The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-12-03
MOONsI1INE WHISKY
How 1t is Made ami Sold and Guarded In
West Tennessee.

The "wild-cat" still is usually quite
primitive affair, consisting of a 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 operat-
ed by one family, some male member
of which is always to be found at the
shed or cabin of brush aud logs in
which it is located. Tho 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 tho ncighborhOud who is
willing to pay 81 cents gallon for it
and keep mum. BY reason of this, en-
abIing them to secure fair quality of
whisky cheap, the moonshiner makes
friends OF all his neighbors, and as a
rule they are ever ready to warn him
OF impending danger, and at the ap-
proach of an officer or even q suspi-
cious-lOOking stranger all evidences of
the still are quickly removed. This
fact makes it an exceedingly difficult
task to apprehend the violaters of the
law, and it is necessary to use the ut
most caution and discretion in order
to apprehend them at all. The chief
source of revenue derived by west Ten
nessee moonshiners comes from selling
to the storekeepers in small towns, in
dealing with whom they adopt such
precautions that, while the storekeep-
er 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 vi
cinity 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 full
ly as shiftless as his brother in the
Tennessee mountains, about whom SO
much has been written, he is not as
bloodthirsty. probably because he has
never been hunted SO persistently, hav-
ing been allowed, in a manner to pur-
sue his business unmolested by mod
dlesome officials. Hence, while many
a revenue officer has dropped from his
horse dead at the crack of the noun
taineer moonshiner's rifle, there are
but one or two instances on record
where officers have been killed in west
Tennessee.
Years ago, when revenue officers
hunted the festive moonshiner in his
lair, the method of entrapping them
was to induce someone familiar with
the country, generally man who had
a grudge against the moonshiners, or
some negro who would, for a consid-
Grafton, agree 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 nee
essary to preserve the utmost secrecy,
as the moonshiners invariably have
friends to warn them. Piloted by the
guide the officers would approach un-
til they could see the smoke of the
still curling above the tree-tops. and
then charge down. Sometimes they
were successful in capturing the mon,
but generally these managed to es-
cape. 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 distil-
lery is always interesting and exciting,
because fraught with so much danger,
one never knowing when rifle ball
will tear its way through his body.