St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1896-07-11


Trot, and Huckleberry Ridge, and
Weayer's Woodgarden, and fuckers
Mill, and the Panther Creek settlement
But when the crops are laid by and the
fish won't bite, if you want to take few
days off and make the time pass quick
and pleasant pack up your duds and
come with me and we will go over into
Cyclone Streak
Plenty of Wildcat Stills.
So far as know, and so far back rs
the records run, nothin very good has
ever come out of Cyclone Streak, unless
1T mought be a few great gobss of fun.
1T is a wild and rough and reckless
scope of country, with strange and
pecurious people. The woods are full
OF wildcat stills, and they make moon
shine whisky In them parts even unto
the third and fourth generations. 1t
would seem like everybody is kin to
everybody else in Cyclone Streak. It
would seem like the revenue officers
got In there amongst EN- and found q
big copper still and two or three barrels
of white ink" as Aunty Lucas were
won't to say. They tore up the still and
iemptied the barrels right there on the
spot. In the meantime they had run
in on Billy Bledsoe and two or three
of the Hankins boys runnin the thing
in the dead hours of night-caughte EN-
in the act, as it were. So consequential
ly Billy Bledsoe and the Hankins boys
have now gone to Jail in reply TO papers
of complement from the general gov
ernment.
But from what they say about 1t
neither one Of the gang knowed any
thing for certain about the still to start
with. They had started on camp
fish that night and jest happened to
stumble up on the t'ding thing. over
there in the swamp Under the circum-
ference of the surroundins they didn't
think it was any harm to shove up the
chunks and take a drink in passin
That is the way they sung the song at
first, but the revenue officers were
on the trail, and they het the
ground SO hot under the boys till they
had to change the time. Then they all
owned up to running the still for
that one round, but they swore
the thingsbeionged to old man Steve
Hankins, the uncle of the Hankins boys.
Now old man Steve swears he never
heard tell of the concern before. To
hear him tell it, he never did sec but ene
wildcat still in all Of his born days, and:
that beloa ed to old Buck Ridley.
Since writin the above Luke Blcdsoc,
a secont cousin to Billy, rid by to tell
me that old mar Steve sHankins issnaw
italldn through a different hat. The i
revenue men comes down ON him last
Saturday and called on hinl for the his
tory of that still. Whereas old. man
Steve went over there in the swamp
and examined the shattered fragments
of the thing and then swore by the
liyin and the dead that it was the prop
erty Of old Buck Ridley-the same one !
which he had borrowed to make a run
10 years ago this summer. sNeverthe-
less, old man Steve had to pack up a few
dirty duds and go. to jail.
BY this time things are warmin up
considerable over there in Cyclone
Streak. ] am lookin every day to hear
from old Buck Ridley, which, accordin
to the evidence in the case, he is tho
man which owns the still at the presen u
writin. But when you get the next
news / will bet the best mule on the
place that old man Buck never owned
40 wildcat STILL Raley I don't reckon
he would know one if he was to meet
it in the gig road.
AS eyerybody knows there are
stills and stills-plenty of stills over
there in Cyclone Streak. But ii
would seem like they don't 3belongsto
in particular. Billy Bledsoc
and the Hankins boys got caught rum |
min the machinery and cljmbin up
around the producements thereof, but |
they jest mapped to find the .'ding
thing Fit didn't jest naturally grsoNii
up there out of the ground, reckon
the last cyclone must of bloWed it in |
from somewheres up in the hill country. /
1t may be that the revenue men thin;gt
they have got dead dopen-and4shute case
for the government but they don 7 know
1 tae people of Cyclone Streak. They i
may break a few kindred ties, and bring I
cnna general family disturbance, and +
blow In a Whole lot OF. time and money
But finally at last they will find OUT.
that that Wildcat still has belonged to
everybody in Cyclone Streak more or
less, bnt tosnobody foreertain.g
One Bottie of Sorry Goods.
''Talllin about the troubles in Cyclone
Streak. says Andy Lucas to me the
other day" that makes me think of the
time when me and VIII Tom Piekens got
holt of the onlyest bottle of rale sorry
goods,I have ever saw. + never did run
very deep on the still business, yeu un-
5erstand, Rufe, but don't have to stop
md tell You that / have always man.
sged to Chamber up around my share
of white ink and sperits-of-cats-a-fgIt-
IN: 1t jest naturally runs in the blood
IF the Lucas family to love the frs;
runnins of the corn. And tits all good.
,etter and best with me, Rufe.