Cape Breton's Magazine

ally wide open, yes. But it was up to yourself whether you wanted to serve them, a stranger • he could be an informer that might have informed on soraeone else or some? one you didn't want in there • you just tell thera you didn't have it, that's all. Make some excuse and try to do it the nicest way you could. We never had any trouble. We had a certain clientele would go down there. We had a nice Glace Bay trade. (How long did this go on?) Until the tirae they started to put the dog to us. That'd be a- round '27 I guess. We had three inspectors in town that tirae. They were out to get what revenue they could for the city. McConnell was raayor at that time. (Did you ever have to water it down?) Sol Green: Yes, what came in, we used to have to water it down. Alex Goldman: I reraeraber this day we opened up a 10-gallon keg and boiled I don't know how raany gallons of water and put it into one of these big boil? ers and raixed the water and the rum • and then bottled it. Sol: That's right. It wouldn't lose its strength as ranch with boiled water as you would with cold water. Alex: This was hot water. Sol: That's the idea. Then let it cool and it would still hold its strength. You'd lose a lot of strength with cold water. You'd raix it for a certain strength. The rum that was coraing off Rura Row was I think 30 overproof. Ac? tually 32. That was fairly strong. If you got it down to proof you had a good strong drink. (Proof is 100?) Yeah. I'd raix it a little better than a third. Alex: 2 parts rura to 1 part water. Sol: You cork thera yourselves. As far as rura was concerned, it carae in kegs. You had your own corks and your own bottles. But other liquors carae bottled frora wherever it was raanufactured. We were selling rura for a quarter a drink and 35 cents for scotch. Only thing was scarce was beer but we were getting 50 cents for a pint of beer. That's when we could get it. (Did woraen corae?) No. Not open like that. (Where did you store it?) Friends places, here and there. (Did you ever lose any?) Oh, yes. Anybody that was in the business lost sorae. A party you'd trust. You would have the wrong person. It'd just disappear. You had no corae back. When you went to get it it wasn't there, as far as they were concerned. But getting liquor? No, never had any trouble getting it. (Was there a big Teraperance Movement?) Every now and again there was what you'd call a revival. Just lay low for a while till everything would quiet down, then you'd start all over. They'd push up the police and the inspectors that they weren't doing their work and so on. And they'd get a little busier for a week or two, get a few raore convictions. Headlines in the paper. Gradually it would die down again. Churchs. You'd never get it frora the Catholic Church. Always the Protestant Church. I belonged to a Teraperance Union. They called it the I. O. G. T. The International Order of Good Teraplars. We used to meet every week. And you'd take a pledge that you weren't going to take a drink. I had to take a new pledge every week. Where Better Service Costs No More MacLeod's FINA Baddeck We Buy & We Sell and We're as Near as your Telephone Sid s Used Furniture Phone 564-.6123 436 Charlotte Street, Sydney J 35 Years of Serving Eastern Nova Scotia '' r . ikir r ACOBSON'S LRBIES WEAR ITl.: and Jewellers "The Diamond People" Sydney Antigonish North Sydney Port Hawkesbury SHADS Maple Orchard Restaurant, General Store Shell Service Station Skir Dhtt, on the Cat>ot Trail 32 Modern Units On the Cabot Trail at Ingonish Centre INGONISH MOTEL Swimming Pool Dining Room featuring Home-cooked Pood (902) 285-2888