The Booze Air Tube

"Time to get with the Roaring Twenties! Modernize your operations with the best pneumatic tube system this side of the Atlantic!" read the advertisement. Ruth read the next bit out loud, "'Swiftly transport solids, liquids, and documents.' This doesn't say anything about moving people, Annie." I get that this would be good for moving the drink, but us? Do you mean to tell me you have an air tube for people?"
"Hang on, we'll get there in a moment. Watch this, Ruth," Annie put a bottle of gin in a cylinder shaped container. She screwed the cover on, and opened the door to a newly installed pipe. "Ready?" Annie placed the cylinder in the glass tube that turned into metal piping a couple of feet up. The cylinder immediately disappeared in a swoosh as it went upward.
"It disappeared!" Ruth almost screamed. "Annie, it's gone! Where did it go?"
"Just wait." Annie smiled, her fists on her hips and was tapping her foot on the ground. A minute went by, then another... "Okay, I'll mix us a drink," Annie went to the bar to do just that.
Some minutes later... Thump! Both Ruth and Annie jumped and turned to the wall. What looked like a piece of paper in another cylinder container landed in the glass tube just next to tube the first tube the gin disappeared in. Annie opened the small glass door and took the message out of the cylinder.
"What in the world?" Ruth asked. Now her fists were on her hips. "What's it say?"
Annie turned the note around, so Ruth could see for herself. The note read, GOT IT. THIS'LL WORK. "Guess who this is from," Annie said, beaming with excitement.
"You got me," Ruth said, perplexed. "What's it mean?"
"It's from Everett!" Annie said, lighting a match to burn the note.
"Everett?" Ruth asked. "But Everett's in San Francisco."
"Actually, Everett is currently in Napa."
"Napa! He sent that note from Napa? I don't understand, Annie, when did you do all of this, and how does it work?" Ruth took a seat on a stool.
"It took an entire month, but we got it working! Of course, there's a little bit of invisibility spelling, and a ward here and there, but... Ruth, we got it working!"
"Annie, what is it already?"
"You know those air tubes they were talking about moving people in?"
Ruth shook her head.
"Oh, maybe you're too young. But it they thought they'd uses these pneumatic systems to move people back in New York City. Well, some mail is moved this way, some packages... I heard they used these systems to move secret documents and such in the army and navy, and even the President uses it. We, Ruth, we are going to move liquor!"
"Well how's it work? What do you mean? Can we get gin this way?"
"Allow me to demonstrate," Annie said, scribbling something on a piece of paper. She placed the note into an envelope and sent it in the first tube. Some minutes later, a package arrived in the second tube. Annie took it out and handed it to Ruth.
Ruth read the label. "Vine-Glo! So this is a brick of wine? Annie, this is fantastic. Can you imagine how much this will simplify our deliveries? Can the cops intercept this?"
"Not likely. We hid them pretty well, and unless they get wise to what we're doing, I think we're good."
"Okay how does it work, and why did you ask me if I'm scared of small spaces? I can't fit into that, no matter how good you think I am."
"Well, it works with air pressure... Everett's got a fan at the other end of the line. I've got a fan here. Everett's fan creates a low pressure area at his end, and the higher air pressure on this end pushes the tube to him. And vice versa! These colors here tell us what's what."
"How does it work so fast? He's so far away."
"We may have boosted it a little bit. Roy helped out with that. So this will help us get around some of the heat on the trains and out on the water... no more night trips out to Rum Row or Gertrude's Gulch."
"Isn't that a relief! I'm a little speechless... Annie, I gotta tell ya, I love this idea. I'm going to remain a skeptic, but this is really it, isn't it? We're back in business?"
"With this air tube, we're not only going to be in business, we'll be doing it for ourselves. No dependencies on any other outfit," Annie finally sat on a stool, looking more than relieved.
"But wait, this is for Napa. What about the gin, the whiskey, and that tequila you're so fond of... do they have these in Mexico?"
"Hold your horses, Ruth. One tube at a time," Annie smiled at her joke. Ruth did not. "Okay, well we have this tube, and that will help us with the wine and some whiskey that comes in from Canada. We've got one almost finished in San Francisco, and Everett's partner will help us with gin from their supplier."
"Yeah, makes sense. Local supply is just too hot right now," Ruth nodded in agreement. "And what about the tequila?"
"Yes... well this is where you come in. We have a contact just across the border. But they want to... Well, Ruth, they want to do the first transaction in person. They want to be sure about us, and I want to be sure about them. And they also want to make sure this pneumatic system will work. We'll be sending them some of our goods, too."
"So you have a people sized tube, don't you?" Ruth sat down again.
"We do. But it doesn't go across the border, it's just to Long Beach. They've got a shipment coming in, and you'll be able to bring back some tequila."
"And why is it I have to do this? You're the boss, Miss Sweet Annie of the Valley," Ruth said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
"Well Miss Sass, I'll have you know, while I may be the boss, I'm not all powerful. You're the specialist in integrity and truth telling, you need to see if these guys are legit. But more importantly, I'm not small. You're half my size and can actually fit in the tube. It's completely safe, and it will only take a minute. You get in, you lie down on comfy blankets, close your eyes, and it's done. You're there. C'mon, Ruth, what do you say?"
"I'd prefer it were someone else, but this is what I'm in this outfit for, isn't it. Alright, Annie. When do I go?"
"Ruth, you are the best."