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My reason for writing this story is that little has been said about the rise and the fall of the professional moonshiner in the United States. Moonshining started in the early years of the 20th Century; to be exact, January 16th, 1920 was the beginning.
On that day the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States became effective. Was it good for our nation? There are many different points of view. In my opinion it was a great mistake, in that it deprived our citizens of one of the oldest privileges enjoyed by man and woman alike.
Moonshining can be traced back to the early settlement of our beloved colonized America. George Washington owned a still that can be viewed in his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Many old stills came here with the settlers of America. Stills are one of the most useful inventions of man and great assets to industry, even today.
Did you ever stop to think how many products are distilled in some manner or other? Much of America's lifeline and pleasure depends upon distillation. So, useful as the still is, why do we look down upon it? It is not an evil invention *
I possess a still. My still may be called a crude device, but is very much cherished. It was handed down to me, along with the art of Shine production, by my father, one of the Old School of Somerset County, Pennsylvania Moonshiners.
When I say Art, I mean Art! Shine production required a great deal of skill and knowledge, understanding, hard work, patience, and cleanliness. A shiner had to be a good judge of the character of man, and have a super sense to avoid the many revenue critters which were plentiful in the l920's. He had to be stern as well as active in defense of himself, many times a bit of a marksman, tight lipped, mindful of his own business, sly as a fox, and sworn to secrecy. At times he had to be traitorous to his fellows to be aggressive; and at times pretend to be a Christian. He had to be a man of self-control able to handle his moonshine at all times in every condition.
He was a free giver of a sample drink as a bid for sale or approval of the customer's taste. Most customers approved of free shine even if it seemed to make their shoulders higher than their heads, make them gasp for breath or all but swallow their tongues.
I was one that took great delight in the mellowing of shine. As father told me many times, "If you can't drink it, how can you expect your customers to?"
I drank many a drink of shine. Some was even better than my own. Some would have eaten a hole through the radiator of an old Model T Ford.
I considered it poor antifreeze although it was used in many radiators. We did not know about Prestone in those days. Shine would not freeze because most times it contained at least 50 percent by volume of alcohol and sometimes higher.
It is easy to see that as a drink it was very potent. It was a stimulant with habit-forming ability. Excessive use caused paralysis of the body.
That good old moonshine, sometimes called White Mule, Skat, Stump Juice, Mountain Dew, FirWater, Rot Gut and many other names, was man's substitute for legal whiskey in a then dry nation. It had its professional rise as a result of the act passed by our Congress in October 1919 known as the Volstead Act. This law enforced the 18th Amendment.
Prohibition had a long stand in our nation. It dates back to 1914 when prohibition measures were taken by Washington, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, all bone dry by popular vote. Six other states of the Union later fell in line by legislative action: Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Georgia and Florida. With twelve states of the Union already dry, eighteen retained some restrictions on strong drink. Maryland, New York, and Nevada had no prohibition restriction. Federal Enforcement Officers were left without local cooperation within the remaining wet states.
Thus the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution was passed and submitted to the states for ratification by the Congress on December 18, 1917. Ratification was slow, but overwhelming.
Our country was faced with the Great War, World War 1, under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson of the Democratic Party.
War was declared on Germany in April 1917. Millions of men were drafted into service. The male population left at home was nearly depleted.
An organization known as the Women's Christian Temperance Union was very active. It entered into the battle against the right of man to be served any intoxicating drink across a bar. Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, First Lady, was then National Chairlady of this organization.
She was very active in politics. in fact we are told in history that President Wilson was a sick man at times and often his beloved wife served our nation in his behalf. She had great political influence as well as moral influence upon the nation, especially in the field of temperance.
Female population at that time outnumbered the male. With Mrs. Wilson's influence, elections in our country were a bit out of balance. In that clay, a woman who went to an open barroom for a drink was looked down upon. She was almost an outcast. It was very degrading then, but not by today's standards. A woman is a familiar customer of the modern bar today.
As you can see, man was deprived for 25 years or more of the right to take a drink. The 18th Amendment was no good for our people. It did nothing more than create a paradise for the enterprising Moonshiner and the Speak Easy. The Volstead Act enforcing prohibition was much more a creator of crime and corruption than any other thing which has taken place in our country.
Man's thirst for strong drink will never be quenched. This thirst predates Americans. Our most cherished book speaks of man's use of strong drink. It is part of our American way of life, handed down to us by our early American ancestors.
However, it is possible that moonshine will rise again if man continues to impose prohibitive taxes. Our thinking will return to the time of the Whiskey Rebellion which came about because a tax of 7 cents was placed on a gallon of whiskey. It created such a disturbance that President George Washington had to send 13,000 militia to subdue it.