Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-10-18

habitation. In most cases, however. he
would find one or two rough cabins. with
perhaps tent and an Indian canoe on the
river in front of the "levee." ANYTHING
was marketable. Shares in interior towns
of one or two shanties sold readily for a
hundred dollars. Ways proposed an act
of Congress reserving some land for farm
ing purposes before the whole territory
should be divided into city lots. Towns
enough were started for State contain
ing four millions of people.
UNREAL REAL ESTATE.
Weston, Missouri, was once leading
and thriving town. Now the cratic
stream had made deposits in front until
large buildings formerly on its bank were
one-third of a mile inland. AT ST. Joseph,
forty miles above, and upon underlying
ouicksands, the river was fast cutting into
the city. Several acres had disappeared
in single wear. Brick warehouses on the
leyee were now deserted, and their outer
walls falling. A family in the lower part
of the town were at dinner, when the
ground beneath them began to tremble.
At first they thought it an earthquake, but
it proved a water quake. They fed to a
safe distance, and saw house, garden and
an acre of land slide into the encroaching
element. One might contract to sell lots
here and deliver them in St. Louis! 1t
was flight of fancy to call such property
real estate. f[h 8
At St. Joseph the river originally flowed
in front of Front street. Now it ran, along
Fourth, and the intervening land had dis
u xry1.A haI
chased levee lots soon after the city was
laid out, returned in 1858 to look after
them. He supposed them in the bed of the
by survey. They proved to be on the
other side of the river, in Elwood, Kansas.
A KANSAS COURT, 1857.
}! Once an attorney for the defence took
his cigar from his mouth, and behind a
huge puff of smoke objected to certain tes-
timony on the other side as inadmissable.
The Judge gravely replied:
"The Court sustains the objection, and
rules that the question cannot be asked at
ihts stage Of the game. rT
|. This inference was that at the Court
played poker.
PRE- EMPTION. r 7
We selected and staked our quarter sec
tions, and, after returning to Quindaro,
sent out boards and had cabin erected
upon each. But a few weeks later, when
we went back to look at our dwellings"
some enterprising scoundrel had carried
away every one of them! He did not
leave single board, rafter or splinter.
Notwithstanding the forty dollars which
his cupidity cost me, / have profound re-
spect for that shrewd speculator who not
only obtained so much valuable lumber for
nothing, but found it already delivered
thirty miles in the interior, when the ex-
penses Of hauling were enormous. 1t must
have enabled him to build palatial man
sion; but my experience was a ludicrous
satire upon the ancient legal fiction, that
every mans house is his castle.
From such school must have gradual
ted the e--th Kansas Infantry, which
acquired rare reputation for plundering
during the great rebellion. A. number Of
Kansas regiments, marching through Mis-
souri,, revenged themselves upon their old
enemies; but this had unapproachable
genius for plumber, which the camp stories
used to illustrate with genuine American
exaggeration. One Of them ran thus: -
In an Arkansas campaign, a general Off
Ger found the entire -th grouped around
sawmil, and weeping like Niobes:
"Why, boys" he asked, "what is the
matter."lI 3lIt5 GU jN 2HNId I@#@ s.
!" Matter enough" sobbed one enterprls-
ing volunteer. "Thus far we have never
left anything behind us but we can't pos.
sibly steal this sawmill." re f.I,z I'D
ARKANSAS LEGISLATURE.
That body meant business; but its para
phernalia was not gorgeous. Indeed it
looked good deal like the Arizona legis.
lature, which used to meet in log cabin
with dirt floor. Our sessions were held
in Lawrence hall over the "Commer.
cial" restaurant. The members lived in
widely separated portions of the territory.
Chilled with long winter rides, they would
enter with slouched hats, top boots and
blue army overcoats with enormous capes
crowd around the stove and canvass the
latest news or rumor of disturbance. +, No
inferior rank was tolerated; every man
was general. At the appointed hour
Lane, &c o6icio president, would rap ON the
table and command in his hoarse gntturals
".The board will come to order.''
Then he pulled at the bell-rope until q
waiter appeared.
John, bring us one, two three, four, u
Counting The members present. {" fourteen
hot whiskey punches and q box of cigars
Ahi John, fifteen hot WHISTLES. General
Walker, you are just in time General
Richardson, you will read the minutes oil
the last meeting"
The completion of the reading found the
board warmed externally and internally
for the transaction Of business Under its
auspices organization and enrolment pro.
crossed rapidly. The territorial governor
(Denyer) issued proclamation against it
but proclamations were cheap and plenty
and his was unheeded. There were fire
quent rumors that he was about to pre-
mote its leading members to the honors o
martyrdom by arresting them but, once
begun, he could hardly have stopped with
out arresting the whole population of Kan
sas. So he confined his warfare to paper
bullets Of the brain.
A RULE THAT CUT BOTH WAYS
On Thursday. June .(1858,) ]. was in the
office of the Lawrence Herald of FREEDOM
when boy came in with the report:
"There has JUST been fight up town.
This was such an eve:y day affair that
did not look up from my writing "A mo-
ment afterward another messenger entered
a There's Tfs a man, killed" 0U L
Even this excited little attention in these
times of violence. But suddenly voice
was heard from the street:
"Jim Lane has killed Gaius Jenkins
and mob has gathered round his house to
hang him." III (
There was no moe Indifference; the un.
armed ran for revolvers; and we all has
tened to Lanes house; half mile away.
Around it were two or three hundred ex-
cited men, few proposing to Lynch Lane
but the majority declaring that he should