The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-09-19

At st Joseph, GOrty miles aDOVei anu
| upon underlying quicksands, the river
I was fast cutting into the city. Several
| acres had disappeared in a single year.
| Brick warehouses on the levee 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 II proved water-quake. They
fed to a safe distance, and saw .hou-e,
| garden and an acre of land slide into
the encrOaching element. One might
contract to sells lots here and deliver
them in st. Louis! It was flight of
! fancy to call such properly real estate.
At St. Joseph the river originally
| flowed in front of First street. Now 1t
ran along Fourth, and the intervening
land had disappeared. A nonresident
! who purchased levee lots soon after the
1 city was laid out returned in 1883 TO
look after them: He supposed them
| somewhere in the bed OF the stream,
/ but had the curiosity to ascertain 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
| huge puff of smoke objected TO certain
| testimony on the other side as mad
missible. The Justice Gravely replied:
OIlCGklOA anu
| rules that the question cannot be ask
ed at this stage of the game"
The inference was, that "the court"
played poker.
PRE- EMPTIoN.
We selected and staked our quarter
sections and after returning to QuInda-
ro, sent out boards aud bad II cabin
erected upon each. But II few weeks
later, when we went back to look at
"a II ~ tsaN
scoundrel had carried away one OF
Iheml He did not leave single board,
| rufter, or splinter. Notwithstanding
the forty dollars which his cupidlty
cost me, have profound respect for
that shrewd speculaJor who not only
obtained so much valuable lum Der for
nothing, but found ii already delivered
thirty miles in the interior, when the
Expenses of hauling were enormous
II must have enabled him to build
palatial mansion; but my expeTince
/ was ludIcrous satire upon the ancient
legal fiction that every mans house Is
his castle.
From such a school must have grad
uaIed the --th Kansas infantry.
which acquired rare reputation for
plundering during the great rebel
lion. A number OF Kansas reg.
imeDts, marchiI througl, MI s1ui
revenged themselves upon their old en-
enies; but this had unapproachaDle
genius for plunder, which the camp
stories used 10 illustrate with genuine
American exaggeration. One OF Them
ran thus: In all Arkansas campaign
general officer found tn centre -'th
grouped around saw-mill and weep
ing like Niobes.
:Why. boys" he asked, "what is the
matter ?"
"NIatter enough" sobbed one enter
Drising volunteer, "thus far we have
never left anything behind US; but We
can't possibly steal this sawmillF
a KANSAS LEGISLATURE.
That body meant business; but Its
paraphernalia was not gorgeous. In
deed it looked good deal like the Art-
zOna Legislature, which used to meet
in log cabin with dirt floor. Our
sessions were held in a Lawrence hell
over the Commercial restaurant. The
| members lived in widely separated
portions OF the territory. Chilled with
| long winter rides, they would enter, in
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 in
ferior rank was tolerated; every man
| was a general. AT the appointed hour
Lane, ex.oftiCio president, would rap
| on the tn Bile and command in his hOarse
gutturHls:
"The board will come TO order"
Then he pulled at the bell-rope until
a waiter appeared.
"JoLn, bring us one, two three, four"
| Counting the number presently four
teen hot whisky punches and II box of
cigars. Ah! John, fifteen hot WHISTLES.
General Walker, you are just IN time.
General Richardson, you will read the
minutes OF the last meeting"
The completion of the reading found
the board warmed externally and in
| ternally for the transaction of business.
| Under its auspices organization and
enrolment progressed rapidly. The
territorial governor (Denverl issued
proclamation against it, but proclama-
| lions were cheap and plenty, and his
was unheeded. There were frequent
rumors that he was about to promote
it's leading members TO the hOnors OF
martyrdom by aTresting them; but once
begun, he could hardly have stopped
without arresliug the whole population
of Kansas. So he confined his warfare
to paper bullets OF the brain.
RULE THAT CUT 10Th WAYS.
On Thursday, June Sd, (ls5S) was
in the Office OF the Lawrence Herald Of
Freedom, when boy cuue in with the
| report
There has just been Il figst up
Town."
This was such an every day affair
that did not look up from my writIug
| a moment AtteFWaru hnOlneF messeu-
| ger entered and said:
| There's man killed."
Even this excited little attention in
those times OF violence. But suddenly
ii voice was heard from The street:
"Jim Lane has killed Gaius Jenkins,
| and a mob hHs gathered around his
house to hang hiuI."
There was no more indifference the
nDarmed ran tor revOlvers; and We all
nAatened to Lanes house, halt u mlle
away. Around IL were two or three
hundred excited men, few proposing
To lynch Lane, but the majority decIa-
ring that he should be tried by due
course OF law. Among the former WAS
the notorious ex-sherIff Jones, who had
| led the border ruttian horde in sacklDg
| lawrence Two years earlier. During
| the comparative quiet which now PIE
vailed, ne frequently visited the city.
In the midst OF his loud talk, sheriff
Samuel Walker quietly remarked:
Look here, Jones, be careful how
you recommend hanging. These peo-
pie are good deal excited already aud
II they hang anybody, will be very
| likely 10 begin with you J"
The visitor Instantly apologized for
| his intrusion into Lawrence affairs, and
took the first stage for LecompEon.
WESTERN PRovINCIALIsMs.
In Kansas, one heard the slaug and
| provincialisms of every section of the
country, beside some indigenous to the
soil. The imporIations were chiefly
from Missouri, which had turnishtd d
more than halt the population. Most
readers have heard Ohioans spoken of
as Buckeyes" (from the buckeye
tree,) Illlno1ans as suckers" Indian
| Iaus AS "Hoosiers," and Michiganders
\ G.N