The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-07
PASSNGOF FMOONSHINER
MOST OF THE "WILDCAT WAls- KEY'' MAKERS OUT OF z BUSINESS.
Exciting Lives of Moonshiners in Tennessee Mountains With Officers Hot on Their
 Trail.

Philadelphia Ledger.
 s.It won't be many years before the moonshiner, one of the most picturesque cbaracters in American history, will be onlv a memory said D. V., Turley, well known Tennesseean, the other day. ,.And even. now the mountaineer who re- lied solely upon the working of wildcat whiskey for his living has altogether dis syappeared. The revenue officers have suc- ceeded in stamping out the illicit manu- facture of whiskey to such an extent that at the present time one still can't be found where hundreds formerly existed.
 twenty years ago, when the making of moonshine whiskey was at its height there was no section that contained a greater number of stills than that part of the Tennessee mountains, near the North Carolina line, where the Hiawassa river forces it's way between Chestnut and Bear mountains, of the Great Smoky range. This river drained district which was in every way thoroughly adapted to the needs of the moonshiner, the surface of the entire mountain country, with the exception of few clearings, being cov- cred with almost impenetrable laurel thickets, where an object ten feet away would be as completely hidden from view, as if it did not exist, while the numerous boulders, which were thickly strewn over the greater part of the land, made pro- gress through these thickets of the slow est and most difficult character. So it was because of these features that this sec ton became the haven for so many wild cat stills.'
 Hundreds of thousands of dollars and many lives were lost in the endeavors of the government to check moonshining; but it was not until the appointment by President Cleveland in 1885, of J. J. Twins; of Athens, Tenn, as United States Mar shal for the Eastern District of Tennes" See that the first real step can be said to have been made towards its suppression. | Nearly all the former ,marshals had been . appointed from a different section of the State. and naturally had almost invaria- bly, selected their deputies from their own home sections. These deputies, having no experience with the mountain country had but little success In catching the moonshiners, and the result was that the industry seemed to thrive even under their efforts to suppress 1t. Therefore it was not surprising that the mountaineers finally began to hold the marshals and their deputies in contempt.
 How Twins Caught Them.
 Marshal Wins was native of this mountainous section of the State and he was thoroughly acquainted with every phase of moonshining. He recognized the futility of appointing as his deputies out siders,' or low-landers, as they were termed by the mountaineere so he select cd; his entire force of men from among the residents Of those localities in his dis .trict where moonshining was in the most hourishing state.' When he announced his intention upon first taking office of putting stop to illi6fe 'stilling,t the hardy mountaineers, with the utmost confidence in the security of their mountain fast nesses, laughed at him and then pursued their calling with renewed activity; but this time they reckoned without their host, for he and his deputies began to make things so hot for them that the |. more elaborate and extensive plants soon began to disappear, it being the custom of the revenue men to destroy them when- ever they fell into their hands.
 But the moonshiners did not give up without a hard struggle. It was not easy flor. them to replace their copper 'worms.' for these had to be brought hundreds of miles, and were also very costly, so they $ had to exercise their ingenuity to the ss;hA tefmost to provide substitute for this ssIaoSt necessary part of a still" and .con- s3 s3hequently the apparatus of these plants < was Of the orudest description. Tho aver age portable still consisted, chiefly of a large copper wash boiler and a worm z Ssconstyucted from green canes or reeds, | which when heated over a slow fire can
  < The plants were moved from place to place according to the movements of the revenue officers, the moOnshner' sone- times. not being able to make more than one run before the revenue men would come too close for comfort. and he would have to shoulder his factory and seek new location.
 4 "The moonshiners usually worked ih- pairs, one doing the work. while the partner kept track of the whereabouts of the officers and disposed of the product. The still house was ordinarily hastily constructed by driving four forked poles into the ground. Poles were laid in these forks. and across the top, over which brush was laid for the roof. Three sides were similarly constructed, one side bs- ing left open. But when the moonshiner was closely pushed he dispensed with shelter altogether. operating his plant in the open, the only precaution taken t"- ing a barricade of brush placed before the furnace opening 10 hide the glare of the fire as much as possible.