As the newspapers reported itThe 1926 Herrin bootleg gang killings

As printed: TWO KILLED IN WAR BETWEEN RIVAL GANGS

ContextWilliamson County, in the southern Illinois coal field, is known as "bloody Williamson"; the killing of strikebreakers at Herrin in 1922 and later clashes involving the Ku Klux Klan are part of its reputation. Prohibition has made the illegal liquor trade a profitable business worth fighting over.

As printed: ATTACK MADE ON ROADHOUSE IN GANG WAR

ContextWilliamson County, in the southern Illinois coal field, has long been called "bloody Williamson," most recently for the killing of strikebreakers at Herrin in 1922; under national Prohibition the liquor trade is illegal and profitable, and Charles Birger and the Shelton brothers head rival factions in it. A roadhouse is a drinking and dancing resort on a country road outside town.