Federal prohibition chief Roy T. Lyle, with part of a shipment of “salt fish” liquor seized in a Seattle shed. Scan from an original photo from the S.P.H.S.©
Rum Running Through the Islands Recalled by Harry W. Patton
“Joe Patton was not a rumrunner, or a bootlegger. For a loss of exact descriptive words, I would describe him as a ‘fringe facilitator.’ He never did drive a rum boat in the dark of night, nor load or off load any booze.
Soon after WW I ended, the use of alcoholic beverages increased markedly. On payday a large number of workers would shoot their paychecks on booze before they even got home. People felt that something should be done. Backed by many church groups, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), a national amendment, the 18th Amendment was finally passed and was put into effect in 1920, prohibiting the distillation, importing or consumption of alcoholic beverages. This was the beginning of what is called the Prohibition period (1920-1933.)
Many men were extremely put out about this situation and started to find ways around it. Some made gin in bathtubs that got to be known as ‘bathtub gin.’ Others brewed beer in huge vats in hidden warehouses. But those vats were often found and destroyed by the Feds. Some other source had to be determined.
Canada was free from our Amendment 18. Many of our entrepreneurs quickly fell upon the idea of importing whiskey from Canada and soon midnight clandestine smugglers arrived with cases of whiskey at the border into the US. The border between the US and Canada is more than 3,000 miles long, most of it unpatrolled. Even so, the Feds, due to tips and payoffs, were able to intercept many of the transfers and much booze was apprehended and destroyed.
Read the full post on Saltwater People Log.
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