The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-08

continues publication of the enc
S0itness stories by British
agent 1UhO made an erhoustiye
study of conditions IN the British
West Indies, one of the chief
sources of supply for the Amer
tcGn bootLe0gtag trade. The
sVT1ter also Visited points on the
American SeGcoGst 4Uhere rum
cGTgoes sUere landed.
By H. DE WINTON WIGLEY.
Special Investigator for London DnIIv
News.
Copyright. 1923. by Cosmopolitan
News Service.)
One morning I was talking To
the skipper of rum-runner
which lay in Nassau harbor when
o big Yankee, clad only in shirt
and trousers, came along.
Say, cap" he drawled, "you'ye
got some ship there"
The captain looked at him. spat.
and said nothing.
Old Navy Man.
I've been admiring her." went
on the affable stranger. I'm an
old navy man-serVed in a South
American navy, and / won my
bread ticket in a distillery for a
while. You might describe me as
an ocean-going brewer"
The captain spat again.
Under this hat" said the
stranger. els a million dollar brain. !"
He removed his hat and touched
his head as If he could supply
proof by exposing the valuable de-
post.
Guess could do you bit of
good. cap. Did va know the
gangs int own?"
What gang?" asked the captain.
The tough gang. They're right
here in town. They were on dock
this morning getting data on what's
sailing outa the place, and they're
out for raiding. Everyone Of them's
heeled up to the hat"
ANVIL rightT' drawled the cap
tain.
Knew A Rifle.
Say" went on the big man, eff
va wanna man who knows a win
chester rifle from a walking cane,
Just reach out q hand and touch
him right now"
ANVIL right" said the captain.
"I'n think it over"
As a matter OF fact, no raid was
carried out by this gang while I
was on the island. but raiding mas
taken place right in the harbor with
other boats close by. The boarded
ship was relieved of her cargo, and
the raider got away, for people
mind their own business in Nassau.
Keep out" is a golden rule.
The audacity OF the rum-runners
themselves is amazing. One of
them actually sailed into New York
harbor, quietly made fast at IL D.
m, unloaded 1,5O0 cases of whiskey,
and was off again at 3 a. m.
Another run-runner once got
right up the New York river as
far as the Bronx, and was unload
ing illicit whiskey worth many
thousands of pounds.
Pitched Battle Fought.
Prohibition officers appeared and
pitched battle resulted. The
bootleggers attempted to blow up
the pier with dynamite, but even
tually the officers arrested twenty.
four of the smugglers. Several
men were wounded.
One of the most interesting ex-
cursions from Nassau is to sal
down the natural harbor, sheltered
by Hog Island and New Providence
Island. The water is dotted with
all sorts of small craft, from motor
boats to big auxiliary schooners
and with large numbers of dirty
little sailing boats used by the
negroes for sponge fishing. The
schooners are engaged in rum run
ming, and Nassau is the fitting
out port of the small but adven
turous vessels. After six weeks OF
buffeting in Rum Row they gen
orally require a fair amount OF
attention, and sometimes their sides
are swarming with negro workers
The rum-running schooners are
quite small Enthusiastically some
, thing round about two or three
hundred tOns-but they are care
fully chosen for their sailing quail
flies.
II would rather be in one OF
100000 a Year