Hootch industry losing some of its shine

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33665, 15 October 1974, Page 10

Hootch industry losing some of its shine

(By

N.Z.P.A.-Reuter

correspondent HOMER CLOh i S)

" KNOXVILLE » (Tennessee). • Moonshine, the illegal whiskey that keeps the tills in these parts Tolling, is losing some of jts glow to inflation. * Moonshiners say they are Saving more trouble dealing With the rising costs of distilling than they ever had fading the Federal tax Sgents — or “revenooers” — ■tfieir time-honoured enemies. Most of their problems, <hey say, stem from the sale gf wheat to the Soviet Union. which they term “the ■great grain robbery.” The moonshiners say that the Sain that once went into aking Tennessee “White lightning” is now moving jjown throats of Moscow’s oodkaphiles. g When grain can be obtained, it is going for Wrices described as “out of sight.” Where wheat could be Eurchased for SUSI.7B a ushel a little more than a Jear ago, it is now going for jnore like SUSS. Corn has risen from 3U51.27 a bushel Jo around SUS 4, while oats i»ave gone from 77 cents to §bout SUS2. » FEWER STILLS i The steep rises, according <?. a spokesman for the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms Tax Bureau, has resulted in a great fall-off in the number of stills working in the area. The “revenooer” said white

whiskey used to cost about SUSlO’a gallon. Now it is running between SUI 3 to 14 a gallon with less profit for the moonshiner. Not all the problems are caused by grain as virtually every items needed to go into the backyard liquor business has risen in price. Sugar, a main ingredient of moonshine whiskey, costs about SUS 22 a “bale” now, one Knoxville wholesaler said. A year ago it cost 12 dollars less. The round, wide-topped glass jars that have long been used to hold the i precious liquid are so hard to find that many hootch ■makers switched to plastic jugs only to have the price of the substitute rise steeply. A 20-pound bottle of propane, used to fire the stills, has also increased in price. And perhaps the lowest blow is the doubling of gasoline prices around here. Moonshiners are a quickmoving lot and spend much of their time driving over the rough hill trails delivering their goods and avoiding the “revenoors,” a neverending trip called "taking thunder road.”

Golf.—Mrs N. D. Cullen won the Russley Golf Club’s senior women’s championship yesterday when she beat Mrs V. Bishop, a New Zealand representative, 1 up over 36 holes.