Blum v. Ford
| Citation | 107 S.W.2d 340 |
| Decision Date | 28 June 1937 |
| Docket Number | No. 4-4758.,4-4758. |
| Parties | BLUM et al. v. FORD, Commissioner of Revenues. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Arkansas |
Jay M. Rowland, of Hot Springs, for appellants.
J. Hugh Wharton, of Newport, for appellee.
On May 1, 1937, D. L. Ford, Commissioner of Revenues, served an order on each of the appellants, which order stated that he had revoked their permits to sell beer in their respective places of business for the reason that they had sold liquor of greater alcoholic content than allowed by their permits, and otherwise violated the law, and violated their contract and oath by selling said liquor, and accepting bets on horse races, and ordered them to immediately stop the sale of beer in their places of business, and notified the wholesalers not to sell appellants any more beer.
On May 5, 1937, appellant Louis Blum filed a petition for injunction in the Pulaski chancery court alleging that the Commissioner of Revenues had attempted to revoke his permit by sending C. B. Lovell, Sr., to his place of business and tearing the permit from the wall and asked that the Commissioner of Revenues be restrained from interfering with his beer business, and from demanding the wholesalers to refrain from selling him beer, and served summons on said Commissioner of Revenues to appear in the Pulaski chancery court on May 6th for hearing on a petition for a temporary restraining order, which order was granted by the court, and appellant was allowed to continue the beer business.
Thereafter, on May 17th, the other appellants, Southern Club and Ohio Club, adopted the pleadings of appellant A. Louis Blum, and all denied that they had violated any oath or contract with the Commissioner of Revenues, or knowingly violated any law, and they intervened in said action as the plaintiffs, and adopted all the pleadings and allegations of said plaintiff.
On the same day the appellants filed a motion to require the Commissioner of Revenues to make his allegations of law violation more specific, which motion was overruled. Appellants then filed demurrer, which was overruled, and response was filed to plaintiff's motion to make the charges more specific.
The appellee filed an answer denying all the material allegations in appellants' petition, and asked that the temporary restraining order be dissolved and that the cause be dismissed.
The application and license were introduced in evidence. E. B. Ford testified that he was an investigator for the state revenue department, and had held this position on January 22 and 23, 1937; is familiar with the place of business known as the Ohio Club, located at 336 Central avenue, Hot Springs, Ark.; visited this place on January 22, 1937; they were selling beer in the place, and had a bookmaking joint running in full blast and also gambling tables; they had a big board on the wall with horses listed on it, taking bets, announcing results of races, cashier was paying off, touts were touting; there was a dice game and slot machine; there were about 75 or 80 people there; does not know whether the Kentucky Club at 314 Central avenue is the same establishment or not; visited this place on January 22, 1937, they were selling beer in the place, and witness saw a bookmaking joint and a big board on the side of the wall with horses listed on it and men taking bets and paying bets, and barkers on duty announcing results; on that day there were about 35 people present. Witness is familiar with the place known as the Southern Club, located at 248 Central avenue; visited this place on January 22, 1937; they were selling beer downstairs; did not notice any up in the club room; saw more law violations there than he ever saw in any one place before; they consisted of bookmaking, a big board on the wall, horses posted on it, men taking and paying bets on horse races, barkers on duty, roulette table, dice table, poker table, some other machines that witness never saw before, and about 150 people present, women, young boys, men, colored and white. Witness again visited Kentucky Club at 314 Central avenue on January 23d, the following day; there were about the same violations in progress as there were the day before. Visited the Ohio club on the 23d and there were about the same violations as there were the day before; also visited the Southern Club and found the same violations as there were the day before. Did not see any liquor stored or secreted around the premises; saw them taking bets and paying off with money; did not report this condition to any of the local officials of Hot Springs or Garland county; did not talk to any of the management of these places; did not give any notice or warning that that condition was prohibited by the beer permit; does not know whether he saw Blum at the Kentucky Tap Room; at the Kentucky Tap Room the bookmaking was taking place back of the bar room; the board was up on the left side as you go in; the building faces Central avenue; the bookmaking was in the back of the building; bar and drinking place in front; and there were swinging doors which witness thinks were open all the time; does not know who was operating the gambling business, and did not make any effort to find out; does not know that Blum knew anything about it; all witness knows is that it was in operation in the same building with the beer saloon and bar; did not see Mr. Young at the Ohio Club; that building faces Central avenue; swinging doors separate the bookmaking place from the beer place; did not notify any one to stop making books; was not his business to do so; his duty was to report violations to the Commissioner; does not know who was operating the book in the Ohio Club; saw slot machines, dice games, a 50-cent game; saw boys eighteen and nineteen years playing the book; did not see any liquor over 5 per cent. secreted, sold, or concealed about the premises; once or twice saw people drunk; was reporting conditions existing in Hot Springs; it was not his business to revoke beer permits; did not see any betting or gambling in the beer or bar room at the Southern Club; the gambling was upstairs and the stairs were open; no doors separated them; did not see any beer sold upstairs nor any liquor secreted or hid around the beer department; did not see any one drinking liquor; does not recall seeing Mr. Phillip at the Southern Club; the two downstairs places had swinging doors between them; witness has been at the clubs at 10 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 4 in the afternoon. Was at the Kentucky Club on January 22d at 4:30 and 4:45 p. m.; at the Ohio Club 4 and 4:15; at the Southern Club 5:20 and 5:45. Legislature was in session at the time witness made the investigation. At the Kentucky and Ohio Clubs everything was on one floor; at the Southern there were two entrances and the gambling was conducted upstairs.
Neil Shannon, Robert Faust, J. O. Blucker, officers, testified about the gambling in the three clubs named above....
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Morley v. Cassinelli
... ... injunction or certiorari ... [216 ... Ark. 178] While the language used in the decision of this ... court in Blum v. Ford, Commissioner of ... Revenues, 194 Ark. 393, 107 S.W.2d 340, would seem to ... uphold the right of appeal in the present case to the ... ...