Evening star., 1923-07-01

N.
despite the fact that many have an
idea that the smugglers make vast
sums of money, II Is the men who
finance the venture that reap the. big
share Of the profits.
THIS person spoke Of the work that
i had to be done on the way to
this country. how they doubled" the
cargo by adding water to an already
inferior grade of Scotch, and how
they had to attend to the manifold
duties of the ship besides.
He disclosed how labels were faxed
and how some of them were sprinkled
with sea water to give them the ap-
pearance Of age and of having trav-
eled a great distance by sea. AS he
told the story one could imagine some
person who had bought the stuff tell
ing, with great gusto. how he had had 1t
imported for his personal use"
This same man stated that the av-
erage rum runner soon gets sick and
tired of the dangers and poor food,
and that very few OF them ever stay
in the game for any great length Of
time. He said he was diSgusted with
a business that paid so little for the
risks that were run. and declared that
when he was out Of his present pre-
dicament he would ship for home and
follow the sea in decent sort of a
way.
Nearly every one in this country
has read OF the "highjackers," the
men who hold UP automobiles that are
carrying illegal liquors. who. at the
point of pistols, stop the autom obiles
and by strong-arm methods appro-
pirate for their own use the contents
Of the machines. There are numerous
stories of this sort Of hold-ups. and
while 1t Is notgenerally known, there
exists a band OF sea rovers who make
it a business to attack these rum
laden vessels and engage them in bat
tie. The fights that have taken place
have resulted in more than one cargo,
sent to our three-mile limit from for
eign shores. being seized by sea rovers
and transferred to vessels OF pirates
who prey upon other pirates.
Another factor that has caused de-
preston in the spirits Of the men who
engage in the smuggling game Is
the constant fear that some one OF Tn
Gle Sans force will take a pot shot at
them with one of those good-sized
guns they have on board and send
the erring crew to Davy Jones' lock-
er, the dreaded haven of all who sail
the seas.
1t must ever be borne in mind that
when any vessel is commanded TO
stop by a duly accredited officer of
the law, If the master of the ship
does not comply with the order. he Is
in danger of having a shot sent across
his bows, and that If then he does not
come to a full stop. he is very likely
to receive another that will, the
chances are. disable HRS vessel If not
sink 1t, so the life OF the rum runner
is far from agreeable.
X X X x
THE prohibition officials are not
i downcast when now and then a
vessel manages to escape through the
| lines, for they realize that the sea
| traffc is getting smaller and smaller
Col. James E. Jones, assistant pro-
| hibition commissioner, in discussing
this phase of the departments &C.
| tivities, said: "The maritime rum
smugglers have reallysa hard time OF
It. They face death every time they
try to get through our lines. They
| are often forced. for days and days
| to lie outside the three-mile limit
| Very often their food ration becomes
pitifully small. They are ever men,
aced by passing ships. for the ma
jority Of the smugglers try to ride
without lights, and this Of course
adds to the danger Of being run down
| by some passing vessel. They are not
| wonderfully housed, they suffer from
the cold and rain there Is no romance
| In their lives, and they do not get
the big money that lots Of people
| imagine they do.
| Contrary to the popular impress
sion. the bigger ships do not try te
make the mainland. They content
themselves with lying outside the
three-mile limit and transferring
their cargo, or at least q part of 1t
to the smaller vessels, They do this
| for the reason that If the big shiI
that has brought the liquor to this
! country were to attempt to land, II
would mean certain capture and ar
entire loss, 50 they put about forty
or, fifty cases on smaller vessel an6
try to- make run for it. Part OF
/ their reason is that It is harder tc
pick up small vessel during the
hours of darkness and also because Il
ts easier to handle the smaller craft.
AT this time I want to say thai
many of the stories that have beer
put out by the sea bootleggers about
millions dollar cargoes are beautiful
pieces of fiction. While am not ir
q position to speak authoritatively.
am rather Of the opinion that many
of these stories fre put out for ths