Rum Running

1935

July 12, 1935

Diver Finds No Clue to Dwight Mystery

Vineyard Gazette
John Dwight
Rum Running
Shipwrecks and groundings

The sloop Silver Heels, Capt. Eugene Nohl, returned to Vineyard Haven on Tuesday after spending more than two weeks in investigating the wreck of the rum runner John Dwight off Cuttyhunk and reported rather discouragingly that the hull is filled with bottles. Nohl, who has done most of the diving, said he had completed a thorough examination of the wreck, which he found damaged but slightly and sanded scarcely at all. But to the height of his shoulders, the entire cargo space is filled with empty beer bottles and rotted barrel staves.

June 21, 1935

Sea May Yet Yield Secret of the Dwight

Vineyard Gazette
John Dwight
Rum Running
Shipwrecks and groundings

With the eyes of the Atlantic seaboard directed toward the Vineyard this week, the twelve-year-old mystery of the sinking of the rum runner John Dwight began to unfold. The investigation has progressed to a point where it is definitely established that the wreck lies undisturbed with but slight damage to the hull, and that, presumably, her cargo of liquor, her store of wealth and the bones of the victims of violence are still in the decaying hull.

June 14, 1935

To Survey Wreck: Rum Runner’s Tragic Fate May Be Disclosed

Vineyard Gazette
John Dwight
Rum Running
Shipwrecks and groundings

A survey of the sunken wreck of the steam rum-runner John Dwight will begin today, weather permitting; Eugene Nohl and David J. Curney of Vineyard Haven having made their plans to begin the work. This same crew has completed its survey of the Port Hunter, and has reported that salvaging her cargo of steel is feasible.

1923

April 12, 1923

Another Sea Tragedy In Vineyard Sound

Vineyard Gazette
John Dwight
Rum Running
Shipwrecks and groundings
Boating accidents

Eight men, and perhaps others, paid the toll in a tragedy of the sea in Vineyard Sound last Friday morning, during a thick fog.

At six o’clock that morning, the fog lifting for a short while, the Cuttyhunk Coast Guard crew observed a distress signal at the masthead of a steamer of apparently 125 or 150 feet length, midway in the Sound between the Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands.

1921

August 11, 1921

Hooch-Loaded Vessel Is Doing Big Business

Rum Running

The Arethusa Anchored Off Nomansland is Floating Bar-room

 

(Special to the Gazette)

Hooch, not home brewed or moonshine distilled, but old fashioned 100 proof, of every conceivable kind, from plain cheap rum to the highest grade of champagne, is being openly sold and in large quantities with 30 miles of Martha's Vineyard.

August 4, 1921

Rum Running From Island?

Vineyard Gazette
Rum Running

Report that Strange Craft Making Trips to Mainland --- Mysterious Whistles Heard

According to stories of fishermen and yachtsmen, “rum-runners” are plying a regular trade between the Vineyard and the mainland. Island fishermen go so far as to give the name of the boat, whose home port is not known, which they say is engaged in the illicit traffic and has been seen repeatedly under suspicious circumstances.