Canadian Prohibition Loophole Fuels Roaring Twenties in United States

Model T stake truck breaks through Detroit River ice with overload of Canadian liquor

During the United States Prohibition period, the majority of liquor passing through Windsor, Ontario and the Border Cities into the United States came across the Detroit River. The United States Customs Department estimates that 80% of all illegal spirits brought into the country during Prohibition originated in Canada--our neighbor to the North. This "Detroit Funnel" as it became known in the press supplied liquor to Chicago, Lansing, Toledo, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City and all points in between.

When Ontario passed the Ontario Temperance Act in 1916, the province closed the bars, clubs, and liquor stores until the end of World War I. The government needed the grain for the war effort. But with the end of the war, the Canadian government repealed wartime Prohibition and liquor began to flow again in the Dominion.

Meanwhile, the United States Congress passed the 18th Amendment--otherwise known as the Volstead Act--on October 28, 1919. The act banned the manufacture, transport, sale, import, export, and delivery of alcohol spirits within its borders. The bootlegger, rum runner, and flapper were born. The easy market and close access to Detroit became the focal point for shipping illegal booze into the United States from Canada. Historians labeled the age The Roaring Twenties--when organized crime flourished on both sides of the International Border.

Under pressure from vocal Temperence groups on both sides of the International Border, Ottawa passed Bill 26 decreeing that each province could prevent the importation of liquor by holding a referendum vote. The rest of Canada voted dry leaving Ontario to stand alone. The province did vote to approve the Sandy Bill on July 19, 1921 which disallowed the movement of liquor within Ontario without an order of the Board of License Commissioners.

Jim Cooper--Belle River and Walkerville roadhouse owner and illicit liquor dealer--figured out that if he set up an export business in Detroit, he could circumvent the Ontario law. Canadians would place an order through a Detroit telephone number. The purchased goods were not imported into Ontario. The liquor was already in Windsor and Walkerville warehouses. Because the purchase was made out of the country, it was perfectly legal to be delivered within Ontario.  

During Prohibition, six distilleries and twenty-nine brewers operated within Ontario all licensed by the federal government. It is estimated that forty million dollars of booze illegally crossed the border every year. At first, there was a lot of small-time suitcase smuggling for personal use. All manner of devices were contrived to conceal bottles. Some people strapped bottles under their clothing, pints were slid into high boots, and cars were fitted with hidden compartments.

After organized crime wrestled control of the river from small-time operators, much of the liquor was smuggled in by the boat load. In the winter, old jalopies, trucks, and sleds scurried across the frozen river to engage in the illegal trade. When the U.S. Coast Guard built up their fleet with 200 h.p. patrol boats hoping to dominate the river traffic, the Purple Gang's Little Jewish Navy bought specially outfitted speed boats and mounted small cannons on their bows with Tommy Gun-toting crews to harass the authorities leveling the playing field. The Purple Gang laid claim to the Detroit River as their territory. Any freelance bootleggers unlucky enough to be caught smuggling by the gang lost their booty and often their lives. The Purple Gang alone is credited by police with the murder of over 500 people during their bloody reign of the Detroit underworld.

Earning the big money became possible because of a gaping loophole in the Canadian law. Large quantities of liquor could be bought from Canadian distilleries for export purposes if purchasers or their agents carried a Canadian Customs B-13 export clearance document certifying that the buyer was exporting liquor anywhere but a country where Prohibition was the law. Shipments were marked for Europe, Cuba, and South America. But once a boat left the loading dock, the Canadian government was unconcerned where it actually moored and unloaded. The burden of enforcing this American law fell squarely upon the United States, and the Dominion felt no obligation to enforce the laws of their sovereign neighbor.

The boxes and barrels of liquor were distributed to Ontario Border City export docks strung out along the length of the Detroit River. Rum runners from Detroit would cruise across, load up their boats, and make their river runs--mostly at night. In the winter, the shipments were loaded on the frozen Canadian river bank awaiting their mass exodus across the International Border.

Some of the diverted illegal liquor stayed in Canada by sailing directly into slips behind Ontatio's chain of roadhouses stretching from Windsor to Niagara Falls offering dining, drinking, dancing, gambling, and adult entertainment. Americans flocked to Ontario to patronize the Border Cities thriving vice economies.

For its part, the Canadian Government levied a nine dollar tax per gallon on all liquor sales. This export tax was returned when the customs department received a certificated receipt from the country where the shipment was imported. Since most of the liquor landed in America, those receipts were never redeemed. By 1928, Canada earned up to thirty-million dollars per year this way.

With the New York stock market crash on October 29, 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, many people lost everything. Jobs were scarce and money was tight. The drunken revel was all but over. Then on December 5, 1933, the United States government passed the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition. The bill landed on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's desk and he signed it. The boom times of Prohibition ended on both sides of the international border. It would take another World War to turn the economies around for both countries.

The Rise and Fall of the Purple Gang: 
https://fornology.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-rise-and-fall-of-detroits-purple.html

John Norman Collins Canadian Connection

When I speak to people about the Washtenaw County murders of the late 1960s, I am usually asked, "Have you been in contact with any of John Norman Collins's family?" My answer is always, "I've made several attempts without success."

JNC's older brother and his late sister were steadfast in their silence about their notorious younger brother. Neither of John's siblings bear any responsibility for what their brother did; regardless, they both paid a heavy personal price and are victims of the collateral damage from the very public and court case. They chose not to comment--well within their rights.

John Norman Collins (13), his brother (16), and sister (15) - December 30th, 1960.

The Collins' family wall of silence is a legacy from their mother, Loretta--the family matriarch. She was the sole ruler and spokesperson for the family during her son's trial and afterward. Not even John was allowed to speak in his own defense. Now that Loretta is gone, no one speaks for the family. I had just about given up establishing contact with anyone in the Collins clan when I received an unexpected email from a surprising source.

"My name is John (Philip) Chapman; I am John Norman Collins's Canadian cousin. I've been in contact with my cousin since 1981, thirty-two years now--and I have some interesting information I would be willing to share with you pertaining to John's family history and facts he has revealed to me. 

"I normally would never get involved, however, after reading your blog post--Treading on the Grief of Others in the John Norman Collins Case--I agree a debt is owed to history that must be paid.

"My heart truly goes out to those young women and their families who had their daughters taken away from them too soon. If there is anything I can share with you to help, I would be happy to do so."

John Philip Chapman appeared exactly when we needed him most. My researcher Ryan M. Place and I had worked for three years to get someone from the Collins family to speak with us about John's early family history.

Richard Chapman in 1944 on motorcycle seen with his friend Fred Higgins who saved his life.

"John's father--my Uncle Rich--was a light-infantry officer and an explosives/demolition expert in His Majesty's Canadian Services. He lost his left leg in 1944 during the Second World War. After his injury, he spent weeks in a military hospital recovering from battle fatigue and physical complications before being shipped home to Canada. He was on medication for the rest of his life. My uncle lived until 1988.

"I want to correct a public inaccuracy. Uncle Richard was never abusive towards his children or my Aunt Marjorie (Loretta went by her middle name in Canada). He never abandoned his children and never would. My aunt divorced my uncle for alleged 'extreme mental cruelty.' Uncle Rich loved his children very much, however, due (to) the amount of lies Aunt Marjorie put in their heads, they didn't want to be bothered with him. Hoping to avoid dragging their children through a bitter divorce, my uncle gave Aunt Marjorie what she wanted--full custody. My cousin Gail learned the truth shortly before her Dad passed away."

According to Chapman, "My Aunt Marjorie's family felt Uncle Rich was not good enough for their daughter. He wasn't Catholic. Her parents didn't like their son-in-law and offered him money to disappear.... I know for a fact that my Uncle Rich never took the money."

John Philip Chapman

John Philip explained that he had been writing his cousin John (Collins) in prison since he (Chapman) was seven or eight years old. "(Collins) is twenty-five years older than me and has always been like a big brother. In our letters, he refers to me as 'Little Brother'." John Philip Chapman explained that he was an only child and found comfort in the attention from his older American cousin who became a virtual 'Big Brother' for him.

Somehow, Chapman managed to remain ignorant of his older cousin's crimes. Over the years, Chapman maintained a "Don't ask - Don't tell" policy regarding his cousin's imprisonment. After all, Collins had insisted he was innocent of the Karen Sue Beineman murder. Collins also complained in his letters that he was victimized by a rogue cop (Sheriff Douglas Harvey), an overzealous prosecutor (William Delhey), and a corrupt legal system looking for a scapegoat. Now forty-one years old, Chapman's personal search for knowledge about his cousin was making him confront his deepest fears.

John Philip Chapman asked if I would be interested in receiving some of his cousin's prison letters. Chapman had noticed a change in tone and intensity in the letters of late, and he wanted me to look at them. Then, Chapman volunteered something unexpected. He offered to see what other information he could find out from his cousin about his crimes. 

Without JNC's knowledge, over the next four months we received a total of nine prison letters from Collins to his cousin. The letters average seven pages and cover a range of subjects, but one theme became more and more prevalent as time went on. Collins was pressing for an international prisoner exchange with Canada. This was Chapman's original motivation for contacting me. He wanted to know if he and his mother had anything to fear from Collins. I told Chapman that I wouldn't feel comfortable with Collins in my house or my neighborhood.

Chapman told me that Collins tried unsuccessfully to get an international prisoner exchange with Canada in 1981. Canada has more liberal sentencing provisions than the United States, so Collins saw parole as a very real possibility. The basis for his repatriation claim was he was born in Canada and held dual citizenship. He claimed he had relatives and a support system there.

But both JNC's father and his uncle refused to offer their sponsorship to Collins after being contacted by authorities on both sides of the Detroit River informing them of the particulars of Collins's crimes. When the Detroit Free Press ran an article about the possible transfer acting on a tip from a Marquette prison inmate, the Michigan Department of Corrections summarily revoked Collins's application for the international prisoner exchange.

John Norman Collins

Thirty-two years later, Collins summoned up the courage to ask his younger cousin--his last Canadian blood relative--to sponsor him for another prisoner transfer attempt in hopes of receiving dispensation for timed served in Michigan. To Collins's way of thinking, all he needed was a relative and a place to stay; then, he could be assigned to a work release program in Canada and be free of his Michigan prison cell and his jailers. Now, it became clear to Chapman what JNC had been driving at for months--the chicken hawk wanted to come home to roost.

Link to the above mentioned blog post:
http://fornology.blogspot.com/2013/06/treading-on-grief-of-others-in-john.html

John Norman Collins' Last Wish, "I Want To Die on Canadian Soil"

In a recent letter to a Canadian Immigration official, John Norman Collins (JNC) expressed his desire to attempt another International Prisoner Exchange Treaty bid with the country of his birth.

In 1981, Collins was one signature away from being transferred to a prison in Ontario near Toronto when a Marquette Prison inmate blew the whistle on him. 

A letter fell on the desk of the night city desk editor at The Detroit Free Press, William Hart, who ran a story about it after intrepid reporter, Marianne Rzepka, corroborated the details. The story "Transfer to Canada For Killer" was run in the evening edition of the paper, and by morning, the Michigan Associated Press sent the story far and wide throughout the state's media network. 

***

JNC took the words of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to heart when he made a public statement about there being too many people in Michigan's prisons because of minor drug offenses and an aging prison population. He was sixty-six and one of the oldest inmates at Marquette Branch Prison.

In several prison letters to his cousin, JNC moans about his aches and pains, the indifferent medical staff, and the inadequate services available to him. What he doesn't mention to his cousin is that he often refuses to ante up his co-pay for medical services. I have several prison Administration Hearing documents that detail how JNC refuses to pay, and then he makes an issue of it.

Collins writes that he is a physical wreck from "too much weightlifting and playing hockey," though he still plays handball and basketball whenever he can. He complains about his bad knees, bum hip, and arthritic back, the simple ravages of the aging process many of us Baby Boomers suffer from.

Of a more serious nature was an incident that occurred in May of 2012, which he details in a September 7, 2013 letter to his cousin:

"I did have a scary moment last year. I was going to the Chow Hall with my friend, Big Mike and we just got outside the unit and I CRASHED to the concrete FACE FIRST. I thought I woke right up, BUTT, Big Mike told me I was out for a couple of minutes. I tried getting up but the guards told me to stay down. My face was a bloody mess.

"They took me to Health Care and there was a doctor there and he sent me immediately to the hospital in Marquette. At first they thought I had a heart attack or a stroke. They did over $100,000 of tests on me for a day and a half and found no bleeding in my brain, so they were CORNfused and couldn't find a cause."

JNC now hoped he could parley his private health concerns to portray himself as an old-timer who is a shadow of his former self and a danger to no one. 

If he could only convince a sitting Michigan governor to pardon him or override the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) revocation of his 1981 transfer application, he could be "home" in the country of his birth awaiting a work release program. Of course, JNC needed his Canadian cousin's help with a commitment to sponsor him, to provide a home for him, and to supervise his "reintegration into society." In short, to be responsible for him.

***

In the same letter, JNC asked Chapman to visit him in Marquette Branch Prison which he had never done before. 

Shortly afterwards in an email to me, Chapman wrote:

"He does want to see me face to face for the first time and he wants my help, as he said neither (his brother or sister) have ever offered to 'put him up.' However, I am not sure what to do.

"I know who John is to me, regardless of what he has done in the past... however, never at any time, have I ever found myself afraid of him and I think I would be safe if I had him here. After all, his victims were all women, not men. 

"But with that in mind, I am worried that if I was miraculously able to get him to Canada, I would worry that he might hurt some woman, and I just don't want that on my conscience.

"As well, I am aware of the relationship that he has with some of his "friends" in prison, and I use the term "friends" very loosely. I may be naive, but I am not stupid. So that concerns me. Would he try something on me? I am not being paranoid, just trying to protect myself and my mom.

"Let's say (hypothetically), if John did get back to Canada and I did sponsor him, do you honestly think that my Mom and I would be in danger? I am conflicted now"

My immediate response to John Philip Chapman was:

"John, your cousin is a hardened criminal. Straight up! His own mother had discipline problems with him. He has a self-professed anger management problem. Factor in forty-five years of pent up frustration and rage. I wouldn't take a chance."

John Philip Chapman's quick reply was:

"I will take your advice seriously and be very cautious moving forward with communications with my cousin. The interesting thing about all this is that if this were anyone else, Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, or any other serial killer, I would not even waste any time on the issue.

"I have been writing to him since I was ten years old and obviously too young to understand the kind of person he was then. As the years went by, I suppose I never outgrew that vision I saw of him in my head... but then the facts are what they are. John is NOT where he is by accident or a corrupt legal system... he deserves to be where he is. This is for society's protection and, I suppose, even for him.

"Greg and Ryan, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for not judging me or regarding me in the same circle as my cousin. I am who I am and John is who he is."

***

After nixing the trip to Marquette Prison, Chapman received an unexpected collect call from JNC. Collins needed to strengthen his grip on his wavering cousin and synchronize "their" strategy. 

On September 13, 2013, JNC wrote to Chapman:

"I was so pleased with our phone call. I must admit that I was (a) bit nervous at first. I didn't know what to say. You sound so grown up now. Anyway, it was finally great to break the ice after so many months. You are the most important person in my life right now. I also consider you my best friend."

The message soon shifted into drawing Chapman into JNC's transfer conspiracy:

"We have to watch what we say about Frank (Collins' contact at the Canadian Consulate). I don't know how the process works over there, BUTT it is so easy for the MDOC to simply say no to everything. Hopefully a higher power (the governor) will take over and over-ride the MDOC (VETO)."

***

Early in October, Chapman wrote Collins saying he had been reading internet articles about him and didn't feel comfortable sponsoring him. This must have hit Collins like a punch in the face. 

In an email dated October 7th, JNC began to panic and show desperation:

"I HOPE YOU HAVE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO THINK OVER YOUR DECISION. WHATEVER THEY SAID WAS A LIE JUST LIKE IT WAS 32 YEARS AGO WITH DELHEY (Washtenaw County Prosecutor). THEY USED THEIR EMAILS TO SCARE YOU. WHO IS IT THAT CONTACTED YOU? 

"YOU HAVE WORKED TOO HARD AND TOO LONG TO LET THEM KEEP US FROM EACH OTHER. YOU HAVE KNOWN ME FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS AND THEM ZERO. THEY MADE YOU OVERACT BECAUSE THEY KNOW YOU ARE A VERY GOOD AND SENSITIVE PERSON. I NEVER HURT(my nephew), AND I WOULD NEVER HURT YOU OR YOUR MOTHER. NEVER!!!

"I WANT TO CALL YOU TOMORROW IF I CAN. PLEASE DON'T DO ANYTHING UNTIL YOU RECEIVE MY NEXT LETTER. YOU WILL RECEIVE ONE THIS WEEK AND ANOTHER ONE THE WEEK AFTER. PLEASE READ THEM BOTH BEFORE MAKING YOUR FINAL DECISION. 

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO PROTECT ME... NOT SELL ME DOWN THE RIVER. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY SENT YOU, BUT IT IS A LIE AND THEY WANT TO SCARE YOU INTO THINKING THAT I WOULD HURT YOU JUST LIKE THEY DID 32 YEARS AGO.

"PLEASE DON'T FALL FOR THIS PLOY. I'M OUT OF TIME. I LOVE YOU, JOHN, WITH ALL MY HEART. I KNOW THAT WE CAN BE A REAL FAMILY. BYE FOR NOW. LOVE ALWAYS."

In an October 17th email that John Philip Chapman sent me, the Canadian transfer saga came to an abrupt end:

"Greg, I really want this man out of my life for good, and I seriously want to cut all ties with him. There was a time in my life up until recently that I did care about my cousin. After all, he is family, and I believe that family needs to stick together and support each other, but that has its limitations.

"For over 30 years, I believed my cousin and thought what he was telling me was the truth. It was complete and total bullshit. John tells half-truths and is an excellent manipulator, that is for sure. All I got to see over those years was a side of John that he wanted me to see and not who he really is.... However, I just do not want to communicate with him anymore, and I see no value in doing so."

When JNC tried to call Chapman back at his home, John Philip decided to block all future phone calls from his infamous relative. With that, the Canadian International Prisoner Exchange became an impossible reality for Collins. JNC had exhausted all of his appeals and every avenue for an early release. 

My advice for Mr. Collins is that he make an application to the Make a Wish Foundation and see how that goes.

But the Story Goes On!

Background on JNC's first attempt at a Canadian Prisoner Exchange: http://fornology.blogspot.com/2013/06/john-norman-collins-and-canadian-prison.html

Zug Island - Focal Point of Windsor Hum?

Zug Island from Windsor, Ontario

For the last several years, residents of Windsor, Ontario, have complained of a low frequency hum which rattles their windows and keeps them awake at night. Canadian scientists have pinpointed the source as Zug Island, an industrial complex on the United States side of the Detroit River.

Because the blast furnace and coke oven industrial complex is an international border installation, it has come under the aegis of Homeland Security. Surveillance has been beefed up and one of two entrances to the island has been blockaded and fenced off. The exaggerated security of Zug Island combined with the mysterious hum has led to a number of conspiracy theories. 

The SyFy Network is sending Joe Rogan to Detroit to look into this matter, and I've been asked to participate because of my previous on-the-job experience working there and my knowledge of the plant. The producers saw my book, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel, and thought I could add something to their documentary. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but this project is kookie enough to interest me.

To learn more about the the Windsor Hum, view the link below:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zug-island-the-story-of-the-windsor-hum

Grandma's French-Canadian Meat Pie

Tortiere - Traditional Christmas Meat Pie

When I was a kid growing up in Detroit, my French-Canadian grandmother would make French meat pie that tasted like nothing I have ever had before or since. There was something about the spices and the texture that I have been craving for years.

These pies were a Christmas tradition in our family as grandma would make one for each family of her seven children, and of course, serve the rest up for the holiday repast. These pies freeze up well for later use and make great pot pies also.

I asked the women in my family if anyone had grandma's recipe, but nobody had a copy of it. Then it struck me, like so many women of her day, she didn't need a blueprint; she just knew how to make it. My mother tried to make it several times, but it never lived up to grandma's.

Looks great on the plate!

My grandmother met my grandfather while she was working as a young cook and baker for a bunch of lumberjacks who cut Canadian timber for box framing in the copper mines of Sudbury, Ontario.

Coincidentally, they both shared the same last name - Fournier. They met, married, and eventually moved to the states. My grandfather was the first of my family to work at Zug Island outside of Detroit.

After years of trying to get a family recipe, it finally struck me to just google it. I found over a dozen recipes with the same basic ingredients but with some variation of the spices used. It may take me some time to sample several of these recipes, but I'm coming closer to finding the one that tastes like grandma's.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/10-inch-french-meat-pie-recipe/index.html

The Detroit-Windsor International Trade Crossing

Artist's rendering of International Trade Crossing

Ten years of negotiations between Michigan and Ontario has resulted in an agreement to build a new bridge for commercial traffic between the United States and Canada. The bridge will create jobs, save cartage time, and relieve overcrowding on the Ambassador Bridge and in the Detroit/Windsor tunnel.

The new bridge will touchdown in Delray just north of Zug Island and only two miles south of the current international bridge which will continue to serve the general public of both countries. The bridge will conveniently link north/south I-75 in Michigan with east/west Highway 401 in Windsor.

The all but extinct neighborhood of Delray has needed a face lift for a long while, and the U.S. Customs plaza planned for there should help the abandoned area. I can't think of a better use for this depressed but once proud neighborhood. The view looking down onto Zug Island will become an industrial icon welcoming commerce into the country. The contrast between the modern bridge and the rust belt behemoth will be striking to see.

Details about the international agreement, the cost, financing, jobs, and economic impact are in the Crain's Detroit Business link below. This enterprise should give the local economies of Windsor and Detroit a long term boost.

Zug Island where the Rouge and the Detroit Rivers meet.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120615/FREE/120619934

What’s keeping Windsor awake at night? - Life - Macleans.ca

Last month, a photo editor at Macleans, Canada's Life magazine, emailed me asking where she could get photos of Zug Island. They were about to publish an article on the Zug Island Hum, which I call the Zug Island Tremors. I guess it depends on which side of the Detroit River you live on. The people in Windsor, Ontario are not amused.

"No problem!" I wrote back. "The photo on my book's front cover was shot by Bill Deneau, a Torontite."

Since Macleans is headquartered in Toronto, I recommended Bill's evocative photograph - but alas - Bill didn't get the nod. The photo they used was essentially the same scene from a distance but without the visual impact.

Here is the article. Enjoy!

What’s keeping Windsor awake at night? - Life - Macleans.ca