The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1858-03-24
MAGISTRATES OFFICE.

Coon as her well known voice he heard, he
sigh'd and cast his eyes below
The cord glides swiftly thro his glowing
hands
And quick as lightning on the deck lie stands.
Black-eycd Susaa.
A good-looking, weather-beaten, Wis
age-browned tar, dressed in the extreme
of the (sailor) fashion stepped into a Mag
istrate's office on Second street, and tip
ping his tarpaulin to the justice, who sat
snugly ensconced behind pair of specks,
exclaimed as he hitched up his inexpress-
ibles, "Good mornin', your honor, l wants
to get an order Of you this mornin'."
Mogistrate.-What kind of an order
do you want my fine fellow?
.Soilor.-Why, your honor, one that
will take a land lubber, whether he's to
be found or no; kind of sort of a
''haye-at-his-corpus,'' order think they
call it here on shore.
Magistrate.-A writ of habeas corpus,
you mean. b 9a
Saaor.-Well that's all the same.
Magistrate.-Well, but my good fell
low, you must tell me what you want to
do with a writ of habeas corpus before I
can serve you.
Sailor.-Well, I suppose if l must, I
must; SO here goes, (biting off three inches
of pig tail, and coiling it up in bis lar
board cheek You see, your honor, I'm
not one of your fresh water half-and-half,
who never cruize out of sight of their own
camboose smoke, but n regular sea-dog ;
and had as taught little craft for mess
mate, when ON land, as ever was bro't too
under the stern of a seventy Lord
love her, what figure-head she had but
then Sal couldn't cruize off shore with me
and we had to part-fourteen months ago
Il remember it as well as though twas
yeterday-I shipped in the Trapper, as
crank all article as ever you set your two
eyes upon, and left Sal, and couple OF
jollies, in as snug a little cabin as ever
was stuck 'baft main-mast, where we
had both weathered many storm since
our specification, and rode out many a
blessed calm too, your honor. But / left
them all, and the salt water dropped from
our scuppers like the brine from forecss-
tle-man's jacket in storm.
Our good ship cut her way in safety
through the old Atlantic, till we made tie
cape light on our return from the southern
chimes; when curse omit, her lucky stars
went out, and Mother Carey's dev'lish
chickens tapped her high and dry upon
the rocks, abreast the light, the weather
as cold as flugeons The first order then
was "eyery man for himself" among
both animals and hnman natur'; and a.
mong the rest, myself and another swing
ing great black beast they called an Ele-
plant, swan by the power ofinstinct;vely
to the shore; but I have since wished that
| had gone down to Davy Jones' that
night, for | stood head on for the port
where Sal was moored, to forget in her
arms the hardships Of a poor shipwrecked
sailor; but damme, your honor, Sal was
gone! Oh, hard fate she had slipped her
cable and drifted to sea, with another
commander on board:
"All, all gone. at one fell swoop,
Ny little chickens and their dam
So YOU see your honor, I've come here
to get permit to cruise in search of the
piratical shark who boarded my little craft
under false colors, and took the command.
l telegraphed her this morning, and learn
ed from signals Of new fashion that she
has done me injustice in doing herself jas
fce, and that superior officer in the
land service had supplanted me.
Mayistrate.-My good sir, your case
is truly deplerable, and from what | can
understand through your sea phrases you
want warrant for this person.
Sailor.-Any thing at all your honor,
that will fetch me alongside the swab, and
bring my graphing irons to bear upon
him, and if he then gets adrift till one Ct
us sinks, never call me Ned Rattline, OF
the Trapper again.
IA warrant was made out and handed
to him..
.Sailor.-I should like to have a pilot,
of some description, for damme if ! can
thread the channels of the city port enough
to overtake the lubber after all, and /
should hate most cursedly to heave in
sight of him, and let him sheer off.
A constable was sent with him and in
couple of hours Ned had, to use his own
language, brought them too, and towed
them to the office, where the usurper Of
his rights was bound over to await hi'
trial at tho next court in the sum of siS
hundred dollars PHI. Sat. Courier.