Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-07-04
Miseellaaeuus 8eadins.
MOUNTAIN GIRLS SHOT TO KILL.
Daughters of Kentucky Moonshiner
Gave Battle to and Defeated a Rev.
enue Posse.

Daughters of Kentucky Moonshiner
Gave Battle to and Defeated a Rev.
enue Posse.
When the circuit court convenes In
June to hear the pleadings of such Of
tenders against the law of the sover-
eign state of Kentucky as Pike county
has produced tween sessions, two girls
from the mountains will be put on
Tackitt, aged Is, and Bette Tackitt,
laged 18-sisters.
A new-made mound in the burying
ground back of town marks the place
where lies the body Of Charlie Smith
Charlie, the deputy marshal-with
q bullet still embedded I'm the muscles
of his heart. The sisters are charged
with killing him. One or both may
Tossing, and one or both will tell the
story Of tragedy such as even Pike
county, schooled alike to civic and Of
fetal quick trigger. has not seen since
the last feudist slid from his horse in
the shadows and died like a snake in
the first warmth of the dawn.
There Is no harm in being strictly
fair to the Tackitts. Revenue nos
trils which catch the scent of stewing
mash, even as a cow finds a salt-lick,
discovered a still on the side hill in
which corn was being converted into
whisky in violation of at least seven
pages Of government statutes, and of
course 1t had to be raided. The Job
was assigned to Deputy Marshal ].
Mart Potter, who picked Levi Small
wood and Charlie Smith for such
tion as the occasion might require-a
trio Of men with nerve. They crept up
the gulch while the scrub oak and wal
nuts were still dripping with dew, and
came to mountainside clearing at
midday.
Uncle George" Tackitt, head of the
FAMILY, was away - unimportant
where. Charlie Tackitt, who learned
how to coil a worm for a still and va
porize spirits before he could bound
Kentucky, was carrying water from
the spring, and in the direction Of the
mashtub. Mother Tackitt was in the
kitchen, Fannie sat in a swing screech-
Ing song about some one who loves
me ever true, and Bette was busy
working a yellow cupid on a red tidy
on the porch.
In an instant this domestic scene
shifted. Charlie Tackitt, down in the
gulch, cried, They're coming!" and
the three revenue men emerged from
the roadside brush. Two of them
grappled with young Tackitt, who at
20 was as strong as a bull, and as un-
moved by fear as the mountain pines.
Three to one is losing game and the
nippers were snapped on Tackitt's
wrists.
Smallwood and Smith ran around to
the rear Of the house, expecting to
capture Uncle George. They came
face to face with Mother Tackitt, who
was carrying an armful Of stove-siZe
wood in from the shed. They laid a
hand on her and she defended herself
we'll and ably with a bullet. Much
occurs in an incredibly short time on
occasions Of this kind-action is swift,
intermission brief. There was a pis-
tol shot and Mother Tackitt's hair be-
came crimson. A bullet had coursed
along her temple, just breaking the
skin. Then another bored its way into
her shoulder, and she sank 'on the
threshold.
Kentucky history wouldn't be what
1t Is IL more than two shots were to
be fired by one side in a controversy
without a formal reply in kind. Pike
county folk know the rules-men and
women alike-and, all things consid-
cred, it's well that they do.
The next puff Of smoke came from a
rifle, the muzzle of which showed un-
der the kitchen window sash. Fannie
Tackitt's finger pressed the trigger.
The bullet opened an airhole in the
crown Of Deputy Smallwood's hat, one
inch above his thinking machinery,
which he ducked naturally, knowing
the revenue method.
Charlie Tackitt had been thrown on
the grass by the deputies after he had
been handcuffed. They expected him
to lie there, but he didn't. AS the
conflict became warmer the deputies,
recognizing in him noncombatant
massed for the larger struggle. Then
Charlie crawled to a protected place
behind a rock where he could make
signs to his fighting party.
Two shots cut finger-SiZe holes In
the window pane, and Smallwood
backing away toward a tree, was re-
loading when a bullet from another
window entered his left arm, which
supported his rifle. He knotted his
turned the fire.
Mother Tacktt was at this moment
at the back door yelling for help.
Charlie pointed with double fingers in
the direction wher' a good aim would
count Deputy Smith was the target.
Bette Tackett now took her place at
the portfolio in the fortress armed
with a late model shotgun. She fired
at Deputy Smith, but the window fall
ing threw the gun out Of line and the
shot simply riddled his loose blouse.
Mother Tackitt had by this time
crawled into the house. Her hand was
gashed in a half dozen places. Mar
shal Smith had beaten her with the
butt Of his revolver, she moaned
There was no time to dress her
wounds, no time to carry her to bed
She lay upon the floor, feebly trying
to stop the flow of blood with the
crumpled folds Of her apron. And the
| fight went on.
All three of the deputies now had
positions affording some protection.
Marshal Potter was at the edge Of the
winter cut of cordWood. Smith with
a tree between him and danger, and
Smallwood, from a point to the left.
blaZed away over a stump.
There's no earthly use Of being a
mountaineer If you haven't guns a
plenty and no use having guns without
ammunition. Pike county knows the
rule, too. The Tackitt home was an
arsenal. Three shots to the minute
was the average Of fire from both
sides. Smallwood was not in good
shape, the deep wound in his arm
trickling blood at his finger tips each
time he raised his gun.
Growing bitter as the fight advanc-
ed, Bette Tackitt threw open the door
to the end that her aim might be di-
rect A bullet from without passed
over her shoulder and plunked into the
cupboard. Bettie's gun was at her
shoulder i'm an instant. Before Small
wood could lower his weapon she
pressed the trigger. The shot went
true. 1t tore the finger from the hand
that held the gun. A man twice shot
has the status of a dead man, so far
as warfare effectiveness is concerned.
So Smallwoods rifle became silent and
the fight was now two to two-men
against women-and one wounded on
each side. a man and woman.
And so, for a full half hour, shots
from the open were answered by shot
from the house Marshal Smith was