1920:

With Prohibition in full swing, The Vancouver Sun reports on the case of two men caught on 6th Avenue, with a trunk full of bootlegged liquor.

“Today in police court, Arthur E. Murphy, who claims to be a U.S. Customs inspector and who carries a customs badge, and Rae Smith, a Vancouver taxi driver, will have to explain why 31 bottles of whisky found a reposing place in their auto,” reports The Sun.

The car, carrying the two men in from Abbotsford, broke down on 6th, where the “queer behaviour” of its occupants aroused the suspicions of the local police chief, who immediately searched the vehicle.

“A big Willye-Knight, worth about $3000, was the conveyance used,” the paper continues, “and under the recent amendment to the Prohibition Act, may be confiscated.”

After spending a night in jail, and appearing before a judge, the two men will be released on $100 bail. Prohibition, which has been in effect since 1917, will have only a short life in B.C.; in October, after only three years, British Columbians will vote to repeal the measure, in favour of government-regulated sale.

“There were others in the car, it is stated, but they made their escape,” the paper explains. “Sergeant Peatland and Officers Rod MacDonald and Milne assisted in the capture of the liquor.”

 

IMAGE: Booze produced by the Western Canada Liquor Company, circa 1912. Image courtesy of the Vancouver Archives.