Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 12, 1993 TAG: 9301120398
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
KNOW-HOW
DON'T BE surprised if the proprietor or proprietors of Virginia's all-time biggest moonshine still are immortalized in song or legend, or both.Most Southern states have their moonshining lore - and make no mistake about it, corn "squeezins" are still a major cash crop in parts of rural Dixie.
Officialdom, of course, is properly outraged at the continuing, flagrant abuse of laws that are meant to protect public safety and enforce tax collection.
Disrespect for the laws of the land is not admirable, and the evidence of an underground economy is not welcome, either.
Still, there will be those who'll admire the gumption of these Pittsylvania County bootleggers.
Under law-enforcement agencies' noses, they set up a virtually General Electric-size manufacturing plant, a distillery capable of producing up to 3,000 gallons of rotgut a week. This was no mom-and-pop operation.
The owner/operators must have had a pretty sophisticated intelligence system, too: one that might put the CIA's to shame. They were long-gone by the time the state's revenooers (police and Alcoholic Beverage Control agents) got there last week to bust up the business.
Illegal, yes, but also a fine example - proof, if you will - of good ol' American know-how. (Probably 100-proof.) Broken up, yes, but still an impressive shot at the big time.
Though the distillery was found not far from its border, Franklin County has presumably lost some of its luster as the touted moonshine capital of Virginia.
While residents there mourn this development, Pittsylvania officials might on their side find an opportunity to promote economic development and tourism for their county.
Competition, too, is part of the American way.
Meantime, even through our outrage, we have reason to believe that Robert Mitchum would be proud of Pittsylvania's new record.
That Junior Johnson would be proud.
And Snuffy Smith.
Heck, Coca-Cola - makers of the South's second-most-profitable beverage - must harbor some respect for a display of such entrepreneurial enterprise.