Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-03-23

New York, March 22.-(By A. P)-
sells had left the Bahamas for American
waters and that three schooners be-
lieved to be the. advance guard Of a
spring rum fleet from st. Pierre, Mi
quelon. had dropped anchor off the
Rhode Island coast today, added to the
worries of prohibition enforcement au-
thorities. already harried with tales of
wholesale rum running. piracy within
the territorial waters Of the United
States, and the mysterious flashing of
coded wireless messages.
r. 0. Merrick, newly appointed zone
enforcement chief. met the news with
the statement that there was nothing
he could do about it. The federal pro-
hibition enforcement Office has no feet
to send out to cope with the situation,
he said. and was compelled to rely on
the coast guard and customs service
to break it up.
A captain of the coast guard service
in the New York division. who refused
TO be quoted by name, declared that in
formation coming to him indicated
that Atlantic Highlands, Sag Harbor
and Block Island were not the only
points off which Liquor laden vessels
were lying.
THE entire coast. where there are
any landing places. is fringed with
them" he said. land the number of
small boats engaged in bringing the
stuff ashore ruhs we'll into the hun
dreds. 1t seems as if nearly every
small boat on the New Jersey and Long
Island shore is engaged in rum run
ming"
Touching on the wireless message
| flashed last night from the rum-run-
| ming yacht lister to man in Times
! Square hotel and purporting to advise
him that a small boat of liquor was
drifting off the Highlands. the captain
declared he was proceeding on the theo-
ry that it was code message.
| The message as received by customs
/, officers read:
"Motorboat adrift. Headed for New
Inlet. Yours for the salvage. Ister.'
| The man to whom the message was
| addressed sent two messages to the
lister. the first reading: THE agent
will be out this afternoon" Aud the
second: Am sending three boats to
different points"
4 possibility. he suggested, was that
! the message might have referred to the
British rum fleet. reported in cable dis
patches recently to have been organ
| lied by London capitalists. for the
| transportation of liquor direct from
Scotland.
The lister. it was said. is loaded with
Scotch whiskey taken on at Glasgow,
from which port the British fleet was
expected to operate.
! The six vessels which customs au-
thorities We're notified had cleared
| from the Bahamas with liquor. and
which have been put officially on the
suspicious list" although they are
ostensibly bound for other ports, are:
! British schooner Lucille NJ. Smith,
| 5000 cases; British schooner Sadie A.
| Nickles, 1900 cases; American motor
| boat Truant. 400 cases: British auxili-
airy schooner India. 700 cases; Ameri-
can schooner Liberty. 500 cases; and
American auxiliary schooner Esther.
| 600 cases.
! Edward Barnes. assistant solicitor
| for the customs service, had begun an
! investigation of the registry of the
three vessels classed as American. If
| they are found to be American regis
| tered, it was said. they will be seized
| under Attorney General Daugherty' S
ruling that American ships must travel
dry" throughout the world.