The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
LIQUOR TACKLES SLOWLY ACROSS
 CANADA BORDER
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LAN AUA DVAULA
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 Detroit river and watch boats load on the Canadian side. River craft scurry back and forth, and the boun- dary is an imaginary line in the mid dle of the stream. All the way from Maine to Puget Sound the border population mingle in commercial and social intercourse with little con scious thought of the international border.
 At first this condition made the job of enforcing American prohibiS tion appear impossible. As enforces ment work became nor systematized, however, it was found impracticable to smuggle liquor across the line Tn large quantities except at a few points.
 Detroit As A Smuggling Center.
 The most important of these points Is Detroit, and it's envlrons, with Windsor and other thickly populated communities just across the Detrolt river. Another comparatively easy channel for the flow of liquor into the United States Is in northern New York and Vermont, where shipments can be made from Montreal by motor truck and automobile. Buffalo is an- other port of entry" for consider able quantities of liquor. Lake Erie ports, such as Cleveland, Erie, san dusky and Toledo. also get supplies by boat from the Canadlan slue' oue % In practically all these places the shipments are small in comparison with the traffic at Detroit or down from Montreal. Western Montana IS another district into which llquor eau be shipped in sufficient quantities to constitute a wholesale business pu. the traffic there also has been cut down recently. s+ end of the border, also Is wet spot from which the liquor plague spreads to the Pacific coast states Ine maritime provinces on the Atlantic coast, Nova Scotia, New BrunswlGh and Prince Edward Island formerts sent quantities of liquor coastwlse to eastern cities Of the U1ieeu heeu greatly but this traffic has now been sIea..S reduced, both by the activity or en- forcement officers and by the compe- tition of the Bahama supplies
 If is wits against wits in this pusl ness and perhaps nowhere along the Canadian border is the contest l1oIe keen than about Detroit. Right oNes the busy river there is Wlnosor' anu Standing on American soil you can even see the liquor boats loading there. You see them back away from the docks, and you know pc yond a doubt that they are starIihS for the Michigan side with Iodu U, liouor. Yet until the line IS crosseu there Is no transgression. w mus cacth them red-hanoeo' ana eneie the rub. tare
 Ut is harder than trench warfare in France" said one of our enforce ment agents who had covered hlm- self with glory fighting Germans. "Over there we could shoot them or grab them where we saw them or go right in and get them. But over here we've got to wait till they come over to our side of No Mans Lana.
 Outlaws of the Detroit Region.
 The illegal traffic about Detroit IS well organized. Stocks of whisky are usually on hand in warehouses along the river docks on the Canadian slde, having been shipped there olrecS Ontario, billed for export to the United States, or occasionally for ex- port to some other country. Rum runners boats load up, slip across the river under darkness and unload at any one of thousand places along the Detroit river. Most of the un- loading now Is done at points north and south of Detroit proper. for N tection Is more difficult in out-of- the-way localities. Regular boat lines are never used. During the winter, when the river is partially frozen. an ingenious combination Of boat and ice sledge has made an effective transport. Persistent ru- mors are that beer Is pumped across the river by pipe line to Detroit, but this has never been substan- tiated, and without doubt 1t Is one of the many bootlegger canards.
 There Is no secret handling of the liquor on the Canadian side. It may Se ordered at a brewery or distillery and consigned flor export" to cer- tain man In the United States. Of course, the name is fictitious. A big bootleg operator or his agent often goes in person to the brewery or dis tillery, places the order, names the consignees, and even the powerboats on which they are to be shipped. De- tailed arrangements for the time of shipment are made. Payment may be made either there or on delivery at the wharves, but usually Is made at the time the order Is placed. All the formalities of export are attend ed to, including the issuance. of ex- port papers, There Is no shadow of doubt about the destination of the liquor, and considering the quantities thus exported. there can be little claim that the purpose Is other than for consumption as a beverage.
 The identity of large bootleggers and their agents are well known at these distilleries and breweries in Canada, and they are likewise known to American officers. But they can be apprehended only for an Illegal act.
 The American, consignees or their agents, the boatmen, take charge of the shipments at the wharves on the Canadian side. Clearance papers are made out in due form and approved by Canadian customs officials. Clear ance fees are paid by each liquor boat in accordance with Canadian laws and the revenue, both from these fees and from taxation on li- quor sales. is considerable.
 Whisky Traffic Cut Down.
 Enforcement methods by federal and Detroit city authorities have gone far toward cutting down the traffic in whisky at Detroit during the last year. Just now. however there Is a strong demand for alcoholic beer on the American side, and many boats are engaged in hauling this across the river. They load either at a brewery near Windsor. or at various rators on the American side have standing orders for the hauling, which is done largely by miscellan- eous owners of fiver craft, and a reg ular price Is paid for the delivery. This rate ranges from 50 cents to s1 case, and a 40-foot boat can carry 250 cases or more on trip. As many as ten trips a day could be made if close -looko out for patrol boats were not necessary.
 Operators of these boats are. not all of a rough class. Many were for merly rough but respectable river men. They engage in the traffic be- cause there is money in it. They play fox and geese with federal and local officers as a business proposi- ton. When they are caught they take the situation calmly. and usu-