Connecticut western news., 1880-02-04
Chasing the Moonshiners.
THE WAR WITH THE MooNsHINERs IN THE SOUTHERN MoUNTANs-THE TROUBLE THE OFFICERS HAVE TO PREVENT THE MANUFACTURE OF CROOKED WHISKY. t

THE WAR WITH THE MooNSHINERs IN THE
 SOUTHERN MoUNTANs-THE TROUBLE
 THE OFFICERS HAVE TO PREVENT THE
 'MANUFAcTURE OF CROOKED WHISKY. - In the mountains of the South the ia. vorite place for crooked whisky distil. lation is near sheet of water, and only accessible by it. The still is placed under cliffs that cannot be descended from above or approached from the sides; it is only approached over the water. The strength of such a position is evident. Other less favorite locations are hooks in the rocks and under em- bankments and in deep brush. Further down, the unfrequented wood near a stream is the fsvorite spot The stills vary in capacity from gallon a day upward. .as. .;e .z g-.ss .-
 o The principal ally of the crooked dis tillers is the miller. The corn has to be ground before distillation the miller knows where his money for grinding comes from, and guides himself accord ingly. He will always give warning of raid when it comes to . his knowledge, and will do his best to throw officers off the scent. The revenue officer is suf- rounded with danger. He does not ,knoK the country, and not often can get a guide. He cannot tell when he is to be attacked, or by whom. A revenue foray in the Georgia mountains will not pale before the scenes in Rob Roy. The only definite information that is to be ob- tained is from the women among the moonshiners. They are, as rule, al ways opposed to illicit distilling, be. cause of it's dangers and effect upon tho morals of the male pop dlation.o They will write to the revenue officers, giys ing definite informaton of the location of stills run by their fathers, brothers or lovers. The officers always rely upon this information they do not ever sus- pect it of being decoys, many of which they receive. They go to the placs where the woman has informed them there is a still, and invariably find it. There is one strange feature about the revenue raiding. Whenever a section is s'raided" the distiIling breaks oat afresh the distillers think they are safe for time. " - ''1
 In repent talk with Star reporter revenue officer said: "Every little skirmish with the moonshiners attracts attention throughout the country. But thu numberless forays made where there is no fighting are not chronicled. This is due to the fact that the latter do not make lively reading for you fellows. l tell you fellow on his first raid feels very peculiar. It won't do for us to get into a country all together. Every. b ody would know that raid was on hand. So we string out about six miles apart, and put our horses to their met tie. A fellow thus going it through the country is not in a comfortable frame of mind on his first raid. When we as- sembIe for rush, the feeling of 'gone- ness grows upon the new men. They soon get used to it however, and rather like the excitement. Some of the dep uty marshals in Georgia employed in these raids would discount the Kit Oar sons of dime novels for shrewdness, cunning and nerve. The moonshiners know them, and respect them too.
 .n".I do not think that the mountains will ever be cleared of moonshiners by raiding. Once I was with party of ted that made a successful foray of two weeks near the foot of the mountains. l came back alone week after to get up some evidence against prisoners we had captured. A gentleman at whose house I stopped took me to the top of a hill to show me the result of our raid. Look ing around the woods aud hillsides we counted sixty small colums of smoke ascending. The smoke came from crooked stills.
 "You must capture your man in the act, or you will have no evidence. Il would be about as much as mans life is worth to testify against moonshiners. It is surprising to a man who does not know these people how fast the news oi raid will travel. They are banded to- gether, and it seems that the news oi the presence of revenue officers travels as fast as if it were sent by telegraph. "- Washington Star.