Life — April 26, 1929 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Full Fathom Five" by F. R. Buckley This is a short story about two men on boats during Prohibition. Mr. Stimson is captaining a motorboat when Mr. Waldron appears in a speedboat, urging him to flee because a patrol boat is chasing them. Stimson initially refuses, but after Waldron threatens to ram him and mentions "speed-trials," Stimson agrees to race. The illustration shows their boats in rough seas as they attempt to escape. The story satirizes Prohibition-era bootlegging: wealthy men engaged in illegal liquor smuggling, the cat-and-mouse game with authorities, and the casual rule-breaking among the affluent. The narrative tone is darkly comic about men willing to risk danger and legal consequences for profit and thrills.