The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-07
A BIC ROMANCE 'MEETAT MANASSAS
Revenue Man Written Up
as Woman's Dupe.
Will Sue Richmond News Leader for
Libel The Tale as Told by Musk
rat Mike and FIossy May
Mostly Poetry.

WUStly 'rUelr1
The tricksy moonshiner and the de.
vices used by those who engage in Tho
| profitable but risky business of beat.
ing Uncle Sam out of his liquor tolls
have ever been fair game for news
}papers and novelists alike.
If amid the gross surroundings OF
the sequestered still, there can be
| painted the miracle of marooned
! lady of quality whose innate gentle
| ness and refinement has remained un-
| spoiled while she grew up wild in>tht
woods; if one can picture with suffi-
cient vididness the passion and the
snares of Muskrat Mike for this corn.
Ticker lady with the alabaster skin
and the jet black eyes and the curling
golden hair; if, in contrast to this, he
can work in a band of revenue officers
OF supernatural acumen and a hound
like persistency in search and then a
dapper young minister of independent
fortune who starts out With the reVe-
nuers to correct the morals of Smoky
Gulch, only to fall head over heels in
love With Flossy Mag and for love
of her dear self comes finally to
condone the moonshining business and
wear overalls and drink white light
ming without a cough; if he can stir
up enough blood plots on the part of
jealous Muskrat Mike against the life
Of ParSon AlgenOn and can then wind
up the story With an imprOmptu revival
in the still house at which moon
sinners, reVenuers and Muskrat Mike
are all converted and Flossy Mag de-
clares her love for the Parson; and
then prologue the whole thing with a
marriage in the cathedral, with red
EIOCSXr IN n
Paris and newly discovered Banker
Papa, and Muskrat Mike pumping the
organ, while the salty tears roll down
his beard-why he can eat up "Sun-
day space" by the yard at six dollars
a column.
And the moonshiner and the dis=
tillery cheat-Door dogs-are SO
timid that they dare not rebel. So
that when Jonah Smith. who has II.
struggling to raise a family of 81
children With 81 t5u- gallon still ,lat
"cut up every six months. and living
a life that is half the time i'm the pen
itentiary and half the time out, dis
covers that his simple, unassuming
and retiring character has been trans
formed into blood thirsty Muskrat
Mike-Why he can only sigh deeply.
light his corn-cob pipe and, in ex-
tremity, take a drink of his own
y
Therefore, to those who know the
true difffdence and harmlessness of
the breed, who appreciate the fact
that their lives are full of grinding
labor that leaves no time for senti-
ment, who have seen an old, bald
headed man with d copper still on his
back skedaddling through the woods
like wild turkey at the approach
of nothing more harmful than a COM
h,
feeling of something very much akin
to a sense of justice delayed WheG
one of these worms who has been
dragged from the ground and writ
ten up preSumeS to turn.
All this to get down to the fact that
Store-keeper and Guager Carter,
who was stationed at a still in Wilson
county, where the government was
done" is preparing to sue the Rich
mond News-Leader for libel in pub
fishing a story of his alleged love of
a 'moonshine girl" and neglect of his
duties at the beck of Cupid.
According to the story as printed
in the Richmond paper, under a Raj
eigh date line, Carter was the govern
ment officer at a distillery operated on
Black River, in Wilson county. by a
man named Morgan. The still was
situated in dense forest on bluff
overlooking the river, and was about
four miles from the town of Lucana.
It turned out afterwards that the still
had under it a tank that held 500
gallons of whiskey. From this tank
one pipe ran to the river and another
tank to the ciStern room where it was
connected with funnel. The still
was one of ten-bushels capacity, and
under government regulations had to
make 80 gallons of spirits day.
Everything over this was poured in the
funnel, went in the tank and when
the tank was full, boats came up the
river at night loaded with barrels,
into which the liquor was turned from
a cock-stop in the pipe that ran from
the tank to the water.
On the occasions, said the News
Leader correspondent, when the boats
came up and when the liquor was
being formed in the funnel to the un-
dergrOund tank, Guager Carter would
be off trysting with the Flossy Mag
of the story; but the stock story here
took an original turn, because the
damsel fell in love with the officer
and the officer fell out of love with
her-and when the girl got ready to
wed. and there was no wedding to
follow she got mad-mad as hornet
and she gave away the distiller and
the store-keeper and herself, so that
Morgan was tried and fined a thou
sand dollars at the December term of
Federal Court here and Carter was
tried too but acquitted.
All this the NeWs-Leader printed
with graphic detail. and now comes
Carter and says there wasn't any girl
and that he has been damaged in his
char-akter to the sum of umpty dol
lars and odd cents-and the News
Leader must pay.
And Mr.. Carter has sued the News
Leader and the papers lawyers are
coming here to Raleigh to see how
they can best get out-and Muskrat
Mike is revenged
Capt. Crosland says corn is fine but