In February 1930 the McLean County Milk Producers Association entered into a "milk pool" plan to alleviate the depressed prices on milk products at the time. An excess of milk and butter products had depressed the market, and the Association felt that control of the prices would make the market fairer for all concerned. Because milk used for drinking and home delivery was more profitable, the plan was to pool all the milk so that no one distributor cornered that market. Several articles in the paper suggested that restaurants should serve more butter and cream at tables, so that the excess product would be used up and prices could naturally rise. All of the dairy distributors in the area had agreed to the milk pool, except for E. K. Rehker of the Leman Dairy. Rehker argued that the milk pool favored the larger concerns and disadvantaged the small producers.
Apparently feelings were pretty high because on March 2, 1930 nine men blockaded state road 39 with two automobiles and attacked the trucks of the Leman Dairy. While two men held Harry Witzig, the other men dumped the cans of milk over the road and into the ditch to express their disapproval of Leman Dairy. The men disguised their license plates so that Harry could not identify them, but Harry Witzig was able to name one man who was there.
Witzig canvassed the local farms looking for the man he thought he recognized before calling in other men. Two days after the attack, Harry Witzig went to the farm of William Welch with Joe Witzig and Eugene Potts as well as three farmers whose milk had been spoiled, to identify a farmhand on Welch's dairy farm as one of the perpetrators. Once he had confirmed that the man was on the Welch farm, they summoned the sheriff, and Chester Long was arrested and arraigned by the police magistrate the same day. The charge was "highway robbery." (didn't know that was an actual charge, did you?!)
Two weeks later three more men were arrested and charged. They were required to post a $1000 each. The editor of the Pantagraph of course condemned the actions of the men and compared them to terrorists. The Snow and Palmer Dairy took out a quarter page ad decrying the action of the milk-spillers. Similar intimidating actions had been taken in Chicago during similar disputes, but it was shocking to the people of McLean County that normally law-abiding citizens would behave like hooligans. Over two months later, the four men plead guilty to grand larceny charges. Long was fined $25 and sentenced to 20 days in jail and the three other men, Henry Heisel, Kenneth Smith and Leslie Smith were all fined $5.