| Show T LES OF GOVERNMENT CRIME = = = am IM llobbod of MilllnnH TirouKh trlllto Lync SnilIootltsitinocd1ol foW MooUHh10 whisky I 111111 nlilInr and torn I ht Miners Goes en ill lkt nlr I Dr fIIrNtI She Iml Villa Alalalaln Jtllill Nero 1 lTAt FJ Corn flee IUIPY of blfh Jtlll If lAc Vu Russian 1111110 They Are Discos utd WJIIII and Isvldled Lr ilIA ColIlloJJI lilt t on Made Froa UAfly itdrk and Their r001l1 Ilofrltel Talk lIiI It Chief of lint frrr tSenqSlariu of SoJt 101 11I117t NollolIl RtIJonJ Br y Sinmtsrlloer lilt Itlttlht OtraitUncle Suns land aI It antis JtPJrtIIll 11tA 1IJStJ1XJ < J for Spies and lf4 aaQ I ht Treasury fuQ MMmMotnKnrtr ioooSttllt VtstroyeJ This itat uoa ttron 1JoI < rMrpnaLM l1a1 YSRa root U CSrteblerl twe br rralul IIIS IS Till rt f tint of a series of i Iy letters wtnleh I J i 1 r rt propose to virile l < k 7 showing sonic of e ON f the curious ways r S in which Uncle j Sam Is rolbcd l I e does one of the biggest businesses Ills ordinary expenditure HlhV I rorid torch have for years been between three d four hundred million dollars anna s 1r lie has on hand l liere today in tfuWon In the shape of bonds than lath notes and bullion more snd l Iftr Jkmorsmoooo and l lira cold an < com sucked up In the treasury cellars tijhs5000 tons The sums In which 10 dents are big enough to tempt the Mat dreams of criminal avarice and tlonunJs of men ore plotting how they an In some way break In and l carry aura part of the pile Thin money Is imounJeJ however both by day and Dy k tlkbt by trusty watchmen whose re nT i liters l slwoys t ready The strongest cfurouzM I Iron and of welded steel Incme tin bazslof gold and silver and Ihe b heavy loots which form the entrances en-trances to Ins vaults tray lime locks Web defy the most expert of bur lass obUF trfl dance bo 1 i The ordinary llilel I has little chance hue The checks on the treasury are ltion and the chief money stolen 1 1 Irom the rovernment Is slipped out In oilier Mays And set there Is no doubt but tint vast sums are stolen Uncle Sama receipts amount to almost a million dollars a day and he undoubtedly l latex millions of dollars in eo way or another every year MlttlONS IN UOONBIIINi Tale the nutter of the whisky tax Since its Increase f llo a gallon moonshine moon-shine stills hare been springing up like i reed in all paro of the country They J hue doiirubed for yean In the moon lams of Ihe south but they are now be Inning to sprout up In the big elites ol the north Within the pt sew weeks a number of Illicit airlis have been discovered dis-covered In New York and Ihlladelphla The butlness Is I being carried on by 1oluh lews in l attics and cellars 1 hey are nuking whisky trout black strap mobiles lor which they pay In both about four rents per gallon It probably coils them less than twentyfive cents to make a gallon ol whisky and their potts are from 400 to soo prr cent This buitnes I Is 1 entirely ciillercnt from lilt of the moonshiners Col U W Coijimi the chlel ol the special agents ol tine Treasury Department Ins given Be line details and I have betore ma the liming of one of lime northern whliky i sills r6lch has just been received I by rM the Ticasury Department The 1 still mss captured only a few days ago In ate of Ihe big alien of lire east It Is 01 the tort used 1 In Russia and it con sail cf two galvanized Iron boxes or barrels with lire hairs beneath them The molasses Is mixed with water and u fermented Into a kind ot sugar beer It U then put Into these boilers und oW Into a vapor This is conduct eJ through pipes into a second sill and COM water Irom the city water works cets as the condenser The 1 sugar beer dis liter IWO distillations conies out In the share of whisky and as such it Is ready or Uiy market Such a still cost but u tw dollars It makes practically no smell I and It can be put up in any room rbere there are waler wotka fun only I 0555 that the treasury deteClivaa cart know cilia existence yOr through 1 blue IIlhnr 01 the whisky ROll Iha purchase incur the molasses and yeast A largo annual 01 taU hu 10 be used to lee anent 1 the beer old the yeast fitioricn ol all the bit I eastern I cities are now belnj oat Lv treaiury dtlccllves Hveiy J e Is hobuvs much > ei thas to glue an account of r himselfand I all suspicious purchasers n Ire carefully shadowed nn whisky robbers use all kinds of titans t escape the detectives A weik urea ago one al the treasury agents saw a Jew boys largo I bundleut least I tl took t it from the aclory and walked oil with It under his arnr lire detective tattaaed tie tarn lire yeast ilI to soother man who carried it I throucn several aii eit third alleys nail I gave it to a SSn1 took it I cellar Aboul l1 len minutes I later l ca t uses later t this I man came out rnlh neat steeled to be four baseball tl I I n 1 a Sfnh o mss wrapped iii brown paper I In his > n MI mJ d won tine yeast whlcn I he molded I up In this to auspnclonleAsliretnalad way av < fffitnA A 1 he lalk1 Intl the detect III honored I hire and I he finally traced t oa IIICI Ian lira rl lli to II had an attic where bonne Inhk Jews gallo I jllak Inch I w lIIaklng IIIIIY o of r Iuia a day < IIIIIV I IN IIILK TANS orj Yinallew or the agulsw Vas Jl overcd wson beitlg WMVS I R e WMS VSJ If Tris > raUocaled just outside at 7la located Just outidrof itt da1 f1 whisky robber had 1 toe l ra bl a bought dairy colsilV lie had on hand about ico curs rich and ran ire had Iris regular nt route ulotm JSimoV conlmcd I to the 01 lire Ilrookn and New York sesame sinters knew that there a was large market amount of illicit h raiis I llre could not trace it I they noted > Kn 01 lire saloon until seemed hi Ii to bo golting large II uant M ut rite f r m m Mdayf they lollowei1 lire snub half nil and They found the 5111 At least r k o hrs cam had feMlSS f M ni which i tl W > 1 Jclivereil l 11bs then the-n cu eAlle mi 1 k nl lo lib I or I I customer to Ii W5 capturing the still ICVCCUC agents took charts 01 Ih dairy and they confiscated the cows on the part of Uncle Sam ama VIIISKV STILIJI Tina Increase of Illicit distilling In tho southern mountains during mho put year Is I enormous The stilla arc scatter nl 1 through the mountain districts ol eeiy southern slate and Ihe revenue tleparlment inns never Inil In hands so I full ns now The commissioner of I Internal In-ternal rrtenue tells me that the agents nose never been so well organized l anil they hate never done so good l work It they are now doing Col Coliiultt the chief of this hranrh was for years In the field ass special agent lie I has the moonshine districts mapped out and there Is a black Hit nt the Creamy DC I pinmuit containing the names ot the su < pecleil l characters Congress has set aside I f oooo a tear for the uiy of spies and lilted Informers and Uncle Sam Is I annually now spending to il put i down all told the about builnc f50000 Still there aru more stills now than ever before be-fore One thousand were destroyed last year The outlook ll that there will be nearly > ooo wiped out during the coming year and the number destroyed l last month was 164 It Ii I bard to till mate the loss whlcn Uncle Ham sustains from these moonshine stills A lew dabs agun wagon load of whisky containing loj gallons ol liquor was captured near Circcntlllc ii C rune tax on this alone would hive beam filo Suppose the 11x10 stills which will he captured Hill year to continue In operation It hss I iuill still which will not produce five gallons ol wliiiky dally These Jooj altos would product 100011 gallons a day I on which the tax would be f shoos Kleven thousand dollars a day IS more Hum 4000000 per sear This will be the saving in revenue by the breaking upol time stills There art however In all prahabllity I hundreds which am Ir dhrnverej jr i hl al never discovered and the loss Is incalculable In-calculable HOW TIIK 1IOOXJII1NSHS UOKK I asked Col Coliiullt to give me some Idea of the moonshine stills of the toiitli He replied They are rude ulhlri nml the avcrnga still dotS not cost more than fro It usually consists of two barrels one of which contains aol a-ol of copper pipe connected with boiler on the top of an oven like a bake oven near by In Ihe other barrel the mash Is I kept This mash Is I made of cornmeal It Is fermented Into s kind of u beer This beer Is put Intel the taller and I I as it I gtts warm It I rises In vapor limbo I tine pipe and HOAJ nil Into the coll Cold water tom a mountain stream Is I kept running through the barrel over the coil and as it falls upon It It condenses the vapor Into liquor Ihc whisky has to be distilled twice be fore It U I ready for use It coils only n lew cents a gallon and ll require no capital to speak of to make It The mountaineers I l bring their I I corn to the still I du trade II for hlsk limey 1 receive a gallon ol whisky for < bushel ol corn I he moonshiner can nuke three lallollJ nut ol every bushel and he has Iwo gal loins of clear profit Thla I he ells to his fellow mountaineer at ft per gallon So loll me Ihe profits are luge 1 Whims discover ssllswe we OUcover n mill we chop it m pieces II wo find a wagon load ol whliky we break the barrel and let the liquor run out upon the ground Ve locale the ktlll by means ul spies and the revenue agents have a standard price uf fro for each still that Is I pointed l out to them Tell 1 dollars is I a great deal of money In the southern mountains and sooner or later Iho moonshiner Is I bound to have some one Inform upon him The busl ness Is very dangerous however Now and Ihen the moonshincri light the revenue reve-nue olhccm I ami I I Ihu I mm who follows them taken hit hie m his 1 11 hands 1 have been shot at a number of linn but solar so-lar have snooped being nil The inuuisliliiers lulu Ihe spies worse than they du Ut They will kill them II they can illicmcr thtm Still 1 Koine ol our Inloiineis conlliiuu their work lor > oars and they are nut sins 1 covered Homo follow the business because be-cause they I with lo snipe it out rather I nl f al rIIlW than I for Ihe money One ol the moil remarkable Informers 1 ever knew WAS n guide named Kcper The moomhln ers suspected him They caught him carried him to a well and threw him In This well was fillIno feel l deep nnd alter ho had reached the bottom they began to lire upon him He was hit twice In Ihe head by their bulltls lie remained three days In Hut well without with-out lood and when wo got him out he was nearly dead runs starvation and loss of blood He I recovered however and is alive today THE NOTOKIOU KUDMONU Who is I the mot notorious moon shiner s ou have on tho records of the treasury I Department Col Colnulltf asked I I dont know replied the chlcl of limo revenue agents One man who Iris had A great deal of newspaper no untidy nas a fellow named Redmond l who operated In the South Carolina mountains Ha had been making moonshine whisky and had had quite a career when a newipaper reporter spin a week with him at one ol his stills In the mountains Redmond had killed two men and he claimed to have none a great deal more lie gave this man line story of his adventures and this was published In Ihe Charleston newspapers This seemed to set Ked mond crazy He c iatelo Ihu I most daring acts afler that I lo get his name in the newspapers He I was fin ally caught and sent to prison I do not know whether ho is alive today or not The average nioonkhlncr continued Col Colqultt does not think his bull ness Is wrong He art urea that every man has the right to sell what he makes stealat Innr ax be does not ittal or tramole upon the rights of others He has Ihe sympathy ol the mountaineer and today to-day our greatest trouble Is to get oU courts of the south to deal out justice to this class of criminals TIIK 1HKAT BRIMS TKAORtlY Who was the most curious moon shiner pant ever had l to deal with Col Colqueltr I said I I One of the queerest replied l the ruler was old Bob Sirnnis who lived near Ilia Jon Springs not far Irom Mobile Simtm was a religious fanatic annul he had a large number of followers IIIs I pea rho I looked upon him a a kind s Ln j ol a savior I and a pioplict I they hid gathi red about him nnd he hid estili I shed a colony of his believers He had a peculiar religion one of tiro tenets or which I was that all men had I equal rights and that ro one could equitably prevent another fioni doing l l vvn1t I he pleased He saldthat tn the law of Hie lmil 1 was Ihe devils law and that no respect ought to be paid I to It It was this devils law that taxed whisky The law ol God which he bimmsj laid down provided that a main could make amt sell what be pleased and binims said j lie had ta hl perfect right I to maku whisky out 01 his corn and that God would protect him He defied the government he built his still out In plain 1 sight I In Iron of 1 hit cabin and hsd I 11 J lnV oni a wide road running up to It when we sent a warrant for his arrest he took It Irom the hands of the dtpuly who served rd In red Ittore I I up and spat I in tne deputys face There wire a number of men with Mmms at this time and llha deputy did not dare to arrest him We then sent a posse niter him blmms saw that our foice was greater than his and ho was taken He refined to walk In Jail however how-ever lie said we might carry him but he would not go ol his own accord Upon Up-on this he was picked up put Into a cart and taken to llladon Springs Ihis 1 Is a sort of summer resort main frequented srotbl rrtlltU JI by this cltlens of Alab ma U hn m roc goo < l Jail facilities and blmms was put Into an outhouse and guarded during dur-ing the day preparatory I cf earning him I cltiwhere lie was handculhd He showed no disposition to be ugly however how-ever and when dinner lime came our revenue agents went Intel the lining room of the hotel Icav l Ing blmmi in the charge of only one officer It waidaik Ihe people were eating when three men rushed the collage shot the ollicer in charge killed a doctor who had oiled In at the time tasty Sunmi and allowed Slmms to escape The men who illJ the shooting were Slmms two brothers and his son llailly blmms One of Ihe brolhtrs was shut ns he ran away and the son of the old nun was also killed I Hull IKOnllT TO DEMOS Dob Simms however got away Colonel Colqultt continued He took to the woods 1 and lived there for some lime Hut he soon began to commit such outrages that the people rose up I 01111 him and he was lynched l lie fore Iris arrest by the government he had modeled his life on the Ilible anj he tried lo follow out some 01 Its teachings teach-ings especially so In one place where Irs says If J a man strike you on the right cheek you must turn the oilier to bun and let him smile you on that Ills arrest an1 I the death of his son I changed his nature lie went In lar revenge and vengeance against all who were against him liver I tiling that was nngell In Ins nature turned to gall He became avery a-very demon and tlicrj was nothing too mean and l cruel for him to 13 The act which capped the climax was the killIng kill-Ing of a merchant who in times past had been 1 friend of Ins Alter his escape Birnnis house with his goods l In it was comparatively unprotected The merchant mer-chant had a bill against him and without with-out process ot law he went to Slmms home and took 11 wagon load of hla furniture and carried It oil to satisfy this bill Hevastodnt I I the time that he was doing n dangerous Hung hut liu laughed and suggested Kimnis1 relig ious nature would not penult him in retaliate He was much mutakeii As houn as the matter I was reported 10 can atld lie kl blmms lie became enraged lie took a band of Ills followers and one dint I night surrounded metchaiits home lie then set fire In ll and as the merchants mer-chants wife and children had ran out lo escape the llames ha fired upon them I eLl1I ItT illi lailg3 and killed them This created a great sensation A Ijnchlng I party was organized They sitrroundM blmms and his fail lowers and ha finally bcciu Hut he was bound to be overpowered l that II they would choose twcmyfiva men anj allow him to choose twciilyllva mm who would assure him thai he would have a hilt I trial and be a guard for him ha would give hlmiilf up IhUwas agreed to and Slmms threw down his arras and came out The fifty men tint ruuiuKd him but they oily preundcd lu prolcil him In riahly they gave him up lo Ihe rnnb and within u iron afterward he will four ol his foIoucm I was hanged I Sininis defense himself Colonel CololUIlt w eat 011 was very brave Ito had nls party in his house and near tills I lU a Inure slird which pr wiilcd the lynchers from surrouiding him II this I could be burned It would enable them to close i In upon him and capture the I house One of Ilia lynihers slipped up I and set lira to it bimms came out with n water bucket and without ler regard II to the bullels which were lying about him and protected to some extent by I Ids frlenus In the house who were firing lo keep back the lynchers he putout put-out the fire HOW Otto STILL WAS CAflLHEl 1 vl tt During my talk I with Colonel Cal quilt ono ol the most famous of the special revenue agents came In from the field This was Colonel Chapman who his been connected lfillal the detective detec-tive service ol Ihe department for twenty eats and who Is now operat ing In Ihe mountains of Georgia and Alabama 11I1 whole life his teen one of fighting He was a lieutenant colonel col-onel under Mosby during the late civil war and had fivu horses killed under him at that lime He I has been battered up a number of limes by the moon shiners but has never been dangerous rr wounded Atone time ha was shot through the wrist and he showed me today Ihe scar which marked spots where the ball went through We were capturing a still said he m the Alabami mountains Our poise had surrounded the men when one of them fired more and mho ball struck me In the left wrist My hand was hanging at my side JI I thought at first 1IrfJ I knocked my crazy hone against a tree A moment later It felt as though a red hot Iron was being run through my wrist and I know that I had been shot The man alter shooting me ran I aimed l at him ult my pistol add sent a bullet I firing after him 1 am n go d 1 thou but in some way or oltur I mussed j I luteTheurcumstances The circumstances of capturing that still was rather curious Colonel Chop man went on I had sluice men with me and we were riding along the road when we met A wtgon loaded with barrets ot lt whisky I Ue came upon the nun at a turn ot she corner ea amt I seized I the whUky In the name ol the government el meat We hopped up the barrels and let It run out on the ground The men who owned il were very angry We concluded I to follow the trail ol Ihe wagon and see if we could not find the still We did so and I about a mile or so away wo turprlicd the men at work Three nl them started l to run and one got behind n tree and blazed away at me The men In charge of the wag in also rail I did not dare to gel on my horse and go alter them lor I was mil snreof one of the men who was with me and our guide had deserted us on the capturing I of time wigon The result re-sult was wcdcstrocd the I sill and then went on lo the others q I t < o |
