My grandfather, now deceased, was a Kentucky moonshiner. He told us they would always leave a shiny new pocket knife in the trail that led to the still when they left. They figured if the knife was still there when they returned they were safe to go as any feds would surely pick up a new knife that someone had dropped from their pocket. My favorite story he told was of going to town with 2 quarts of shine tucked into a new shoe box. He would hang out by the train station waiting for a potential customer to arrive, his area was notorious for the best shine in KY. A fellow got off the train and asked my grandfather if he knew where he could get some hooch and my grandfather said he did but he would have to go fetch it for him. The man gave my grandfather the money for the shine and my grandfather gave the man the box with what he was told was a new pair of shoes for my grandmother in it for collateral until he returned with the goods. My grandfather said he always laughed all the way home as sooner or later the customer would get tired of waiting and look into the box to find his prize. True stories from a day long gone, I always loved listening to my grandfather's tales as he was one colorful person. Dave
