Evening star., 1924-05-06
WITH THE COAST GUARD
ON THE RUM PATROL
The Blinking Lights Of Rum RowThe Snapper Fishermen Who
Couldn't Hear the Whistc-The Cenfemanly Canadian
and the Three Hard.Boled Bums

put We can hear her engine, but
she can't hear our whistle =
Search of Schooner.
'Better give him a blank" says the
Old Man, and one Of the six-pounders
bangs away. Then the schooner
hears. She heels over and her saals
come tumblinE down. We drop q
dinghy and the Junior officer boards
the schooner. rips up her matches and
goes down in the hold. He finds
nothing but ice. The schooner's bound
for Florida, snapper fishing. We let
her 60.
The rum fleet can barely be pick
ed up with the glasses now. Three
schooners and three steamers four
British and two Norwegiana AS
we draw near q boat, just visible to
the naked eye, leaves the side OF ono
of the British steamers and starts
course to intercept him. Then he
shows us his stern and heads out to
sea He's leaving q wake OF white
foam and making considerable speed.
The executive officer orders forced
draught 1t looks like a good chase.
The boilers wheeze. the engines in
crease their ninety revolutions to
12o or more and the old ship settles
down and begins to shiver all over
as she puts her nose to the trail and
PICKS up speed, The gunners are at
their stations. looking through tho
sights. fondlinE the lanyards. But
the OLD Man holds his fire He's
heading straight for South Africa"
says he. I've got as much coal as
he's got gasoline. TIL follow him
there II he wants me to-"
Quarry Changes Mind.
But our quarry changes his mind.
He spins his boat around, skidding
like an automobile on a turn. and
heads directly for the cutter, coming
up alongside Her lone occupant
comes aboard He's bareheaded,
wears a sport sweater and q tweed
suit with q double-breasted Jacket.
he looks mighty sheepish and nerv-
GUS he tells the captain he just
ing her out Hes a Canadian, he
says, visiting friends in New York.
and he thought he'd like to see what
rum Row looked like. He is searched
and only has $SS in his pocketbook.
Inae looks innocent enough, until he
produces memorandum book with
an expense account. Such items rs
cable tolls to Great Britain. Rirnini
and Havana, cigarettes for Mr.
Blank, Toothbrush for Mr.. Hank"
Mag azines and papers for Mr..
Swank" and other such entries make
MIN look like shore man for one
or the rum fleet. The Old Man de-
cides he's worth Investigating ana
besides, he has supplied US with a
sorely needed speed boat He is as
signed Quarters forward while on.
OF Lhe Seminole's officers casts OFF
In the speed boat for a trv-oIIt tn
see IL shes worth using later on.
-ur, e So''nue our course toward the
rum meet, and one OF the men on
watch picks up another speck on tba
norlzon. this one heading insbore
from the fleet. The boilers beein
tneir wheeling again under forced
oraught. The old screw churns the
water Whlte In our wake and we set
about to head him off. He sights me
making for him. SO he swerves and
decides to give us run to test our
speed IL looks like losing fight
lot tne seminole. The speed boat is
getting farther away Now we be-
gin to gain. His engine must have
gone bad Still he keeps up the
chase We continue to gain and af-
ter an hours running are near
enough to talk business. The gum
ners, caressing their six-pounders
turn pleading eyes upward to the bridge.
SnOt L1uuS Near.
We try a blank. The smoke swirl.
across the bridge and shuts off our
view for a moment, but when it
clears We see the boats still running.
1t will take more than a blank to
stop that fellow. The gunners slip
a solid shot into the breech, squint
through the sights and haul down on
the lanyard. Smoke swirls across the
bridge again, clearing just in time
for us to see great tower of water
rise right alongside the speedster
That one came near being q direct hit
1t was too close for comfort for the
rummies and they turn about. The
chase is over. AS she back-tracks on
her course and nears the cutter one
of her crew waves a handkerchief, to
let us know that all he wants is great
gobs of peace and good will. She
pulls alongside. Three buns crawl
aboard. One of them is seasick- His
face is green. He keeps cussing out
his engine. He says it went bad on
him.. and the fumes made him sick
when he tried to find the trouble.
They are taken aft to the cabin
and searched. The captured boat has
a cargo Of salty, fresh air. Only that
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