Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-04-17
she Sells Mountain Dew.

chicago RECORD.
Betsy Mullens rs the largest woman In
Tennessee. She lives in a little log
house on top OF Newman's ridge. in the
mountains OF Hancock county, where
she earns a living by the sale of willlcltly
distilled whisky in open defiance OF the
government officers, who v time and
again been sent to arrest her, but have
never been successful. Her ayolrdupols
Is about $40 pounds, and this accounts
for the woman never having been ar
rested.
IL was i'm the fall OF the ear just
passed that / visited the MullenS home,
ia company with the revenue officers
from Knoxville. says a writer in the
Atlanta Evening Constitution. Tho
place wher she lives Is sixteen miles
from the railroad, and by no means
easy OF access. AS you NEAR the foot OF
the ridge where the woman lives you
can gee her cabin on the top. A con.
veyance cannot wend It's way to the
home. and those who wish to see the
largest woman In Tennessee, and one
who has caused more talk thar any
other woman in the state, have to leave
their conveyance behind and make it
ON foot zap the steep mountainske.
zTppfJacffnE the house, the first thing
out of the ordinary which attracted my
attention were four mounds in the brick
yard, which, upon inquiry, j learned
were the graves of her husband n
three sons, the latter having given up
their lives In mountain fights and a
been buried In the yard, where the
mother could turn in her bed In the lit
tie house n gaze at the spots which
contained beneath their grassy sod all
that wns mortal OF those who were so
near and dear TO her.
For years the woman has been bed
ridden. Not that she Is sick, but her
immense size IL such that she Is nab
10 walk or TO- around like other peo-
pie. Her husband was for years an In
valid, and the family was without visi-
bic means OF support until Betsy con-
ceived the idea Of selling whisky. There
are any number of Illicit stills In the
mountains near by, and just across the
line in Kentucky, and with their oper-
ators Betsy made arrangements for her
supply OF mountain dew" 1t Is brought
to her In stone jugs. and from her bed
side she can reach down and pour out
any amount of whisky which the pat
rons OF her place may desire.
In open defiance OF the law has Mrs.
Mullens carried on this method Of liquor
selling for years. The federal grand
jury has indicted her time after time,
and officers have been sent to arrest her,
but that was all. They would come 10
her bedside and serve the papers. but
could not take her to court or 10 jail.
Her size bafled them. 1t would take
half a dozen strong men to carry her
out Of the house. and when the outside
was reached they would not be able to
get her to the road at the bottom OF the
ridge, as 1t is impossible to get a wagon
to the top, where her cabin Is located.
Every time the officers call at her
house she simply laughs and says:
Take me IL you can" The officers can-
not take her and hat Is the end OF 1t.
In Mrs. Mullens Will be found the per-
so~nification OF ignorance. Her knowl-
edge Of the world Is confined to a radius
OF three miles of her home. She was
born near the place where she lives,
and has never been off the ridge. New
er saw the little county town Of TaZe-
well, the county seat of Tazewell coun-
ty, and has never seen a railway train,
although she Is at present nearing the
Goth milestone of her monotonous life.
She delights to have visitors call to see
her and talks interestingly.
During all the years that Mrs. Null
lens has been confined to her bed she
has seen her three sons and husband
pass to the beyond. She could not at
tend the funeral services at the little
church. which is situated several miles
from her home. and the funeral services,
II such they might be called, We're held
In the room where the mother and wife
lay on the bed and their bodies were
laid to rest just outside the door In the
back yard, where she could witness the
interment.
The woman takes her misfortune good
naturally, and says that she will con-
tinue the sale of whisky until her time
to die has come. and then she, too, eX-
poets to be laid to rest beside the bodies
OF her husband and sons in the little
plat In the back yard known as the fam
ily burylng ground of the Mullens fam.
ily.