Although it was widely known that Evansville was wide open, Police Chief Edgar Schmitt claimed to be unaware of the vice. Even out-of-town visitors found it simple to obtain liquor.

After being in Evansville only a few days, William P. Warle, a visitor from St. Louis, wrote to a friend that the city was no dry town as he first thought. He wrote that he found liquor flowing in a continuous and steady stream. The letter, which was written on YMCA stationery, was returned undeliverable to the YMCA from where he mailed it. H. H. Horr, the YMCA secretary, opened it and gave it to Evansville Police Chief Schmitt as evidence. When the young man was questioned by Schmitt, he claimed that he wrote it because “I didn’t want my friends to think I was in a desert.” – E’ville Courier 10/29/1919 Pg 11