The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-09
MONEY IN MOONSHINE
SIG WORTH -OF RAW IMPERIAL IN- TO $I20 WORTH OF LIQUOR
 PROVES ATTRACTIVE.
Makes Many Take the Risk--Tnternal Revenue Officer Declares Illicit Distilling Has Largely In-
 creased in "Dry" states.

l -
 Baltimore. Md, Special to New York | Herald.
 The possibility of converting s1s worth of raw material into s120 worth of liquor is making a powerful appeal to the moonshiners in the South. and a great revival is being witnessed in
 their once almost extinct industry. l To quote Knox Booth, one of the most widely known internal revenue officers in the Southern States. the H. l licit manufacture of liquors in Ala bama has increased fully fifty per cent. since the prohibition law went into effect. and a like condition is said to exist in Georgia. Tennessee and other States where the legitimate sale of intoxicants Is prohibited by law. Under the old conditions. with sa-
 groceries in the rural sections hand ling liquors. there was comparatively l little profit in the manufacture Of "moonshine" whiskev
 | At that time the stun was sold as
 low as $l and $1,5O per gallon. This
 price was not sufficient to encourage | the industry in the face of vigorous
 work on the part of Uncle Sarn's rev. l enue scouts, and. the moonshiners be- came few and far between. Now. however. the rewards of sue cessfully evading the law are much greater and the old timers are. taking bigger risks than they did under former conditions.
 Big Proat In Sight. | MT. Booth quotes one man as say ing that six bushels of meal and two hundred pounds of sugar gave him thirty gallons of whiskey, which ne could readily sell at S4 gallon. small still can turn out thirty gallons per day easily. affording the enter | Naen tahfnar nrnAf Of 1100 for the days work--and @ days risk. The bail held out to the moonshiner is more tempting than nt any time since the war, and it looks as If the internal revenue agents will have to do the work of almost a generation over again.
 Tn the old days. when the moon sinner flourished all over the South, it was a desperate conflict that waRed between the revenue agents and the | moonshiners, and many an unmarked grave bears witness to the terrors or | the struggle. But the revenue agents. backed by powerful government. H. nally won.
 In those days. when the mist and | mystery of the mountains filled the | timid with terror. the moonshiner fought for a principle as we'll as for the profit found In the perllous busi- ness. He cherished the conviction that when he TalBeu grain anu liuito Np
 on his little farm he had an inherent 1 right to convert them into any product he saw fit, and he looked upon the | revenue officer as one who sought not only to rob him of a livelihood but
 to take from him right a liberty | that was as dear to him as life itseif 1t was this spirit that made every hath leading to an Illicit still one fraught with deadly peril to the stranger: 1t was this spirit that led to many q deadly battle in the mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama ana
 Georgia, us well as In other states where tn. moonshiner made his home.
 The moonshiner gradually learned l that there was somewhere in the dis 1 tance" 0 government that had to be. supported and that the tax upon whis- kew had behind 1t something more
 than a desire to intrude upon the lib-
 critics Of mankind He also learned
 that this government malntalneo an alarming number of penitentiaries and
 had an inexhaustible supply of men
 who were apparently ready and will ling to kill or be killed in the efrort
 to i'll these institutions with moon- 1 sinners Then. too. saloons became
 more and more numerous, ana there | unsn't the profit in the business that
 characterized 1t in the good old days.
 So the moonshiner in q large measure,
 nassed on to other and less perilous callings. =.
 The moonshiner of today does not cbsrish any delusions about individual | liberty. He is not in the business |"
 vindicate a principle. He simply sees
 i,, ths thing chance to turn a hand
 some sum at the risk of temporarily losing his liberty, and he is willing to assume this risk for the money there Is in 1t.
 l Az a rue he does not go armed to
 xiii as did his forefathers. and he
 relics upon his heels rather than up- m accuracy of his fire when the rev.
 enue men put in their appearance. The | nerJl of the revenue agent is nothing | ike if was a generation ago, and 1t Is
 rare indeed that one Is either killed or wounded.
 1 shining at this time. Revenue Agent
 Booth said: , mt most inaccessible places to be | found and they are always on the lockout for the approach of the reve-
 me men, The appearance of an off, cer- is .4he signal for flight. and the
 men freouently get away for the time ha,ngI We rarely shoot. because we
 LnotT that we will get them later and are willing to take our time rather than shed blood
 11xxo EmDerOra Meet,