchased the still in Chicago and that he had made a barrel of the stuff which has been consumed by his friends and family. He is being held in the city jail.

—The Evening State Journal and Lincoln Daily News, Lincoln, Nebraska, February 24, 1920, page 1.