Page 18 - Remembering Rum-Running Days

ISSUE : Issue 11

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1975/6/1

on the ships then went to the navy. Our patrol boats • our seagoing RCMP • all went in- t: the navy or the air force. There was nobody left, really • everybody was too busy. The e was nobody left to bring rum in from the Barbadoes or British Guiana or from St. Pierre. I would never be so brash as to say we had it stopped. Oh, no. The last b g seizure of rum on Cape Breton • I raade it rayself • was on New Year's Day, 1939. And that seizure was from a bunch of hi-jackers. We knew there was a cache of rura over around St. Esprit. Couldn't find it. Finally the hi-jackers found it. They knew how to locate it. It was about 10 feet under the top of the sand, a big cache built up with logs. Hi-jackers frora New Waterford. They found the cache and started trans? porting it to the raining towns to sell it. I think we got 150 kegs and they all went tr 'ail for it. I think we seized five cars. We eventually caught thera all, once or '.. j.ce. We had a rura runner down north • it took a long tirae but we finally got hira. -jiiey'd make a mistake- take too many chances. I think they were just greedy, you know, wanted to ma3? as ranch raoney as they could. But it's a funny thing: I don't think many of thera ever ended up with money, frora rum. And everywhere it was the same: St. Peters, Ingonish, Cheticamp • there was rura everywhere. Everywhere. There was no question about that. A schooner siezed by the RCKP Patrol Boat "Ulna" (Ri'ht) on June 16th. 1938. Below. men are unloading kegs from that seizure. Ri'ht. dumping rum in the customs house. Our thanks to many people who helped make this article on rum-running possible, and especially to Milton MacKenzie and William Fraser for use of their photographs; and to Lloyd Norman. Training Supervisor' who helloed us obtain copies from the photo di- ary of the late Staff Sgt. John P. Milburn (pictured on page 17 with the automobile),' at the RCMP Corporal's Mess, Halifax. '' % |'''3 1 CHRYSLER ''''''' SALES/SERVICE 55 Victoria Road Sydney "We think Custoraer" J j' ALLIED VAN LINES Moffatt Bros. Ltd. Moving and Storage Sydney 564-4538 Old ManJs Seara

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