The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-07-23
STILLS OPERATE
IN NEARBY
WOODS
Dangerous to Approach Con-
cealed Moonshine Plants,
Warns Dry Agent.
By GEORGE. FRANKLIN.

Discovery of. a forty.gallon still
on the Goodrell farm near Burnt
Mills. Nd, through the Staying OF
Henry j. Adams, moonshine still
master, alleged to have been shot
to death ON Sunday by Truxror
Goodrich, owner of the farm, elini
mates but one of the many Illicit
whiskey plants operating in the
District of Columbia, and its i'm
mediate vicinity. according to dry
enforcement agents today,
Woodland stills are numerous in
the District and surrounding corn-
try" declared an investigator.
Broad sections of the country are
admirably adaptd to the purpose OF
the moonshiner. Go back from the
highway of any section into the
filly wooded sections, overgrown by
second growth timber and Gense
masses Of underbrush and one read.
lily undertanIls this. Numerous lit
tie streams nf water run through
the shallow guilies so densely
shaded by. surrounding growths
that HcFPSS0~t ~t1%eNte tP1oA4 S'St
them.
"Ruried In the secrecy of such
SURROUND ngs they are being OPP
Grated with small likelihood Of dis
coVery. The great danger lurking
in them Is the possibility that II
the Iaoonshiners are accidentally
surprised by persons merely out for
the. day in the woods a. tragedy is
likely to take place. 1t is all a mis-
take to accept the still operator as
q man who will have any COM
FUNCTIONS about shooting to kill.
They are a class of men who have
come to regard moonshining as
legitimate. prohibitions as an in
vasion or personal liberty, and in
truders as persons with whom they
have nothing in common. know
of moth ng more dangerous than
snrprising a still outfit when the
surprise Is mutual"
The part played by. the nose in
locating woodland stills Is said to
be indespens BILE to their detection.
"a whiskey still,'' said the dry
agent. "can generally be .smelled
for some little distance. The diff
Guilty is to determine the direction
from VIII Oh the odor comes. A little
training. however, teaches one to
follow the scent which eventually
leads to the vicinity of the still. I
have entered wooded stretches,
picked up the still odor, and then
spent hours following it up before
+ located the plant"
Dangerous to Approach.
Ny advice OF persons going into
the woods surrounding Washington
who detect what they believe is the
odor of whiskey is to get away from
the locality as speedily as possible.
Then report the discovery to the po-
lice or prohibition Headquarters. I
do not advise them to consent to ac-
company the officers on the subse-
quent hunt If the still is located
while in operation a. gun fight may
occur, and when that happens YOU
never know where the bullets will
dy. just note the location well.
How to approa ch it from the high
way, its approximate location to
some fixed feature, such as a cross
roads, a house, a fence and a ciunnp
OF bushes" or trees taken collectively.
DO not try locating it in connection
with hilltops or general country as
poets. They all have common char
acteristics, which become confusing
when Identification Is attempted.
; If in the woods one UNEXPECTEDLY
comes upon q still in operation and
II IL possible to get away unob-
served do so as quickly as possible.
Return the way one came Is the best
rule. II, however, the moonshiners
eaten sight OF you 1t is a case of
using your wits, ----s-
Woman Had Nerve.
Recently a Washington woman
on a days outing fairly tumbled
rignt into a moonshine still. Three
men were operating it. She. re-
ISined ner nerve. She informed
them she had been looking for
them for ten days. That she got
tip from her bootlegger and
made up her mind to visit the still
and satisfy herself as to the
methods used in making the liquor.
sne insisted they show her the
process talking herself into their
confluence and wound up by ar.
ranging and paying for two gallons
OF corn whiskey which was to be
put through the still three times.
They We're to deliver il to her resi-.
dence on the following Friday morn
ing. Then she had one of them
show her a short cut to the high.
way. There she hailed an auto
mobile and returned to the cjtv
We were all set to gather in tbe
still and it's outfit when we were
informed 1t had been snapped IN
by Maryland police.
Now, that woman got away nv
showing nerve and cleverness a.,
meeting the situation. l know of
another instance where a still woe
Unexpectedly discovered by a man
accompanied by two women. Five
men were operating the plant. The
man happened to have a whistle
which he threatened to blow If the
moonshtners made a move. He
told them there were fifty persons
In his outing party and that the
whistle would certainly bring
FINALLY he succeeded in making
the moonshiners believe he meant
business and he and his two COM.
pantonS were allowed to depart. II
was two weeks before we got the
tip on the still. Then we gathered
1t in. In the meanwhile, however
the former outfit operating it had
lost no time in disposing of their
interests. They did this withou,
telling anything about the unweI
come visitors. The outfit we got
lost some $1,000 on their invest
nent. cannot say / blame the
man for withholding the informa
ton as long as he did. He had
sworn to keep his mouth shut"
RUM SEIZED AFTER FIGHT