A Life Unknown Pt. 03

"Do you want me to leave Victoria?"

"Your father expects you to stay the night," I said. You'd best get your money's worth.

I was woken again at six o'clock. Lionel was lying on his side, and I had my back to him when I felt his erection against my bum crack. In the next hour, his education continued when I introduced him to soixante-neuf and woman on top.

At half past seven. he crept out of my cabin and back to his father's yacht. Nobody saw him leave. Before he left, he kissed me on the lips.

"Thank you, Victoria.... I shall never forget you as long as I live."

"Nor I you," I replied.

***

I did not feel guilty about being unfaithful to Edward although maybe I should have done. I simply couldn't help myself. The opportunity to deflower a virgin for the third time in my short life was simply too good to miss. Even in my early thirties, I was starting to understand that I would likely not regret what I had done, but only what I had left undone. Death had stalked me, and life for many was short. I did not plan to miss out. I reminded myself that I had slept with Arthur when I believed Edward to have been killed, and I had told him about this. Edward had in turn visited a brothel in France on more than one occasion. Following his disclosure, I insisted he visit a doctor to be checked for disease and would not sleep with him until he was disease free. This of course was another advantage of sleeping with a virgin who had previously been "untouched by human hand." I wasn't going to catch anything.

***

Later that day I returned to shore where Hans was waiting to take me into New York before I caught the overnight sleeper to Boston and home.

Throughout 1921 and 1922 business was good and the money flowed in, but by the beginning of 1923, the time of easy profits was over.

The coast guard, who early in prohibition had been powerless to outrun the fast speedboats, now had speedboats of their own, and destroyers were starting to be used to prevent offloading of liquor from the ships waiting on Rum Row. These destroyers had even been known to fire on ships and speedboats.

More worrying, from my perspective, was the increasing amount of violence on Rum Row. Armed thugs hijacking boats returning to land with loads of liquor were a perennial problem, but attacks were now far more common. Attacks on mother ships were rarer but whole cargoes had been stolen on occasion.

Both the Glasgow and The Speakeasy were well-guarded, both ships eventually being fitted with three Lewis Guns apiece, sited fore, aft, and midships. When Glasgow was on the row, and not collecting fresh merchandise, they moored close to one another, and each ship had a complement of guards armed with Tommy guns.

To protect guests traveling to The Speakeasy, everybody boarding the transfer launch was searched for weapons before boarding, and then again on arrival before boarding the casino. In April 1923 two hoodlums managed to get their guns onto the Jolly boat but were later caught trying to board The Speakeasy. In the subsequent shootout, they were both killed and thrown overboard. No guests were hurt but our reputation was damaged, and profits plummeted.

And so, in May 1923 I decided to close the Speakeasy, and a month later Glasgow made its last sales.

***

The summer of 1923 was a quiet interlude. I had closed my businesses and was contemplating what to do next. Money was not a problem; I had made over two million dollars in the last few years, but I knew that sooner or later I would want to find something new to keep me busy. Edward had suggested a tour of Italy which I was considering.

Then in July, my life took another twist. It was a warm summer evening and I had been invited to a garden party by one of my neighbours. Edward generally found these affairs infinitely boring, but I had persuaded him to accompany me. He was playing billiards with the husband of our host when I decided to take a walk alone in the garden. It was too hot to drink alcohol, although there was plenty available, and I was drinking iced lemonade when I decided to seek shade and sat on a bench in a clematis-covered arbour. I was alone with my thoughts and sipping my lemonade when I saw a man approaching me. At first, I was a little annoyed that my solitude was to be broken but resigned myself to some small talk. As he got nearer, my irritation turned to panic, and then resignation, as I realised it was Lionel. He had seen and recognised me and was grinning ear to ear.

Hello, Victoria he said. I thought it was you.

***

To be continued...

Endnote

Prohibition in the United States commenced on January 17^th, 1920, when the 18^th Amendment or the Volstead Act came into effect. The act had been ratified a year earlier and banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol. By this time. thirty-three states already had their own prohibition laws in place. Prohibition effectively started in New York State on June 30^th, 1919, when the Wartime Prohibition Act was enforced. This was despite the fact the War had already ended. The rationale of the legislation was that grain should be used as food and not to produce alcohol, and the sale of beer and alcoholic drinks with an alcohol content greater than 2.75% was made illegal.

Prohibition was driven by the temperance movement to combat "the evils of drink," but caused far more problems than it solved. Restaurants that relied on the sale of alcohol to be profitable were caused to shut, tens of thousands of people died from drinking poisoned "moonshine" alcohol distilled in illegal stills, drug use increased, and taxes resulting from the sale of alcohol were lost.

Importantly, organised crime syndicates grew to control the smuggling and subsequent sale of alcohol in underground speakeasy bars. Enforcement of prohibition was impossible; many politicians and law enforcement officers were bribed by the syndicates. Violence between gangs was common.

The cost of law enforcement and the prison service grew in this period. The jails were overfilled with small-time criminals put there in a vain attempt to enforce the law.

In 1932 when Franklin D Roosevelt ran for president he promised to repeal prohibition. It finally ended on 5^th December 1933 although some states continued to ban alcohol up until 1966.

***

Rum Row was the name given to a line of ships moored outside US territorial waters that carried alcohol for sale to customers coming from the shore. These lines were found near American ports and up until April 1924 were three miles from land. After that, the maritime limit was increased to twelve miles and the rows moved beyond that point. The first Rum Rows, as their names suggest, were established around Florida and the ships carried rum from the Caribbean. Later rows could be found at many points around the United States including San Francisco, Galveston, and New Orleans. The biggest row was moored off the Jersey shoreline. These ships, the majority of which flew the British flag, smuggled alcohol from Canada, Bermuda, and the French Island of St Pierre and Miquelon.

Some of the smugglers became household names, including William "Bill" McCoy who was one of the first to embark on this venture. He considered himself an "honest man" since he technically broke no laws, paid no protection to politicians or law enforcement officers, and had no connection with organized crime. He sold good quality products at fair prices and was known to give away free samples to regular customers. It is reputed that it is from him the phrase "The real McCoy "originates because, unlike many of his competitors, he never mislabelled or watered down liquor. He became so well known the US coastguard became desperate to catch him, and in 1923 he was arrested and sentenced to nine months in Jail.

***

Bermuda, The Bahamas, and St Pierre and Miquelon all prospered during the prohibition years.

Large amounts of scotch whisky from the UK passed through Nassau in Bermuda. Imports increased from one hundred and twenty-five thousand gallons in 1917 to two and a half million gallons in 1922.

In Bermuda, by 1922, imports of scotch had increased four hundredfold.

In 1930, the tiny French island of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, with a population of four thousand people, imported one million gallons of scotch alone. Much of this came from nearby Canada. This was in addition to wine, other spirits and liqueurs, and champagne imported from France. The entire island became a giant warehouse. The locals called this time "Les temps de la fraude, (The times of the fraud)."

***