The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1909-02-05
a Midnight Raid.
w. THOM s ON.

.s*4-s*##+ By %+*+*+4

in July, 1864, TO be detained very laJe
at my office, on the south side OF Chlp-
jewa creek. which discharges into Nj
agara river about two miles above the
falls. The creek has two mouths sep
arated by Hog Island, which Is some
three hundred yards below the bridge
by which | must cross to reach my
house.
Thirty feet from the south end ol
this bridge stood a large stOrehouse FOR
bonded whiskey. The building rested
upon piles driven into the bed OF the
stream, and its plank floor was about
four and onehalf feet above the water.
Walking quietly, | had barely come
upon the bridge when | heard above
the drowsy murmur Of the Falls a pc
culIar grating sound, coming appar-
emily from beneath the warehouse.
What could it be? Leaning over the
railing, listened intently.
The grinding noise seemed like that
produced by hand-turned auger bor-
ing through soft wood.
l surmised at once that some one
was about to tap the lower tier OF
whiskey consisting of the casks con-
tanning one hundred and twenty gal
Ions each. Who could it be? Probably
smugglers from the American side OF
the Niagara were at work, not buying
their stuff, as usual, but stealing 1t.
At this time the United States i'm
port duty on spirits was two dollars
gallon. Common whiskey could be
bought at the Chippewa distillery for
seventy cents per gallon in gold, and
readily sold across the line for five dol
lars in greenbacks; so there was large
profit in the contraband trade, even
when the smugglers paid for the liquor
Men engaged in this nefarious traffic
used to row down from the distillery
TO the mouth of the creek at night;
then tow their boat up the Canadian
side Of the Niagara to point opposite
the head OF Navy Island, push across 10
Buckhorn Island, and thence drop
down to some previously selected spot
ON the New York State shore anywhere
between Schlosser and Port Day. The
ranged shore signal, that no officers
were in the way, and that a cash Gus
toner was waiting for the cargo.
| had listened scarce a minute to the
mysterious noise, when a chug was
heard, then a renewed and sharper
gone through the three inch pine plank
floor, and was now biting into the hard
oak of a cask.
The matter greatly concerned me,
because | was the collector of inland
revenue for that county. and in charge
of the bonded warehouse. the key OF
which was then in my pocket. The raid
ers intended of course, not only TO
wrong Uncle Sam but doubly to de
fraud the Canadian owners Of the
whiskey, who would lose the liquor
itself and also have to pay excise duty
on all stolen from the warehouse
The slightest alarm would have driy-
on the robbers Off but in that case
they would escape i'm the darkness. |
wished TO capture them in the act. But
how would this be possible?
If | called for help at that midnight
hour the men would vanish at the first
Try. If | went back to my Office for
revolver and attempted to arrest them
dngle-handed, they would simply defy
ne, or perhaps plant me at the bot
tom of the creek
| resolved, before | did anything. 10
nc foi N hn
lessly | crept under the bridge railing,
slid down a brace, and peered into the
inky blackness beneath the building.
Just then a thread Of light from a
burglars lantern shot out in my direc-
tion; the boring ceased, and heard
gurgling of liquid. | caught also a
glimpse Of three men kneelng on the
flush deck Of small scow.
One deftly pushed tin tube into the
auger hole, placed under it a ten-galloh
keg, and withdrew the plug from it's
lower end. Eleven other kegs awaited
their turn. The fellows had brought
precisely enough TO hold the contents
of one cask. If successfully run. the
cargo would bring six hundred dollars
in United States currency-all clear
profit.
From the efficient way IN which they
worked, concluded that the operators
were Ike" Nose" and Pete" Schram.
notorious smugglers. living on Grand
Island, whom / had often heard of,
but never, TO my knowledge, seen.
All that I have described occupied
only few minutes in the doing, but |
knew that it would take at least forty
or fifty minutes to fill the twelve kegs.
the tube being small
While considering my next step re-
collected a pair Of stout, determined
fellows named Bullamore Johnson and
Vert Van Wyck, famous duck hunters,
OF whose services | had often availed
myself. II could get these allies in
time, we should have no difficulty in
stopping the desperadoes as they