Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-08-24

HNeS on DOtn sides.
] Phil WatSon'S courage was never.
questioned even by his worst enemy.
but he values his life as highly as any
man, and understood that the odds
| were IN favor of the -Ien he was hunt
! ing. He had recognized Tom Harris
"HonS his opponents and knew the
/ shung men with whom he associated.
1nel, TOO, he was aware that he was
III a hostile community in which strang-
erS were regarded with suspicion, and
lhen otner moonShinerS were liable
! 10 De IN the community and come to
! tue assistance OF Harris and his men.
| Under these circumstances he gave tbe
word TO retreat. Several of the officers
horses had been shot and before they
could get out of range of the moon
sinners rifles two men We're killed
Only one moonShiner was killed and
four wounded
| Many of the men engaged in MOON
shining in Kentucky have been follow
ing the vocation since the war. Prior
to that time they had distilled LIQUOR
on small scale merely for home con-
sumption, and though occasionally
were never molested. Suddenly re-
guilty Of a violation of the law. vet
turning from the front in 1865. MANY
of them found demand for whisky
IN their community and with the mar
gin of so cents per gallon in favor of
the manufacturer who could avoid the
government tax collector. thew very
n f,1I.D
barrassing details incident to comply
ing with the federal internal revenue
laws. 1t was no particularly difficult
matter to escape detection, especially
In the mountainous districts of the
state. Here the sentiment favors the
individual The natives fail to ap-
preclate the distinction made by the
government. They understand that
they can raise corn. grind it into meal
ana make bread thereof without inter
terence, yet when they attempt to
make malt of their grain or extract
the alcohol from it government gauger
comes around, and after enforcing a
most harrassing number of details
concludes by demanding one-half the
value of the product Their limited
sphere has never enabled them to
grasp the ethics of political economy,
and the whole affair is contrary to their
ideas of individual liberty. For every
dollars worth of the product of the
Illicit still destroyed in Kentucky it
costs the government ten times as
much in salaries for revenue officials.
regardless of lives lost on both sides.
For every gallon of wildcat liquor
intercepted en- route to market at least
ten barrels are successfully disposed
of to the retailers. The desperation
which characterizeS the actions of the
average Kentucky moonshiner in his
efforts to resist arrest cannot be at
tributed to any particular fear he has
of the consequence of his lawleSs life.
OF the hundreds arrested annually in
kentucky and taken to Louisville for
trial not One-tenth are convicted, and
in case of conviction the sentence is
only from one to three years in the
penltenhary. None are ever convicted
of murder in connection with the death
of officers engaged in their capture.
This is explained by the fact that the
can never be Identified Where prob
ably dozen revenue detectives and as
many mOOnshinerS are fighting from
behind cover (where then fights in
variably take place. faces are seldom
seen. The average mOonshiner will tell
you, If on sufficiently intimate terms
to question his motives, that he fights
by CAD, sir, because / wont have
strangers interfering in my business,
SIR
The history of the manner i'll which
the illicit liquor is placed before the
consumer after it leaves the mountain
still is as interesting as the process of
manufacture in the crude vessels AS
the country in which this lawless ele-
ment thrives is peculiarly adapted, by
reason Of the absence of railroads,
telegraph lines and other channels of
trictS, to avoid interference, the same
circumstances favor the marketing of
the produce. Stills are necessarily
located near a water course, usually a
small mountain stream tributary to a
navigable river. When the liquor is
ready for shipment several barrels are
night is removed to point where sus-
piciOn is avoided, and then taken to
the nearest town, when desired, in
wagons. Barrels bearing the guagers
stamp from which the liquor has been
sold are used to receive the liquor, and
the transfer is so skillfully made that
the fraud is not detected once in a hun
dred times. The profit is something
enormous and many Of the desperate
leaders Of the lawless element in the
Kentucky mountains could secure
100000 in cash on ten days notice
should they be captured and need that
amount for defense.
In some instances the owner and di-
rector of several stills is a resident Of
some small mountain town, and with
his money invested in the local bank
he lives at his ease. He is frequently
a church member, a liberal fellow, and
in his rugged way a most thorough
gentleman. AS his guest
you would receive most cordial treat
ment, but let anything suspicious arise
and on moments notice you would
find the courtly old gentleman reaching
for revolver Of large caliber, con-
veniently located in the pocket of his
long tailed coat,
This class is the brains of the ele-
ment that causes Uncle Sans internal
revenue collectors SO much trouble in