Dutch Shultz was tried in Malone. He wined and dined the community and got
off, as portrayed in the movie, "Billy Bathgate" and others. But he wasn't
a smuggler. His trial was moved to Malone to get away from the corrupt
system and pretrial publicity in 'the city.'  There was a lot of smuggling
along the northern tier, as Dr. Everest documented. We have some of his
notes in our archives. Newspapers of the day reported on those who were
caught. We have some of these stories indexed in our card catalog. Also,
in the years since, various columnists have recounted many of these and
oral tradition stories.

One of my favorites involves the Half-way house, a bar located on the
border at Fort Covington, NY. Supposedly, this place was set up so people
could buy their liquour in Canada and walk across the room to a table in
the United States, so they technically hadn't left the country so didn't
have to reenter. Both the US and Canadians raider it repeatedly without
success until they finally coordinated a raid and caught everyone in a
squeeze play.

Also, the bottom of the St. Lawrence River off Ogdensburg has some very
fine, well aged whiskey waiting to be found. Smugglers would lash barrels
of whiskey to the sides of their boats. If customs agents approached, they
would simply cut the ropes, thereby 'cutting their loses.'
Wayne Miller
Plattsburgh State University

On Fri, 11 Sep 1998, Bob Arnold wrote:

> The Franklin County (NY) Clerk will have transcripts of a Legs Diamond trial. She is Wanda D. Murtagh, 63 West Main Street, Malone, New York, 12953. Phone at 518/481-1681.
>
> >>> <[log in to unmask]> 09/10 2:58 PM >>>
> Hello all,
>
> I'm wondering if anyone knows of any New York specific studies of Prohibition
> ?
> Also interested in studies of Prohibition offenders, particularly smugglers.
>
> I already have Everest's Rum Across The Border (Syracuse, 1978).
>
> Thanks,
>
> John Warren
>
> JWarren102
>

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Wayne L. Miller                         Special Collections Librarian
Feinberg Library                        2 Draper Avenue
518-564-5206                            Plattsburgh, NY 12901
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        "I wonder what will happen today!"  -Maggie Muggins-
"Not even God can change history...which is why he tolerates historians."
                                        -Voltaire
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