– It was a 53 minute ordeal on the
night of May 7, 1917 when the Northern States Power Co. telephone office was
seized during the largest law enforcement raid in the history of the state. Before
the raid a group of deputies entered the telephone office at gunpoint and
ordered the operators away from the switchboard… in essence shutting it down to
any and all phone calls for 53 minutes during the raid. The raid was under the
personal supervision of ND State
Attorney General William Langer. Over 40 citizens of Minot had been deputized
to participate in the raid. The attack in Minot was aimed at establishments
said to be “dens of inequity”. Most of these were located on Minot’s “High
Third” street. In 90 minutes 44 people had been arrested on charges such as
gambling, prostitution, receiving proceeds from prostitution, operating a bawdy
house and “blind pigging”. A “blind pig” was an establishment that served
illegal alcohol as this was during the days of prohibition. Apparently several of
those arrested were said to be prominent local citizens. Those arrested were
dealt with in the local courts but there were very few convictions.
typical switchboard operation in Minot
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