Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1918-12-26
MOONSH|N|NG IN
GEORGIA HILLS

Jail There's Wife and Babies Back
In the Mountains Who Are Having |
Hard Time Getting Food" Trusty ,
Explains
Savannah, Ga.-Revenue officers
last year destroyed 1920 Illicit distil'
leries in Georgia and Alabama. and |
20 per cent of them were in Georgia. |
More than so moonshiners are impris. |
oned in the federal penitentiary at AT.
lanta. A dozen are in the Fulton
County Tower and several dozen more, |
all for short terms, are imprisoned in |
other county jails throughout Geor.
gia.
At every turn of the federal court
Georgia mountaineers, accused of
making their corn into whiskey in
stead of into meal, are called upon to
stand trial. They are always caught.
but the business of making moonshine
whisky always goes on. This will
probably continue to be the case as
long as corn and nothing else will
grow ON the steep mountains slopes in
a country where there aren't no Ten
Commandments, an man can raise
thirst"
"Why did do IT," said Jim frog.
lin, a trusty. Because got wife
and eight children. Amt that reason
enough for anything? Now. listen to
these figures. UP in our country you
can't raise anything to speak Of but
corn. You can sell bushel Of corn
for dollar, maybe little more. But
suppose you make it into whisky. You
can get two gallons Of liquor from
one bushel of corn, and you can sell
every gallon you make for $500 or
$3.50.
"That's the reason / make moon
shine. We needed the money, and
didn't see any other way to get 1t.
You can't hire out on farm or in a
factory up in our country, as you can
down here. You don't find any big
farms there and there amt any fac.
tories except sawmills, and there amt
enough work at them for living for
q man. We've had hard times up our
way, just as you have down here.
didn't have any young stock to sell,
to get the money except by moonshin-
ing.
81 guess my family's having haro
time now. told you l got wife and
eight children. The youngest one Of
| them is four months old and the old
| est is % years. But she isn't strong,
| and ones a cripple. Just after / left
home they all took whooping cough,
and they haven't got we'll yet. OF
course, it's got to be poor living. 1t
was poor before l left. And l guess
there's few ether families up In
North Georgia as bad off.
whenever you see moonshiner IN
| Jail there's a wife and children back
in the mountains who are having a
hard time keeping warm and getting
food. A man who is we'll off when
the revenuers catch him pays his fine
and goes his way, but all of us amt
| got the money to pay the fine. Some
| of us here in Jail made whisky be-
| cause it was the only way we saw to
| get the money, and we've all got folks
| at home that are needing US. If you
can't ge. wori-, and you've just got to
have money, what are you going to
do?
1--WE don't blame the government
and the revenue officers. OF course
when you've raised the corn, and it's
yours, it looks like you might do what
you want with it. But when the gov
eminent men found me said it was
all right. They didn't need to bring
any guns along. 1t was their business
to find stills, and told them whenever
they found me making whisky they
needn't look for trouble, but just :.
walk right up.
"The thing, though, we folks in the
mountains can't get used to is the in
formers. A lazy skunk who won't
work finds a man who is running 9
still and turns him up to the govern
ment for about ten dollars. l hear
they get fifty dollars IL the still Is
large enough, but l don't know about
that know we'll be working alons
maxim the best corn whisky we can
and selling 1t cheap enough, the Lore
knows, when government man will
a tip from one of these informers hap
pens by, and the next thing we know
we are penned up ii place like thi
for three or four or m-ybe six months
guess the gov rnment can't do any
thing else, but what I 20. think o
real North Georgia man who'd turl
up his neighbor?
"Then we come down here, ant
Judge Newman or Judge Speer, III
does the best he can for us. But
we havn't any money to pay our fine
we come over here to spend while
and during all that time there's moth
ing but a little corn and potatoes a
home. Judge Newman is the bes
Judge that ever had feet under him
There int any chance he wouldn't Civ
poor fellow from up in the noun
tains. But when we know we'r
guilty, and he knows it, there ain
anything for him to do but send u