Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-27
CROOKED DISTILLERS
Greatly Interested in the Movement
for q Higher Whisky Tax.
1T WOULD BOON THEIR TRADE
And Also Force Uncle Sam to Double the
Revenue Force
SOME LIGHT ON THIS INDUSTRY

with view to securing the passage of q
measure increasing the internal revenue
tax on whisky has created more interest in
the mountainous districts of Southern Ken
tucky and Northern Tennessee than any
proposed legislation since the days of re-
construction, says correspondent writing
from Glasgow, Ky, to the st. Louis Globe
Democrat The very suggestion of an in
crease of 40 per cent in the tax on distilled
spirits has been sufficient to cause hun
dreds of people of the ''moonshine" ele-
ment in this section of the country to begin
figuring on the price of stills, and to induce
a number of the small army of revenue de-
tectives who frequent this territory to send
in their designations in anticipation of too
much hard work.
The opinion of an expert alone can deter
mine just how much Of an impetus the sue
cess of Owen Scott's scheme will give to
the business OF moonshining. Colonel Tom
Wells, the veteran revenue officer, is gen.
orally regarded as authority on this subject
throughout several States of the South.
He has seen twenty-one years of this ser
vice. Most of that time he has spent row.
ing through the mountainous districts of
Kentucky and Tennessee in search of Illicit
stills and their desperate owners. During
this time he has received numerous wounds
and has frequently escaped death mirac-
ulously where other men equally brave
lost their lives. His nerve Is never ques-
toned by t hose familiar with the desperate
fights in which he has figured with moon
sinners. In moment OF confidence Tom
Wells once admitted that he rhad killed
seven men at different periods of his life
who insisted on distilling liquor without
the ordinary formalities prescribed by the
Government.
A Determined "Revenooer."
Withal Colonel Wells is modest fellow
When he is quietly resting at his home in
Bowling Green he rather resembles pro-
fessIonal man. When he is in the saddle in
a locality in which his favorite game is
known to exist he undergoes wonderful
change. His orders are given to the posse
in q quick, nervous tone. He knows the
nature of the half-savage men he deals with
and the danger of being assassinated at
every turn in the road. If the moonshiners
fight from behind protection they are sure
to find Wells and his men doing likewise.
A few days ago Colonel Wells was in
Glasgow with two prisoners from the hills
south of this place. When questioned on
the subject of the proposition to increase
the tax on distilled spirits he was at once
interested.
''Of course the plan will largely increase
the revenue of the Government from the
source" remarked Colonel Wells, "but |
am satisfied the force of men now required
to even keep the moonshners in check will |
have to be more than doubled When the |
present enormous profit of the moonshiners |
is considered, with the small investments |
necessary, and the slight chance of detec- |
tion they run, it is really mystery to ME |
how the Government is able to handle the |
offenders. None but those in the business |
can know the enormous profits the industry |
pays These big distlllers who form the |
trust think they have a great advantage |
over the moonshiner in their modern meth |
DDS and costly machinery, but my expert |
ence teaches me to regard the skill of the |
average moonshiner with more admiration |
than he commonly receives
A Splendid sample Secured.
''Now, observe that sample" said the
Colonel, holding up to the sunlight quart
of as finely colored liquor as ever graced
Bideboard. 81 secured that in raid sew
eral days ago 1t is as fine whisky as 1 ever
drank, and the still in which it was manu-
factured did not cost $40. The beautiful
golden color of that liquor is not the tinge
OF old age, either. 1t is not year old. 1t
was made by an artist. He knew too much
to carry distillation to the farthest point.
That produces tuseI OIL That is what gives
the average product of moonshine stills the
very white appearance and bitter, biting
taste. Too many moonshiners, in their
anxiety to secure the greatest possible guam
tlty of alcohol, carry the distillation too
far, thus increasing the quantity of fusil
oil and producing liquor that can always be
hu he i
an illicit still, because the modern ma
chinery avoids this trouble.
''The wholesale distiller, with modern
produces his liquor at a cost of
about 13 cents per gallon He places il on
the market at a cost of about 81 Is per gal
lon. The difference represents the internal
revenue tax and shipping. The moonshiner
avoids all expenses except the original cost
Of distillation, and this is less than in the
case of the legitimate.
The Illicit Still Is Cheap.
'The Illicit still is simply constructed. A
kettle fixed in a small rock furnace, in
which the mash is boiled; a copper worm,
similar to piece of water pipe, through
" hich the distillation may be conducted
through vessel of water, in which the
vapor may be cooled, and tub to hold the
product, is all the average moonshiner re-
1uires to make hundreds of gallons of good
liquor annually and give employment to
several posses of revenue officers He
raises all his product for the still. This is
another way in which he has an advantage |
over the distillers of the cities In the
of an article as fine as any
bourbon whisky that the Government ever
collected tax of soc per gallon on, the |
noonshiner will use 80 to so per cent of |
,orn with 40 or 30 per cent of small grain
1ne hundred pounds of this mixture will
produce 40 pounds of fine whisky, 25 per
,ent alcohol. If the distillation is not
arried too far the result of the run" will
,e superb drink. If it is boiled too much
nd fusel oil is developed it may be redis-
illed by adding more water, and the fiery
aste thus done away with, but this is 6
eldom done because of the time required. Z
Big Profits in Moonshining. G
"With the internal revenue tax at 80 J
ents, as at present, the profit of the moon I
hiner is 81 where the trust makes 10 cents C
n gallon of whisky. And with the reve- a
ue officers in all these hills stills are being i
perated night and day. In 1875 more \
han 61,00o,O00 gallons Of distilled spirits E
-ere manufactured i'll this country, on
Thich the Government tax was pail. I 4
ytimate that the moonshiners made and n
Did for the same period one-third as much h
It the same time there were more than
900 higb-salaried detectives operating in
lese Southern hills to suppress the illicit
,afic It can't be done. The penalty
hen o conviction is secured is from one to g
We years, and this is nothing compared TO p
le chances in the business to make q for d
Inc. know q number of fellows who Il
ave retired from the business after q few N
ears with big fortunes The mar >,