|
a.
|
Note: They lived at 369 West Main Street, Little Falls, New York. Ernest was a designer of baseball bats for a local manufacturer. Walter Darling tells the story of Ernest in his younger days as always being up for some adventure. Ernest lead a life of some considerable adventure. Walter states that during Prohibition, Ernest earned extra money by driving trucks of alcohol across the border from Canada into New York State. He developed a reputation as one of the local bootlegs, and had a distribution route established with regular customers throughout Herkimer county and perhaps beyond. Whatever type of liquor was in demand, Ernest would literally add the flavors in the bathtub to create a gin or whatever was desired, bottle, and then make his deliveries. Unfortunately his enterprise was cut short by the authorities. Ernest used to drive for is brother Earl's bus company. There is a notation in the Little Falls paper of an accident involving Ernest and the bus. Fortunately no one was injured. It was not clear if these two tales are related.
|
