The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-17

hope cefssrsd. rsur dayr n tilS wsok ~
old fellow let them accumulakA Tnen 10
sIIEs5 IssE III IS I'm !sd I < 81 u "a &
9 long day had kek fun of whisky.
6ometimes he put II Into q ba$yel. nrst
S Sassss sns snss ~ ss s. We
gums Of various sorts. hut commQnly he
did not risk 10 much IN ore place. Kegs
were more to his miud--kegs charred -
were the berreis--or even runieta hoiding
no moro than three gallons. Into sSbcn Of
these he put a very little bright straw
q generous handful of ssindried peachess
ana q pellet OF sugar AZ big a. marble.
Time did the rest Save under great stress
or great temptation he never hroached
keg under five years old He would, Of
course, sell even raw whisky to those who
chose to buy. trusting to their own palates
or conpciences a. to when the drinking
would be. He had cave cellar hard BY
his house that would have puzzled sher-
lock Holmes to find. The mouth Of it was
overhung with the most battered and
ordinary docking blackberry clump and the
hill behind WIS really not hill to speak
Of. The cave was the mouth uf an old
sink hole. No water ran In Il since a vent
had broken lower down. 1t was neither
cool nor warm. but always airy. In sumo
mer the sun shone In II for an hour or 20
do with the way his whisky ripened.
Anyway. It was nectar, with flavor Of
ambrosis thrown in.
I'VE went home hot and set up two
timber stills as quick az we could One
was for sinalirfgs, the other for doubling
up. They worked to- admiration, made
whisky for us that soon gave US the bulge
on our compettora. The old moonehiner,
Tor Masonry's sake, and some further cons
~ xt,Sxa -
some OF his fine arts. Still our whisky
never quite came up to his. whether, as ~
thought, through lack Of mountain water.
or, as he said. because Of revenue faint.
cannot undertake to say. II was good:
away beyond copper. distilled; but even In
good whislty there are degrees Of excel
lence. Aa -
"A fellow in the next county saw our
stills and straightway set up something
that beat us and the moopshiner hollow.
He built eawmini upon tfrequented
road. right out In the open country. When
II was built he hauled to It the very biegest
logs he could md, and all day long his
crew tugged and sworc, and his engine
painted and pufIed, but somehow these
heaps OF bfg logs changer TO lumber
mighty slowly He wap Always behind on
orders. Everybody wondered at That.
There wasn't Y smother sawmilI within
twenty fHueSs Will y I6IU OxHcG DuHlH4uD
staring him In the face. Il did scem he
might make haste He said he made
enough money as things stood. and did
not mean to XIII himself hustiing to please
AS he always paid cash. ana
had money In both pockets. nobody could
very well dispute with him. At any rate
nobody did dlsptdte win him. though after
the crash came everybody said he had
known It all the time.
you see. he was moonshining: had :
timber stifi dug from LOGS left IN the
rough. and masked IN all Connections and
all appurtenances by piles OF other logs
He sawed laggardly by day and distilled
furiously by night, using Of course. dif-
ferent crews, hut hinnself staying up tho
Fest part of tie time Revenue men
passed his house tn plain sight of MS plant
at least once a week. He often gave
them dinner. in fact. and listened to their
tales of moonshine perils. But for. three
years no soul suspected him. He might
have run even longer but that he qpar-
relied with one OF his men. Then he knew
the jig was up. He took his wife, with
what cash he had and went, on between
two days. wonder sometimes II shall
not run across him here In Chicago. II
do, I shall not think Y necessary to givs
him away" 81, 4:..5 a g