The New York herald., 1921-01-30

sightseeing boats that penetrate near sec
tions Of the Everglades per-
haps the most wonderful booze cache Amer
lea holds to-day-not infreQuently Is, or
are the proper person or persons through
whom negotiations may be entered upon for
shaking the thirst carried down from the
North.
Plainly the hotel proprietors have set
about the task Of preventing booze running
or selling in their hotels. 1t probably is
safe to say that there is not a reputable
hotel in Miami in which there is a drink
for sale-on the premises. The sales are
made furtieely, by the bottle, or the case
and delivery is made to the buyer outside
the hotel.
When the purchase is by the bottle the
demanded price first is in the neighborhood
of $12, according to the appearance of the
buyer. It will drop as low as So or Sc for
real, undlluted booze, when the purveyor
of the stuff realizes that his customer
knows what he is about. In these transac-
tions purchases by the case are few and far
between. That variety of transact ion is left
for the men whose launches swing at
anchor in Biscayne Bay fronting Miami !;
in Lake Worth, near Palm Beach; in the
Indian or Miami rivers or the waters adj
jacent to the other big resorts of the east
and west coasts of Florida.
Perhaps an even greater store Of the
smuggled booze finds its way in cases
aboard the luxurious houseboats that oc-
cupy the same waters Truly Miami, Palm
Beach and the other resorts. for those who
wish to seek a way out of troubles that
are dry, harbor. no terrors greater than
those, say of Nassau or Havana. where pro-
hlbition relgneth not.
Only an infnitesimal part of the booze
that is run over the Florida coast-east or
west-is for the accommodation either of
Florida or Its residents or transient popu-
lation. Few persons realize that the coast
line of Florida is greater than that of any
ether State in the Union, approximately
1000 miles. 1t is frequently barren coast,
great stretches Of mile upon mile harboring
nothing more than sand, sheltering palms
and, greatly important to- the booze run
ners, conchs.
Real Danger Begins When
Bootlegger Hits Dixie Highway
II the ship that carried booze from the
three mile limit of the Bahamas to the three
mile limit of Florida desires to put into
any Florida ports-Miami, ST. Augustine,
Jacksonville. Palm Beach, Tampa-she does
so with impunity and freedom from Gus
toms troubles, for when the customs men
60 aboard she already has discharged all
of her contraband and her manifest is ship
shape for the most rigorous examination
She goes about her business and puts out
to sea again, in all probability for another
hurried trip to the Bahamas. another load
from the skullzing boats Of the conchs, then
back to the Florida three mile limit, an
other meeting with conchs and other boot
eggers, then on up or down the coast, a
few hours late, but her skipper and crew
richer by more than an additional months
wages-frequently richer by several months
wages.
The really dangerous bootegging begins
when the booze Is deposited upon the unin-
habitated, isolated stretches of Florida
coast, from which II must be transported
by automobile to its destination Thereupon
enters the Dixie Highway, n great broad
avenue from the north, stretching straight
into Mihmi and with excellent crossroads
leading into II all the way down. SO great
is the booze traffic along this highway that
II has come, since prohibitions blight, to be-
known locally as "Alcohol Trail"
With the customs service defeated before
the booze running ships come within their
sight, with hundreds of fishing boats
tramps and launcheS all plying their trade
and only meagre fleet of, at the most
six or seven coast guard vessels to run
them down, the Florida coast has been able
to yield booze for the Northern market In
such generous quantities that almost reg
ular schedules are maintained for the auto
mobiles. Not all OF these automobile con-
veyancss are come by honestly. Chief Dill
Ion Of Miami is thinking that perhaps II
would be wise for him to request his NUM-
cipa government to employ New York de-
tectives who know the faces of New York
criminals His idea Is that they could catch
these folk as soon as they reached the
Southern resort and chase them out of
town.
Another Of their duties II they are en-
ployed, from the gossip one may pick up
watching of strange automobiles sweeping
up or down the Dixie and other highways,
since there Is good reason TO believe that
many q stolen New York automobile gets
into the booze running trade in Dixie Those
that do, though, generally stay in the South.
Other cars take the stuff North from
Georgia, Virginia or the other States
through which 1t passes. Some of them
never get into Florida at all. There are
stretches of Georgia and North and South
Carolina coasts that offer almost as good