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Show mountaineers Forgetting Long Standing Feuds, Unite in "Bootleg" Cause to Fight "Revenuers" and Circumvent Prohibition. So Far Hundreds on Each Side Slain ;rj- JW after the rai ' A still, far in th mountains, complete! camouflaged by th. S canopy of tree orerhead - T. puttered : then he fled from the house as fast as his legs would carry him. The mountain folk saw bo reason why be should not J flea if he felt so lucltned. and they displayed only mild curios- tty at first; but a halt hour passed with ths stranger unreturned. Two of the sons of the host thought It the better part of hospitality hospi-tality to go out and seek their guest. They found him at the watering trough, and by ths bright moonlight they could sea ' hln hurriedly dash his head Into the cold water, then stand nprlght. then auddenty-flash his Tieiftt In'riTthe trough again. They went over to him and asked what the trouble was. "Wal." was tha reply, "I'v. got right smart of a cold, and crery time r cough that liquor sets my whiskers afire." That is a malignant exaggeration of course. But It isnt as great a one as It was four years ago. Before prohibition the liquor waa hot taough. but now it is hotter. In their new commercialism the moonshiners hare lost much of their pride In their manufacture. They are nnscrupu-Ions nnscrupu-Ions now. Once moonshlnlnc wss an Inalienable right: now It Is purely and simply a business. Anything to hasten tha Influx of money to the mountains is practiced, heedless of the consequences conse-quences to others. Many methods are employed by moonshiners moonshin-ers just getting Into the game which are utterly unethical according to the old traditional standards which gorerned the moonshiners before the Volstead law waa effective. Then It was held a traditional liberty. Now It has no such moral foun--dation. Concentrated lye and other foreign matter to often put Into the new liquor or the maab to hasten Its fermentation. The result Is that deaths from drinking moonshine .tenor are not Infrequent now. whereas before this situation arose there was no iminedlste fatality connected with It unless also connected con-nected with long bore rifles and pistols. Ten Thousand Stills Supplying Moonshine. The ten thousand stills that are dally contributing their small rivulets of liquor that converge Into the vest flood of millions of gallons that pour Into the Western States every week prove the wisdom of the bootleg kings in exploiting the moonshine belt as one of the great untapped sources of liquor in the country. . The mountain moonshiner has every advantage over his city . S?".nM "S " ramlllar "' tP 'n the operation of distilling liquor as he Is with the stock of his rifle. All the V knowledge of his' progenitors who have been distilling corn juice ever since the mountains were settled Is his own by N heredity. He haa stood by while his father, in the dead of night with the moon shining overhead, bent over the rat and tested the liquid as It bubbled over the edge, and ha Is wise in the " ways of evsslon or defense. Moreover, he Is fearless, shrewd, steeped In mountain lore and Possessing- total disregard for the authority of law They are an Independent clan, these mountaineers, who living an Isolated existence have made their own laws and brook no interference. It is tha hnant nr . ...... . MOONSHINE has replaced romance along the trail of The Lonesome Pine. One of the most amaxlng melodramas In which the Federal Government ever has played a part Is being enacted in the fastnesses of the Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky Mountalna An almost Impenetrable wall of secrecy has surrounded the famous "moonshine" belt since" the Governmsnt authorltles" . entered into the great drama being played on that ragged stage ' and only now la It possible to describe a situation that la startling. Ten thousand Illicit stills In dally operation. Three hundred thousand gallons of raw "moonshine' whisky it being made and marketed every week despite the earnest J and tragic efforts of tha "revenuers" to halt the flow and dam . its source. Twelve millions -of gallons, estimated, of this white whisky r have flowed into the hands of distributors during the last twelve months. Thirty thousand men, women and children, engaged In the '. operation of these hidden mountain stills some families operating op-erating many stills. Ten thousand arrests within year and little progress as yet made toward lessening tha output. . Nearly two hundred moonshiners and officers slain In pitched battles during the last twelve months. Three hundred "revenuers hiding along the "trails" and fifteen hundred deputy sheriffs combing the mountain aides or guarding the patba that lead Into the villages. This Is jnst a glimpse behind that wall of secrecy which surrounds sur-rounds the "moonshine belt" Just behind the wall with the moonshine trails open, the mystery that.haa enveloped the source of the nation's new made and seemingly plentiful illegal whisky Is solved. The advent of prohibition proved a boon to the mountaineer population of Virginia. Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina. Caro-lina. It solved the economic problem of the "white trash" and gave stesdy. If precarious employment, to thousands of sturdy mountaineers who never did an honest day's work In their lives. For the business of moonshlning Is no longer a matter of private enterprise, but has for the most part been Uken over by ahrewd business men who were quick to seize upon the opportunities of Illicit liquor manufacture In a section where natural advantages wsre all In favor of the operator. - In the pre-prohlbition days moonshine whisky had little com-merclal com-merclal value. It could not be sold outside of the mountain sections, and was often made merely for home consumption. The Kentucky moonshiner snspped bis fingers at the Volstead act He bad always made his own whisky and sold a little of It, and he had never paid a revenue tax. He could outwit the Government agents, as he had always done, so he dldnt worry. . ' , " . .-...' ' -"' J I' - ; - ' . $. Mountain -mm?M ? i Feuds 1 (r . ' l A "Revem r.' it " ... A So Fa 1 ,-..! ,' I TO0NSHINB has rep ' ! ! ' ' IV 1 Th Lonaaome Pin, W $ v ' " 'f y J I One of the most ' ,j .J ' ' ' ' X ' 1 Federal Goveniment evfr h "" ' 'l '.if ta the tastnesses of the V . " .. , ; ....;", ,'' i' ' ,( Mountalna , ! . An almost Impenetrable n , ' . - r ' ' I famous "moonshine" bell i ! . . . " j entered into the great drama H ' t i ) - 4 and only now la It poeslt . - . ' L atarUlng. ' - ,'' i I v V . , m Jr Ten thousand Illicit stills ' ' ., . . .s, k"-yi i Three hundred thousand g ' ' N ". .J.Im( Just being made and marketed ' 4, u v- ' 's?st after the raid and tragic efforta of tha "rei mi0- "- - - -- . ' " '" "' -7v 4 A still, far in the ""a. :Zr mountains, completely . Twtirt " "" H 1 'i 1 I , ,-..o ' r have flowed Into the handi - ' camouflaged by tho ,wv. month, , . .' . ; 7-t i f i' ' eopw f Iroet Thirty thousand men, won i ' At - ' -' rr- ( 1 . - .i . ' ' orerhead. operation of these hidden m ' ; yJ - flrjlw 1 ' r. :, I ;!- TL. eratlng many stills. , - . . J ' i I -t ' 1 ' i.ihi kf - Ten thoussnd arrests with ...... -.. I I v J ' . s f yet msde toward lessening t . . .-i jr . j i I ' - j ' laJBt Nearly two hundred moonsl v. f ! - -j! .. ,5-f '.'iJL j,, " battles during the last twelv f,' I Three hundred "revenuen .' - ( i - '21 fifteen hundred deputy sheril , , - - H j I V, guarding the patba that lead ' it 4 ' A i T 1 " This is Just a glimpse behh I r. , " ,' "T" '. VT" I rounds the "moonshine belt' I , ' J ' t r I moonshine trails open, the I - ' i ' ' . ' 1 source of the nation's new mi t . I ' o-rw , " "-'-ti ' whisky Is solved. I ,.''. . '. 'S. , , " ' . i The advent of prohibition l ,1 . '' : t;11 Jl- . 1 population of Virginia, Tenm , . ' " ;? ' - ' Una. It solved the economic , T . ' gsve stesdy. If precarious em - . mountaineers who never did a A - V ' - - v For the business of moons . "".."t--", . " private enterprise, but has fc a ...... 1 K" " "by ahrewd business men wh " , . X ' x I opportunities of Illicit liquor 7 ,, . X ' - . natural advantages wsre all li stills brought ' In the pre-prohlbition days i fn from the foot- ' x..' v merclsl value. It could not hille and piled in tha -' V- J sections, and was often madi jail at Bristol. Va. A Dep. . s ' " ' ' ' - v -"CT The Kentucky moonshiner sni Irty Sheaiff on sruwd, fearinsi - ; ' " " w Moun- .ct He bad always msde hi a rash from th! I-'-.",' . ' taineer. of It, and he had never paid , sWers. 1X7 . w---V - nd the well the Government agents, ash. . hooped barrels used to worry. .: rs - V-SV ''"TSfe Whisky Prices So ; J 1 r ' -?c JWS. ment Thisacene Then the price of genuine w f V . "-I- " . : .;vr ficCr of the large cities. Importatlo J v 1 - V r' . - V4 V"art vi . suddenly a market opened f N v.Vf ' --ZZzZ V JW' V.t'""' Vi-.fi! the demand came from the sms ' ') . v . ' ' ' 'C ' "" ' V " V A V. over which the wisps of smok . , T V-j-.Vi hung like draperies in the mor f 1 --w - ' i ; -r. what unscrupulous saloonkeep ' v -"I . V ,k; " " "-. source, wss now seeking for , Iv.-. " ' 4 Then later from the larger dli ' . J ! , , ( ;i means bad entered into the bu t " ' .' ''' LLA I , - i ' - .' i -ayi .big cltlea caught in tha path of V . ajsn-1 ! 4 'V, ' r -, : , j The moonshiner then realli '--n , , f T'T, - i possessed by the modest open - " , i S ' ' t - i".''- j that n,d been regarded beret Y !' I .- - f" 7 J i'i " ' ' j right of the mountain clan abo - ' T . ... ... -."l tr,altion. Almost overnight tl .Jf-- - v77- .; - !. h j in the rugged mountain folk b! ' f , V. ; v : ' VJr-.. JJJ of distant clUes who knew the. ' - .Zf i - r.;W.r.-aJa-.-3 the tamUy feuds of romantic t . I . ' . ..V . , the bootlegger the mountain re " J .1 .1 li l '!2 , ""l a. Bebw tlllery Of Illicit "wet goods ." vv v I i f h vZi' ' "S Almost a distillery- The mountain trails begsn It' " !'(.! ' H ' ' -- r-r'r-J0 ' A complete plant for willing to enter into a contract .1 f ., f; -a-r'' he manufacture of noon- latad quantity of corn liquor d . .. i - tie' t : "" hidden fa the mount th ,tn1' eoJ,,,, . ' -T7 V tain, fifty 1,17 un.rrus.orned to . . . i . . , ' 1 " '"' considerable scorching procllv ... ...... -"--tr' ei '''r- . t '' - - M ... - m' ) - . ''.- t-Z't-. -'., .f A KoreTof V till brought fn from the foot- ' hills and piled in tha jail at BrUtol, Va. A Dep. . ty Sheriff on guard, fearing a rush from tha angry moonshiners. moon-shiners. . taineers and tha well hooped barrels used to stora the mooruhiiM .. pending its ship. JJ ment This scene ' ' w photographed , j"t after the ' ." revenue of- . Z:P ficer a Hon mat uuaa or ineir i member, would ever be lodged In a Jail, and there are lnnumer-ab lnnumer-ab e Instances of cases where a clan leader, surrounded and with no chance of escape, has put a bullet through his head rather than, submit to capture. rnTZrHfu phlb,tlo '"ig and he has become a I,. oon.hlner. th. mountaineer 1. losing some of - 3 old 'lm,Khr.",d- L,,e w" B to Peasant at bist In the older dsys. but now that be has tasted the sweets of an eve " ncrea.lng prosperity there I. more of a tendency to avoid troub,, thhu, t wa prlmar)I h.tof;r, at 300 yards with deadly accuracy, but he no longer shoots for ths sport of the thing. In at least half the cases when , hi SdnTuhar,!' l0Ca" ' "J" " " auT" told and It haa become more and more the policy to shoot the "informer" than to get even with the revenuITiigenta. ..nn.!,h.htber h'd baTe beCome Urger " Prohibi tion and the operations sre on a much more costly scale .nd where Government agents sr. upon th. trail of one of thew super-still, there is likely to be . deadly battle with he. casualties on each .Ide. The warfare waged by the Cov,r TnJ. I"" ! counterBenslve of th. moon.hln.r. has cost JOO live, within the la.t twelve months about equally d'vMed between mountaineer, and agents. ea Most of the agents are mountain men (generally, however transferred from their habitual localities) and many , reformed moonshiner has gone over to the Government service to flght ' a deadly war upon his former colleagues 8 The great gam. that Is being plsyed in the mountains of the moonshine belt has been shrouded in secrecy. Men are diiv laying down their Uvea in defiance of the law or in th. . -n forcement of It. and little is heard of the sacrifice Killing VV are common occurrences In the mountains of th. moonahln. " belt snd feuds are ever on the point of freak .,. i. Whisky Prices Soaring With Prohibition. . Then the price of genuine whisky began to rise. It became mor. and more difficult to procure the "real good." throughout the country, and source after source waa cut off by alert agenta who were "citywlse" and aided by an elaborate system of espionage, were able to ferret out the brewera and distillers of the large cities. Importations also began to diminish. Suddenly a market opened for the mountain operator. First the demand cm. from th. small town, at th. foot of the ridge. over which the wisps of smok. from th. moonshln.rs kettles huna like draperies in the morning air from the smsll. somewhat some-what unscrupulous saloonkeeper who. deprived of hi. former source, w.. now seeking for anything "with a kick in IL" Then later from the larger distributing centers where men of means bad entered into the business of purveying liquor to th. k. rities caught in tha path of th. Great Drought b Thi moo"n".r then r..lid th. commercial possibilities oossessed by th. mod.st operations of himself and hi. family hThad ben regarded heretofore a. merely th. InallenaW. right of th. mountain clan about which had grown a romantic radltion. Almost ov.rnlght th.r. grew a tremendous Interest n the rugged mountain folk by person, living in th. seclusion of distant cities who knew them only aa th. stalwart heroes of th. tamUy feud, of romantic Action. In th. Imagination of th bootlegger the mountain region loomed up a. on. vast distillery dis-tillery of illicit "w.t goods." mountain trail, began ...rmlng with bootleg agents, willing to enter Into a contract at almcat r '1l' P-l.ted P-l.ted quantity of corn liquor during a specified period. As It comes from the still, com Hquor Is white, clear and to those customed to Hs taste, ha. a h.r.h dlsagreeab . It to any other ?y ' Below-' Below-' -r. . Almost a distillery -Sr A complete plant for the manufacture of 'moon-ahine' 'moon-ahine' hidden in tha mountains moun-tains fifty mile from the railway. form of Intoxicant As It Is sold In the Western cities. It looks like gepulne whisky, having been blanded with coloring col-oring matter, and sometimes If It Is cleverly flavored and camouflaged. It testes like whisky. Anybody who hss ev.r "tossed off a dram" of It knows that It Is on. of th. "beadiest" Intoxicants ever concocted. The name th. mountaineer, give it "Whit. Llghtnln' " I. as sxpresslv. as snythlng that could be said. It Is hot A few yeara ago a story went the rounds of ths Tennessee mountains which pleased the mountaineers might!) It was that a strsn-ger strsn-ger had come up into the hills to a party in one of the shacks where a moonshlning mountaineer moun-taineer and his sons and daughters msde their home. When refreshment time came . snd the unctuous, oily, whit. Mquor waa being passed around In a tin dipper, ths strangsr from the valley protested pro-tested that he had never taken a drink. But he was nrged. snd so after persuasion from all quarters he fin- ally tilted the dipper and gulped quickly. Then he "Business" Only Cause for Mountain Feuds There Is but one source for a feud In the mountalna now There waa a time when feuds began because of wrongs r slights, real or fancied, but now the explanation for prsctlcallv av.ry feud's beginning is "business." Bald bualness belni moonshlning. Often it results from the suspicion that a me ber of a neighboring or relative family baa informed the reve" nuers. On occasions It Is nothing more than business rival " The battles In the hills feuds.or battles between the armml forces of the law and the sharpshooters of the moonshine ur rillas are seldom published broadcast The newspapers of the country seldom print stories of encounters between a sco of men on the one aide and another score oa the other " with casualties In both armies. But such great skirmishes and d proportionately high casualtiea are tha fact Many men famous ' throughout the mountain districts, admired or hated as sti breakers, have given their lives in ths effort to maintain tha " integrity of tha Eighteenth Amendment And many moonshin ers have died in battle against the law. Later in the series many cases will be cited and names given. Th. methods of distribution call for exposition. Distribution Distribu-tion of th. liquor Is not second in importance to its manufacture. manufac-ture. These are the two main phases of the moonshin. situs tlon. snd It is through tb. arm of distribution that th. officio;' might quit, possibly find th. solution. If th. mountain folk could not get their product out ofth. mountains, manufacture of It would be worse than futile. In their dales and crevices snd hiding places tbey are safe to operate their stills. Until some great and high moral force seizes hold on the minds of the mountaineers nothing can stop their moonshlning. It is too great a task to deinaud of the law, But the distribution phase offers a foothold to the officials. By apprehending the distributors the smugglers who transport th. liquor down the mountain roads to the "hootlejers" In ths towns and cities -th. flow of liquor might le stopped at its source. Continued on Fo!lou:inff Pjge. To It Continue- fieri Week. , , A remarkable teriet of photographs, especially procured for this par. showing better than words just what is going on in the moonshine belt . . , 'CopyrUbt. ST Th Xrw York Moral. |
