Evening star., 1923-05-26
|RUM RUNNERS \ I FOIL
DRYS TWO YEARS
Four Miles of Shacks Along
Shore, With Wholesale
IS Trade, Says Expose.
Rr the Associated Press.

Rr the Associated Press
CHICAGO. May 26.--The Chicago
rum runner who accompanied w. D
Forman on the investigation of the
I Ecorse. Mich, smuggling shacks. de-
scribed in Il series of articles in the
sChicago Daily News, today made this
statement to the Associated Press:
81 have been bringing whisky out of
these shacks and delivering it to my
customers in Chicago constantly two
years without interference from the
authorities, who now deny that any
such wholesale traffic. exists. I am
only one of the many rum runners
from many states who have been do
ing the same thing. l have seen rum
ners there from as far west as Ne
braska and Oklahoma.
1--WE never said or intended to say
that within the city of Ecorse itself
There are four miles of these shacks.
What Mr.. FormanS article did say
was that they extend for four miles
along the American shore. As mat
ter of fact they extend farther than
four miles.
'- Estimates Quantity SmuEgled.
when Detroit newspaper man men
toned the estimate of 100000 gallons
of booze crossing the line per day
Nobody. least of all the newspaper
man himself, maintained that estimate
was accurate. Mr.. Forman in his ar
ticle gave the figure merely as an
estimate. I am inclined 10 think it
may have exceeded the estimate Of
100000 gallons or some days and
fallen far below on Others.
lNA nn
hibition director for Michigan that
the activities Of the smugGlers have
been confined to about four blocks of
shaCkS in EcorSe is IN alb urdity. If
1T were true, and his men had made
any effort at all To stop the traffic.
not Il rum runner could have escaped
from EcOrse with Il cargo. To leave
these shacks with an automobile it is
necessary to drive across - strip of
open sand and come out on a paved
street that has 4 street car line. -..
II have made so many trips out OF
these ShaCkS with automobiles loaded
with whisky. that | have lost count.
On one car | ran up Il mileage of over
10000 between EcorSe and Chicago.
never was arrested in Ecorse. | was
caught oncs in a town far west of
there.
Saw No Federal Agent.
Mr.. Forman's statement is correct
that while we were in those shack S
on our recent visit. buying whisky
and bringing il out of there for my
customers in Chicago, We did not see
a single federal man. state policemen
or local authority lift a finger to stop
us. In two days and two nights in
the Shacks on the waterfront we did
mot see any prohibition boats pass up
or down the river.
IF the traffic is Ianguishing. as
the prohibition director wants us to
believe, it is due to the fact that the
Canadian SmuEglerS are rObbing the
rum runners blind and we have found
other sources whore we can get our
supplies at a more reasonable price
For instance. / have to pay $50 per
case for certain Scotch whisky at
SunnySide, Ont. and | have to pay
American Smugglers SIS per case for
running it across the line-making it
$95 laid down to me on the American
shore. | can buy the same whisky
in the Bahamas for SIS per case--and
i can bring it through, too; make
no mistake about that.
Boast by SmuGgIers.
II know smugGlers who have been
bringing whisky across the line from
Canada to ECOrSe ever since prohibi-
tion. day and night, and boast that
they never have been arrested. | in
troduced Mr.. Forman to the SNUG
gler, who said the only time the fed
eral men ever visited his place was
one time when they knew he was
gone. and they carted about 300 cases
of beer and other booze away from
his place. This smuggler said he
would kill the next federal man who
approached his shack; and they never
came back.
Mr.. Forman was so amazed at
what he found at Ecorse that when !
suggested going farther up the line
and visiting shacks several miles from
enough / would say. from two
years experience over there, that the
line of smugglers is nearer eight
miles than four.
I'm winter L have stood in Ecorse
and watched these fellows bring
loads of booze across the river on ice,
in boats, on runners. The fact is
that scores of rum runners. myself
among them. have worn out tires
hauling hooch out of the Ecorse
shaCks and along the car line there
without Interference Just before Mr..
Forman and i left with our load a
runner went ahead of us with $50
cases of beer on truck.
Hand Carried Booze.
I'm former days the smuggIers used
to carry large stocks of booze on
hand, and a runner could come in,
load up and get out in hurry. But
the ECorsc smugglers nowadays
won't tie up their own money They
take runners order and make him
wait while they go across the river
and buy it with his money. That's
one of the things that is driving Chi
cago runners elsewhere.
when MIR. Forman started to pre-
pare his articles. 1 showed him how
bootleggers dilute whisky with al
cohol and water, because if they
didn't do it with whisky they bought
from the Canadian highbinders. they
wouldn't make any money at all. My
Chicago customers expect ME to sell
them a case of Scotch for $110 that
costs me $95 laid down at Ecorse;
and expect me to bring it 325 miles to
them TOO"