Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-03-05
NIGHT ON WAR WOMAN CREEK.
Story of a Raid by An Old-TImer in
Revenue Service.
(Anderson Mail, Feb. 27.)

The recent raids made In Oconee
county by the revenue officers recalls
a story related to the editor of the
Daily Mail by a former yer Off
Ger, who later became one Of the
Capitol police in Washington and is
now a detective for a railroad line in
the South. This law agent gives his
sig" as -. Q. c." as the telegraph
operators say. He was talking OF the
raids made by Tom Vandiford, a
famous revenue agent, who is now
located-or was until recently, and
may be yet-at Greensboro, N. C.
II shall forget one expert
ence l had while connected with I'm
Gle Sans revenue department back
in the eighties" said the revenue
agent who was relating the occur
rences which he considered unique.
Il was pulled into one raid in
Moonshine Haven, along the line of
Georgia and South Carolina, where
Oconee county, South Carolina, and
Rabun county, Georgia, lie side by
side. 1t was all planned for Christ
mas Eve hat the South Carolina and
Georgia officers were to meet at a
point on the Chattooga river, and if
possible clean up a nest of moonshine
stills that had been reported as
running overtime to supply the
Christmas trade.
1--WE met as agreed, and after a
three-mile climb and crawl we sur
rounded the largest plant | had ever
seen in operation without Uncle
Sans sign over the door. In front,
near the creek, were W. big bon
fires burning. Men, old and young,
were present. A game OF old
"'rdge' was in full blast by four
young bucks.
Smoke was boiling out of three
stills in a pole pen distillery nearby,
and three or four men, with their
sleeves rolled up, were passing in
and out of this d%istillery, busy as
bees in June. BY agreement we were
to crawl up as close as we could from
four sides, and at a given signal
were to rise and rush in on them.
81 could see a lot Of old-time shot
guns and rifles all stacked around a
stump in the yard near one Of the
fires, and l told my partner when
the water got hot to bolt straight for
these guns and cut them of from
this old Sledge' gang, for l recog-
nized n Of them as a bad gun ar
fist, and even then lodging from a
sealed sentence in the United States
Courts.
1--WE were lying there watching
one Of the ~stillers s%craping out what
appeared to be a tin bucket, but in
reality vas a still cap, and kicking
at some pigs that insisted on reliev-
ing him Of this task, when all at
once the bugle notes of an old deer
hound sounded long and clear on the
frosty air. 'Bow-oo-ee-o' came from
across the creek. l knew at once
what it meant, and was up a-hot-
footing it for those guns in short
order, and just did beat them into
their arsenal by a small margin, too"
"Pandemonium reigned for a mo-
ment, but not n shot was fired. l
was told later that some one, in
crawling up to the creek, had crawl
was 'quirled up in the leaves fast
asleep beside a log, and it was he
that beloved out the warning, as a
moonshiner's dog hates the smell Of
the 'revenoo' as bad as his master
hates the sight Of one-and that is
true. We rounded up only seven
men and one boy; the rest melted
in mid air.
among the captured was one
mere boy, not over IA years, who no
doubt lived nearby and dropped in
like others to spend the evening,
never dreaming the hated revenue
officer was so near at hand. My
heart went out to this poor, mis-
guided and supplemented lad. His
mouth and chin were in a tremble.
/ said to our leader, a man from
Kentucky, You do not propose to
take this boy to Atlanta | hope?' He
whispered back, No; drop him when
you set a chance to do So
$50 I kept him with me, and as
the procession filed out up a dark
ravine | managed to bring up the
uthiarncol L. ILL., lH.-