The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1883-08-31
DOWN SOUTH.
About the Moonshiners of South Carolina

Let any man, except government
official, thoroughly investigate the
moonshine business in South Carolina
and Georgia and he cannot help but find
something in extenuation of the Illicit
distillers. The district around Green
vile, S. c., was at one time q perfect
nest of moonshiners, and last spring the
county jail was crowded with prisoners
awaiting trial on charge of making con-
traband whisky, and the number was
being constantly added to. Illicit dis
tilling in the Paris and Boston Noun
tains and other strongholds is more
nearly. broken up AT this date than at
any period during the war.
THE MOONsHINER.
1t is rare to find moonshiner who is
not farmer. III forty-nine cases out of
fifty he is also poor man. He lives up
in the valleys of the mountains where he
is sure of nothing but a good corn crop,
and he lives in the most primitive style.
His home is q log cabin of the poorest
description, ignorance surrounds him,
and he has to work hard for whatever
crop his lands yield. 1t is not one out
of six who owns foot of land, each
holds his home by paying rent. Take
the toughest-looking moonshiner in a
Southern jail and you will find the only
charge against him is that of illicit dis
tilling and its results. You will be told
that he is honest in his dealings with
individuals, Woodworking man and,
in some instances, a prominent church
member.
HIS EXCUSES.
There are two excuses which the
moonshiner assigns for his course in de-
fying the laws of the land. Up to the
war there was no government tax on
whisky, and almost every Southern
plantation was supplied with still.
Every planter made whisky and nearly
every man drank it, and it was looked
upon as natural beverage. Begin q
conversation with moonshiner and he
will at once advance the argument:
If my father could make whisky,
why can't Ip'
There was no tax them
But why should there be one now"
well, it is the law"
$50 they say, but if there was no law
twenty years ago, why should there be
one nowp"
You may argue and discuss, but you
cannot convince him that it is a crime
in him to follow in the footsteps of those
who were never. disturbed in doing as
he does. He may be good-hearted, but
he is ignorant. He knows nothing of
the world outside of the three or four
counties around him, and he looks upon
the government as tyrant imposing
unjust duties and forcing their collec-
ton.
The other excuse is his. poverty. As l
said before, his main crop is corn. He
may raise few potatoes to sell, but
very few, and he never has any garden
truck to dispose of. After his land rent
is paid for in corn, he must market the
rest to supply his family with what is
needed. Greenville is market for
points in the mountains thirty miles
away. If the moonshiner can borrow
or hire second mule or horse Che gen.
orally owns one), and hire q wagon, he
must take three days over the late fall
roads to get to market. If each trip
brought him S5 for his load, he would
be elated. He is in fact shut out from
markets. He can raise corn, but he
cannot get it to market in any way to
realize profit. He must have clothes
and provisions, and how shall he get
themp
SETTING UP A STILL.
There is the corn, and here are creeks
and ravines and hiding places, and
whisky can be carried away six gallons
at a time and sold for ready cash to
men calling themselves the respectable
portion of the community. Some one
has secondhand still for sale cheap,
two or three neighbors are ready to
form a copartnership, and it Is by q
natural turn of events and arbitrary
train of circumstances that the farmer
turns moonshiner. The still is purchas-
ed, set to work in some spot supposed
to be safe from the revenue officers, and
the work Of earning coarse clothes and
humble provisions goes on.
THE PROFITS.
talked with half dozen different
moonshiners regarding the profit Of IL
licit distilling, There are none. II the
owner of a forty-gallon still in the
mountains was left at peace for five
consecutive years, he could not earn the
money paid the average mechanic. He
must buy his corn, run risks of acct
dent, tote" his whisky down to the
towns, and the men who buy of him
take advantage of his situation. He
must sell his "mountain dew" for 81
gallon, and he Is the one who takes
all the risks.
Noone can point to moonshiner who
has greatly bettered his previous cir
cumstances He may have paid of some
old debts, reclothcd his family and put
bv few dollars to nav for medicines