The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1868-09-04

creek. MI. IL. WIS most anxious TO
tell this, but protested, and, not to be
out done, wound up the ball by telling
the matchless story of the California
gamblers, us twas told to me, fora fact,
by an eyewitness last July in Licking
ton, and which shows that some things
beside snakes and snai,s have remarta-
bic vitality. 10 make a long story short,
it is this.
Gambler No. l, little man but OF
great will, was attacked by a Gambler
No. 2, Il big man with big will but not
quite so big as the little mans will
Gambler l, fired first, striking Gambler
2, in the left shoulder and knocking him
completely around. As Gambler 2
came back into his original position, fac
ing his little antagonist, .he fired into
his breast. Gambler fell backwards
to the floor, and lay there, stretched at
full length, still as a stone. Ola sud
den, with a surprising use of his spine
alone and unaided by his arms or his
legs, he rose to a sitting posture, took
deliberate aim at his foe, fired, and both
fell back dead. \ post norton examine
ton of Gambler l (the little man with
the willy revealed the somewhat novel
fact in surgery, that he had been shot
through and through the heart; and, in
very plain unvarnished truth, had killed
his o9ponentqf ter he himselfhad been dead
some five and forty seconds by a stop
watch
"rhis," said my Lexington inform
ant, 81 saw with my own eyes and testi-
fled to in open COURT" and l believed
him.
Callaghan's, famous in old times fol
its broiled chicken, ice cream and rattle.
snake, was little changed. The rattle
snake was on exhibition as of yore, but
the place is not so much frequented as
it used to be. After brief halt we rat
tied on and in due time the familiar
scenery of the White became visible
from the coach windows. Med Cald-
WELL" grown quite gray, was pacing the
porch of the Dry Greek hotel as we
dashed by, and with the exception of
the church, still unfinished, near the en-
trance into the grounds, everything
looked precisely as before the war;
Perhaps the old hotel is little more
dilapidated. but elsewhere no traces of
The la:e conflict were apparent. One
could hardly believe that the cottages
had remained so many years untenant-
ed.
1t was about half pas. one when the
stage drew up in front of the great ho-
tel. The crowd in front of the office
was much smaller than / had expected
to see, and my mental conclusion was
that the number of visitors had been, as
usual, greatly exaggerated. Soon I
found myself in the thick of a hornets
nest of editors-C oleman, Little, Gil
man, young Cowardln, Washington,
Mauzy, Robert Button, Houston, Han
ma, Cuthbert and Smyth all being here
at the same time, though not all pre-
sent wnen | alighted. Observing the
swarming of the Press Gang, Mr.. John
'Tinsley, who is destined some day TO
become Stetson or Leland, came up
and insisted upon treating the crowd.
"Gentlemen," said he, SIT isn't often
that see so many of the press together
and as it is near dinner time insist that
you all take a iulep with mc.''
TO my surprise, there was a general
refusal, and Tinsley himself looked as
if he had been "stung by bung." He
couldn't understand it. Nor could any
body else, for it was evident that start
ling change.had come over the iraterni-
ty within The last decade. A new pla-
net rules, l am glad to say, and has
continued to rule here.
Little regretted that i could not join
him in Paradlses 'sbut every room in the
row being occupied, was very comfor-
tably quartcred in No, %, "Alabama. !"
Before | had finished dressing, the gong
sounded, and, seeing few people as hur-
ried across the lawn and assembled the
steps, was more than ever convinced
that the newspaper men had "pufied"
''the season" far more than the facts
warranted. The first step into the i'm
mense dining hall at once undeceived
me. The long steam table for warming
meats and vegetables, which formerly
filled up the centre of the room, had
been removed, thereby charging the
space and improving greatly the APP
pearance of the apartment, and literal
| ly every one of the round tables, stretch
ing ovcra distance of 800 feet, was filled
nearly one thousand people dining at
one time. As the manager conveyed
me to my seat at the lower end of the
room, passed Lee, Beauregard, Steph-
ems, Pickens, Stuart, Capenon, Letch-
cr, Maury, Echols, Conrad and a host
of lesser Southern lights. Rosecrans
sat at the table next to ours. | am
quite sure that such an assembly of no.
tables was not to be found elsewhere OH
this continent.
OF the ladiesl cannot speak fully, be-
cause, by singular chance and in spite
ofmyself, [ have been thrown night and
day with the politicians. In my next
letter, when | come to speak of the
great mask ball, l shall have a word to
say about the fairest of the fair, leaving
the minor beauties to the tender care
of the gallant young critic Of the Rich
mond Wing.