Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/650208
15 held a variety of jobs, including brakeman and flagman for the Pennsylvania Railroad, before going to war. Upon returning, he couldn't pass the railroad physical and had no other prospects in sight. An old friend told him to consider bootlegging at the Capitol, where the "liquor brought the highest prices." Cassiday met his first two customers, southern "dry" congressmen, at the "old Hotel Varnum," and his career took off from there. 23 Cassiday relied on personal recommendations, as well as his customers' natural sociability, to expand his business. Seasoned House members were especially "eager" to help. ey vouched for his services and, following an election, introduced new mem- bers to him as part of an unofficial House orientation program. e bootlegger's base soon spread geographically from the south to the north. One state's entire delegation would sign onto his service, then the neighboring state's would join as well. 24 Cassiday picked up corn moonshine from suppliers in Mary- land and Virginia, and rye, Scotch, Bourbon, and imported liquors from New York and other northern cities. 25 Although he had "watchers" to assist him as he smuggled alcohol to Washington, he had little help with the distribution process, which became logistically more challenging as his customer list grew. He sim- ply did not have the physical capacity to carry that much alcohol into the Capitol complex on a daily basis. Frustrated by delays in service, Cassiday's clients began offering solutions, including one unidentified Midwestern congressman, who suggested setting up "a base of operations from the inside." 26 When another member offered him a key to an HOB room, Cassiday seized the opportunity. Now he "could stow a good quantity away out of sight and draw on it" as needed. e room opened to a courtyard, had blinds, a big work table, and a bath- room with running water, which proved important for "cutting" the alcohol when supplies were limited. Over the months, Cassi- day fine-tuned his process: "Using one gallon of pure rye whisky as a base, adding one gallon of pure grain alcohol and one gallon of hot water from the spigot and then adding a little bouquet col- oring, [he] found it was possible to turn out 12 quarts of about 90 to 96 proof that was entirely satisfactory." 27 e bootlegger room served another function: social club. Cassiday's "Bar Flies Association" consisted of his preferred cus- tomers, who used a special knock to get through the door. ey would drink a "few rounds" and sing a "few songs" before head- ing out for dinner and a show. Or the group would migrate to the basement, where a poker room was "tucked away well out of sight." "ere was a mahogany table with a green felt top and plenty of upholstered swivel chairs. Sometimes half a dozen con- gressmen would sit in for a game when there wasn't much doing in the floor of the House." Not surprisingly, Cassiday considered these years, from 1920 to 1925, to be the "good old days" when the HOB felt like "home." 28 Aer Cassiday pleaded guilty in the "Green Hat" case, though, he had to leave behind the House and its "general spirit of good fellowship and conviviality." Moving to the Senate, he noticed a stark difference between his old and new customers. In the House, members congregated in groups; oen, Cassiday lingered into the evening, waiting for a caucus meeting to break. On the north side of the Hill, however, "you had to deal with a senator as an individual." Or more likely, work with the "go-between," a secretary who purchased alcohol on behalf of the senator. 29 In both the HOB and the SOB, members developed elabo- rate systems to receive and pay for liquor. Several used the "locked desk drawer" method. Cassiday would periodically stop by the member's desk, use his own key to open the drawer, and leave behind a fresh supply of alcohol. One senator had Cassiday store bottles behind his personal copies of the Congressional Record. On occasion, he would say, "I could use some 'new reading mate- rial,'" signaling Cassiday to re-stock the liquor and re-shelve the volumes. e senator called him "the librarian." 30 During his years on Capitol Hill, Cassiday became interested in the legitimate business of Congress: the passage of national policy. He spent many hours perched in the House and Senate galleries, listening to his customers debate the merits of Prohi- bition. Other issues concerned him as well, especially veterans' legislation. According to the Post account, he helped one con- gressman write letters promoting a soldiers' bonus bill and, dur- ing a congressional recess, traveled to the Midwest to work on a senator's re-election campaign. Cassiday sought for his friends to stay in office, whether they were customers or not, and it "cut [him] up considerably" when a favored member was defeated. 31 One can imagine the feeling was mutual when Cassiday's own job was in jeopardy. A Prohibition leader, Rep. Willaim D. Upshaw of Georgia, stands on a railing with an umbrella, keeeping the Capitol dry. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION