The Washington bee., 1899-04-15
SNUGlLERS Of TFE FTI
Inc Midnight Traffic C,r,;.,
On With Profit in Ii.
Florida Straits.
A DANGEROUS CALLING
The System of Signalling By us;.,
the Boats Locate and Rscoy.
nize One Another

A Beatlssd of Arms and AM
! which Was Exchanged ia,
BoatloAd OF Cuban Rum and e..
Business That Is Nearly All p.
Carries Great RIsks. "
Many a resident Of Kev Va.
Havana laid the foundation ~ -. sna
tune by means of the secret eyrbour W.,
Of rum and tobacco. for tlour 5ra"Ise 5aause
and ammunition, at midnight ON bannS
of swift sailing boats thar mot 'O"'a "a.
way in the Florida Straits and mn n'u.
back home again ia a few bours r.,'' "E,e
their cargo OF cOntraband goods 0
In the spring of 1896 the wri,s-
taking a leisure trip among tho N. N
ida keys with Key West as bsadon' %
ters. He had heard that smug9Iia.
was going on. he knew thar rsr,ai'
cigar makers of Key West and Ta1n.
were underselling the marke, in als
tain lines of cigars. made from C,b...
tobacco. RumOr had it that Cnbaa
rum was popular poor mans drinC
on account OF its Cheapness. degni,'
the fact of high United States ssy
enne tax. But inquiry was az s,yt
/ fruitless.
Smuggling? Oh. no. LOOK ar tb,,
revenue cutter out yOnder. She's bsrs
to put a stop to anything of thatkiDdr
1 But it so happened that certain
Bahaman guide and Spouger. with
whom the writer had established con
fidential relations on q recent 6shiny
"Trip to Metacumba and CudjOs Kpys
turned oracle.
"YOu want fin out how to Smugglp
eh? Well. sub. you come with me ia.
morrow. We go see Stingaree Ben
Bring long bottle good con whiskey
Ben get tired Of rum now and then"
So | went with him. He called him
self Billy Key West. and be owned
dingy spOnging Sloop in which we two
set forth the following morning. head
ed westerly and favored by a fair
wind.
A five hours sail brought us to Stn-
garee Ben's headquarters. ] was in
trOduced by Billy Key West as zone Of
them northern Yankees and a mghw
good judge of rum
At first Ben was dubious as regard
ed my accompanying him. but the corn
whiskey conquered. He insisted on nv
taking nap.
We will start at moon up" said hr.
land you won't get much sleep after
that
After a hearty supper We hOiSpd
sail just as the moon rose and set
forth. leaving Ben's possessions and
Billy's boat to- take care of themselves.
as it seemed.
The night was partly eloHdy. with
the wind sufficiently forward to pnt
us on close haul. For several hours
we headed south by southeast into the
waste of waters. and the writer began
tO wonder how il was possible undrr
such circumstances, for two boats.
cropping toward each other. to ever
meet. unless by accident
Half an hour later a faint. distant
reddish fash rose up in a spmicirrI,
OF the starbOard bow PiIly hey
West drew forth long. slim object
which he planted in holder forward
or the mast. 1t was a rocket.
That feller's ahead of us. said Ben
rs Billy touched the rocket or We
won't have to wait tO-night"
A light was displayed at the mast
head. and after several miurtes fTtb-
Pr sailing. we could see "A similar Sig-
nal hOisted upon the still invisible
boat that was approaching About
the same time We could just make out
the revolving fash light on Key Men
endez ON the southern board. Ten
minutes later the two boats were
alongside each other. and mutual
transfer of cargOes was begun and ar-
under some difficulty, ow-
ng to- the rough water \ short pri-
rate pOw-wOw was then held between
Zen and the Cuban commanding the
'ther boat. during which the chink Of
,Old was distinctly audible. After that
We cast OF and began our lctrrn voy
Ige. while the boat from Cuba guickly
AIDED from sight. fOund that We
we're now loaded with rum. in ten-saE
on kegs. and cigars in Theoretically
ealed eases, and stemmed tobacco in
mall bales. Our return cargo was
much bulkier than fhp one We had
AIKEN out
There's money in it," aid Ben
That rum is worth $3.50 "A :aon in
Aey West. 1t costs us twenty-five
ents in trade. Them cigars and ~
'accO-but shucks. You kdow what
'rices the real genrrwinp Havana
'oods will fetch i'm our markets
Suppose Uncle Sans cutter was ."
verhaul you?''
We'd lose boat and cargo. buf fbai
would be about all We aiut easy
etched. though. fer we've aet aH-
hors.ropes and floats. and II $ only
ew minutes job to lash hcg> 1Hd
ases together. sink en-. mJrE 'r
pot. and come back after them wien
ines is better
We reached Ben'S Key about Day
sht. Part of the cargo was trans
erred to Billy's slOOp and th" rest COB
faled under Ben'S floor. Late 'aa'
ay Billy and the writer sailed .n'"
.ey West harbOr. with kegs ?ut cases
eftly concealed under a pill Of gun
sacks. bedding and fish IH'H-
le following night all were d.>p'>'"
Ne n