Cape Breton's Magazine

round it just took them longer to land it. The real good fellows landed lots of it, they never opened their mouths. They never said, well, I fooled them yesterday, ne? ver told it out* But you get a fellow that lands a couple of bottles, you get Oh jeez I fooled this mounty • them fellows didn't land no liquor. Long as they got clear and landed, good luck to them as long as they didn't blow about it. But if they'd say they tooled us and this and that, that's the time we'd get after them worse than ever. _.Fermin Fleet: This schooner that I was on • the Tillie. a 3-masted schooner • I never went to Scotland on her but she loaded in Scotland with Scotch whiskey • 37,000 cases of whiskey in the hold in wooden boxes, 12 in a case • they were glass bottles in straws at the tirae. I joined her in Halifax. 90 dollars a month and 20 a month bonus. We left the 18th day of December. We were going to take it to New York. 6 days and 6 nights to Ambrose Channel Lightship. And when we got there an American yacht • a steam yacht • come out and tied up alongside of us. And he had to be up in the docks at New York at 6 o'clock Christmas Eve* So we loaded. We put 6000 cases aboard of her and it got rotigh • right there on the open Atlantic, 12 miles out. Captain said We can't stay no longer. We're parting lines. So he left and went into New York. And we laid off about 14 miles. You could just see the land and the lights of the land some nights. Just eating and standing out v/atch • 4 on and 4 off • telling lies and playing cards and having the odd drink. We were waiting for that yacht to come back out. But she got caught and she couldn't get out. She didn't get caxight with any? thing aboard but she got caught with straws or cases • and they held her on a sort of detention. And we waited for her* Two or three weeks and our grub got all out* We couldn't go in the states* Oh, no. The odd time we'd see a 4-stacker • so we'd put to sea further. What I mean a 4-stacker is a U.S. Coast Guard and they burnt coal at that time and you could see their smoke. And when you'd see their smoke you'd get as much headway up as you could and to be on the safe side you'd get out a little fur? ther. She'd corae maybe take a turn or two around you, and spy at you and all that sort of thing. But leave you alone. Anyhow, we went back to Halifax. Our grub was gone and all we had was 2 or 3 dried codfish and a few turnips, cabbage and a little bit of cornraeal. That's the God's honest truth. Lots of liquor • well, we only got clear of 6000 or 7000 cases in all that tiraeo So we went into Halifax and custoras corae aboard and sealed her up. Well, what I mean now by sealing her up: They put a big blob of sealing wax • you know, that red wax • you melt it on the hatches • and when it was melted there was a hajmmer with a crown on it • the Queen's crown like • and he staraped it into that wax with a red ribbon and that red ribbon run right a- cross the hatch, you know, just the same like you tie up a Christmas parcel. It rtm right across the hatch and another blob of sealing wax and another crown. And if this ribbon was broken while we were in port the ship would be seized. That seal couldn't be broken till you were outside the 3-mile limit. We were in there I guess about a week • grubbed up. Then we came out of Halifax on this bad trip on the 13th of February, 1927. That was an imlucky Jesus day to go. We ''* LIMITED ''' RADIO DISPATCHED 24 HOURS PLUMBING - HEATING & ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS • OIL BURNER SALES & SERVICE • AIR CONDITIONING & VENTIUTING SYSTEMS • MAYTAG APPLIANCES FREE ESTIMATES 539-6200 TELEX 019-35213 885 VICTORIA ROAD SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA Cape Breton's MagMtine/6