Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-08-10
DAILY STORY
HOW CAME TO BE A FARMER.


IDrlSlnIIl
When l was young man, having
read great deal about the failure OF
officials to find and bring to justice
Illicit distillers in Tennessee, l was
seized with a desire To try my hand at
the business. Polk county swarmed
with moonshiners, and to Polk county
l went. Reaching the locality that l
sought, l began operations by pump
ing the inhabitants. Passing Il farm
house l saw Il good looking young wO-
man on the porch taking care OF
couple of little children. | dismounted
went in and asked for Il drink OF wa
ter. The woman pointed to a gourd
hanging in Il well house. and | helped
myself. Then, before asking any ques-
tons, played with the children with
erS confidence.
Sorry your husband isn't at home"
l said I'm looking out for timber
lands. Perhaps he might know of
some to sell"
Il haven't got a husband" she re-
piled; I'm q wilder"
She went on to tell me that ii was
hard for her to get on since her hus-
bands death. The country was ruined
by the Illicit distilling that was going
on. Instead of farming. everybody was
making whisky, and that kept respect
able people away.
Would you,'' | asked. abe willing to
do something to get rid of the moon
shiners?"
''Well, l don't like to git my neigh
borS down on me-"
Put supposing you could make a
nice thing of it."
what d'y' call a nice thing?"
named a sum was willing to pay
for the information | desired.
Look a-here, stranger" she said.
you hain't after lumber; you're
a-huntin' stills. Now, if you double that
what yO' said, it's Il co.
l complied with the terms. and she
gave me minute information as to
where / could find a half dozen secret
whisky manufactures, with the names
Of persons who knew all about them
| and could testify to their existence
and ownership i'll court
Having kissed the children-I want
| ed to kiss the widow, too; she was
very tempting-I mounted my horse,
| confirmed the information given me
| by pretending TO stumble on the stills
| while hunting timber lands, then rode
| to the county seat and swore out war
! rants for the persons whose names
| had been given me as the owners and
| subpoenaed the witnesses.
| Some time was required to serve the
| papers, and it was several weeks be-
| fore we were ready for trial. Mean
while / called frequently on the widow,
| becoming quite at home in her house.
| taking the children out to walk with
| me while their mother was busy with
| her household duties. | feared that
| my being so much at her home would
lead those whom 1 was prosecuting to
suspect that she had given me the
necessary information, but they didn't
| seem to trouble her. l began to feel
| that 1 would not mind settling in Ten
nessee with a view to ministering to
| the widow and the fatherless.
| When the case came up for trial it
became apparent that the stills l had
| seen were small ones. the main stills
where the bulk of the whisky was
made remaining undiscovered. The
| fees paid the witnesses testi-
mony was worthless the state a
round penny, and the amount paid
the widow was dead loss to me.
was riding away from the courthouse
much discounted when one of my
| witnesses overlook me.
| Stranger" he said, ''what'd you uns
i give for some more informationY