Rum-Running in PEI
Can you imagine a PEI where drinking was prohibited? I know, it must be hard to imagine. But, from 1901 to 1948, PEI was a dry province. Of course, when something in high demand is illegal and locals are strapped for cash, illegal industries will pop up.
Both Canada and the United States were under prohibition and Canada was in an ideal position to help supply the US with alcohol - such a long unprotected border and politicians that, with a little cash persuasion, looked the other way. It was a lucrative business. For example, you could sell a $3 bottle of Canadian Whiskey to a speakeasy or gangster in New York for $7 to $9. By the time that whiskey reaches the consumer, they may pay $12 for it! Plus, some of this rum was so strong, they had to water it down before they sold it, so they made even more money off it.
Atlantic Canada was in a great position in the rum-running industry - thousands of hidden coves along both sides of the border were great places to hide cargo and make deals with buyers.
One trick to hide liquor on PEI was to seal the liquor barrels and place them in the water attached to a buoy. When they heard authorities were coming, they would attach a heavy saltlick to the rope. The saltlick dragged the buoy down for a few days to a depth the authorities would not find it and after a few days, the saltlick was gone and the buoy was floating on the water again.
Other times, they would actually approach the fishermen when they were on the water, in daylight, and sell. So some of these sales were very obvious. But, there was such a large coastline that the Coast Guard was spread too thin. In the earlier years of prohibition, a lot of the investigating and prohibition inspector positions were held by locals. As you can imagine, locals were far less likely to arrest their neighbours for rum-running or for buying liquor, they could sympathize their neighbours and the hard times that had fallen on many of them. They knew the children these parents and sometimes older children, were trying to keep fed with a roof over their heads.
Around 1932, the RCMP took over these responsibilities... they were not popular and many communities did not like them... unlike your previous inspector who may have been a neighbour or member of the community, the RCMP did not know the locals as well so they were more likely to arrest them.
Locals knew the coastline well, those trying to arrest them did not always know it as well, giving an advantage to local rum-runners. Plus, many locals deemed rum-running an essential service. According to Ralph Getson, the curator of education at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg, NS, "Today, nobody wants to help a drug dealer, but back then people's sympathies were definitely with the rum-runners." But why were so may willing to take part in the illegal trade or look the other way? Money - not necessarily being paid off, but it was one of the few ways to make money at the time.
Both Canada and the United States were under prohibition and Canada was in an ideal position to help supply the US with alcohol - such a long unprotected border and politicians that, with a little cash persuasion, looked the other way. It was a lucrative business. For example, you could sell a $3 bottle of Canadian Whiskey to a speakeasy or gangster in New York for $7 to $9. By the time that whiskey reaches the consumer, they may pay $12 for it! Plus, some of this rum was so strong, they had to water it down before they sold it, so they made even more money off it.
Atlantic Canada was in a great position in the rum-running industry - thousands of hidden coves along both sides of the border were great places to hide cargo and make deals with buyers.
One trick to hide liquor on PEI was to seal the liquor barrels and place them in the water attached to a buoy. When they heard authorities were coming, they would attach a heavy saltlick to the rope. The saltlick dragged the buoy down for a few days to a depth the authorities would not find it and after a few days, the saltlick was gone and the buoy was floating on the water again.
Other times, they would actually approach the fishermen when they were on the water, in daylight, and sell. So some of these sales were very obvious. But, there was such a large coastline that the Coast Guard was spread too thin. In the earlier years of prohibition, a lot of the investigating and prohibition inspector positions were held by locals. As you can imagine, locals were far less likely to arrest their neighbours for rum-running or for buying liquor, they could sympathize their neighbours and the hard times that had fallen on many of them. They knew the children these parents and sometimes older children, were trying to keep fed with a roof over their heads.
Around 1932, the RCMP took over these responsibilities... they were not popular and many communities did not like them... unlike your previous inspector who may have been a neighbour or member of the community, the RCMP did not know the locals as well so they were more likely to arrest them.
Locals knew the coastline well, those trying to arrest them did not always know it as well, giving an advantage to local rum-runners. Plus, many locals deemed rum-running an essential service. According to Ralph Getson, the curator of education at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg, NS, "Today, nobody wants to help a drug dealer, but back then people's sympathies were definitely with the rum-runners." But why were so may willing to take part in the illegal trade or look the other way? Money - not necessarily being paid off, but it was one of the few ways to make money at the time.
Roy Clow, born in 1917 in Murray Harbour North, told CBC News in 2018, that in the 1930's, they would sell produce to Newfoundland schooners, they would get 15 cents for a two bushel bag of turnips, 10 cents a bushel for potatoes, sometimes less.
His brother was a fisherman, getting two and half cents per pound for lobster before he joined the Royal Canadian Navy to fight in the Second World War.
With money being as tight as it was, choosing between an illegal act to support your family and community or only fishing and farming was easy.
At 90-years-old, Clement Hiltz claimed making the decision was easy for him at 15-years-old, "I could make more money running one load of booze than I could in a year on the fishing boats."
Most liquors were destined for the US eastern seaboard, known as "Rum Row" where representatives of gangsters picked up the shipments. Initially, fishing schooners ran the rum, the ships soon adapted to the job - painted drab colours, sat lower in the water, and contained extra storage. At the end of the day, these ships could not compete with the powerful vessels of the authorities so they had to be clever.
One technique was to use "smoke bombs." Often times this could be accomplished by burning tires on deck. The tires created a lot of dark smoke that enabled the runners to evade capture and sometimes get to a cove or bay to hide. Once there, there were locals to hide the cargo.
It was still a dangerous job. The Coast Guard, both Canadian and American, would fire upon these vessels and could either kill members of the crew or sink the vessel.
But, it was not just in the water the rum had to be hidden. Some hid it under tons of fish, buried in their fields, in the pig sty, or even under the floor boards of a bull's stall. Even the Church.
At 90-years-old, Clement Hiltz claimed making the decision was easy for him at 15-years-old, "I could make more money running one load of booze than I could in a year on the fishing boats."
Most liquors were destined for the US eastern seaboard, known as "Rum Row" where representatives of gangsters picked up the shipments. Initially, fishing schooners ran the rum, the ships soon adapted to the job - painted drab colours, sat lower in the water, and contained extra storage. At the end of the day, these ships could not compete with the powerful vessels of the authorities so they had to be clever.
One technique was to use "smoke bombs." Often times this could be accomplished by burning tires on deck. The tires created a lot of dark smoke that enabled the runners to evade capture and sometimes get to a cove or bay to hide. Once there, there were locals to hide the cargo.
It was still a dangerous job. The Coast Guard, both Canadian and American, would fire upon these vessels and could either kill members of the crew or sink the vessel.
But, it was not just in the water the rum had to be hidden. Some hid it under tons of fish, buried in their fields, in the pig sty, or even under the floor boards of a bull's stall. Even the Church.
Oliver Smith, of Mount Stewart, helped his father run rum. He once recalled a night in 1936 when they were landing a big load in Savage Harbour while there was a Church meeting at the St. Andrews Church, located just up the road.
They were heading in with 110 kegs of liquor but the RCMP was waiting for them. So they hid in MacPhee's Cove and evaded the RCMP. They unloaded at The Crick Bridge. According to Smith:
The people from Savage Harbour and Point Desroches were going across the bridge with the horse and wagons and we were throwing the liquor up onto the road. And they had two or three big cars there, I think they were old Rios, they were really powerful. They used to take the liquor into a farmer's house and they hid a lot of it in the cellar and in the barn. I remember one fella up here in St. Andrews where one load went, he was a preacher, he went around preaching and he was always a religious-type fella. Nobody ever figured he'd be hiding liquor for them. But you'd do almost anything in the '30s in order to make a few dollars."
So it was not just Islander's wanting liquor during Prohibition that created a large rum-running industry. It was a combination of Islander's wanting their liquor and the real need of Islanders to make money as fishing and farming were no longer enough to keep a roof over their heads and food on their plates.
Demont, John. The Canadian Encyclopedia. "Maritime Drug Smuggling and Rum-Running." December 13, 2013. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maritime-drug-smuggling-and-rum-running
CBC News. "Rum-running in PEI's Bygone Days." September 30, 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-bygone-days-rum-running-1.4839501
Demont, John. The Canadian Encyclopedia. "Maritime Drug Smuggling and Rum-Running." December 13, 2013. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maritime-drug-smuggling-and-rum-running
CBC News. "Rum-running in PEI's Bygone Days." September 30, 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-bygone-days-rum-running-1.4839501
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