The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1922-07-25
BLOODY WAR GOES ON
IN HIDDEN Businesses
REV ENUE OFFICERS FACE
DEATH DAILY UNFOLDING
LAW AGAINST SINNERS.
BOTH SIDES WELL ARMED


sinners During Last Year.
The war against the moonshiners Of
the mountain country extending from
the Cumberlands of Kentucky to the
Allegheny mountains of North Caro-
lima is slowly but surely resulting in
the revenue officers gaining the upper
hand. An almost impenetrable wall
of secrecy has surrounded this famous
"moonshine" belt since the government
authorities entered the warfare, Stran-
gers found wandering through the
mountains are apt to meet a speedy
death, for the mounraineers consider
it their right to make and sell corn"
liquor, and they resent any interior
ence or prying into their affairs.
Ten thousand illicit stills, federal
agentssestimate, are in daily operation,
and 100000 gallons of raw moon
shine" whisky are made and marketed
every week. Federal officials estimate
that 100000 gallons of this illicit
whisky have flowed into the hands OF
distributors during the last year.
"Dry" Agents Are Busy.
That the revenue officers are doing
their best to check this flow of liquor
is shown by the fact that there have
been 10000 arrests during the last
year That the warfare is real one is
shown by the figure of 200 moonshin-
ers and officers slain in pitched bat
ties during the last II months. There
are now approximately 800 revenue
men hiding along the trails" and L.
500 deputy sheriffs combing the noun
tain sides or guarding the paths THAI
lead into the villages
Romance has given way to grim
warfare, and the trail of the lonesome
pine" is now one of bloodshed and
ambush. The stills are hidden in WIr-
tually inaccessible corners. Boys and
girls are kept home from school to acf
as lookouts, and, due to their vigilance
and other means of warning distilleTss
it is hard proposition to find moon
sinner actually working at the still.
Elaborate Warning System
All Of the mountain regions Of the
south have elaborate systems to warn
moonshine distillers of the approach uf
revenue officers. The telephone ras
been a boon to mountaineers, who,
because of their increased wealth from
distilling. can afford such luxuries.
When a party of revenue officers lezve
the town word is passed along the
party lines, and the mountaineers re-
sumo their work of hoeing corn, white
the fires OF the stills are extinguished
until the officers have passed.
The flashing of mirrors and the flr-
ing of rifles is still used to warn OF
the approach Of "revenuers." Children
and women are usually posted at the
foot of the trails, ready to warn in an
instant of the approach of any stran-
gers. The mountaineers are. making
too much money to invite trouble, but
they are always ready to meet the Toe
if necessary. The outside world hears
little of the bloody battles fought in
the dense woods of the southern
mountains. Both sides of the contro-
versy are quick shooting, absolutely
fearless, and give and take no quar-
ter. Many of the revenue agents are
mountain men themselves, transferred
to some other than their home dis
tricts, however. They know the trails,
the ways of the moonshiners, and are
quick on the draw"
The old squirrel gun has given way
to the high-powered rife and auto
matte revolver. Some of the squads OF
revenue agents are even equipped with
machine guns, which rake the dense
foliage from whence comes the bullet
of the Ambassador. Airplanes have
been used by dry" agents to seek out
the cleverly hidden stills.
On Commercial Scale.
In the days before Mr.. Volstead
passed his now famous statute the
average southern mountaineer made
his own liquor, holding it to be his
inalienable right to make Write
lightnin'" and sell some OF it, if he
could find a purchaser In those days,
when real whisky was obtainable, the
moonshiners product did not gam
fame beyond his own region. Govern
ment agents were not then particularly
active against the moonshiner and
few, if any, sheriffs of the mountain
districts ever made any attempt to ar
rest the moonshiners.
With the advent of prohibition, how
ever, everything was changed. AS the
quantity OF real whisky began to de-
crease the mOonShlner saw an OppoI-
tunity to make a great deal OF money
No longer did he take pride in the
quality of his product. Rather did he
make every effort to produce as much
moonshine whisky as possible, regard
less of its quality.
Larger Stills Used.
The old-fashioned still gave way to
+La ,,,der7 steam still in MANY cases
although the mountaineer, slow to
adopt modern ideas, did not give up
his old copper still without a struggle.
But the steam still allows greater pro-
duction at cheaper cost and, as most OF
the distillers are in the business for
money, any continuance which enables
them to make more and cheaper
moonshine whisky is welcomed
THIRTEEN WOMEN FACE
HHTTnn-To III DEE