A Rogue Legend Lives in Westport

   
     Rebels, rascal and rogues,
the fabric of American folklore,
often enchanted the public with
their daring deeds. Legends often were made defying the laws of the day. Jesse James, Wyatt Earp, Bonnie and Clyde, Belle Starr...all made Keystone Kops out of the establishment. More recently, many of today's stock car racing legends gained fold hero status delivering moonshine whiskey on the back roads of the hill country. However, we don't think our friend and local car racing legend Tom Akoury,
was among them.

America's most notorious rumrunner, the 50 ft. Black Duck was powered by twin aircraft engines and was capable of speeds over 30 mph., fast enough to out-run the Coast Guard cutters of her day.

 spotted the rumrunner off of Newport, Rhode Island. Attempting to escape, the "Duck" zigged when it should have zagged and caught Coast Guard gunfire broadside, which killed three crew member. Cornell finally had his boat and 383 cases of contraband liquor as well. Subsequently, the public was enraged by the loss of life among their beloved bootleggers. Anti-Coast Guard riots grew so violent in Boston that the district commander had to be "spirited" out of town to avoid a lynching.
   Over a half a century ago, the rumrunner Black Duck was such a
fed-dodging legend. During prohibition, the speedy "rummy" continually out-ran the Coast Guard, much to the delight of drinkers throughout New England. For over a decade, the Black Duck was a constant embarrassment to the authorities and was at the top of the "Coasties wanted list.
However, those Coast Guardsmen

were hardly Keystone Kops.
With deck-mounted machine guns and speedy boats, they were more a match for most
of the rumrunners. Unfortunately,
the Black Duck finally ran out
of luck in December of 1929.
A patrol vessel commanded
by Alex Cornell  (a nautical version of Eliot Ness)

Ironically, the captured Black Duck was refitted as a Coast Guard patrol vessel. Even worse, it was assigned to Alex Cornell who successfully chased down several rumrunners before prohibition ended in 1933. Occasionally, the legendary smuggler comes alive in the conversations of a few old-timers here at the bar. Listen to them carefully and then raise a toast to the memory of the Black Duck!