Evening star., 1962-12-24

wheel sat a squat balding man
with pig eyes and creases Of fat
bulging his neck, Parmenter
motioned Crawford to join him
in his car and told West to wait
while he called his whisky
driver to meet them.
Hey, it might look bad with
both of us sitting here If the
police come by" West objected.
Suppose I just drive down the
road a way and come back"
West sped to q telephone
booth In a trailer camp to give
Mcconnell a fill in on the
plans. He had Just wheeled his
car around when he saw the
blue car approaching. A few
seconds sooner and Parmenter
would have spotted him coming
out Of the phone booth.
At a signal from Parmenter,
West fell IN behind his car
and, a little farther down the
road, q green car joined the
procession. When they reached
Moss Backs house, West met
the driver of the green cara
good-looking youth with black
curly hair and a friendly smile.
He said his name was Lew Gene
Harvey.
Moss Back led the way to a
gravel pit deep in the woods
and told them to wait there.
Parmenter left.
WOits on HiehwOy
"I'll just 60 out to the high
way and make sure nothing
comes along" he told Harvey
When you get that whisky,
don't stop anywhere near me.
While they waited for the
moonshiner to return with the
whisky, Harvey mentioned that
he had seven hours Of driving
ahead Of him. West figured he
must be headed for the Florida
Gold Coast.
When the moonshiner was
paid, Harvey turned left for the
trip south and West turned
right toward Jacksonville and
McConnell's garage. Before he
went to bed, he wrote down ev-
cry license tag, every name,
every fragment Of conversation.
After that episode, Parmenter
began to trust the stocky young
man who talked little but lis
tened in wide-eyed respect to
his boasts about his devious
ways Of beating the law. Occa-
sionally, Parmenter sent him to
arrange buys. At the moment,
Parmenter explained, he didn't
have a still of his own working
The Government had seized
them all. but the moonshiners
would hold their whisky fol
him If he provided the sugar
West hauled sugar from Geor-
gia to Parmenter's friends.
When a jailed moonshiner's
wife came to Parmenter fol
money, he gave her a handout
without complaint, explainins
to West: That boy hauleC
many a load Of whisky anC
sugar for me. Why, he wa
carrying as many as four load
a week to that man dowr
State"
Memories DetoiIs
West waited for Parmenter
to name the man down State
obviously his distributor, but
Parmenter didn't trust him
that far yet. He talked on
about other things, however
about a still where a mule was
used to plough over the tracks
of the whisky cars. about an
other still where he got the
whisky out one step ahead of
the agents but lost his equip
ment, about a sugar cache he
had thought well-hidden until
the revenuers found 1t. West
the names, dates,
places.
Harvey, who carried Par
menter's loads south, also was
becoming more laxative. The
youth had just gotten married
and West wished him well.
II was going through Vero
Beach once with 225 gallons
Of whisky" Harvey reminisced,
"and the trunk lid flew up. I
slammed 1t shut and knocked
a hole in one of the cans and
half the whisky leaked out"
On May 81, Parmenter men,
toned that he had lined up As
five-gallon cans Of whisky and
Harvey was going south with it
in the morning. Later that
night, West put in a call.
Gene Harvey probably will
be taking a load south tomor-
row." he reported. He should
be going through Vero Beach
about IL am"
Two days later, Parmenter
told West:
The boy is coming in on
the l0:45 bus. Something hap
pened. How about picking him
up2"
Driver Escapes
West had already been
briefed on what had happened
at Vero Beach. The agents had
chased down the truck but the
driver had eluded them. The
had been destroyed and
the truck stored In a garage
without any report being made
10 local police.
Parmenter was waiting at
the door OF his restaurant
when West drove up with Har-
vey.
What happened to you2"
the fat man asked Harvey.
EITHER the Feds or the STATE