The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-01-07
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DrcogAs. Dee %, 1855,
Epl4ng GAzkTTz:

in ihla district has been oyeFrun with per.
sons making selections, ana as natural
consequence, many hoye noted down the
same numbers which caused many 10 come
here. cary IN order to secure their choice
pieces Quite a number Of persons have
been here Tor two months aa,ionsly waiting
tie opening .! The Office, which Has rn'
!. 1aorsl woala be the case IRON dh, 10 day;
tiasir authority came from Washington,
announcing the Office would open on The
Gath ast., Which rls published through
the eoanuy, and persons soon began 10
songsegsie at this Po!nt Decofsl con.
tains same AGO residents with but western
accommodations ios strangers, Saturday
the 2ai insr. there had arrived about 500
applicants Tor laad, and in order to shelter
all, the. were obliged 10 pile them up sew.
era! deep; every nook and corner in town
was pre- emp,cd, and then Il was necessary
:" sleep with one eye OPEN or some new
conner would jump the claim.
Saturday evening a meeting was held
john Johns. Esq, Of Davenport. in the
ehsir---in order 10 agree upon some plan
Of action that would mostly facilitate BUSH
ness and mete out justice 10 sill. Alter
considerable dis cnssion and western display
OF rhetoric, the meeting adjourned without
settling upon anything definite, only that
each one must look out for himself. The
next day was marked on the calendar as
/ Sunday, but probably there was never as
4 much business done in Dacorah in one day
4 as was consummated there on the o3d the
Office was to open on the next morning,
and everybody was busy getting their at.
fairs in shape fer the grand rush. AT IL
o'cls. Sunday nigh, several persons began
to gather about the office stairs so a. to get
first chance when the office opened the
next day at 10 o'clk. Ala o'clk Monday
morning the thermometer marked 80 dogs.
beioc zero, Still the crowd about the Of
fee began to thieken. and by Sock. il was
almost impossible to pass the opposite side
4 of the street The Land Office is in the
/ second story, and from the head of the stairs
away out into the street it was wedge,
aud SO compact were those al the foot of
the entrance, that many ieet, fingers. ears
and noses were frozen, owing TO the total
insbiliry-on account of the pressure--of
any one 10 move muscle. or in any man.
ner to relieve their frost bitten eytremities;
others, IN the Jam. were nearly sufocated
/ and when the outside pressure would surge
1 up they would gap for breath Ike sick
| chickens. Atloo'clk, the outside door was
I opened, and then came the tug Of war. such
sscrembling for land has not been witness
ed since the great food when Noah's pas
sengers were limited and high blur. COM
mandsd premium The pressure was so
great that The inside door was crushed in,
the floor settled couple of inches. the
ceiling cracked, and for the moment con-
sternstion prevailed When all were IN
that could he squeezed through, the out
siders, By persuasion OF tie bewiloered Of
ficiels, Withdrew. The first day . entry Was
limited to quarter section to each appli.
cant that got into the Office, which hardly
paid for battling against 80 deg= below
zero all nigh,
On Monday al 4 P. III crowd took pos
session 81 the stairs aud remained there IN.
ii! 10 4. u nes, day: and so il hes been up
20 his Lime, Es fast as those who have kept
the stairs all nigh are admitted, new
crowd take Their places and remain all
night Until opening time neat day. The
Register mas but one clerk, consequently
business moves slow. only from 10 to 80
persons being daily accommodated, and
they being limited to ore or twn qr. sec
tons
The irost-btten examples and intensity
OF the cold make no impression Oh the un-
initiated, bat as fast as ioothold can be
obtained it IS pre-emp,ed, and once in the
gang'yay they must go through though il
requires 10 to "a hours to accomplish it.
Our ,naslatigaIle friend, GEo. H. NICHOLS,
remained On the stairs Two nights mercu-
ry 90 odd below zero--s2 as 10 get in the
ONCE to transact even sinai! amount OF
business Tor some OF his numerous constitu.
ents Many persons who laughed at and
called fools those who first STAYED on the
stairs, have themselves taken night watch
and secured Or. OF hall section. There
are 30 idle persons here, for any one can
get from $40 10 s2j per night to take
their station on the stairs aud make an en-.
try when they can get in. The various
tnilors, shoefnakers. clerks, in fact every
bsdy within five miles who could be hired
to take nights watch on the stairs have
been brought in BY those who preferred
paying for their services, Instead of fgh,ipg
the cold themselves so we 90.
On Thursday mass meeting was held
in the street-H. Kilbourn, Of your city,
hairman--atter VARIOUS questions were dis.
cussed it was agreed to adopt the bslloting
plan, allowing persons 10 pass up stairs by
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