New-York tribune., 1901-03-17


OF GEORGIA AND NORTH CAROLINA.
From The Birmingham (Ala.) Age Herald.
. Its cornmeal when it goes in and it's proof
liquor when it comes out. It's a little worm"
on the mountain top, and man behind gun
~ Keep your eye on guard twenty -four hours
10 the day, and come out at the end of the year
% Door aS Ihe DULY respectable farmer. your
nelghbor It's a risky business all the way
lhrouSh, but when ii comes right down to the
'asclnatlon it's the ideal. It's 'moonshine
Nhlskey, that's what il is. and ii grows in the
country where ther amt no Ten Command
uents and a man raise a thirst
The moOnshiner is ignorant countryman
very uncoutl in appearance, but S shrewd as
Connecticut Yankee. He is also a prince of hos
ptailty. as may be said of nearly all of the
Georgia and North Carolina mountaineers He
lives with sword of Damocles constantly sus-
pended above his head and no one is more con-
sClouS OF inns TACT than he is. AS he is in daily
almost hourly, fear of detection he regards
every one with more or less suspicion: even his
best friends and members of his own family are
sometimes, and with good reason, suspected of
lfeachery. Every stranger who arrives in the
nelghborhOod is looked upon as a possible reve-
nue. oHlcer, and every knock the door of his
dWelllng IS answered with inward feelings of
doubt and nervousness
The reader must not infer from thiS tbat tho
1noonShlner is a coward for he is not AS a rule
he resolutely opposes any interference with his
gaming even TO the shedding of blood if this can
lection ~ " ~
During the year 1900 1865 Illicit distilleries
We're seized by revenue officers within the United
States OF this number 67t were located i'm
georgia and 4S3 in North Carolina Nearly all
the rest were distributed in the order given
over the States Of Alabama, Virginia South
Carolina, Kentucky. Tennessee Arkansas ana
AllsslSsII'p 1t is probable that the total num-
Der seized did not represent more than one-half
vi lle Hilclt stills IN active operation The total
16.O57 i'' i"'e Decii
Georgia leads all other States by nearly two
10 one. In one district alona-the Ninth-54S
!@lcit @ SUNS We're captured during the above men
toned period Rabun County situated on tha
northern border of this district and of the state
may he called the hub centre of the moonshina
niiHhey traflc OF the country. Ninety per cent
oI us population either owns. operates deals in
furnishes material for or consumes the product
ol ll- large number of Illicit stills within its
bounds. AS may well be imagined no person
however worthy and well qualified he NAV be
can hold an office position of trust in this
county unless he sympathiZeS with the moon
shine faction.
The extreme northern part of the State of
Georsla contains some of the toughest. widest
and most grandly beautiful scenery in the Union
Ihrou@hout this region are numberless high
mountains, roaring torrents, deep gOrges and al
most impenetrahle laure!s. Amid such pictu-
rescue surroundings-in the most inaccessible
parts. at some distance from public roads and
TaliS-the mponShiner sets UP his still. The
spot chosen is in cases in the twilight
depths OF a laurel screened gorge through which
ruShCs a crystal stream Of water. Sometimes
the apparatus is housed in a which has
been eXcaVated for that purpose in the side
of the mountain gorge, but a rule it is in the
open air, being simply covered with roof of
split boards. The dwelling o the operator is
seldom nearer than quarter OF a mile.
The apparatus used is not complex; a copper
still, dubbed the copper" about eighteen
twenty inches in diameter and Of equal height: q
coil Of copper pipe several feet in length, called
the worm; several tubs casks for holding
the mash and for catching the drippings from
the worm mash stick stirring fork. and a
small. narrow bottle in which to test the liquor
these articles comprise the entire outfit. The