Duckwitz

This is a writ of error to review a judgment of conviction on two counts under the revenue laws; the first count charging that the plaintiff in error carried on the business of a distiller of spirits without having given a bond as required by law; the second count charging that he made and fermented mash fit for distillation of spirits on certain premises not then and there a distillery duly authorized according to law. Refusal of the court to direct a verdict of not guilty at the close of the testimony is the only ruling assigned as error, aside from a formal assignment based on the order denying a motion for a new trial.

The testimony on the part of the government tended to show that prohibition officers found a still set up and in operation, a quantity of intoxicating liquor, a number of barrels, a large quantity of mash,- com sugar, and other paraphernalia used in the distillation of spirits, in a secluded place at some distance from the residence of the plaintiff in error; that tracks or a path led from the still to the residence of the plaintiff in error; that a large quantity of com sugar, such as was found at the still, and such as is commonly used in the distillation of…