Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-11-14
miscellaneous Rsadias.
COMING OF THE "REvENUERs"
A Typical "Bloekader," Talks Of Geor.

tyPiSdt 6'oCNaooi, dNNs VI Soo'
sia Moonshining and Its EIinnin ation
The day Of the Illicit distiller Is
passing. Where once thrived this
hazardous yet profitable business there
Is now scarce trace.
The north section of Georgia, bor-
dering the Carolina line, has in the
past been a most prolific producer OF
corn licker" Today. following the
systematic work of the Federal reve-
nue. officers, an Illicit still is all but a
curiosity. The process Of eliminating
the "blockader" in his Georgia lair has
been slow, but sure. The records OF
the United States court for this dis
trict show fewer and fewer cases each
year brought against the mountain
men who, in former years. believed they
had all but Divine right to make their
corn into whisky the same as the val
ley man made his corn into meal.
The philosophy Of the mountain dis
til!er touching upon his vested rights
In the manufacture, Of his corn into
drinkables or eatables Is not hard to
digest. In fact, 1t has sometimes been
recognized as logic In the Georgia
courts.
One prominent revenue officer. who
has been in the internal secret service
in this state for years, Is authority for
the declaration that half the cases
made against "moonshiners"-so call
ed-were made necessary by Federal
law, not by the law Of common sense.
This authority declares that in days
past many a man has been sent to
prison for an act which, in his heart he
could not brand as, wrong when the
act was that of distilling his own
| whisky.
Take, for example, the life history Of
John Ingram, typical mountaineer,
typical "b.ockader," typical American,
If you please.
This simple godly soul. filled with
the lure Of life as handed down through
generation after generation of fighting
men who hail from the time when King
Arthur's knights rode bold, paints the
passing of the moonshiner in the dark
tones Of one putting on life's canvass
the picture Of dead but glorious his
tory Of his race.
Without the slurring tones Of his
high pitched voice, without the pecul-
lar brasing Of his sentences-given to
him from his mother, who, in turn,
learned the queer words Of her moth
er-old John Ingram's epigrammatic
farewell to the 'blockader" is tod here
as best it can be translated:
MY folks were all blockaders ever
since can remember. My paw had
two brathers. Both dead now, but they
were in still with paw for so many
years that time don't take no reckon
ing Of 1t, I guess.
Paw and my two uncles held out
that they was in legal trade. They
never were bothered by revenuers nor
no one come prying into their affairs
at all. They went right on year in and
year out attending to their STILL run
ming off good enough whisky regular
ly, and selling 1t to valley men who
came through in wagons. and took the
stuff Off to the railroad.
Summers, paw and my two ,uncles
made a little crop of: corn-just enough
to keep the still in meal. The mill
down at the road folks, just below
Blairsville, where came from, ground
meal for all Of our neighbors, and the
old miller knew what the meal was
for. 1t was general knowledge that we
mountain folks made our living out Of
blockading.
when l was a right peart spit Of a
lad, first saw the revenuers at work,
as can remember. One night was
just going from our cabin to the we'll
to draw some water I remember NAV
told me to bring 1t in the big, old
wooden bucket we had, instead Of the
smaller one she used to keep the spring
water in. The moon was high that
night, and as got near the well,
which was about fifty yards from the
house, on a bee-line, saw two fellows
standing near the worm fence which
surrounded our place.
II hollered, which is mountain FASH
ion of welcoming folks at night, but
they didn't answer. Instead, both of
them took to their heels and made off.
Now, that amt the way folks act in
the hills, and l went back into the
house and told nav.
Paw got back from the settlement
about noondown, and I told him what
l had seen. He couldn't make head or
tail of it, Long about o'clock in the
morning-first candle-light time-l
was awakened by a knock on the door
of our cabin, and there stood two men,
with short derringer pistols in their
hands.
"One Of them yanked me outside,
and asked me If my paw was at home.
Before l could answer, there was paw.
He asked the men who and what they
were, and they displayed badges Of
some sort, and said they were Federal
officers. They told paw he was under
arrest for making and selling contra
band whisky against the statute pro-
vided by the Federal laws Of the Unit
ed States.
Paw said he guessed 1t was all
right and then went back into the
cabin, saying he wanted to get his
coat before he started down the noun
tain with them. Mind you that was
the first time in probably Is years that
any one had ever molested my paw
and my uncles, much less sought their
arrest
well, paw took long time in put
ting on his coat. In fact, when the
revenuers got tired Of waiting, they
went inside the cabin to hustle paw up
but paw was gone. The back door
showed the way he had gone and how.
Them revenuers was pretty sore in
spots for a while, and wanted to hold
me as a witness, but nav she begged
off for me- but | was told to be ready