Alcatraz: The Hardest Years 1934-1938 by Chandler E. F. & Chandler Roy F

Author:Chandler, E. F. & Chandler, Roy F. [Chandler, E. F.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: History
Publisher: Katherine R. Chandler
Published: 2013-03-28T16:00:00+00:00

R. O. Culver in 1934

It should be re-emphasized that E. F. Chandler was a dead shot. His ability with a 30/06 Springfield rifle had been proven on numerous Army and Coast Guard rifle teams. Yet, until long after his retirement, Chandler did not own guns, and he never hunted. Shooting was part of his work so he mastered it. Seasoned by years of military rifle competition, cable strong, with exceptional eyesight, Chandler was a marksman most guards could only wish to be.

E. F. Chandler was an expert shot with all weapons. Most guards were not, but they all practiced.

The Alcatraz "rifle range" was only an old quarry half filled with junk. Targets were set up and guards whanged away at them. Most shooting was done (offhand) from the road tower—the same tower Joe Bowers was shot from.

The guards fired Springfield bolt actions and Browning Automatic Rifles. Occasionally they moved closer for pistol practice. Of course the musketry echoed and reechoed through the prison. Some released convicts wrote that the shooting was intended to intimidate the inmates. That was not its purpose, but if the riflery had that effect, no one cared. Boats and ferries sailing on or crossing the bay often heard the firing—which was dutifully reported to the San Francisco press—and which routinely stirred rumors and speculations of terrible revolts, uprisings, and massacres on The Rock.

Buoys were placed a hundred yards off the island and unauthorized boats were not allowed inside them. Occasionally boats trespassed—on purpose in many cases—seeing how close they could get, or perhaps seeking better pictures. When that happened, warning shots were fired. Usually the bullets kicked up water in front of the trespassers and proved enough to turn them away.

One sailboat ignored my father's warning shot, its sailor pointing helplessly at his slack sails as the boat edged closer to the heavy weather dock. The seaman, however, had the wrong guard behind the gun. E. F. Chandler knew boats and sailing. All that the encroaching sailor had to do was haul in his main sail and bear away. A second shot went through the mainsail and the next smashed the halyard block at the jib head. The sailboat tightened up and left the area. That one, a number of children, including the author and his best friend Buster Michelson, saw from the edge of the parade ground.

We remember one poor soul who was becalmed and drifted with the current right into the main dock. He was met, frisked, questioned, and chewed out thoroughly. The McDowell launch towed him out of the island's lee.

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