The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-13
LIQUOR PIRATES
 ARE RAMPANT IN
 FLORIDA WATERS
Overhaul Booze Runners, Seize Cargoes, Wave Hand to LuckIesS Owner and
 Disappear
By Associated Press

Miami. Fla. August 12.-When Bobby hies himself to the hayloft or crawls under the house and in backed chronicle of Morgan, Captain Kidd. and other gentry who roamed the seas under the Jolly Roger. he usually expresses regret that he did not live a century or two ago so he could have joined the adventurers.
 The boy may not know it, but the sea rovers are on the job again and the escapades of liquor pirates off the southeastern coast of Florida and in the Bahamas. if recorded in a book, might cause Bobby to regard Morgan. Kidd and company with less awe. Morgan and Kidd were forced to depend upon sails for motive power but the modern, pirate has a gasoline motor and puts to sea in a boat that will move faster than any sailing vessel ever built.
 He overhauls a liquor runner holds it up, steals all, or as much of its cargo as his vessel will carry, waves his hand to the luckless owner and disappears to land his loot at some unfrequented cove on the Florida coast. Others have landed on small keys in the Bahamas where car goes-of liquor for rum runners have been assembled. and raided the ware houses.
 Few Complaints Made.
 Official reports of piracy have not, been frequent. The liquor smugglers who have been held up at sea charge the occurrence to profit and loss>and make no complaint because they are law breakers themselves. The pir- ates naturally do not tell about their operations but numerous stories of hold-ups and robberies leak out through underground sources and there is every indication that prohi- bition officers are not the only people the liquor runners are constantly on the lookout for.
 Hanford Mobely, IS, held in jail at West Palm beach as one of the four men charged with the robbery of the Bank of Steuart, at Steuart, Fla, several months ago, also has a pi- racy charge hanging over him. Just what part he is believed to have taken in a sea hold-up the federal authorities have not stated but they have announced that if MobIey was granted his liberty on bail, or was acquitted of the robbery charge, he would be arrested immediately on a federal warrant charging piracy.
 The most recent case of alleged pi- racy to be made public officially res suited in the shooting to death of George Edgecomb, negro master of the British schooner William H. A1bury, at Cat Key, in the Bahamas a short distance from here, and the theft of between s2.000 and 5000 from the vessel. The robbery occurred July 2o The Albury. according to British officials. has been engaged in the rum carrying trade between the Bahamas and Jamacia Dody Carey, cashier aboard the Albury, was sent to Miami by the British commissioner at Bimini, to tell the story of the hold-up to the British vice counsel and state and federal of- ficials here.
 Entertained by Captain.
 The Albury was at anchor at Cat Key, Carey said, when an auxiliary schooner said to be the Falcon ap- peared. Three men were aboard the Falcon and after anchoring they boarded the Albury and informed Captain Edgecomb they wished re purchase a cargo of liquor. They were entertained by Edgecomb dur ing the forenoon while the crew piled S2.100 worth of liquor on deck to be transferred to the Falcon, according to the account.
 At noon the Albury's crew except Edgecomb and Carey went below. Carey was working on his books in his stateroom when one of the vis- itors appeared, pointed a pistol at him and ordered him to hand over what cash he had. Carey gave him more than s2.000. The other visi- tors in the meantime had gone be- low and covered the Albury's crew with pistols. Edgewood was pacing the deck within view of the cabin when one of the men saw him. The master was ordered to enter but sec ing the pistol turned his back. shot was fired and the captain fell dead.
 The crew of the Aubury then was locked in, the cabin and the visitors departed. The prisoners, Cary said. regained their liberty within . few moments.
 The Falcon, which had been ab- sent from Miami several days, having been leased by its owner to a man said to have recently been released from the Florida penitentiary, was found at her mooring in the harbor here the next morning. having en- tered port sometime during the night.