Page 22. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2012


Maritime History By Amos Boyd


February of 1927 brought “lots of blow, heaps of snow and mercury low” to the coastal areas of Washington County in east- ern Maine. Snow came during 20 of the 28 days of the month, piling up an impressive total of 27.7 inches. The temperature rose above zero only once and that was on Febru- ary 5th


. The winds were ferocious, blowing continually for days at a time, sweeping the ground bare in some places and dumping ten foot drifts elsewhere.


The grinding roar of the snowplow was a welcome and reassuring sound, infre- quently heard even from a distance, since many plows had broken down under con- stant use. Women, men and children shov- eled, and then shoveled again. Cars got stuck even in the middle of the road, and in snow banks, engines whining and tires screaming in protest. Woodpiles shrunk to shadows of their former size, and whenever possible people stayed home to wood fires in strug- gling kitchen stoves.


1927 was however, the time of Prohibi- tion, and there were many who welcomed the constant curtain of snow, which helped to hide their rum-running activities. At Holmes’ Bay, near Cutler, a large and valuable cargo, eighty ten gallon kegs of malt whiskey, was being brought ashore into a sheltered cove. A large crew of men were struggling in the cold and blowing snow, moving the heavy kegs to waiting trucks.


Once loaded and on the road, the trucks made good time in spite of the snow, but as the storm intensified and the snow came down increasingly heavy and wet, the driv- ing became more and more difficult. When they turned toward McGeorge’s Crossing, the men saw the road had not been plowed. The falling snow had become half rain, and the drivers could hardly see through the steamy wet windshields.


Suddenly the lead truck, with the others following closely, skidded off the road and into a field where they all stopped, sinking deep into the heavy snow. The truck’s en- gines stuttered and died, and in the silence that followed, the men became aware of the


Whiskey and Snow


roar of the wind, and the increasing strength of the storm.


The trucks had to be unloaded before they could be moved. The tired men jumped down into wet snow waist high, and found it difficult to stay on their feet. By now they were thoroughly wet and chilled, so they huddled together out of the wind for a few warming drinking and a brief consultation. Cigarettes were lighted with numbed fingers and bottles were passed from man to man. Exhausted as they were, the men had neither the time nor the strength to carry the heavy kegs any distance, so they sank them deep in the snow. One of the men commented, as he hoisted himself back on the track, “at least we don’t have to worry about the stuff freezing.” February’s snow remained in deep drifts until the second week in March, when a sudden thaw occurred, and rapid melting set in under an unusually warm sun. The whiskey kegs began to surface, and on a Sunday afternoon, were discovered by a group of young boys roaming in the fields near the Machias road.


The boys were curious about their find, although they had some conviction about its character. Then they sampled the liquid to make sure what it was, and tried a little more, and with some confusion and uncertain loco- motion, they staggered home to tell their mothers about their discovery.


East Machias is a small, quiet conserva- tive town where social activity is focused around its beautiful white church and that center of dignified classical learning, Wash- ington Academy. However, news of the li- quor cache spread like lightening from house to house throughout the town and a general celebration was indulged in by the drinking members of that community. According to rumor, the drinkers got theirs in varying amounts and then staggered off with as much as they could lug.


Sharing the oh-be-joyful was part of the fun, and with husky whispers them men de- cided to meet in a nearby stable where they could drink in peace and reasonable comfort away from unsympathetic wives. The stable rapidly became crowded and the smell of


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tobacco smoke, booze, horses and men com- bined with roaring laughter, until a huge fat man named Berry decided to dance. This inspired others to sing, but Berry attempted a dainty pirouette, and only succeeded in stepping on the other men’s feet and other tender parts of their anatomy; immediately the atmosphere turned ugly.


The resulting uproar aroused an already irritated housewife living nearby, and she called the sheriff, who arrived quickly to make


charge of what was left of the liquor. The whole affair attracted widespread attention through the entire county, not only because of the liquor cache, and the hilarity that followed, but because of the great value of the liquor. Only one county newspaper reported the incident, which revealed “heavy traffic in contraband liquor going on in appar- ent security almost under the nose of the sheriff’s headquarters in Machias.”


MISC. COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS Continued from Page 13.


caught and released by anglers. Alaska: A project to identify and restore important fish spawning habitat by opening up fish passages on rivers and streams and removing marine debris.


Northwest: A project to develop and evaluate a new, more flexible management approach for Chinook salmon that may allow for increased recreational fishing. Southwest: Multiple cooperative scien- tific research projects with anglers to improve survival of fish caught and released by an- glers and improve information on recre- ational catch and effort.


Northeast: A project to work with the regional fishery management councils to ensure that Atlantic herring, mackerel, squid and butterfish populations are maintained at healthy levels. This project would also focus on reducing the unintended catch of forage fish such as river herring, which are important food for striped bass and other fish prized by saltwater anglers.


Southeast: A project to investigate more flexible management strategies to provide greater fishing opportunities to the charter boats and other recreational “for-hire” boats. Each of the regional action agendas in- cludes projects that address the five national recreational fishing action goals which are: Improving recreational fishing opportuni- ties; Improving recreational catch, effort and stock status data; Improving social and eco- nomic data on recreational fisheries; Improv- ing communications; and Improving institu- tional orientation to promote greater under- standing of saltwater angling issues. The new action agendas include ongo- ing projects or projects expected to be com- pleted in the next 12 to 24 months. The projects improve science and stewardship and help build stronger partnerships with the saltwater angling community through a more visible and responsive regional NOAA pres- ence.


NOAA Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council Issue Statement on Gulf of Maine Cod Eric Schwaab, NOAA Assistant Admin- istrator for Fisheries, and C.W. Cunningham,


New England Fishery Management Council Chair, issued the following statement on December 9, 2011: “NOAA in cooperation with the New England Fishery Management Council met with representatives from the fishing industry, environmental community, scientists and other members of the public at the Sheraton Hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We discussed the preliminary findings of the recent Gulf of Maine cod stock assessment, which indicate a dramatic de- cline in the stock size for Gulf of Maine cod. If the preliminary scientific findings are un- changed after the scientific peer review is completed, the results would have manage- ment implications that could undermine sig- nificant progress in management of regional groundfish fisheries.


Given these emerging circumstances, NOAA and the New England Fishery Man- agement Council conducted this meeting to focus on identifying options for maintaining recent progress in the fishery while mitigat- ing impacts for fishermen and fishing commu- nities. A number of important ideas, ques- tions and concerns were raised. The results of the meeting will be considered further by NOAA and the Council as we move forward with developing management measures for the 2012 fishing year. These emerging data present an unusual set of circumstances, which may require out of the ordinary solu- tions, which we are committed to exploring.”


New England Fishery Management Council Submits Amendment 17 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Manage- ment Plan for Review by the Secretary of Commerce; Public Comments Requested through February 10, 2012 The New England Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 17 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Manage- ment Plan for review by the Secretary of Commerce. NOAA Fisheries is requesting comments from the public on Amendment 17, which was adopted by the Council, including an Environmental Assessment prepared by NOAA Fisheries, to explicitly define and fa- cilitate the effective operation of state-oper- ated permit banks. Comments are due Febru- ary 10, 2012.


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26' Stamas, built 1970s. Powered with twin Ford 6 cylinders. V-berth, enclosed head and small galley. Great weekender. $6,000


For More Information contact: The library at: PO Box 710, Winterport, ME 04496 207-223-8846 igmatats@aol.com


The tug DOROTHY L. owned by Prock Marine of Rockland.


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