Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-10-03
Gales and Skftthes.
The Moons liners Home

From an article in Dixie" the new
Southern magazine published at Atlanta.
Ca. we copy the following graphic sketch
of the poor whites of North Carolina who
are addicted to the illicit distilling OF whis-
KEY:
The writer. some three months ago,
while travelling through the South gath
erino notes for book of character sketch
es. made a visit to the section of country
described in the first lines of this sketch.
with a view TO ascertaining by personal
investigation the mode of living, the man
ners and morals of these ''moonsbiners
as well as their methods of manufacturing
1.-The dew" tits impossible for one ac-
customed to city lite to conceive OF the alb
solute, incompatible squalor In which
these people dwell. Small huts built OF
old logs and containing but one room are
frequently the home OF from nine to HI
teen persons. The interstices between the
logs, of which these houses are built, are
flied with clay,-which soon become hard
and air tiyht,-the chimneys are OF rough
stones and clay and the light in the apart
ment comes through an aperture called by
courtesy a window, which closes with
rough wooden shutter on leathern hinges.
The door is home, made usually OF rough
boards, and guiltless of lock. wooden
pin or button serving as fastening
in tact, nearly all the houses are tar more
uncomfortable than most of the cattle
sheds the writer has seen in the New Eng
land States and in: the West. In North
Carolina at one house where travellers are
entertained" at the modest charge of
fifty cents dav, there are two rooms
but by the people Of the surrounding
country this place Is considered eXcep-
tionably commodious. The beds are mere
pallets of straw and corn-husks, often
made IN rows upon the floor to do away
with the expense of bedsteads. At one
place in the wids of Macon County, n.
c., the man of the house, his wife, one
nineteen-year- old daughter one seven
teen year old daug lter, one boy OF fifteen.
six other children of graded sizes. the
writer, two dogs a cat and her brood of
kittens and five chickens were the occu-
pants of one single room. All ate, and
slept in this one apartment, not more
than 16 feet square, the cooking being
done over an open fire place at one end Of
the room. there was little too much
sociability about it-a trifle too much OF
companionship even for one with not over
fastidous tastes-but it rained necessarily
and no other shelter was accessible. tor
the houses in that part of the country are
often three or four miles apart. The dis
position of the party at night was anus
ing. There was one bed-an old fashioned
affair with corded bottom and nothing
of course likeh spring about (which was
surrendered to the guest The small
est children slept on pallets under the bed
stead, being tucked away one at time
after having had their faces and hands
secured by their energetic and ''bonY''
mother. The others slept upon beds made
upon the floor, and the window was left
wide open for ventilation.
AS may be imagined, the food obtained
at such places as the one mentioned was
simply atrocious. Soggy cOrn-bred, made
from the unbolled flour, bacon fried in
thick, dirty-looking, limp strips; eggs
fried in the bacon grease, mush and black
cotfee-or rather a thick, muddy looking
mess that passed for coffee-comprised
the menu at every meal. Dinner was
served promptly at noon; breakfast at six
in the morning and supper at six at night.
No lamps are used in any OF these houses,
htIoStut DcluS tu CA pcusNc luNulN OlliN
INDUCED in by ''rich folks" The illumi-
nations are usually made. upon state oc
casions, with pine-knot torches and tallow
candles, but ordinarily the fire light is
considered sufficient for any mot too am
bilious" family All the people are good
natured and happy. and seem to possess
contentment in remarkable degree.
When, as is sometimes the case, man
gets in liquor and feels it incumbent
upon himself to chastise the whole
family beginning with his wife. they all
take the drubbing philosophically and say
nothing about it to any one. AS a rule
the llen treat their wives and families
well. and murders-except of the revenue
mens-are of very infrequent occurrence
IN the "moonshiner's' region, due no doubt
primarily. to their phenomenal good ma
ture, and secondly to the fact that in the
manufacture of Illicit whiskey every man
must stick by his comrade through thick
and thin.
They all chew tobacco and smoke good
deal, using almost entirely the home
grown weed. They also drink a good
deal of the whlskey they make. The
women dip" snuh-a practice common
in North and South Carolina, and in the
former State not, by any means, confined
to the lower classes. Many of the women
chew tobacco, some of them smoke, and
a few use opium, a stock of which they
buy during their semiannual pilgrimage
ito town" OF morality 1t is impossible
to speak in an article of this character
suffice it to say there is scarcely any such
thing as morality among the class of peo-
pie described. To young people, living
fifteen or sixteen in one room. personal
delicacy becomes almost unknown. and
that modesty which is the shield of purity.
cannot be cultivated Very few of these
people possess Bibles; no one. scarcely,
can read. and as there are no churches for
miles and miles. this deplorable state of
affairs is hardly to be wondered at In
deed it is said. upon what is believed to
be reliable authority, that in one county
of North Carolina. with large popula-
ton. there is not single church nor
school house Some of the ''moonshin-
err wives and daughters are comely and
bright, with pretty pink and white com
plexions. but as rule they are tall an
gular and sallow, which is due no doubt.
to snuff taking and bad. indigestible food
The process of manufacturing corn
whskey is simple. The grain is ground
and made into mixture called mash. -
/ vrb ra,,,o;pc npJ; in larra 80,