The burly British sailor had been thrown into a Bermudian jail after a night of revelry on his steamship Lutzen turned to horror.

It left him facing a murder charge, and the prospect of ending his days behind bars.

This was 1923, and the bleak days of Prohibition when liquor was banned in America.

Like many seamen with a family to support, Kirk had resorted to rum-running -- the only roaring trade at that time.

His life was turned upside down, however, in the early hours of February 8.

As the Lutzen sat off New York, after offloading its illicit cargo, mayhem erupted when three drunken Puerto Rican crewmen attacked a black colleague.

In a bid to break up the brawl and handcuff the men, Chief Officer Kirk grabbed a revolver.

He then blasted one of the Puerto Ricans to death as they rushed him.

The body was wrapped in a sheet and buried at sea after a simple Christian service. Everybody agreed to keep silent.

News of the killing, however, quickly reached Bermuda where the ship had gone for repairs and servicing.

Kirk was charged with murder and thrown into jail -- despite protesting he had fired in self-defence.

The Royal Gazette carried full reports of the two-day Supreme Court trial before the Wor. R.J. Tucker.

In the witness box crewmen backed Kirk to the hilt, and it took the jury just four minutes to acquit him.

Kirk's ordeal has been documented in a book, "It Came By The Boatload'', by British writers Dr. Geoff Robinson and his wife, Dorothy.

The book focuses on North American rum-running during Prohibition, which lasted from 1920 to 1933 in the United States.

During that time the manufacture or sale of any drink with more than 0.5 percent alcohol was forbidden.

The ban began nationally on January 16, in compliance with the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Much of the drink was understood to have been smuggled to the US from Cuba and the Bahamas. But Bermuda and Canda played roles as well.

Chicago's famous gangsters Al Capone and Johnnie Torrio were among the colourful characters who thrived during Prohibition.

Another was Capt. Bill McCoy of Jacksonville, Florida.

He became a millionaire by carrying schooner-loads of liquor from the Bahamas to New York, then dropping anchor beyond the three-mile limit, and selling to bootleggers who came out in speedboats.

He founded "Rum Row'', which soon became a huge fleet of vessels selling liquor outside the limit.

The Robinsons were born in England, but have lived much of their life in Canada.

While many people spend their retirement playing golf or gardening, the couple threw themselves into researching the shady world of rum-running.

Seventy-two-year-old Dr. Robinson hit on the idea of writing while listening to the rum-running tales of his patients.

Many patients were lobster fishermen -- often the last link in the rum-running chain. They took the liquor to shore after it was unloaded from ships.

"I decided something must be done to record these tales,'' said Dr. Robinson.

The couple, from Prince Edward Island in Canada, were in Bermuda last week on holiday.

Their research into rum-running took them to many places, including Saint Pierre and Miquelon -- two French islands off Newfoundland where liquor warehouses were located.

It was from these islands the Lutzen picked up a cargo of whisky and took it to New York -- shortly before Kirk's arrest.

In their book the Robinson's recorded Kirk's Supreme Court trial.

"There is no doubt the case was given full treatment either because it involved death on the high seas or because of the international implications.

"It must have been only towards the end of the ordeal that Teddy saw a glimmer of hope.

"His defence counsel described his manner and appearance as the best he had ever seen in acting as a defence lawyer.

"Teddy was `a mighty good specimen of a British sailor'. In his summing up, the Chief Justice told the jury that Teddy was obligated to keep order.

"There was evidence that he was the only one aboard with a valid seaman's ticket and the use of handcuffs in the situation that arose that night was entirely justified.

"It took the jury only four minutes to acquit him. His 26 days in jail had come to an end and he was carried in triumph out of the court house on the shoulders of his crew.'' With a trilogy on rum-running behind them, the Robinsons have no plans for further writing.

Their other books are The Nellie J. Banks and Duty-Free .

Although Bermuda gets only a brief mention in the books, Dr. Robinson has little doubt the Island played a part in the battle to beat Prohibition.

In 1921 Bermuda passed a law preventing smuggling liquor into US ports.

The Royal Gazette carried two reports in 1922 of men being caught trying to smuggle liquor on board ships.

And in July 1925 a local wine merchant was convicted of attempting to smuggle liquor on a cruise ship.

Dr. Robinson and his wife believe St. George's was a storage place for liquor.

Could a book on Bermuda's role in rum-running be in the offing? The couple would prefer to leave that challenge to someone else, at least for now.

THE BOOZE BATTLE -- Dr. Geoffrey Robinson and his wife, Dorothy, show off two of their books on rum-running.