BAHAMA BLOCKADE-RUNNER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 47, 24 February 1923, Page 15

BAHAMA BLOCKADE-RUNNER.

ANCESTOR OF TO-DAY'S BOOTLEGGER.

pBOrlXABI.1!, IF RISKY, EMPLOYMENT.

(Bj- J. D. IjHCKTE.)

«<h, Ba-haina. Islands, not for the first ««ta their totory, *re now enjoying boom in tbe contraband trade. Ac- *_]•„<, to American aoooonts, the fian Government derived 1.200,000 *,°T revenue from the illicit liquor 7 «. nf 1932, whereas the revenue in gf from M sources was only 400,000 jollim■ttil reminds one of the palmy days . Bahamas, during the American «til War, vrben the group became the ILjt oefltre of the blockade-running Cfge. Bcre are some figures which indi- _ t( jj, c prosperity which t)he American Cvil War ibrought the email British ulonv. The Ta l uc of the imports and W port« at Xfcssaa (capital of the tkbunas) in 1860 the year before Che «r, Ktre respectively £234,020 and 1157,350; in 1864, when the fratricidal tonflirt was at its height, they- had riwn to and £4,672,398. Roekade running became a regular tmde. Any ebips wthich developed unusual speed were bougJit up at fancy prices for conversion into ""runners." Here was no room in the little port of Xisuu for all the cotton that was bought over from the Southern States for re-exportation to Europe. Every MCast apace in the town was piled up with bales of cotbon; It was simply "Ijing about loose" everywhere.

Everybody was making money. Ship cipttins and seamen were paid exorbitant wages, in proportion to the risk they ran. Shippers made immense fortunei. What did it matter if a ship with her cargo was captured and confiscated now and then? The profits of one succcaifol voyage were enough to counterbiUnM the iocs on two or three unsuccciafol ones. The command of the blockading squadrons became a bone of contention among American naval men. It wu no uncommon thing for such a camauder to awake one morning and find himself 20,000 dollars richer, on KKonnt of a prize which had been captured by one of his subordinates during the night. Only one party was losing— the unfortunate Southerners, from whom •peculators bought cotton at ridiculoaily low rates, to resell it in Liverpool It (amine prices. During the civil war the importation of liquor wae forbidden in the Southern SUtee, as it ii now throughout the Union. But the law wae not rigidly enforced; in fact, it soon became a dead letter. A •kipper who ran a schooner from Cuba to the Gulf ports (which were not co Ately watched) arrived one day at GalYMton with * cargo of rum. " He was informed that this was contraband; butn wu significantly hinted that it might te got through if it was intended for "medical purposes." The hint wae not lott, and calling on the military commander of the port, who was a colonel, he informed him that, knowing the fcaraty of medical supplies in the Confeierate army, he had managed to proema supply of rum, and hoped there im *>to "» clearing it HE? *• Customhouse. When* he «I the commandant's office he found nrf rt n !' nt (who "ceived him) 3USL TO ""I , eacb With a lar & e B la *s Vaf? '" fr ° nt of him: the Mutant, « the humour of the situation struck ■SmPS 0, * "f * emile ' " Both the Shr-^lT? , ' are on the Bick «•* Si n fhu B S rfoundnodifflcu,t y & ~ nM h e. r during the civil S'amJn^i ede runner *** captured 'We c/ew J" , "** broach « d Sui , B ?iTvTu 0 got com P'etely out of S? «» ne S>*<*ed to suppress ShL **«**■* °een started on the LZ t^ tun - ' "»• flam ee soon *$$!*& reached c p» rt of « iv J«WI which contained a stock of gunSZf , "S there w » e an immediate ud s«,d.ng the rioters to a doom ™J» *»b not undeserved. *JJ queer stories were told of the ™«Mc runnere. One ship, while carrySJL* c cargo from ifa««*u to »SS \ WM overt aken by a fog, •rt when , t in ddenly lifted, she found uJSj."** m th« middle of the squadron. Escape seemed ££»•»• But the captain was a man of h»3' Knowing that ',be neighboursaX°l B ? ufort had "»«• «»Ptured wW i" , ' 8 ' he hoißted the Federal Wl,U 0 1 c - d > dOWn hi, en » in " " d #Sm »V» i*ad in the direction &!* £* tloa and he was in no hurr y there. The very boldness of the te nV^'v, 14 * eUccess - The commanhr m«h squadron took it tfe f^ fed that - the Bh »P w »» one of SJ , "Wnnu traneports conveying supZ 2?. seaport, and let t6 ?f * wough without even giving S-taT.J 0 itop, But the «kipper did Uα tU ■" frM, y until the Bun cct > lim uhi , * steaeln « darknees enabled * •ffii'tt his course towarde »ft>rS crn naVal officer (S»»»n">. Warfi'-i"" 1 the "ockade successfully ruse. I n command of the to th. tL™ , ? 11 Sunboa*. "c bad run in ,V™« itißnch harbour of Martinique, tbekiHM v "ddenly »nd unexpectedly 52fc %- the Federal warship W a^ W: " eh . Wared off the harj. •"<«.continued to cruise in the *»Sf n »? meß, 9mall craft w a» no **te ii.»Ji P° Werful cruiser, and his m.'&J'W Further, it came CT 1 * of the captain of the Iroauoii i?"I c con >mander of the XL en »Wi 8 hed a private sig*rW \° n the hil,s overlooking the he could be kept in- °» his enemy's movements. j™ , cow ee, did not know the t lire-j B,, "P"eed on, but he formed «• SrtL, 8,, that ac BOOn as he left Weonimn •' r* couree :,e took would SfiSSTS 1 * - t0 the enem^; and ne WriJtt? Accordingly, one dark night I^T 1 an <:nor and made for the open *Uoon»\l 00ner had : ' e ? ot outside the *•» hoUuS \ B *r that "X ,,1 " had "*»« on «T . at the priTate "'S , " I, !i*U .»Jv *' once P ut out his own * wSSto , ?* hia I " , ' iead in direction. Meantime, the «■ supposing that the Sumter moving on her original course, ,tJJ£ n that direction. Thus, every Hewitt^' 1 the distance between <**ntd f - Bteamere - and when morning *» tinZf afe ., to sa y that th *y were L Hundred miles apart.