A Profitable Industry
p. 13 · Read in the full issue
Ended Tahiti Mourns Last Load of Bootleg Whisky
From Our Own Correspondent.
Papeete, Feb. 22.
THE three-masted vessel “Marechal Foch,”’ now owned by the heirs of the late Pere Rougier, but formerly be longing to Mr. Zane Grey, and then known as the “Fisherman,” has just returned to Papeete after delivering the last load of whisky to the boot-leggers’ mother-ship, stationed off the Mexican Coast.
It is stated that there are still more than 60,000 cases of liquor on the “Row,” awaiting disposal, before the owners can relinquish the bootlegging game and get back into the regular liquor business.
Apparently, the price of liquor in America is still high enough to make
smuggling a profitable venture, but the coastguards are said to be exceedingly active now-a-days, and the risks of land ing bootleg liquor infinitely greater than they were when the American public were denied a legitimate supply, and conse quently worked hand in hand with the boot-leggers in outwitting the authorities.
The transhipment at Papeete of French wines and Scotch and Canadian whiskies has been a considerable source of revenue for this Colony for some years past, and in spite of sensational reports to the con trary, has been quietly and efficiently carried on—just like any other business enterprise.