Butte record., 1854-02-18
From the Knickerbocks,
& Court Scene 1t Pudileford.
FRoN .rHz FUDnLkFoKD rAFEss'

uAN4GL9[u Ali1 DSSll II { = Lii Lux ~ z TIE
summer; and my acquaintance with them
had now become quite general One
morning in the month Of September, I
was visited by a constable, who very au-
lhoritively served upon me a venire,
which commanded me to Be and appear
before Jonathan Longbow, al his Office
in the village Of Puddleiord, at one
O'Clock, ?. ~, to serve as a jaryman in
a case then and there 70 be tsied between
Plilista Filkins, plaintiff and Charity
Beadle, defendant, in an action Of SLAM
der. etc. The constable remarked, after
reading this threatening legal epistle to
me, that had better be up to time, as
Squire Longbow was a man who would
not be trihed with : and then leisurely
folding ii up, and pushing it deep down
in his vest pocket, he mounted his horse,
and hurried away in pursuit Of the bal
ance Of the panel. Of course, I could not
think Of being guilty Of contempt of
court, having heen 50 solemnly warned Of
the consequences, and I was therefore
promptly on the spot according to com
mand.
Squire Longbow held his court at the
public house; in a room adjoining the
bar-room, because the statute prohibited
his holding It in the bar-room itself He
was a law-abiding man, and would not
violate a statute. I found on my arrival
that the whole country, for miles around,
had assembled to hear this interesting
case. Men, women, and children had
turned out and made perfect holiday of
II. All were attired in their best. The
men were dressed in every kind of fash
ion, or rather all the fashions Of the last
twenty years were scattered through the
crowd. Small-crown, steeple-crown,
low-crown, wide crown, and narrow-brim
hats; wide-tail, stub-tall, and swallow
tail, high-collar, and low-collar coats :;
bagging and shrunken breeches; every
size and shape of shirt-collars were there,
all brought in by the settlers when they
immigrated The women had attempted
to ape the fashions of the past; some Of
them had mounted sbustle' about the
size of bag Of bran, and were waddling
along with their load with great satisfac-
ton. Some of the less ambitious were
reduced to mere bunch of calico. One
man, | noticed, carried upon his head an
old-fashioned bell-crowned hat, with a
half-inch brim shirt-collar running up
tight under his ears, tight enough to lift
him from the ground this ran out in
front of bis face to peak, serving as a
kind of cut-water to his nose j a faded
blue coat, Of the genuine swallow-tail
breed pair Of narrow fall-breeches that
had passed so often through the wash
tub, and were so shrunken, that they ap-
peared to have been strained on over his
limbs this individual, reader, was walk
ing about with his hands IN his pockets,
perfectly satisfied, whistling Yankee
Doodle and other patriotic airs Most
of the women had something frizzled
around their shoes, which were called
pantalettes, giving their extremities the
appearance of the legs of SO many bantam
hens.
The men were amusing themselves
pitching eOppers and guoits, running
horses, and betting upon the result of the
trial to come of, as every one was ex-
peeted to form some opinion OF the mer-
its Of the case.
The landlord Of the Eagle was, Of
course, very busy. He BUSTED about,
here and there, making the necessary
preparations. Several pigs and chickens
had gone the way Of all flesh, and were
baking and stewing for the table. About
once N a quarter, old Stub 'moistened
his clay as he called It, with little
rye SO as TO 'keeD his blood a-stirring,
Ms Stub Bulliphant' was busy, too
She was a perfect whirl-wind Her tenn
per was made of tartaric acid. Her
voice might be heard above the confusion
around, giving direetins to one, and a
piece Of her mind to another. She was
the landlady of the Eagle, beyond all
doubt, and no one else. Better die than
doubt that.
'Bulliphant ? screamed she, at the top
of her lungs; 'Bulliphant, you great lout,
you what in the name of massy-sakes,
are you about No fire no wood no
water in How, in all created natur,
do you 'spose a woman can get dinner /;
Furiation alive, why don't you speak
Sally Ann | say, Sally -Ann : come
right hare this minntai Go down cellar