The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-10-28

MOONSHINE WHISKY.
Something About the Illegal Stilis--Dnn-
gers of Attacking Them in Tennessee.

The :" wildcat" still is usually quite
primitive affair, consisting of a copper still
Of small capacity, the necessary worms and
one or two barrels or hogsheads in which IS
kept the mash. The still is usually owned
and operated by one of the family, some
male member of which is always to be found
ut the shed or cabip of brush and logs in
which it is located. The corn from which
the whisky is made is secured from the sur
rounding farmers or raised by the owners,
and the liquor sold to anyone in the neigh
borhood who is willing to pay fifty cents
gallon for it and keep mum. BY reason of
this, enabling them to secure fair quality
of whisky cheap, the moonshiner makes
friends of all his neighbors and MS rule
they are ever ready to warn him of impend-
ing danger, and at the approach of an officer
or even suspicious looking stranger all
evidences of the still are quickly removed
This fact makes it an exceedingly difficult
task to apprehend the violators of the law,
and it is necessary to use the utmost eau
ton and discretion in order to apprehend
them at all. The chief source of revenue
derived by West Tennessee moonshiners
comes from the whisky they sell to store
keepers in small towns, in dealing with
whom they adopt such precautions that
while the storekeeper may have an iden, he
never knows precisely with whom he is
trading.
These moonshine stills are great resorts
for the men who dwell in the vicinity of
where they are located, and on Saturdays
and Sundays and other idle days dozens
congregate around them and pass the time
drinking, 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
30 persistently, having been allowed, in a
manner, to pursue his business unmolested
by meddlesome officials Hence, while many
revenue officer has dropped from his horse
dead at the crack of the mountaineer moon.
sinners rife there is but one or two instan.
ces on record where officers have been killed
in West Tennessee.
1earS ago Wnen revenue OlncefB hunted
the festive moonshner in his lar, the
method of entrapping them was to induce
some one familiar with the country, gener-
ally man who had q grudge against the
moonshiners or some negro who would, for
a consideration, agree to pilot the officers
to the still. Then deputy marshal went
to the town nearest the point he wished to
reach, and summoning Il posse started out
In all of this it was necessary to preserve
the utmost secrecy, as the moonshiners in
varinbly have friends 10 warn them Pilot
ed by the guide the officers would approach
until they could see the smoke of the still
curling above the tree tops, and then charge
down. Sometimes they were successful in
capturing the men, but generally these
manage to escape. Tho 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 distillery is always
interesting and exciting because fraut with
80 much danger, one never knowing when
rife ball will tear its way through his body.
-KemplIs Agalanchs.