New Britain herald., 1924-08-16
NEW YORKERS MAKE
 MERRY 0N SHIP
seoaurusa from tlra Pass,

ltoR'lEusd iFem flFsi fagsl
 position, Onlg those knONn te lhs
 captain 0i inc lapsTet snip kRos st
 all times where il is Co bs found,
 on ihs pe0p deek Of fAe sessel Is a
 Reproduction of inc slGtue af hbsTis
 le which eaFRissi patrons dNnk mii'
 night loasis, the article says,
 Stsiereems al ss and np house the
 guests and an excellent hotel seTNiee Is maintained for theff comfort, the article states, Rhils 8 large balFoem makes for gaisis, There are midnight maNies, Women as well as men lisir ! iaFs stand nP la the haT,
 ilenofers Aboard
 The HsFali.fribane reporter loeat' sd ths general position Of the ship after tNa dGYs af reeonnoileTing along the southern coast of Long Island, and was able t0 get passage on launch only after considerable anesr tisniRg hy shore men, He left with party Of seven from Bahylen about fIa in the afternoon, and after stormy passage reached the ship about dark, No questions were asked when the party sought 10 beard the liner, hut fiFe dollars was collected from each guest as he went aboard,
 on the promenade deek there were about SO persons, the writer esiimat- ed, and all had the appearance Of being wealthy or having plenty Of money 10 spend, Drinks were being freely purchased, and dinner was being served by uniformed and effi- cient walters The women enmpa nlons, the article says. ranged from sedaie, grsy-haired old ladies to young girls of the finishing school stage and chorus girls.
 Jaxr Entertainment
 Dancing during the early part Of the evening to the music of a negro | iaIz band was followed atfer midnight | by a movie show, and later by a more | informal entertainment of an anna teur character in which the company | generally joined, the story snys. The bar service continued ell night, ac- cording 10 the writer. although by 1 early morning the crowd In the ball. room and on the decks had thinned 10 about 20.
 The writer after q couple of hours of sleep was able 10 get launch back to Bay Shore, l.. l.
 Can Do Nothing
 R, c. Merrick, prohibition enforce ment director for New York and New Jersey, declared today that the news rtt tal cot t,,tt t,,,a ttnt lao I | that such sea-going bar was aloat off Fire Island.
 Tho craft was outside his jurisdic- ton, Mir. Merrick said, and he did not believe that he. his forces or the gov ernment would ztake any steps to modest her or interfere with the prac- tices on board.
 We had heard" Merrick said, stories regarding biz rum vessels act Ing as floating cabarets.' but this newspaper account Is the first definite evidence that such a thing exists.
 There is nothing We can do about it. as far as I can see, for the ship, 15 miles off Fire Island, Is outside our jurisdiction and is not violating our prohibition laws. These ships can stay, Is 10 20 miles off shore and people can go out { 0 them without in any way violating he law, as long as the ships are not ( inside the United States territorial s waters. He added, "I think whole lot more # the people who make the long ,, ourney seaward to get drink, than do of the citizens of New York who teal into speakeasies and stealthily onsume liquor there. People who go ut to the ship appartently have more honey than brains" T In other quarters 1t was learned hat the new reinforced prohibition ayy. together with coast guard res- els may make the ship subject of nvestigation, going. at any rate. out 3 sea to give the vessel the "once c, yer" Antiquities were scrutinizng C; larine records In an effort to identify rt 1e ship. D The Frederick Der Crosse, the name ct zen on some of the siverware and 8, nen aboard the cabaret ship, for tr lerly was member of the North ii erman Lloyd passenger fleet. It st ter was taken over by the United ates government and operated as III 'e transport Huron. After the war e was sold to the Munson line which th day reported that as the City of tn onolulu the ship sank in the Paci- H , ocean in 1922.