St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-25
THE DEATH OF OLD NANCY.

vi obD MANU-.
She died in the mountains of Northern
Georgia, where she wasborn. Who shall
doubt that she is sincerely mourned by
our ~compatriots of the sunny South?
The "Old Nancy" was all illicit dis
tlllery-incorrigibIy illicit-which has
poured forth its steady stream of cons
centrated liquid comfort Tor fluid extract
OF damnation-according to the point
from which it is viewedD since the war.
The "Old Nancy" was known to three
states-North Carolina. Tennessee and
Georgia-and for more than thirty years
has detied the powers of, first. the Con-
federate and afterwards the Federal gov
eminent. Finally, a few weeks g
the internal revenue officers closed
down upon this prohibited industry.
confiscated the machinery. destroyed
the prOduct-and Old Nancy ceased to
exist.
They have but few cows in the mount
ain region OF the South, and the people
OF that unique locality have gradually
replaced Tactical with spirituous fluid
refreshments. The Cracker of Georgia
or the Clayeater of North Carolina
cannot understand why he should be
compelled to pay a tax to the national
government on the whisky he makes
himself. Like the wild Inc hayward
son OF Donegal. who looks upon potheen
as the gift of God to His fallen children,
the rude and benighted denizen of
the Apennines of America regards
whisky, not bread. as the r u and only
cfo IF ~ ltfn To IA1 Haa.I - r.,l-
celebrations on the Fourth of July that
''all men are created free and equal, and
endowed by their Creator with certain
~Inallenable rights, among which are
life, liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness" But what is life worth to him
without whisky? How much liberty
does he, In fact, enjoy if the liberty to
convert his corn and rye and barley into
the standard %intoxicant of his people is
rudely and forcibly denied him by a
tyrannical government? In short, he
argues. how can happiness be pursued
with any possible chance of o%vertaking
that furtiye and evanescent angel un-
less man has the assistance, the COM
fort, the %consoling COM any of his dar-
ling jug?
The Cracker mountalneer Is content
with small comforts, few neceSsarieS, and
demands but one luXury-whisky. Is he
not the true type of philosophical excel
lence in America? Has he not actually
learned the lesson which comes sooner
or later to the wisest of earth's children:
That every s%ublunary joy is transient,
each terrestrial blessing fitting
Like the snowflake in the river,
ONE white, then melts forever"
And the 'Old Nancy was the symbol
of liberty 10 this peculiar specimen of
the genus homo. Hidden away in the
lonely recesses of inaccessible mount
aims, he piled his lonely task, watching
with one eye the intricate pathways
leading uD to his lair. while with the
other he scanned the mash, or gaZed
upon the constant stream of concern
trated liquid sunshine as it streamed
st adily into the open cask.
Who shall say that this ignorant
mountaineer's reasoning was wrong
Whe u he proclaimed to himself: ssJhis
liquid spirit is the product of the grain
raised in my valleys; this s%tillhouse is
paid for with money more honestly
earned than much that is expended on
delicate foreign wines and luxuries''?
Who will gainsay his patriotism, when,
in his Ignorance, he vowed to defend
with his life the premises his premises,
purchased by his labor, his self-denial,
his sacrifices-the property the profits
of which furnished the daily ration of
corn pone and bacon to slatternly wife
and SaliOW, unwholesome little ones?
The milk of 'Old Nancy was at any
rate pure. The murderous intelligence
hidden in the brain Of the cowardly and
m%ercenary c~ompounder never tempered
with it: the chemical Scoundrel without
conscience was never allowed to ap.
preach near enough to the caves in
which it was stored to rlpen to touch it
with a wizard wand of added madness.
or the government gauger permitted to
stamp it with the nations brand of
legalized murder.
SO the Old Nancy became celebrated
for its purity and flavor among those
convlvially inclined throughout the
Southern tier of states. They consumed
it at the village bar, in the back room
of the crossroads grocery, mixing it
with cider to give twang and body to
the milder tipple. The housewife toned
her currant wine with it, the cook knew
we'll its virtues while coming the mince
pies at Christmastide. All these simple
folk grieved when they learned that
Old Nancy would give up her untaxed
milk no more.
The GLOBE is not preaching the gospel
of alcoholic abuse, nor holding up to pub
lie appreciation the virtues of d%isobeying
The laws prohibiting the illicit manu-
facture of ardent spirits. 1t does pro-
claim, however, that the tax levied upon
spirits makes the nation largely respon-
slble for the barreled madness which is
sold indiscriminately throughout the
country. 1t deprecates and IL
over the monstrouS increase IN idleness.
vice and crime superinduced by the
drink habit, and would have the nation.
which derives an income from its manu-
factGre and sale, reduce to the minimum
he evil which follows forever in the
wake of whisky by compelling its abso-
lutte purity through the pains and PEN
alties of the firmest statutes.
The righteous and just American
everywhere throughout the land will
mourn that the revenue officers were
forced to capture and destroy a distil-
lery where pure liquor was made, while
ten thousand cellars all over the land.
in which the poison of alcohol is made
infinitely more poisonous, are ignored,
winked at. tolerated and encouraged by
the splendid government we are all SO
proud of. e