The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1861-12-20

4 CelNtu ullIlScll III uouSCI vi UctuS SIldIS
haed' riverside slang for being drugged
with liquor and shipped on voyage while
intoxicated,) to avid which he had escaped
by window, making his appearance at the
police office in state of almost perfect nudi-
| ty.
We sent round for his clothes and got 'em,
adds the sergeant; We generally know our
man at once, and don't have much trouble "a
bout it. There's one now (naming him) who
keeps on shanyhayiny all the time Some
times when We suspect he has got anybody
whom he means mischief to, We Just look in
at him and 60 up stairs, putting our foot or
hand against any door that happens to be
locked against US. He busters good deal,
and talks of prosecutions for forcible entry
of his premises, but it never comes to any
thing
CASE FOR THE CORONER.
Returning, We stand in the police Office a.
again, where we find the sergeant on duty
has quilted his pest behind the desk and is
giving orders about something.
There's stiff coming here directly says
he.
We understand the technicality. He al!
ludcd to dea>. ooty-th, corpse of wom-
an, who, drunk herself, in low lodging
house, had been discovered dead, living on
the floor beneath the form of an inebriated
female companion. Intelligence of the acci-
dent had just arrived, and policemen had
been dispatched for the body.
Shall We 60 to the house?' inquiries Ser
geant Williams. Asserting, We start off to-
gether.
1t is close by, number 43 Oliver street
and we met the corpse, covered up, borne by
policemen on stretcher, and escorted by
pushing, jostling and staring crowd, on our
way, within three doors of the scene of the
tragedy. 1t is five story house, and the
passage and rooms are alive with curious ia
ces, as following the sergeant, We elbow our
way into small chamber at the rear, where
are table with scraps of meat upon it, some
articles OF furniture, few cheap prints and
pictures-some cut out of Illustrated newspa-
pers, and stuck upon the wall-and not i'll
looking lrlshwoman.
She is the 'housekeeper OF the establish
ment, and volunteers statement of the af-
fair, as it came to her knowledge. \ woman,
one Of the dodgers, had bidden her to the
room to see sight. She found one woman
lying acrost another-acrost her heart, sir
She told her to get up, threw water on the
deccaSedS face, discovered her condition,sent
to the statlon-house, and that was all about
il.
The door of the room is locked up. and We
are in the street again. Sergeant Williams
paues at two houses distance to point out
the one in which the Chinaman, Quimbo Ap-
po, murdered the lr>hwoman, and to relate
the difficulties encountered by the police in
conducting the prisoner theretrom to the
Ioombs, through the midst of an infuriated
populace which would willingly have torn
Inn limb from limb. And then We 20 OF to
see the dance houses Of the Fourth ward.
THE DANCE HOUSES.
Our first visit is to rather stylish and de-
cidedlv pretentiou> one. Boosting the IL
tie of the Flag of Our Union" Like all of
those which We see subsequently, it has bar
room at its entrance; further on at Il Slight
elevation, is spacious dancing hall, without
windows, lit by three chandeliers and side
brackets, and ornamented with the national
flag. At the further end, above showy bar
In a gallery the orchestra. consisting of
clarlonet, violin and trumpet, plays dance
tunes-principally schottisches. waItzes and
polhaS. There is bench on either side of
the apartment, crowded with occupants, and
We have to make our way through a little
concourse of about four deep at the entrance
before we can obtain view of the dancers.
The female portion of these are women of
ages averaging from twenty to thirty-tve or
forty, in clean white or pink dresses, made
gay with ribbons and tawdry ornaments; the
skirts, worn over preposterous and ungainly
hoops, reaching only to mid-leg. They are,
with scarcely an exception, raddled with red
paint; they all wear neat white stockings and
gaiter boots, both OF which the gyratons of
the dance, or the projections of their hoops
when sitting, afford liberal display of to
mans-have coarse, stolid and occasionally
brutal physognomies others are not repul-
sive; one has really handsome face. They
all dance well Il observe that the uglier ones
excel in this accomplishment, doubtless feel
ing the necessity of some counter-attraction.)
and exhibit tendency to obeslty-one of the
characteristics of their class.
Not more than half dozen or so occupy
the floor, the rest sit round on the benches.
waiting the invitation of spectators. They
are generally quiet and order y-seidom ad-
dressing any one unless spoken to one hears
few oaths, no foul language, though they can
vent both on occasion. We count seventeen
of them, all residents in the house, and, as
the sergeant informs us, paying eight dollars
week y for their board.
The men are not exclusively maritime in
calling, though there is due proportion of
sailors, riverside laborers. and 'long-shore
men, the rest being mechani,s, 'hose-boys' at
tached to rowdy engine companies, and pro-
miscuous individuals of indefinite pursuits or
none at all. There are thieves among them,
Of course, mostly young men, only exception
ably ill-lookng. The appearance and man
ners of the majority are less offensive than
would be generally surmisd; it is, however, a
pretty safe supposltion that two out of every
four are hard characters, and none of them
any better than they should be.
Nothing is charged for admission to the
Flag of Our Union, or to any of the Fourth
ward dance houses, but each man partaking
of the exercise is expected to treat his part
ner with glass of liquor a: the conclusion
of the dance, involving drinks for two, and
an expenditure of twelve cents. The girls
almost invariably ask for soda-water or 'sar-
saparilla.' They are not allowed to get drunk
until after midnight, at which time these es-
Establishments close.
We are accidental witness to terpsichore-
an feat family suggestive of the Chaumiere
and Jardin -NadiNe, the half-finging, half
vaulting of dancer over her partners head
and then, departing, enter similar place