The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-02-10
TILL-HUNTING.
One of the Exciting Diversions of Geor

One of the Exciting Diversions of Geor'
 MT. J. H. Griffin, of College Park
 deputy United States marshal, was in
 the city yesterday. guest of the Com neMial He was seen by Chronicle reporter last night and related some
 very interesting experiences in connec-
 tion with the revenue service.
 One of the incidents related was the | destruction of very large illicit distil- | lery in Morgan county, aboutgten miles
 from Madison, the center of one of the
 most cultured communities in the state.
 The other was an exciting experience
 which he pasesd through in Lincoln
 county Both of these incidents were of
 very recent date, and seeing "a good story in them, the reporter secured Mir.
 Griflns consent for their publication.
 For many months past the good peo- | pie of Godfrey peighborhood, in Mor- | gan county, near the lines of Putnam and Jasper counties, have been annoyed by an illicit distillery, which was known to have existed in that vicinity, but which had never been located. There were rumors and rumors galore There were traces and traces also, and evidences of It's existence on all sides, but the still itself was surrounded by so many swamps and so much mystery that 1t could not be found. Dame Ru- mor said also that here were \ some prominent men connected with this corn-juice mill It was also stated that man who was called Wild Bill"--a tall, raw-boned, rough-looking custo- mer of the western type, had the distil- lery in charge, and that 1t would be worth mans life to dare approach the swamp in which 1t was located.
 These rumors were afloat in the good old county of Morgan tone of the best in the state) about the time the last grand jury met-ast September. While the matter was little out of it's line, yet that body felt that the good name of Morgan demanded that 1t take cogni- zarce of the existence of the d1stillery Witness after witness was called before the secret councils of this body, which, strange to say, had among its members the very man who (rumor said) was deeply interested in the distillery. As every witness would be brought in, tremor was seen to pass over this mans frame, a nervous twitch of the hands was noticeable, while his face would be- come deadly pale It was an hour of peril for him, and much hinged on the testimony of the witnesses. The inves- tigation ended by the grand jury's re- commenting that the governments off, cials take the matter in hand and de- stroy the still, which was creating so much disturbance in quiet communi- ty.
 In speaking of the matter last night, MT. Griffin said he W as sent down to investigate the affair. He landed in Madison on the 18th of December. 1899 and inquired for two trusty men to 50 with him on the raid.
 Upon recommendation of the citizens an ex-deputy city marshal and young mana member of prominent family were employed by him, and the trio started out to invade the realms of the mysterious Wild Bill''
 It was late in the afternoon of De- cember day, when they left the suburbs of Madison and headed towards Put nam county. The ex-marshal knew every pig path in that section, and, as darkness came on they found no diffi- culty in approaching the swamp in which they believed the distllery was hidden. When they got within a quar- ter of mile of this swamp a light | flckered in the center thereof. As they l