New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-12-09
How Moonshine Whisky Is Made
and Sold and Guarded In West

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and Sold and Guarded In West
Tennessee.
From the Memphis Avalanche.
The wild cat" still is usually quite
primitive affair, consisting of cop
per still of small capacity, the neces-
sary worms and one or two barrels or
hogsheads in which is kept the mash.
The still is usually owned and cperat-
ed by one family, some male member
OF which Is always to be found at the
shed or cabin of brush and logs in
which it is located. The corn from
which the whisky is made is secured
from the surrounding farmers or rails
ed by the owners, and the liquor sold
to any one in the neighborhood who
is willing to pay fifty cents a gallon
for it and keep mum. By reason OF
this, enabling them to secure fair
quality OF whisky cheap, the moon
sinner makes friends of all his neigh
bors, and as a rule they are ever ready
to warn him ofimpending danger, and
at the approach of an officer or
even a suspicious looking stranger
all evidences of the still are quickly re-
moved. This fact makes it an exceed.
ingly difficult task to apprehend the
violators of the law, and it is neces-
sary to use the utmost caution and
discretion in order to apprehend them
at all. The chief source of revenue
derived by west Tennessee 1noonshin-
ers comes from selling to store-keepers
in small towns, in dealing with whom
they adopt such precautions that
while the storekeeper may have an
idea, he never knows precisely with
whom he is trading.
These moonshine stills are great re-
sorts for the men who dwell in the
vicinity ofwhere they are located and
on Saturdays and Sundays and
other -idl, days dozens congregate
around them and pass the time drink
ing, smoking and telling stories. While
the west Tennessee moonshiner is fully
as shiftless as his brother in the Ten
nessee mountains, about whom so
much has been written, he is not near
as bloodthirsty, probably because he
has never been hunted so persistent
ly, having been allowed, in a manner,
to pursue his business unmolested by
meddlesome officials. Hence, while
many a revenue officer has dropped
from his horse dead at the crack OF a
mOuntaineer moonshiners rifle, there
are but one or two instances on rec
ord where officers have been killed
i'll west Tennessee.
Years ago when revenue officers
hunted the festive moonshiner in his
lair the method OF entraping them was
to induce some one familiar with the
country, generally a man who had a
grudge against the moonshiners or
some negro who would, for a con-
sideration, agreet to pilot the officers to
the still. Then a deputy marshal
went to the town nearest the point he
wished to reach, and summoning a
posse started out. In all of this it
was necessary to preserve the utmost
secrecy as the moonshiners invariably
have friends to warn them. Plotted
by the guide the officers would ap-
proach until they could see the smoke
of the still curling above the treetop
and then charge down. Sometimes
they were successful i'll capturing the
men, but generally these managed to
escape. The officers always cut up the
worm, chopped up the still, tore down
the shanty and poured out the mash
and whisky that happened to be on
hand. A raid on moonshine dis
tillery is always interesting and ex-
citing because fraught with SO much
danger, one never knowing when rifle
ball will tear its way through his body.