Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 33, Number 332, 4 October 1908 — Page 25

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THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRA3I, BATITRDAA', OCTOBER 1908. PAGE tWEXTY-FIYE.v

MOOIISHIIIE

MAID

DEFIES GOVERNMENT Pretty Mary Fouts, 27, Operates "Still" in Eastern Kentucky. ' BATTLES FOR RIGHTS.

SKIRMISH BETWEEN WOMAN HIDDEN BEHIND ROCKS AND REVENUE MEN RESULTS, PROBABLY FATALLY.

Louisville, Ky., Oct. 3. Down behind a natural fortress of huge boulders In Eastern Kentucky a woman who has not yet seen her thirtieth birthday Is calmly, intrepidly and successfully defying the mighty government of the United States. A few days ago, single handed she beat back a posse of the best revenue officers Uncle Sam could muster. Her aim is true and her belief in her sovereign right to make her own brand of whisky from her own corn is supreme and immovable. Mary Fouts, aged twenty-seven, is America's only moonshine maid, and

she is a moonshiner by birth, inclination and training. Her father was a

moonshiner before her and the several ramifications of her family hold records for battle with revenue officers that any mountaineer might envy. For forty years the Beaver Creek

district on the Knott-Floyd-Letcher

border, has been a moonshine strong

hold, the scene of many a pitched battle between moonshiners and govern

ment officials: Blood of both sides has stained its narrow ravines and

nlcturesaue mountain paths. If a rec

ord of lives sold for the mountain

brew had been kept doubtless the

greatest number t of notches -would

have been cut by Uncle Sam." But

when it came to this woman, this tall, stalwart, calm-eyed, sure-aiming young woman on her native heath. Uncle Sam was baffled. Chivalry died hard, even when backed by law and justice,

and to send his picked shots against a woman was more than even Uncle

Sam wanted to do.j In time the clash had to come, yet the woman won against the law and its armed officers.

Mary Fouts was born in, the rude home where she now , distils what is said to be the best brand of whisky obtainable in all Kentucky. , Her baby eyes studied the still, and her baby ears learned to catch quick, ominous whispers. Just as the child of the proverbial artist accepts poverty at the price of parental genius, as the child of the king believe that royalty can do no wrong, so this child of the mountains believed that making whisky without government": consent was the inalienable rights of hill people. Her parents were ambitious for the little Mary, however, and sent her to school, where she proved exceptionally bright and acquired an amount of book learning which dazzed her humble relatives But she never forgot her love of the mountain life and never lost her grip on mountain traditions. , When other girls were writing notes to each other In school or making paper dolls, Mary Fouts was drawing pictures of stills, and finally 6he presented to her astonished teacher a !erfect reproduction of a still, including the "worm" which she had evolved from some odd bits of copper that came her way. During her twelfth year, when home on her vacation, she made a "run" of very fair moonshine whisky In an old coffee boiler in her mother's kitchen. At sixteen, hei education finished, Mary Fouts declared against ' muslin frocks and , crossroads dances. ' She

wanted the free if hazardous life of

the moonshiner.

A woman moonshiner! Even bold

Kentucky gasped.

Women there were who had protected their . "men," and fought for their "men" and even died with their

"men" but a woman who wanted to

be a leader of men In moonshlning, well, that was going some!

A few years later, Mary Fouts came (into her own. . Her father died, and the became the head of his household and the manipulator of the famous

still .

And what was more, Mary Fonts'

made a whisky of no mean reputa

tion. She raised her own crop of corn and coaxed it as only a farmer who loves his growing things can coax. And then she made it into the right

sort of whisky, pure and unadulterat

ed.

r "I v would not adulterate my whisky

for any price, nor for the whole world

said Miss Fonts in a recent interview

ana sne meant it. No head of a

great food factory ever regarded the

output of his establishment with great

er reverence and pride and affection

than does Mary Fouts the product of

her illicit still. And down there in

Kentucky, when a man wants the real thing in whisky he demands Mary

touts' wnisxy. willingly paying the

nigner price asked for her brand.

Now, of course, the United States

government, with its mighty system

of officers and spies, was not ignorant of Mary Fouts and her calm, unwav

ering violation of the laws. But how to reach Mary Fouts without sacrificing national pride by spilling the blood of a woman who sinned only because

ehe thought it no sin. but her tight, was a problem even for a great government. If Mary Fouts would kind

ly sneak out of her stronghold and

murder a man In cold blood, then the law might take its course. But Mary Fouts was distressingly peaceable and Industrious. She attended strictly to

fier own business.

Mary Fouts did not come to town

nor haunt highways. But she certain

ly knew how to guard her property, particularly her still. This had a natural barricade of rocks and behind this barricade Mary Fouts kept a coliection of Winchesters and ammuni

tion which meant a fight to a finish and it is a sorry thing for a posse of men to find themselves fighting against one Intrepid woman who had been guilty of no greater offense than turning the product of her own land into cash according to the methods followed by her ancestors for generations. And of these ancestors she was as proud as the scious of English nobility of the ancestors who fought under William the Conqueror. But something had to be done. There were seven counts against Miss Fouts. The government felt that patience, even with a fair woman, had ceased to be a virtue. The dignity of the law must be maintained, without bloodshed, if possible, with bloodshed of necessary. But first diplomacy. A revenue officer sent to Miss Fouts by a trusted friend of the moonshiner this message in writing: "Meet us at the school house on Beaver Creek, Thursday and promise you will never violate the law. never moonshine any more, and we will see to it that you are fully pardoned for all." "I will never meet you," was her curt reply, and to her mother she said: "There's no use talking I will keep this still going in spite of all the government. It is a duty to you I mean to fulfill. Father stilled all his life and stilled, good whisky. There is no reason why we shouldn't keep up the family reputation. They will never take me alive," she la said to have added. For you see, Mary Fouts, for all her contempt of government and the

law, is no rude mountain woman of uncouth bearing and rougher speech. She is the embodiment of the twentieth century business woman a-bloom in Kentucky; hills. So the quaint old Fouts homestead was put in a state' of siege. The Winchesters were cleaned, loaded and made ready. The revenue men were sure to come after that bold defiance. . And come they did, headed by U. S. Marshal F. M. Blair, one of the most determined and successful men in the revenue service. With him was a picked posse and before him, well barricaded by a natural breastwork of Impenetrable rock, was Miss Fouts, the moonshine maid, with Winchesters and ammunition enough to stand off an army. According to the officers' story they pressed forward, and then Mary Fouts fired. She deliberately, say the revenue men opened the fight and made It possible for the revenue men to do their duty. They returned the fire, to a man, but Mary Fouts was safe behind the boulders. Onward they press

ed, and for half an hour the mimic, one-sided battle raged. They Deputy Marshal Hiram Day fell sorely wounded, and was carried away on a stretcher by his baffled companions. What will happen to Mary Fouts depends upon the outcome of Day's injury. It is prove fatal, as the doctors predict, Mary Fouts will have to face a charge of murder without the mitigating plea of self defense, and

Uncle Sam's sense of chivalry will not be violated. ' But at the time of writ

ing Mary Fouts, the moonshine maid, reigns undisturbed in the Kentucky hills, calmly "stilling" the corn colored brew that is the pride and the joy of Kentucky connoiseurs. $6,000,000 PAID , ' v TO HARVEST HANDS Northwest Wheat Crop 60,000,000 Bushels.

EARL REFUSES $5,1

WEEKLHOR SINGINl Shaftesbury Apparently Don't Need Money.

New York, Oct 3. A London special to the Sun says: "The Earl o Shaftesbury has declined an offer ol $5,000 weekly for a 30 -weeks'-concert tour in America. The' Earl sang a solo recently in St James' church at Shaftesbury, on th occasion of the dedication of a new organ thereby revealing to the public what his friends have long knowj that he is The possessor of an exceptional tenor voice which has bee, carefully trained. Thereupon the above offer was made to the Earl auche was assured that everything- woul be done to sustain his dignity and ex alted rank. After considering the offer the Earl politely refused to accept it.

You Are Entitled To the Beat your hard-earned money can get Make your dollars go

twice as far in baying your Quits, Top Coats Cravenettes and Overcoats No More

No Less

Every garment is new and up to the minute, and at an actual saving of $5.00. OUR HATS AT $1 and $2 will agreeably surprise you. An investigation will certainly prove of mutual benefit. ; - . 4

Fred's overcoats VO TIO Main Street

M 'O N E Y In Large or Small Sums, $5.00 to $100 Take a pencil and paper and figure up all your little bills then coma to us and we will ' '

LOAN

MAXINE OBJECTS.

Will Fight

Husband's Divorce.

Suit for

Reno, Kev., Oct. 3. Maxine Elliott, wife of Nat C. Goodwin, the actor, will contest his suit; for divorce, filed here. " This was made known when

I !i"i.o?rnuce was entered through her attorney in the district ocurt.

TANK DEVELOPER

7

For perfect negatives ft whether 111ms or plates, use a

Let us show you how easy It Is to turn your vacation exposures into perfect negatives. Kodak Film Tanks, Premp Film Tanks. Eastman Plate Tanks all sizes In stock. W. H. ROSS DRUG CO., 804 Main, Richmond.

PALLADIUM wan i f.DS. PAY

There is no mecllcino ' ;a:3 and at trie same time so pleasant to take as Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin, the positive cure tar all diseases arisint from stomach trouble. The price la very ret "riable 50c and SI.

JC nflni rr Indigestion Relieves sour stomach, palpitation of thheart Digests what you eat.

you enough to pay them all off. We will make the payment so small that you will never miss it out of your salary. There is.no excuse for you being in debt when we have so much money and are o willing to loan it to you on your household furniture. piano. horse, wagons or other chattels. It in need of money HI out this blank and mail to us, our agent will call on you.

Your name Address, street and number Town Amount Wanted....

RICHMOND LOAN GO.

Established 1895

Automatic Phone ISIS RICHMOND. INDIANA.

Palladium Want Ads Go Into All Homes.

Spokane, Oct. 3 Farmers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho paid $6,000,000 this season to 60,000 men to harvest a wheat crop estimated to reach 60,000,000 bushels. Twenty-two hundred and fifty combined harvester machines, operated by steam, gasoline and horses and mules, were required to denude the land.

NAVAL MEN MAY SPEAK. Chicago, Oct- 3 General Nelson A. Miles and Admiral Schley may take the stump through the Hoosier state for Bryan and Kern, according to advices reaching Chicago from Laporte, Ind. It Is known that attempts have been made to induce the war heroes to campaign for the Democratic national ticket, but the Democratic National Speakers' Committee has not been officially advised as to the reEult of the negotiations.

tELS TIE UP PLANT. . Waltham, Oct.' 3 A dozen big eels put the mills of the Boston Manufacturing Company in Waltham out of commission yesterday - for several hours, and the 1,000 employes had to loaf until Jlhey were cleaned out of t.h pipes. f

PLEASE PREPARE PIES.

400 Pies Needed to Treat the Soldiei of the 10th U. S. Infy. Those desiring to contribute to th feast will please notify the headqua ers of the Young Merfs Business clu telephone No. 2330, as soon as post ble In order to give some idea of tl number coming in. The pies can be left at any of t: following places not later than 8:' on the morning of Oct Sth: y Jones Hardware Co., 10th and X streets. , Bee Hive Grocery, 1017, 1019 M i street. Shofer's Grocery, 3rd and Wt Main street. Eggemeyer's Grocery, 4th and Ml. streets.

Pantry Grocery, 16th and Main

cnaries Hentlage Grocery,

11th street. Schuman & Sieck Grocery, 20S

mond avenue. James J. Mulligan Grocery, i Sheridan street. MILITARY COMMITTEE oct 2&5

101

R

nfflllf 'TMeirei (Bonn' A . " ltfirl "WLVl In Richmond, Oct 6, 7, 8. . WW,

'i'wwi.i mw'am ' "'ft'-1. ,;. '

There will be all kinds of exhibits and attractive displays' that you will enf oy looking at. Don't fall to see the '

EILiEGAMTT mSIPILAY . OF

' TrT A IT-

ooo

IhT ;';WEFF -Ql -MO AURA'

We have used every possible means to ascertain the shoe requirements for Fall and Winter, and are v prepared to meet the demands of the trade.

We Wffl Noll Sell SEioddly Shoes We can't afford to. Our trade always wants Good Solid Shoes and that's the kin4 we sell. We have preached quality so long that we couldnt sell anything but Good Shoes. We haVe exclusive sale of some of the Best Lines of Shoes in the United States.

FOR 1VIEISJ FOR WOMEN . The Walk Over $3.50 to $6.00 Dorothy Dodd ...$3.00, $3.50, $4.00 The Ralston Health.. ................. $4.00 Red Cross ..... . . $4.00 N. & N. Specials..... $2.50 to $3.50 Irving Drew;.... ...... ... $2.50 to $3.50 AH Solid Work Shoes ........... $1.50 and up School and Street Shoes, all solid... $1.50 and up Waterproof, Reg. Cut ----......$2.50 to $5.00 Tan and Wine Colors ..... $3.00 and $3.50 Waterproof, High Cut ... . $3.50 to $7.50 ' Cravenette Tops ....... $3.00, $3.50 and $4.00

If it's good honest STAPLE SHOES or the very NEWEST STYLES and patterns you want, we have them and guarantee you COMFORT, FIT AND STYLE arid at a REASONABLE COST. We cordially invite you to make our store Headquarters during the Festival or at any time. Leave your packages, arrange to meet your friends here.' Make use of our REST ROOM, and its conveniences which we have provided specially for our out of town customers.

THE HOME OF THE BEST SHOES

"Not the best because the largest, but the largest because the best"