Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-02
AMONG M0ONSHINERS
YOUNG m1I4lbHA1RE BELIEVED
TO HA Persisted.
Disbelief in TRY That He is Held
for RAnss Stories Of the
nnntains.

| From what IsAaye read and hearl rsla-
! tive to the sudden and mysterious dIsap-
| pearance of the FRANC millionaire Edward
LeisenrinR wenfxDf Philadelphia, 1 greatly
| fear he may haS6ffailen Into the hands OF
the moonshiners who infest the mountains
| of southwest virgiuia. the locality In which
| the young man disappeared" said Mr.. Jas.
| A. Dorsey last night at the Ebbitt to a Star
man. ~
Mr.. Dorsey fs as.native Of Kentucky. is
connected with the geological survey and
| has just returned from, an extensive trip
| through the mountain regions of his native
state and Tennessee.
Knowing the people Of the region ada
cent to that In which the young man lived.
take little stock In the theory that he is
being held for a ransom. The young man
is unauestionabiy dead. and some day the
mannersof his taking off will leak out If
he ran into a nest of moonshiners,. there
was just one chance In ten Of hts coming
part Of Tennessee that borders on It are
honeycombed with Illicit stills. conducted by
desperate men VINO count human lives as
of little value when their liberty Is at stake.
Tho average mountain man is in a class
by himself. He is Jealous grave, secretive
and suspicious. His code is never to injure
man with any weapon but gun. and
when he shoots he shoots to kill. In the
vernacular of the mountaineer a man is
never killed; he is Just pecked off, During
my recent trip in the Kentucky mountains
| had as a guide young man who was a
true type of the. section In which were my
labors. Life to him was evidently no holt
day excursion, forSn during the three weeks
he was with me he ever smiled I never
| caught him at It,. He had a droll way of
speaking. and he related many very anus
ing incidents in his experience but in the
relating of them he was as solemn as If
standing by the bedside of dying relative.
"Uncle Jake's" Fate.
asked if any one had been killed recent
ly in the particular vicinity in which we
| were, he gradually warmed up to the sub
ject and replied: Right smart. Bout
month or so ago Uncle Jake was settin' out
like on cliff sunnin' hisself, most likely
Aunt Sue thought she heard gun go off
nothing uncommon bout that Shutdown
cum: no Uncle Jake. She says, kind o. low
to herself. Wonder what in tarnation cum
O tibet ole man. an lowed she'd peek
round leetle. She shorely did, and found
the ole man asleep-like on the cliff He
was sleep all right with a bullet through
his head. Aunt Sue lowed some one had
| it in for him and just pecked him off, Six
| months ago, bout, my cousin was found
dead one morning on an oil tank he was
| guarding. We was four days gettin' his
| done bust the coffin. Reckon some one had
| grudge agin him and just pecked him off
| Year go pop went UP on the mountain to
| cut some wood. He never came back alive.
A Winchester bullet had gone clean rough
| his body, and to this day we do not know
who killed him. sdt .. ..
Shot Ceiling Full of Holes.
Another guide with team took me to
| mountain wedding OF course. the we'd
| ding could not take place without the typi-
cal bad man putting in an appearance, and
on this occasion he was there with both
feet. 'Whoopeens be shouted as he entered
| the cabin I'm the snolagO of Big
| Bone Whoopee,ssIe takes q good deal to
make right, boys. but I'm right now
| Whereupon he drew his gun and shot into
the ceiling. This was signal for other
young men present to draw their weapons,
| and perfect fifsillade of firearms took
| place. They i1iadei aisieve' OF the ceiling
! and all the time asserting that Breathitt
I county was NOE ri at. !Noson was hurt
and every one of,fhe4 natives present seem
ed to think that the wild actions of the
young menHwere a proper part of the cere-
mony. There was not a revolver cartrtO
to be had in the town the next day-tiIe
wedding had taken all of them.
THE. hospitality of the mountaineer Is
proverbial. One night while on my trip
alighted from the car at 81 tank station.
A middle-aged man met me as 1 struck
the platform of the station and asked me
| il 1 wanted a place tc sleep. AS his was
the only house in sight I gratefully ac-
cepted the invitation. Without another
| word he seized my grip and I followed.
| When the cabin door was reached he mo-
( toned me to stay where l was. In few
minutes he opened the door and motioned
me to enter He climbed a ladder and
| was at his heels when he reached the land
| ing. | had to duck my head to keep from
hitting the shingles. The bed was still
warm. as soon found when ready to retire.
Refused to Take Pay.
| ''The next morning, when hunting for
place to wash my hands and face, ac-
| cidentally entered a room where two
young girls were asleep on the floor. The
| head of the family had turned them out
| Of their bed for the purpose of giving 1T
| to me. After a breakfast of corn pone,
coffee and bacon was prepared to pay
| my bill. but the man refused to take
cent. AT the station found man pol
| ishing the boots of a stranger to me. He
was lawyer and constable I found out
| later. and as soon as he had finished the
| job in hand he fell to ana gave me
shine. The lawyer was on hand for the
purpose OF trying case farther up the
mountain. i
"At Jellico. on the Tennessee border.
where l spent few days. I got very
| chummy with the only policeman in the
/ place. He carried more iron around with
! him than any officer of the law I ever
met He constantly carried five revolvers
| on his person., and when l incidentally
| asked him IL the weight did not tend to
make hime lopsided his reply was that he
had frequent occasion to empty them of
| their lead. which eveaed up matters a
| trif1e.
The Political Side.
"At Middlesex. Bell county. Tenn, the
people We're holding political meeting
and barbecue. Fifteen steers were being
roasted in an immense pit. and several
thousand people were on the grounds.
When every one was tanked up with food
and liquid refreshments the speaking
began. My. but the orator was fiowery,
and while he gave Indy Murray few