The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-25


| er; and there in that door 1 beheld the
| queerest looking old negro that ever saw.
| lie was about 91z feet tall, with an enOr-
mouse head, and body that would have
been large for a 6-foot man. His head
| was covered with snow-white wool and
white whiskers fioated 70 his waist.
John led the way through a group of
plum trees to the old well, and the old
negro threw a small stone, as 1 supposed
| down into the well. John reached up,
| pulled down the bucket and turned it
crossWise In the hole, then he told me to
put my feet well on the bucket and hold
TO the well pole. I hesitated as I was
frightened. 1 did not know what to do
and asked him why he wanted me to
climb upon the well bucket. He said:
There Is no danger whatever; get up
there you little rascal, or I will pitch you
in the well headforemost"
soon decided it was better to make the
descent feetforemost than head downward
ana Immediately climbed upon the bucket,
holding to the well rope with the grim
grip OF one about to be lowered into I'M
known regions. Down, down, l went 1t
seemed to me that well was a mile deep
put II was really only about forty feet
looked down and could plainly see the
water toward which / was being lowered
l would be in 1t in a moment, but lust as
reached 1t, rough, strong hands grasped
my waist and deep, not unkindly voice.
sad; Let go of the pole" My hands re-
taxed their grip and l was carried high
and dry into a wide, Underground cham
ber OF which I obtained but a dim view
owing to the darkness that obscured the
place. A moment later / heard some one
climbing down the wall of the we'll and
on looking up / saw John Martin swing
himself toward US. and land on his feet
by our side.
l asked him where our guns were. and
hat Old I
them, and that there were plenty of wea.
pons IN the cave if we needed them
what government spy is this here with
you?" demanded the owner of the deep
but not unkindly voice
On hes only chap Lucy and me have
taken TO raise and thought would give
him an initiation into the sercets of souIr-
rel hunting to-day" said John.
our companion was none other than
Alex Messer, the king of Illicit whisky
makers In Kentucky who had already
Killed twelve men. He Immediately con-
Quoted us back in the cave some 200 feet,
aided by flashes from a dark lantern
which he carried. After passing through
a crude doorway which much more resem-
Died the work of nature than of a man.
we found ourselves in a well lighted room
III Illuminated by the pine-knot fire which
cheerfully burned under a copper still Of
about eighty gallons capacity. on the
a dozen tubs, formed from the trunk of a
hollow sweet gum tree. About half of
them Were filled with mash, with few
spruce pine tops mixed therein. which the
nountaineers claim give the whisky a
better flavor.
Inc rough looking men sat on the floor
OF the cave, near the fire, playing cards
In one corner was stacked lot of guns
ana on a primitive frame rack made from
the denuded limbs of pine tree was sus-
pended a number of pistols Fat hogs
walked leisurely about the room. They
were fattened from the slop of the still.
ana when the men in charge wanted meat
they killed hog. These hogs were low
cred into the cave when they hadVeached
the shoat period of life.
After few minutes 1 began to wonder
why we were not stihed by the smoke.
and looking up, discovered above the fire
what took to be the top end of A smoke
stack usually used by portable threshinp
machine engines. The round part of this
stack appeared to go directly into the rop
or the cave This puzzled me to discover
where the smoke went, and I Travelled 10
and from that still and worked around It
Tor -FOUR years before discovered the exit
of the smoke and doubtless would never
have known had 1 not mustered courage
to inquire of John Martin one day. To nv
surprise, he explained to me that the Chin
ney of the old negroes hut was built di
reetly over hole in the ground which led
down into the cave. The hole was dis
covered by Martin one Gay when his dogs
ran ground hog into it, and as the old
we'll was known to lead into the cave. the
happy thought dawned upon him that ma
ture had constructed for him a safe re-
treat where he could make "moonshine'.
for the rest of his days without being
molested.
After Martin discovered how well ma
xya nj .
moment for him to plan the negro cabin
over the sink hole with a double chimney
one-half which was to carry the smoke
from the STILL the other acting as an out
let for the fireplace of the cabin.
The cabin and chimney having been com
pleted, Martin procured his still which
was taken apart and lowered into the cave
by way of the we'll. Alex. Messer and his
two trusty companions were employed TO
conduct the underground work while
Martin acted as business manager and
placed his mountain elixir with saloon
keepers in the nearby villages of More
head. Farmers, West Liberty and Hog
town.
About an hour after Martin and nv
self were lowered into the cave Alex.
Messer announced that dinner would be
ready Would we like 10 wash up a bit
before we ate? Yes, we would we told
him. So after picking up the dark Ian
tern Alex. led the way TO the outer
chamber. After passing through this
about nifty yards we abruptly came TO a
turn in the cave. After pursuing this
direction a short distance 1 heard the
purling sound of water. and a few steps
further on we stood on the bank OF a
most beautiful stream about four feet
wide, about three feet deep and as clear
as crystal. In this limpid stream we stop
ped to battle our hands and faces, but the
water was so cold that my hands ached
to the finger tips. ! asked Martin where
this water came from. He replied that at
the bottom OF the old well was a spring
We then returned TO the still where we
partook OF a good dinner of hog meat.
corn bread and coffee. After dinner Mar
tin and | went out TO the old well, where
Martin gave shrill whistle and soon the
old bucket came slowly down. was
placed upon Il as before and was then
holsted up by the old negro. Martin soon
followed, climbing up the sides of the
well.
After that II was my daily occupation to
run errands and carry messages 20 the
men az the still. Martin was crafty
enough 70 arrange everything In such a
manner as TO divert suspicion from my