News from the county July 1922
WARNED OF RAID, BUT DRY AGENTS GET A BIG STILL
Apparently warned of the impending raid, moonshiners attempted to remove their 230-gallon capacity copper kettle in New Kent county before the arrival of federal prohibition agents, and this was in progress when the officers forced their way through the underbrush and reached the scene. One man was seen to run away from the plant and escaped.
The plant was of unusual size and excellent quality, and was located near a small branch of running water, which was used in the distilling process. Officers found the kettle pulled down from the brick furnace on which, it was operated, and was sitting on skids for removal across the branch. Alongside of it was a 100-gallon, copper “doubler."
Five thousand gallons of mash ready to be distilled was also found and was destroyed along with the kettle and doubler. This mash would have produced at least 500 gallons of liquor according to the estimates of federal officers, which would have sold at the I still for not less than $6 per gallon, making the work of the agents mean the destruction of at least $3,000 worth of liquor, in addition to the value of the plant, which represented an expenditure of several hundred dollars
-News Leader, 7 July 1922
SEIZE 250-GALLON STILL, OPERATORS FLEE, IN NEW KENT
State Inspector J.T. Crute* has reported that in company with federal agents he has seized a 250-gallon copper still, 100-gallon copper double, 5,000 gallons of mash and other liquor making materials and paraphernalia; at a point a mile and a half from Mountcastle, New Kent county. The operators of the still escaped, but warrants have been issued for two men.
-News Leader, 8 July 1922
* Barhamsville resident Joseph Thomas Crute (1876-1964)
New Kent was a popular location for the illegal production of alcohol due to its proximity to a large urban area combined with a small population, large areas of forest and swamp, and easy access to large amounts of corn.
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