The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-11-09
Crooked whssRey lin tfse M0untaaEs.5
raE MEN WHO KEEP TIRE pErTsp ErATEs sska.s.
ERALS ON THE sAIaaT. ~ I:
lFrom the Knoxylile Prsss.l

ysHALsi NsTAE Ais M, & sssS ~
lFrom the Knoxville prtss.l q
Newman's Ridge q small, rough noun
tain on the border Of Hancock county, Fast
Tennessee. The MorristoEn Gazette says
that for years it has been welt kno gnithat
Illicit disiilleries were at work Ia the deep,
dark 'gorgcs OF the ridge, making large quan.
titles Of whiskey and brandy, which liquors
have heen distributed all over East Tennes.
see, Southwest Virginia, and Western North
Carolina, and secretly sold. Efforts have
been made at various times 20 suppress this
illegal trpffic, aud to capture and punish the
manufacturers Of The Illicit liquof; all OF
which proved fruitless.
1t had teen, given ont and was gene.
rally understood that Il any United States
officer went Into the ridge be would be
shot, and from the reckless aud desperate
character Of the mountain men who had made
the threats there was every reason TO believe
they would be carried into execution. IL
was hard 10. fiud an officer who was willing
| to risk his life in such an uneven fight, where
he was almost sure 10 be secretly shot from
some dark laurel thicSes without even q
sight of his murderer. Aud SO the whiskey
| business went on year after scar. Wagons,
With an old beds,ead, few chairs, q pot
aud 6 skillet, dark-looking man, and a
slatternly woman, might occasionally. be
seen slowly moving along our roads. or
course people took them for ordinary stmo-
vers." only going from one re;ghborhood to
another in search Of better home, but the
.sinstilled /" knew there was barrel or q
,en-gallon keg Of crooked ~hiskeg concealed
under the household furniture: In this way,
and In various other ways, liqTors have
been peddied from Newman's Ridge in
| large Quantities for several years. The traf-
| tic has grown to be an extensive one, but of
late it has received check, and promises to
| be entirely broken up soon. The Gazette
says: .f..',as,r' X r&jast
This change In the afflirs of the ridge has
| been brought about chiefly, az we learn,
| through the energetic action of<Mr. Thomas
j. Berry, who has Of late been acting 10 the
capacity Of Deputy United States Marshal.
Berry 10 q very quiet, Misunderstanding man;
| but be Is Us cunning as fox, as watchtul as a
mink, and as courageous, when occasion de-
mands, as lior. He has been assisted In his
| work in tie mountain by Colonel Berry,
who Is equally we'll fitted Tor an enterprise Of
| the kind, and who, when he undertakes
| job, is not apt to stop 'shortof complete
success. They have already destroyed
something over twenty distilleries. the last
\ QUO OLiS lS" uaSS aEof anu Hts oSAhJ
says he thinks the last enc on the Tennessee
side of tie line bias sgone up" There are
supposed 10 he several on the Virginia side
yet in operation, but Berry has no authority
to cross the line into another distric', so these
fellows will work on With, impunity for the
present. 1t might be a very good idea for
1.-THE Government to make Tom Berry mar.
shall for that part of Virginia for awhile. 1T
would not take him long to bring the last one
Of those " crooked-wbissey fellows to
terms. He has Strengthened out things 10
Hancock now let him go over the line and
try the Virginia molungeons hitch. ~, =,
| Mr.. Berry has not broken up these dstil.
leries without running great risk and expos
ing himself TO danger. A lees courageous or
less prudent man would have been MUIR
dered, and Tom may yet be. He has been
shot at several times, and SO has Colonel
Berry, but thus far they have come off un-
| harmed. r., .tss H...:.:..ss. ."..@ -r'.. .--
1t has long been reproach to revenue off,
GERS in this section Of country that these men
were permitted, without license and almost
uninterrupted, to defy the law and the Gov
ernment, and manufacture and sell whiskey
| by thousands of gallons. 1t is to be hoped
that the whole of this Illegal traffic will be
| suppressed now.