The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1884-01-31
Col, Watts on Cyclones.

Speaking about cyclones, remarked
Col. Dick Watts, reminds me of the
time when was running a moonshine
distillery in the mountains of southern
Kentucky. That was some twenty-five
or thirty years ago, and am not afraid
to refer to it, as the statute of limitation
bars any proceeding that any of my en-
emies might desire to bring against me
were they acquainted with my past life.
l and several others were opening lit
tie copper still, not much bigger'n q
wash-boilcr, in the vicinity of Bald Knob,
mountain peak in Lincoln county.
Our still had y capacity of about four
and one-half gallons a day, and we run
her to her full capacity, but after de-
Quoting leakage and drinkage. we hard
ly ever barreled six quarts day. One
week we run short of material and were
compelled to shut down. TO pass away
the time we concluded to get up shoot
ing-match for beef. You've heard tell
OF beef shooting-matches? Well, if you
haven't I'll tell you all about 'em. All
the people living within circuit of
twenty miles or so chip in and buy a
good fat beef. 1t is slaughtered and
divided up into four quarters. making
four prizes to be shot for. The hide and
tallow constitutes another prize, and
the lead shot into the target goes to the
man making the sixth bestscore. Well,
we got up our match, and when the
shooting took place there must have
been something in the atmosphere that
made my nerves sort of shaky, for l
couldn't hit nothing. The best I could
do was to win the lead, and some of it
was buried in the tree we had shot at
fully three inches deep. The whole gang
mad gone away and left me picking out
the bullets, and had succeeded in goug-
ing 'em all out except three or four,
when suddenly heard noise like the
blowing off of q mud-valvc on q steam
boat. looked over toward the west
and was Mortified to see tremendous
cloud sweeping right directly for me at
the rate of about thousand miles a
minute. Directly under the cloud was
something that looked like an immense
balloon. The lower part of it trailed
along on the ground, sweeping trees
and everything before it. Trees, houses,
fences, and whole cornfelds, for miles
and miles, had been lifted up and car
ried along before that terrible whatever
it-was, and when 1 first got onto the
thing it must have been towing fully
four or five hundred acres of all sorts of
stuff. neTer saw such a sight in my
life, and I don't wan: to again. She
was steering straight for me, and was
just about to commit my soul to the AL
mighty and ask forgiveness for having
ever started moonshine still, when the
blamed thing .veered to one side and
shifted over toward Bald Knob. You
better believe 1 felt relieved, for the way
that cyclone CHATS what scientific men
afterward called iD struck that knob
have left enough of me, had it
swept down ON ME, to make wiener
wurst Of. The whole top of that noun
tain was torn off as clear as though it
had been hewcd off with an Ak. and left
it rs bald as . baby's head. After that
it was called Bald Knob. But that cy-
clone put a stop to my moonshining for
it had dumped half of Bald Knob and
four or five acres of farms and their inn
provements that it was towing right on
top of our still, burying it about 240 feet
deep. came to Louisville after that
and went into Legitimate business. This
is the first time that l have ever as much
as mentioned anything about that cy-
clone. .''-LouiSville Commercial.