Family Connections

Rum Running Page 3

Madawaska and Victoria Counties.

 

In his renowned and unique book entitled When Rum Was King, Barry Grant headlines his chapter devoted to Madawaska County as:

"Unlike the illicit booze dealers in most other parts of the province, the ‘big fish" of Madawaska County did not confine themselves to any one aspect of the trade. Their enterprises were developed horizontally."

In other words, Madawaska had ‘em all: bootleggers, runners, moonshiners, smugglers and those who posed as legitimate business men. The latter did a thriving business with St Pierre and Miquelon.

St. Pierre and Miquelon is a group of small islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, found south of Newfoundland. At the closest, their distance to land is 25 km ( 13 miles). Today, as in the second and third decades of the 20th century, the islands are under the governing body of France. Even today's mega source of information, Wikipedia, recognizes that" a 13-year economic boom took place on the islands during the period of prohibition in the United states, when Miquelon and St. Pierre were prominent bases for alcohol smuggling."

The letter below, written in flowing script, on file in the Provincial Archives lends testimony to the thriving business conducted between Perth-Andover and the French Islands:

The Wade Drug Co.,Ltd
Wholesale Druggists & Stationers
Perth Junction, N.B.
Jan. 25, 1924

Dear Sir,

I called you on phone today but as usual found you not home.

I want 20 gallons of alcohol this I think you could box up and ship to me by freight without any risk, call me up, "tomorrow Saturday" & let me know what you think—, call about 12 o'clock.

I found the last 20 gal. I got from you short measure, that is you had only 108 ounces in a tin when there should have been 128 ounces this mean's that I was short about 3 gal and a half. The tin's must be full to the top & then there will be no shake or gurgle. Bill the shipment to me and make the shipper name U. C. Grant .

Yours true
Harry S. Wade

Will mail cheque

It is clear that the supplier and the buyer went to some lengths to conceal the actual nature of their business together, i.e. shipping by freight and falsifying the name of the recipient.

It is inconceivable for 21st century patrons of the pharmacy to recognize what was in the drugstores of the Prohibition era. The druggists of the ‘20s and ‘30s sold, with government approval and sanction, as much booze as the bootlegger.

In When Rum Was King, Grant lists the line of products found in the pharmacies of the period: "talcum powder, iodine, Minard's Liniment, Scott's Emulsion and cough syrups" that were loaded with booze. If a patient had an alcohol problem and a bad cough, he could feed his addiction and cough less, all at the same time. The drug stores were little more than bootlegger premises, with one exception: they had the benefit of being an official, recognized, government outlet for liquor—and enjoyed an up-town address.

By 1924 legitimate business men conducted business by letter and by telephone. The letter below is found at the Provincial Archives. It is valid proof that a strong connection existed between politics in Madawaska County and booze. The letterhead defines the sender's line of business:

Ford Cars Trucks and tractors
Lincoln Motor Cars
A.J.Violette
St. Leonard's , N.B.

 Liquor Used for Election

 To Raymond Devot:

 8 gals @ $9.00— $72.00
 2 qts, old rum— 8.00
 This is for Green River and St Leonard— $80.00

 Max Theriault, Quisibus
 5 gals @ $9.00— $45.00

 Billy Bird, St Leonard
 1 ½ gal @ $9.00— $13.50

 F.A. Roy, St. Leonard
 1 gal. $9.00— $9.00

J.B. Chouinard, St Quentin
10 gals @ $9.00— $90.00

A.J. Violette. Used at the counter
$60.00— $60.00

$297.50

The use of booze to sway the vote is not a new or unique tendency. Barry Grant, author, tells the story of the 1802 election. It was held in Northumberland County. A gentleman, Duncan MacKay advised Edward Winslow that, "some of the candidates or their agents are to bestow some victuals and drink on their voters, and we design to have a little for Major Hailes voters ( if we can)"

This tradition of supplying booze to voters is an old one and quite common. It had various names—a little treat, a bribe or the one given by Grant, "the persuader" Whatever it's name, it was an effective sway of the vote.

Evidence still abounds that St. Pierre and Miquelon conducted a thriving business by ship with parts of New Brunswick. From the files of the provincial Archives, Aug. 21, 1924 comes the following letter indicating that Messers. Julien Moraze and J.A. Violette are legitimate business owners.

"Commission & Consignation Saint -Pierre,

Le 21 Aout
Julien Moraze Quai de la Roncière
Saint-Pierre & Miquelon

M. J. A. Violette

The invoice reads :

6 verres fanaux, 2 gals. Huile a moteur, 1 lait, 2 lbs, cream of tartar, 10 douz oeufs, 12 ½ lbs. ham, 2 allumettes, 3 gals oil, 1 empty keg ( charge $8.00), 1 telegramme ( 90 cents) Cash, $25.00, bringing the total to $57.55, to which was added $60.00 for the Lunenburg Foundry Bill, freight and charges, $1.75.

The total now is $119.30

Magnettos and two coffrets perfumeri add $235. to the invoice. However the final bill comes in at $133.10

The only item that authorities could red flag in this invoice is an empty keg pegged at eight dollars. The above invoicing was legal. Following is the other business conducted between Monsieur Moraze and Monsieur Violette:

Saint-Pierre
August 23rd, 1924
Julien Moraze
Saint-Pierre & Miquelon

Monsieur Violette

114 cases Black and White Whisky @ 16—1824.00
136 Dubouche cognac @11.50—1564.00
50 Gin "Eagle Brand" 7—350.00

$3738.00

Memo: Gallons Demerara Rhum @ $5.00
o take on board of the schooner "Almeida"

A chapter on Demerara Rum in Ardent Spirits states that, "The only rival for position in the preferences of drinkers on the East Coast that had to be shared by Demerara Rum was pure alcohol."

The author emphasizes that rum from Demerara had a taste and flavour all its own and the potency was undeniable.

Demerara's website today proudly boasts:

"The El Dorado range of rums are distilled, blended and bottled by Demerara Distillers Limited—located on the East Bank of the age old, world famous county of Demerara. Demerara is popular across the world for its rich, unmatched history of in excess of 300 years of sugar and rum production."

Demerara Rum presented a serious problem to St Pierre and Miquelon. Therefore, Demerara rum was prohibited to protect the sales from the French Caribbean. The ship owners devised a clever method to foil customs and liquor inspectors. On the bill of lading they wrote the name of a foreign country, for example, Cuba, when in fact she was bound for the East Coast of the Maritime provinces. They could only pull this off after they had sailed beyond the three mile limit where the waters, at that time, became international territory and anything goes. (Today restrictions are tighter).

Perhaps a little known fact that would surprise imbibers of the 21st century is that New Brunswick had its own prohibition.

The premier of New Brunswick in 1920 was Walter Foster. His government decided that when the War Measures Act ran out his party would introduce the Intoxicating Liquor Act. So sure was the government, backed by the Temperance Union (an anti-booze union of the day) that the Act would win favour the government gave the voters the choice.

In May of 1920 Premier Foster announced that the voters would find a referendum on their ballots, two items. They could check their choice: in favour or disfavour of the Intoxicating Liquor Act and favour or disfavour of selling beer and light wine.

The Act sailed through Provincial Parliament with a two-to-one win. It went on record that Madawaska was the single hold out.

Of the 15 counties Madawaska alone stood in disfavour of the Act and in disfavour of prohibiting the sale of beer and wine. And of that, it is a wonder to no one.

Madawaska thrived on the business it conducted with the French Islands. The letters above testify that the economy of Madawaska County depended heavily on the transportation and sale of liquor. They may have figured it would be an added nicety to be able to do it legally.

As for the Temperance union and the Tory government they took heart from the referendum results and pushed for total ‘teetotalism' in the province of New Brunswick. To do this they needed to prevent the importation of any and all liquors. This decision was an economic boost to all manufacturers, runners, bootleggers and drinkers. The New Brunswick government had just given a gigantic up—thrust to the booze trade.

It is a sad and well known fact that the economic boom experienced in St. Pierre and Miquelon ended with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. The resulting economy sank into depression and joined the rest of the coastal properties already in deep economic slump.

***

Anne Marie Murphy wishes to thank all people interviewed for this series. Without you, this series would not have come to fruition. Thank you for your candid remarks and in return I shall put into print what I promised you: I will protect and preserve your anonymity. I make no apologies to Mr. Moraze and Mr. Violette. Your correspondence is on display at the New Brunswick Archives.

 

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