1929: Man wearing three pairs of pants caught with two bottles of whiskey

It was a Wednesday afternoon in July 1929 when William Smith of Indianapolis walked into John Reinhardt’s BBQ and restaurant at 224 W. State and ordered a sandwich.

While Reinhardt was in the kitchen retrieving the order, Smith allegedly decided to help himself to candy bars and cigarettes, which he stuffed inside his shirt.

When Reinhardt returned, he noticed the items missing and immediately suspected the stranger. He called the city marshal, John Tiley, but the suspect fled before the law arrived. Tiley soon found Smith a few blocks up the street to the west. He didn’t go easy, though. Smith became “hostile” and required a “blow on the head” before he could be arrested. Back at the police station at City Hall, a search revealed that Smith was wearing three pairs of trousers, which concealed two bottles of whiskey — a pint and a quart. He was charged with illegal possession of liquor but refused to plead guilty in the county court in Belleville. Unable to post bond, he took up new quarters in the county jail.

75 years ago July 30, 1942

Mrs. Norma F. Gilbert, wife of Pvt. Erwin Gilbert and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver C. Joseph, of this city, is the first O’Fallonite to enlist in the newly-formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). She is at present employed in the Home Economics Department of the Pet Milk Co., St. Louis. She is a graduate of O’Fallon Township High School and the University of Illinois.

50 years ago July 27, 1967

Mrs. Evelyn E. Schalter, 63, was killed at 8:49 a.m. Monday when her auto collided with another car one mile south of Edwardsville on Highway 159. She had swerved to avoid hitting two cars that had collided but her car then collided head-on with another southbound car. Mrs. Schalter, librarian at the O’Fallon Public Library since September 1964, was traveling to Macomb to attend a library seminar.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 8:00 AM with the headline "1929: Man wearing three pairs of pants caught with two bottles of whiskey."