The New York herald., 1922-02-20

into the States from Havana. Ther'
is a de luxe service between here ant
points in the Gulf of Mexico. thre,
miles off shore. carried on by four o.
FIVE seventy-five foot yachts--fas:
commodious craft capable of travelling
much faster than any revenue cutter
in these parts. These yachts arr
carrying expensive but undiluted anC
undoctored liquor.
THE NEW York HERALD correspond
ent was given what purports to be q
schedule for these yachts. II may
or may not be entirely accurate. Al
least it is not at all illogical as things
do down here. And the secrecy ano
mystery surrounding these big booze
runners has been and continues great
There is far less secrecy about the
loading and the getting away of large
privately owned yachts that come here
like they do to Nassau in the Bahamas
for cargoes of private stock.
On "a Regular Schedule.
These alleged schedules have it that
each of these yachts shall make at
least one trip week. The booze they
carry is contracted for. The bulk of
1t goes far inland; some as far as Chi
cago. We shall say, for instance. that
plans have been laid to get the stuff
into Mobile and thence. aboard train,
to st. Louis or Chicago. 1t is care
fully packed in trunks, travelling
bags, suit cases and so on and each
bag or trunk carefully marked for
identification. ii is expensive stuff
whisky, rum. champagne and good red
wines. A small group of men in Chi
cago, we shall say, have ordered 100
cases. This may represent an invest
ment of $4,000 in booze alone.
They will have a representative in
Mobile who is all fitted up as man of
has made every necessary arrange
ment. Small boats have met the yacht
three or four miles off the coast and
fetched the stuff ashore. Naturally it
will not be taken straight into Mobile.
but into a convenient cove near by.
This consignment of 100 cases is, it
must be understood, but a part of the
yachts cargo. size may have fetched
up the Gulf as many as 1900 or 1000
cases of booze. But her entire cargo
is the simon pure article. Big money
is TO be paid for it and such customers
are to be treated with Difference.
But this one specific lot OF 100 cases
is delivered somewhere in the vicinity
of Mobile and carried in motor cars
into the city. 1t is not unlikely that
the trunks and so forth will go to a
hotel for a day and then the osten-
sible owner will decide that business
calls him North. He orders his private
car attached to train. His trunks
are loaded into the car. Off he goes.
There's a risk, of course, but there is
ly rich man with lots Of baggage
travelling in his private car.
There's a Simple Way.
Thousands of cases os good whisky
and wines are supposed to reach the
better trade in this manner. Another
method while simpler and less preten-
tious is common enough. Let one of
the bootleggers who has utilized this
method tell his own story as he told 1t
to THE New York HERALD correspond
ent:
when / was operating out of Pen
sacola," he said, Il used to take COM
missions to deliver stuff as far north
as Chicago One of my clients being
man of means and alcoholic desire
would give me the necessary money
to go to Havana and get him fifty
cases, Wen say, of stuff. 1t would
cost him about so per cent. more get
ting it this way. but he wanted to be
sure of getting good stuff and wanted
to be sure OF getting it home.
"Well, I'd go to Havana or come to
Havana rather, buy the stuff, pack 1t
in suit cases and trunks and arrange
to have it carried to Pensacola for
ten or fifteen or twenty dollars case.
Expensive work. But I'd get it into
Pensacola and then make for the rail-
road. Now I'm an old bird at the
business. The red caps in the station
know me. SO did others there.
"My baggage would have no real
Identification marks except, possibly,
strips of tire tape wrapped around the
handles OF the trunks and bags. L
would have a bit Of tire tape around
nv finger. I let the red caps who
fiocked toward me see that taped fin
ger and they would take charge of the
taped baggage. This insured gentle
and expeditions handling. They were
well paid for their care.
The TAPPED Finger.
"In Chicago I would be met by man
who was as well known around the
railroad station as I was in Pensacola.
He caught the signal from me-the
taped finger and he taped his finger.
The red caps there knowing him and
observing his finger, would be just as
gentle with the bags as the porters
had been in Pensacola"
This seems to have been popular
method of getting Havana whisky into
the middle Western States. or course
il was cumbersome and expensive but
probably the end justified Tin the mind
of the ultimate consumer) the means
Earnest efforts to obtain from the
records of the Cuban Government
liouor import statistics indicate that
there has been something less than
efficiency in the department responsi-
Bile for such figures. However, there
has been a falling off in the last six
months. 1t las not been a tremendous
decrease. AS a matter OF fact, despite
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