The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1885-08-07
AMONG MO0NSHINERS.
ILLrouT D,srlLLrno susrnEss.
Their LaUfes~, squaIid, and I'm
moral Lite Described.


Gus forehead muscles that stand ont like
knotted cords on his arms and Ices a sim
ewy bodydenoting extraordinary physical
strength black flashing eyes th!u. cruel
lyss, which when parted, show .ony white
gil~tsGiuZ teeth-cruel and trea. a..h,.rors
ana crafty N every movement aad faature
this is a. faithful pen 5dctarc OF tie yea
Ulne North Carolina mooushinsr- ssz hs
'E.s@ he seen TO-DAY. ijsaY sarol - ueir acr
gay unr RaUdy. Du b. head ne u-p-l- - the
s. y gray, 81 Jl h1jmmsd s..rcn Ia, yp-l.-
O.! = - tine a.s:th, coaEel back ia % i..i.
slrf,.nt, devil may caro- man .gr. F.sS
clothes "Cc gcneraiiy OF graz or b-t-eruut
cn eSe-l hcntulIy jctEs, Il .traeF here ,fa
:-S-rN vi divers cc.or-, tho a--ar.-e-ueut
. nh!ca Instantly 7Eges. = To- tue mind
The 70 er5 al garaluDi of .5o.ef.h. and
there is o. r-l1nt=tbie ab5ence OF suspeu-
ders, the tcther garments being kept In
place by that peculiarly southern insiitu-
tion kn .w-n as nit n " His Inca Is
primitive aHd no collar e~cr graces his
suHburned neck, zlthou-h nc usually
" esrS . gigantic collar button of rolled
&r,Id Fls,o." His shoes and boots are not
likely, at any time. 10 inspire feeling utaer
than those Of RHc. Taken Il. in all there
is abOuJ the whole man an air Of indiiTcr-
ence, stOldity and brnvedo, in keeping
with his HefariOus occupation. He is
usually armed to the teeth, carrying one
or two pistols, a gun, billy" " and n most
always q dirk knife with a patent spring
blade. He comes to town IN hinge Gov
cred waZou-ge generally containing a small
barrel or two OF the mountain dew" fgs
the Illicit whiskey is called skilfuUy
slowed away under the bedding, straw.
provisions, &c, which the vehicle contains.
lie makes camp I'm the suburbs of the
town and there be remnins until ne has
transacted all his business, when he packs
up his traps in the big wagon ard mystic
riously returns whence he came The
scene here at night, whom thirty or forty
of these wagons are collected under the
big trees, is picturesque. The huge watch
fires, built in an immense circle, blaze fit
fully and cast sombre shadows upon tae
great canvas covered wagons that are
huddled together like a Convention OF
ghosts, the sinister faces OF the men out
lined against the sky and crimsoued by
the reflection of the flames seem like the
faces of demons-once seen the picture
will never be forgotten.
II is utterly Impossible for any one to
conceive of the absolute sQualor In which
these people dwell. 4 small hut, contain
ing but one room, is often the home of IF
teen or twenty persons. These huts are
built of logs, laid one above the other. the
intersUices filled with clay and straw. and
are cold, cheerless, almost unin1abitabIe
dens, far worse than most Northern cattle
sheds. In one house. where travellers are
entertained-called by courtesy a hotel
there are two rooms but this establish
ment is considered exceptionally commo-
dlOus and elegant in that region The
beds are mere pallets of straw and corn
husks, often made mp in rows upon the
floor to do away with the expense OF bed
steads. 1t rained necessarily for thirty
six hours, and the roof LEAKED badly. The
food obtained at all these places is simply
atrecious. Soggy corn-bread, made from
unbolted meal, fat bacon fried. and served
swimming in miniature lake of grease I:
fried eggs in a separate lake Of fat. and
perfectly undrinkabIe black coffee com
prised the menu three ttues q day. There
was no varying from this bill Of fare e1-
cept that ocCasi ionally the eggs were omit
ted. Breakfast is served at six A M
dinner at noon and supper at six. After
the latter meal all the folks, men. women
and children, smoke their corncob pipes
for one hour aud then 20 to bed. Kero-
sene being an expensive luxury. ulumlns-
tions are secured by mea1ls OF pine knot
torches or tsllow candles, the latter beiu.,
used only on state occasions.
The men chew aud smsle their home
made tobacco and drink a good desI Of the
whiskey they make. The women most
Ofthem smoke, and all dip snuff, q practice
common 70 Western North Carolina, and
not confined to the lower classes. OF mo-
rality the less said the better. Very few
people OF the class referred to possess
Bibles: no one, scarcely, can read, and, "a
there are no churches for miles and miles
this deplorable state Of morals il scarcely
to be wondered at. The father OF family
not more than a month ago offered to sell
his daughters virtue for q rifle worth SIS.
Some of the moOnshiners wives and
daughters are uncommOnly buxon, come
ly and attractive, despite their horrible
surroundings, but as a rule the women
are tall, angular and sallow, due, no
doubt, to "snnff dipping" which consists
in rubbing snuff upon the gums and teeth
until a kind of stupOr is produced.
The process of manufacturing corn
whiskey is primitive. The grain is ground
and made into mixture called mash, ."
which remains undisturbed until it reaches
point of fermentation known to the dis
tiller as "ripeness" 1t is then put into
huge covered, copper boiler, the top Of
which contains Ions, spiral tube that
passes through a trough of cold water and
empties into the whiskey barrel When
heat is placed under the boiler full of
mash the steam from the mixture passes
up through the spiral tube, is condensed
by the cold metal where i passes threugk
the water into a liquid which drops into
the barrel pure corn whiskey, one drink
of which will scorch anything except the
ironclad stomachs of these mountaineers
The whiskey is cOlorless, and when It has
stood two years is fft to drink, having then
taken on a pale yellow color. This color Is
deepened by the addition of burned al
nond pits, or brown sugar scorched in a
pan. 1t costs about eighty cents a gallon
to make the whiskey, taking the average
price of corn in this country. The " dew"
as the Illicit whiskey is called-=elk =
from 81 25 to 81 50 a gallon. affordiug a
handsome profit.
The distilIers show wonderful ingenuity
in locating their stills where they are not
likely to be found. Often the machinery
which is bought piece by piece in differ
ent towns, TO avoid detection-is placed in
one of the mountain caves and the distill-
ing goes on at night, so that the smoke
may not be visible TO the revenue detec-
tives. And woe to any suspicious chqrac-
ter who chances to be found lettering In
the vicinity of one of the stills; be would
be shot down like a dog. In Rabun
county, Georgia, the entrance to enc of the
largest and finest stills in the State is
through a hollow chestnut tree. The
builders of the secret chamber excavated
the dirt and carried it away in baskets /;
and as no revenue officer, however clever
he might be, would go through the forest
searching for hollow trees, the still has re
mained undisturbed for six years, during
which time it has turned out nearly OF