Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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Since 1924, Cleveland government had been run by a city manager system. The person in charge was supposed to be nonpartisan, able to work with either Democrats or Republicans. William Hopkins, a successful businessman, ran the city. He reported to the city council but usually succeeded in getting his plans approved. In 1925, he got the authorization to build a municipal airport, one of the first in the United States. It would be a few years before regular passenger service, but mail planes began to make daily flights to and from the airport. Hopkins had big ideas to develop downtown Cleveland, among them a new place for the Indians to play baseball.

Though Prohibition still ruled the land, savvy Clevelanders knew where to find a good bottle of scotch. Bootleggers sneaked boats across Lake Erie to Canada, where a vast supply of gin, whiskey, and vodka could be purchased. Government agents patrolled the shipping lanes, but many boats were able to reach the Cleveland lakefront and get the alcohol to any number of clandestine warehouses. In the winter, men would drive their cars and trucks over the frozen lake and bring back all the booze they could carry. This was one industry that Cleveland officials did not openly boast about.