The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-11-28

lsft. The Moon was up. We walked
for an hour and a half up and down the
mountains, through dense woods around
rocky chffs, crossed small branches, and
twisted in and out of ravip.s climbing up
and down. AT last we reached small
stream running down dense raw ms.
We Followed this httle stream with great
wooded mountains rising ON both sides
for a mile befcra we reach the still house.
Every now and then Sparks would give
a cry, very much like that of a whip
poqwil, which would he answered from
away up on the mountain SIDE above us.
The still houss, even whsn we were
night at 1t, was almost hidden from
view. 1t was a one story house BURT
entirely of legs and covered With clap
boards laid on the log rafters. These
wers hsld down by poles laid length
wise on them. Not a nail was USED IN
the entire construction of The buildnng
1t was hidden under a great rocky Gilt,
which projected out until 1T almost Gov
ersd the roof, and on the outside was
such dense growth of bushes and vines
that one not familiar with the ways of
the moonshiner, even though he entered
the ravine, would likely have passed by
without seelng it.
The house had no windows and but one
door. The floor was of natural soil, hard
and smooth. As we entered, a half
dozen of the toughest of the rough noun
tainesrs, who were III work making
rum locked ait us with susp clon.
They are all right boys" said Sparks.
you all know Bill Findley"
They did and thsy welcomed him with
Hello, Bill, but big fellow with a
great scrawly, black bsard wanted to
Know, WHO'S the cthsr chap" That
was satisfactorily explained and all
hands stopped work for a few moments
to give us genuine moonshine welcome,
which meant drink all around from the
neck of a jug.
1t has bsen said that the whisky made
by blockade stills is the best in the world.
1T is corn whisky, as clear as water, but
would almost as soon drink a mixture
of alcohol turpentine and kerosene oil.
1t might be good with age, but this was
not a wesk old and it was just about as
hot as SO much molten lead. The moon
sinners are accustomed to it. Indeed
| thstr swallows are cast iron apparently
but to a novice one swallow will last
a life time.
A ound the wall was a numbsr of rough
| tubs in which the mash was in course
| OF preparation, and in the middle of the
house near one end was the still. 1T
r5Eted on a furnace made Of large rocks
In which fire of hickory wood was
burning. The fire does not come in di-
rect contact with the still The still
| rests on a fiat rock and the flame and
GOALS are beneath this rock. The wood
| used is usually very dry and makes but
| little smoke, but what smoke thcre is
! This still was quite a large one for
moonshine whisky. It was made of cop
| per by the moonshiners themselves, and
, is one Of the bsst to be found in the
| mountains of all North Georgia. In some
| places they make whisky IN cid pots and
use gun barrels as worms, but in this
| they Were unusually we'll fixed.
The distilling here is just like 1t is in a
regular licensed distillery When the
! mash has reached a sufficient dsgree of
! fern fmtqltiOO III 70 taken 10 he
and poured INFO the still. Then the worm
cap is fitted on and fastened with clay.
The worm coils down into tub through
which there is running water. The vap-I,
from the Still is condensed in going
through this worm and drips out into
vessel placed TO receive 1T. The first
distillat.on is known as the low wlnss
or singlngs. This is red.stilled to pro-
| duee whisky.
Moonshine whisky is sometimes hauled
Ito the towns in barrels on wagons so
loaded with country produce that the
barrel cannot be seen. The S.art from
| the still is always made at night. The
whisky in this shape must be sold to
! some dealsr CIR country storekeeper who
| is in sympathy with the moonshiner. The
| moonshiner must know his man. The
ma jority of The wildcat whisky is, hcw-
ever, sold in jugs to the people about
the little towns that are near by. Again,
thEre are regular dealers in many of the
W
this whisky and shipping 1t in jugs cir
other small vessels to dealers in Atlanta
and either cities, where 1t is weakened
and blended with other WHISTLES, when
1T Is said to become fairly good.
Later in the night when we returned to
| Sparks home, we found all the family
asleep In the one room on the palle.s
| spread out on the floor. We were invited
to take the bed. The next morning
when we walked, Mrs Sparks and the
oin~IS a1repdU pntf.an and
getting breakfaat This manner of en-
tertain.ng company seems strange to the
uninitiaIted; but it is the universal Gus
tom i'm the mountain districts for the en-
tire family to sleep in one room, and If
thsre happen to be any visitors they do
likewise. = The women always r:tire
first by this dim light of the big fire.
The men are not supposed to look
around white they are disrobing. When
in bed they turn their heads in the OPP
pcsbte direction and the men then pre-
pare to retire.
In the morning we breakfasted on corn
bread and squirrels, which one of the
boys had shot very early.
The cooking of the nnountaineers is
done in the big fireplace on the GOALS in
but one or two pots. Everything is either
boilsd or fried. 1t is NOT the most
tempting in this world, but few days of
roughing It Through this country gets
one in a condition which enables him to
eat almost anything.
We left Sparks that morning and have
since been roughing 1T through the noun
tain Businesses of this wild section of
Georgia. Some of our experiences and
soma of the stories that we heard from
the mountainous are interesting.
One afternoon we lost our way in the
mountains of Fannin, and were wander
ing about after dark, through the rough
est part Of Hog Back mountain, looking
for a house in which to spend the might.
Suddenly as If rising from the ground,
man APPEARED in front with a rife
pointed rather too directly towards us
for perfect safslty.
That's all right" cried out Findley,
1--WE are of YOU"
Maybe you aire. But let's see," said
the man whom we saw to be an old noun
taineer. "S'pose you light an Civ some
account O. yourself. We don't allow
any providers and gov'ment spies round
these diggins"
We alighted and were not long in ex-
planning, for the old fellow knsw Findley.
He turned to me and said: I'VE can't
be too pairtickler you know. But we is