Great Falls tribune., 1921-12-21
The HQSkin Letter . 'f1ass;ss Rsssa
THE TRAIL OF THE WHITE MULE.

xesdsa Wsshnssa SECTION Dec not lar fssa is the
nations capital which was once
a favorite ground for the good
old southern sport of coon hunting.
Some Of the people thereabouts have
been known to pay as high as $3.50
| for a coon dog Of good reputation.
In those parts you might slap a
mans child and get away with 1t,
| but if you kick his coon dog it is a
case Of fight or run.
And now most of those expensive
coon dogs are getting fat and stiff in
the joints from lack of use, and the
coon hunters are all disgruntled. The
treason is not any shortage Of coons,
either. The reason is that every little
branch and gully which the coons use
| is now the home of moonshine still,
and If you blunder into still suddenly
and at night with gun in your hand,
you are more than likely to encounter
a charge of shot.
| In some sparsely settled sections
not too far from the great thirsty
cities, there is almost a still in every
bush. Not long ago posse was formed
to chase murderer through the
woods Of Virginia near here, and it is
said that in 16 miles Of travel they
uncovered Il stills. Usually the owners
are not at hand. One Of them was
seen, however. He was sitting on a
hilltop not far from his still. A large
| flock of turkey buZzards was circling
around over the still, attracted, rs
! buzzards are, by the odor of the mash.
The man had a repeating high h-powe-
as they flew over him in order that
they might not betray the location of
his still.
And he wasn't missing none,
either said a member of the posse
| in recounting the episode.
| The posse decided not to arrest the
man. They couldn't prove that he own
| ed the still anyway.
Still More Stills
The stills are multiplying at an
prohibition there have been many stills,
both for private supply and for com
mercial purposes, in all parts of the
| United States, but the great develop
ment of this infant industry is in the
! Appalachian mountains and their i'm
mediate vicinity. AS every reader of
romance knows. it is in the mountain
regions that the art Of converting
corn into liquor in secrecy has long
| been practlced. The mountain men
all know how to do it. Before pro-
hibition there was little still hidden
away somewhere in almost every
mountain neighborhood. Its owner, at
some personal risk, saved perhaps 80
cents on each gallon Of liquor he
made evading the revenue tax. At best
he made a precarious living. Every
one who has read the magazines knows
what he looked like-a gaunt, hawk
nosed citizen, wearing no socks and
carrying in the hollow of his arm a
rifle six feet long.
| Then came prohibition. and moon
shine suddenly jumped from a dollar
or two a gallon tt ten or twenty a
gallon. The result was inevitable
Create an opportunity for anyone to
make easy money and that opportunity
will be used to the full. Nor will q
spice Of danger in the least interfere
with the proceedings. And especially
| is this true of the mountain men.
| They are adventurous fellows, they are
used to breaking laws where liquor is
concerned, they are accustomed to the
use of firearms, and they have sort
Of clan loyalty which makes it very
hard for stranger to work among
| them.