Pueblo chieftain., 1921-12-20
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.

Washington. d. c.. Dec. 17.-There Is
a wooded section not far from the
nations capital which was once
favorite ground for the good old south
ern sport OF coon n-hunting. Some OF the
people thcreabouts have been known TO
pay AS high as $50 for coon dog OF
good reputation. In those parts you
might slap mans child and get away
with 1T. bu, II you kick his coon dog
it is a case OF night or run.
And now most of those expensive
coon dogs are getting fat and hiff
in the Joints from lack OF use. ano rhe
coon hunters arc all disEruntled. Inc
reason Is not any shortage OF 'coons.
either. The reason II that every ittic
branch and gully which the coons
use is now the homo of moonshine
still. and II you biundcr into stiii
suddenly and Mt night with gun In
your hand. you are moro thaq likely
TO encounter charge OF shot.
In some sparscly settled sections not
too far from tho great thirsty ciues.
there Is almost n stiil In every bush.
Not long ngo a posse was formed TO
chase n murderer thru tho woods OF
Virginia near hero. and IL Is said that
In l6 miles OF travel they uncovered
~ stills. Usually tho owners were not
at hand. One Of them was seen. now
ever. Hc was sitting on n. hilltop not
far from his still. \ lnrE" Hook OF
turkey buxzaris was circling around
over the still. attracted. ms buzzards
are, by the odor of the mash. Thc man
had repeating high-powcr rifle and
no was shooting tho buzzards as they
few over him in order that they might
not betray tho location OF his stu.
And he wasn't missin' none. either.
said a member OF tho posse In recount
Ing tho episode.
The posse decided not to arres. tho
man. They couldn't prove that ne
owned tho still anyway.
STILL MORE STILLS
Tho stills ar, multiplying at an
astounding ratio. No doubt ever since
prohibition there have been many stills.
both for private supply and for com
merciai purposes. In all parts OF tho
United States. but tho great develop
mcnt OF this infant industry Is IN ,hc
Appalachian mountains and their I'm
mediate vicinity. AS every reader OF
romance knows, IL is In tho mountain
regions that the art of converting corn
/ into liquor In secrecy has long pcen
practiced. Tho mountain mon All Know
how to do it. Before prohibition there
was a little s,ili hidden away some
where in almost every mountain neigh /.
I borhood. Its owner. at some persona.
risk. saved perhaps 30 cents on osch
\ gallon OF lauor he made by cfadinE
tho revenue tax. At best he made a
preca rfous living. Everyone who has
read the magazines knows what he
/ looked iikc-a gaunt. hawk-noscd ci'i-
zen. wearing no socks and carving ir,
\ the hollow OF his arm rifle six feet
long.
Thcn came prohibition. and moon
| shine suddenly jumped from dollar
or two gallon to ten or twenty a
l gallon. Tho result was inevitable.
Create any opportunity for anyone TO
mako easy money and that opportunity
will be used to the full. Nor will a
/ spice of danger In the least intcrfer
with tho proceeding. And especially is
this true of tho mountain men. They
arc adventurous fellows. they arc used
to breaking laws where liquor Ia con-
| cnrned, they are accustomed TO the
use of firearms. aud they have sort
OF clan loyalty which makes Il very
hard for a stranger TO work amons
| them.
Not only coon hunters. but many
others whose business takes them Into
tho spsrsciy settled sections. have
I found this out Tho xcork OF all sorts
OF government field officers, has hoeu
lcrippled by the suspicious attitude ct
tho natives. Thus the Biological Sur
vey. in its work of trapping predatory
| animals finds that its first and most
| convince the natives that tho trsppers
are not looking for stills. The Netcr-
ans Bureau IN It's roundup Of men
who were entitled to compenss ton.
| met the same obstacle.
The stills seem to have first multi.
piled within the mountain sections. and
then TO have slowly crept down intd
the valleys near the cities. There have
always been a few moorsiine stills In
the Blue Ridge mountains near Wash
ington. but now there arc hundred IL
the woods along the Potomac river fol
every one that was hidden IN the
mountains 10 years ago. The men VIII,
operate these stills arc for the mos
part of tho mountain type. II seems {,
be literally truc that the mountsinee,
Sof romance has come down from hi'