Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-27
they take pride in following in the pater-
The Chief Of the Moonshiners.

they take pride in following in the pater-
nal footsteps.
The Chief Of the Moonshiners.
1.-THE acknowledged chief of the moon
sinners of this entire section of the country
is Joe Bowman. There is remarkable fell
low and it is q pity he is so welded to his
lawless ways. / am not certain that these
Illicit distillers are banded together in q
secret manner, but if they are Joe Bowman
is at the head of the organization. He is
brainy fellow and with more nerve under
trying circumstances than any man ever
saw. For more than ten years his head
quarters have been near the Kentucky line
in the southeast portion of the State. There
is great mystery surrounding the fellow.
He has no family and, though he
has made thousands of gallons of
fine whisky annually and put it on
the market, 1 am told he is poor
man to-day. A whole army of revenue Off
GERS could not arrest Bowman, because all
who knew him liked him for his liberal
ways. He must have given away all his
money to the people he knows We have
tried repeatedly to catch him in the past
ten years, but it is impossible. He seldom
leaves his mountain fastness except to at
tend to business, and then he appears scared
to death until he'g gets back to his native
wanted somewhere for some serious offeuse,
on account of the mystery with which he
surrounds all his movements. He is one OF
the few moonshiners the money of the de-
tectives has been unable to reach. In most
cases someone can be found to give informa-
tion about this class of outlaws, but it is not
so in Bowman's case.
Quick With Shooting Irons.
T met Bowman once. 1t was three years
ago. 1 was hunting him. was accom-
panied by Andy Bashford, one of the best
revenue detectives in this State. We found
Bowman and he shot us from our horses
single handed before we could pull gun.
1t was in the western part of johnson
county. We knew Bowman was in that
locality, as Andy had followed him from
the southern part of the State the day be-
fore. We were on horseback. Neither had
seen the noted moonshiner, but knew him
by reputation, as he had killed a mutual
friend the summer before in a regular duel
near his mountain home.
''It was about noon when we turned into
a by-path to eat a lunch we carried. was
opening my saddlebags when heard the
report of gun long distance away, and at
the same moment my companion threw up
his hands with scream of agony and fell
from his horse. My horse sprang back into
the road we had abandoned and before 1
could cast myself from my saddle felt
bullet tear through my shoulder, and a
second later heard the report of the Sec
ond shot. Again my horse jumped and
was thrown to the ground. was scared
terribly, because could see no one. The
suspense was awful. The possibility that
was liable to be shot to pieces from ambush
was more than could think of without
shudder. From the ground could see
nothing, and crawled to my companions
side. His face was covered with blood
from big hole in his head. thought he
was dead as / could distinguish no signs of
lie. 1 covered his face with his coat and
hen examined myself. A Winchester
bullet had torn terrible wound in my
shoulder, from which blood was pouring
bound 1t up the best
could and crawled through the woods to a
creek we had crossed few minutes before
the shooting. 1 carried my revolver, de-
termined to get shot at our assailants if
possible. saw nothing till was return
ing, when 1 observed man crawling toward
me from the way had just come. was
getting ready to shoot him when he raised
his face, and 1 recognized Andy. The ball
had only produced a flesh wound, and he
was coming down to get a drink of water
when met him.
"We remained in the woods till night and
then reached a cabin where we were as
sisted out of the neighborhood. afterward
heard that Bowman had done the shooting
from almost half mile away. He said he
shot Just to try his rifle, and knew that,
while he had hit us both, we were not
killed, because the gun was not fatal that
FAR. He could easily have waited and killed
US both. No, / am not anxious to meet him
again, though if I do one of US will get
killed &"