The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-03-07
a PERILous JOURNEY.
Officers Heralded by Signal Guns For
Miles.

Oheers Heralded by Signal Guns For
Miles.
New York SUM
! One of the mos. notorious OF districts
{ ~ which the moonshiner still uourlsnsS
y tnlrty miles from the town OF HlntOl'
I ~ ne counties OF Mercer and RalelEn'
~, a. Initcher Dan Cunningham,
! government detective. invited the writer
! 20 accompany him on a three day faih
For some time past the outlaws in this
/ lar OH region. known as the FIAT Top
I country, had escaped the active atten-
ION OF the marshals Office at Charleston:
- consequence the manufacture o.
luelt. or mOonshine whisky among them
} LAO reached serious proportions ana a
iaId became inevitable.
10 reach this region il was necessary
- pass through nearly thirty miles OF
! inooushlhe territory. where every strang-
81 receives degree OF scrutiny tnat IS
! uncut 10 deceive Carving rifles, also,
aibef the hunting season Is over IS hard
matter 70 explain 10 the inquiSittVe. DAN
ne deputy marshal. tucked mis- rife
therefore under his coat and volunteered
/ Lue Information 10 the few people who
were met on the road that the writer, WnO
| eNhlpited a camera box on his back. vas
lle surveyor OF new railroad line and
"TS taxing pictures for his company
ms apparently allayed suspicion and
the raiders seemed 10 have a tair chance
/ 20 walk quietly In on the moonshiners at
I1eif Work and capture. the entire party.
PEELED.
We had scarcely reached Flat Ton when
I.On the surrounding mountains signal
| guns were tred and beacOns lit. Not
/ soul was seen and these evidences of an
aroused community were anything but re-
assuring.
Until midnight we epurred our horses
over road that elUded us more than once
IN the darkness. Nothing could be more
WelfdiN impressive than this stealthy ap-
stVaCh IN the black silence of the night,
through a hostile country. hampered by
an the obstacles that the toughest part
OF the Alleghanies could present
no houses were passed until within
Ille OF the place where the mOonshtners
were a work. Here a strange spectacle
e4lhe INTO View that gave each OF Us an
Involuntary shudder
The house Of one Of the moonshiners
was burning Not a soul was visible. not
a sound could be heard except the roar
ot the names and the occasional plunge
OF log 70 the wreck-strewn ground be-
meath.
What tragedy was marked by this fire
Nnat midnight orgy or mountain feud.
none OF the raiders could fa thOm. 1t was
mountain home gone and possibly an
entre family of these strange people
slumoered beneath the ashes. The mys-
tefY or IT. undoubtedly connected in some
solved
Bv what instinct Dan could tell the
proximity of the mOOnshiners plant in
that dark wilderness it would be hard
ever for him TO explain. Every now and
then ne would get On his knees and ex-
anime the snow and frozen twigs for
signs.
Finally, after one Of The inspections.
ne called us together and announced that
we were within gunshot Of the place.
pointing at the same time down dark
preeipice, at the bottom of which could
stream.
Have your guns ready, boys. Get the
drop on the frst man you see. IL you
need to. fire on him. he said.
mat descent seemed interminable. In
stead or short declivtty IL was after
ware found to be about 800 feet i'm length,
a giare Of ice and a tangle of laurel
thicket. AS the bottom was reac the
snow-covered banks of the stream could
be family distinguished in the starlight.
ana then mass of dark objects from
which thin column of smoke appeared
20 be rising.
We closed in on the dark mass before
Us. There was row on row of huge mash
tUps, nlied TO overlooking. There was a
Vide stone furnace in which were a few
glowing embers But the still and worm
sight
Cunningham destroyed the plant that
the moonshiners had been forced to leave
value of at least $500 Then we followed
a path that led us straight to a house
mat we knew to be the headquarters of
Ihls particular gang of mOonshiners.
IL was the home Of Lens Lilly. They
are all Liilys i'm this wild community
Lilly seems to be a tribal name among
them, due, probably, to the fact that
century or more ago a family named
the country rf
Lens. of course. was not at home when
the raiders entered his cabin. His wife
q Wild-eyed woman, dividing her atten-
Lion between a spinning wheel and a
child who was dying Of WhOOping cough.
perslstently denied any knowledge of her
husband 5 Whereab bouts. Probably the
primitive cabin had never before held so
many strangers, and its mistress with
her hait-StarVed children Clinging about
her. regarded the intruders with the gaze
OF some female wolf at bay until the de-
tectlFe asked some questions about the
DYING child and tried to sOOthe lis cough
tn1S show of interest had a humaniz-
ing effect on the woman, although IL
tailed to elicit any information regarding
the absent husband. AS we left the house
the woman crept out after us and began
calling the cows. a faVOrite signal among
these people TO warn mOonshiners Turk
ing in the brush that they are in danger
For the next two days and nights we
secured the adjacent country and sue
ceeded in capturing three of the gang
We srent three days vainly trying to cap
ture the leader. For the past thirty years
ne has had a master hand in most OF the
mOoushining in the neighborhOod and his
arrest would go a long way toward break
ing up the open OutlawTy that flOurishes
IN this part of the country. More than
one deputy marshal and revenue officer
haS lost his life tracking him. and Lilly
has conftdentially announced he will new
er be taken alive
For the past twenty-five years the gov
eminent, through its marshaIs and rev.
euue officers, has been waging war on
moOnshining, and undoubtedly it is less
prevalent than at the time when the
first serious effort to abolish it was made
Ex-Governor Atkinson OF West Virginia
who was the first TO make effectuaI head
way against this class of outlaws. the
first marshal TO enforce the present rev
enGe policy of the government, declares
that IN four Years of warfare between
moonshiner and official in the southern
states nearly 5,000 stills were seized and
6OUO moOnShiners captured.
This was accomplished a a sacrifice
OF tWenty-nine government officers muir
dered and stxty-three seriously wounded
The saving in revenues to the government
Dy the capture OF these distilleTies Gov
ernor Atkinson places at S7,0425G0 annu-
any From these figures the extent and
seriousness Of moonshining can be esti-
mated.