The Sierra citizen., 1854-04-15
Ruwilvis,n.

with . gang Of rowdies Of the baser sort
20 much 90 that we think it necessary to
call attention Of the authorities TO the
matter. There are number Of drunken
wretches who make it their business to go
from house to house, creating disturbance
wherever they can do so with safety
When nothing else offers. they amuse
themselves BY getting up dog fights and
yelling like savages, to the annoyance Of
every peaceable citizen, who must submit
to the nuisance or be insulted, and per-
haps beaten BY cowardly bullies, whose
courage increases in proportion with their
own numbers or the feebleness Of their
victim.
Renewed vigilance will be required,
since the dance houses and houses of i'll
fame have been suppressed in San Fran
cisco. The thieves, murderers and pick
pockets who have been hanging round
these bells, preying upon the defenseless
and unwary, will be forced to make their
way to the mountain towns, where public
indignation has not yet been aroused
Downieville may expect to be visited by q
flock of these obscene birds with their at
tendant satellites, as soon as they are
driven out of the lower cities. Every year,
at the commencement of the business sea-
son, there is general rush to the northern
mines-honest men and thieves, the indus
trious and idle, all make their way to the
mountains; some to engage in honorable
pursuits, some to engage in nefarious occu-
pations, and others to loaf about the
streets and public houses, looking out for
something to steal. Too much vigilance
cannot be exercised by our officers, in
view Of the motley population that we
may expect in the early part of the sum-
mer. Decision and irlnness will be re-
quired by the officers, and fixed determi-
nation by the citizens not to allow the
opening of dens of infamy or low gambling
houses, where almost all the disturbances
have heretofore begun.
During the past winter Downievillc has
maintained a reputation for quietness and
order that would compare favorably with
any other mountain town in the State.
The permanent population are peaceable,
order loving people, who quietly pursue
their avocations, and rows only begin at
the influx of the offscourings Of the cities
1t is this floating population that we must
beware of and keep within proper bounds;
and when they come among us, reeking
with the damp and malaria of the dens
and prisons of San Francisco, at the very
first outbreak let them be dealt with to
the utmost extent of the law.
We have now efficient of6cers-men
who are willing and able to maintain or
der; nothing is wanting but the co-opera-
tion of the citizens. let those keeping
public houses enforce order in their estab-
lishments, and have every loafer and rvwdy
arrested who creates any disturbance that
may be annoying to their neighbors. Pub
lie opinion now sets strongly toward the
maintenance of decorInl and order in our
village, and it is absolutely necessary for
every house making any pretensions to
respectability. to get rid of the rowdieS
and outlaws, who ought to be swept out of
the village, or at least into one corner,
where they would not annoy the better
portion of the citizens.
The necessity for county Jail this sea-
son will be imperative. At present many
slight offenses go unpunished because there
is no suitable place to confne the offenders.
We learn, however, that a temporary Jail
is being fitted up on Durgan's Flat, which,
with the assistance Of irons, will materially
as ist visitors from the British penal colo
MES or bullies from the Five Points in
curbing the enterprise and enthusiasm
which they find SO difficult to control.