The Red Flannel Rag

had a cow or other animal that wasn’t eatin’ just right, you’d pour a pint of wh iskey into

her and use it as a stimulant.”

“That much for one cow,” I asked?

“Oh yeah, that’s not much for one cow,” he answered. Just like cow doctors today

will recommend real strong coffee as a stimulant. I’ve seen my mom and dad use

moonshine as a stimulant for livestock. We also used it as a disinfectant for cleaning

wounds and a lot of people used it to lose weight — just like cigarettes. When they get

hungry, they just take a shot of moonshine. They say it quenches their hunger. Of

course, it works just the opposite with me —if I start drinkin’, I want to eat.”

I remembered that earlier in their description of moon shining, Uncle Shirley

indicated that at one time, he had worked as a laborer for a moonshiner, so I asked him,

“How many different kinds of operations went on in the moonshine business?” As

usual, the explanation was long and detailed.

Moonshiners Ain’t All Alike

Three types of people were involved in the business of moon shining in Hopkins

Gap. There were the small-scale moonshiners, the large-scale moonshiners, and the

bootleggers.

The small-scale moonshiner joined up with one other man and they worked for

themselves. They were typically good citizens by most accounts, except through the eyes

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