Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-07-20

thew termed ,shanties, "a purely Chinese
word, still used by every one who has a
becoming respect for old forms of speech.
They brought with them, he says, in or
der to keep flies off their noses and pre-
vent bugs from jumping on their chins,
musical instrument named gong,
which is now used in our boarding
houses and hotels to call us to breakfast
and dinner. This lover of lucid truth goes
further to enlighten the ignorant and
convince the skepticalby stating in plain
terms the undeniable fact that ten min
u.es after the Chinese landed they cut
off their pig-tails, sat cross-legged on a
log, and performed an ancient religious
rite with pack ofcards in honor of their
safe arrival. This rite they named Bluff
and ever since the strip of high land on
the east side of the river has borne that
name, and from it is derived the titls of
one of the most popular games in the
country--a game that has been played
by high and low, whether on board
fiatboat or high-pressure steamer, at'a
bran dance or a barbecue, in a dingy
saloon or a bright beer-garden. 1t seems
rather hard to contradict this statement,
supported as it is by such direct EVIL
dence; but third historian, who, like
lawyer in magistrate court, stands
undaunted at any pile of testimony
against him, afiirms, without fear OF
contradiction, that the First Families OF
the Bluff we're the Chicken Saws, tribe
of Indians fond of spring chickens, out
of whose bones they manufactured TOOTH
picks with keen edges like Holsters
claws, with which they sawed their teeth,
producing a music similar in its shrill-
ness to the crow of a rooster. These
peculiarities, he says, account for the
reason why so many people among us
keep a stiff upper lip, are extremely
fond of fried chicken, are apt at quoting
old saws, use toothpicks and delight in
growing. Besides, he asserts that an older
branch of this tribe settled on a hill
further up the river, and consequently
this more Southern hill was properly
called the Second Chicken Saw Bluff,
the home of the Bluffians, as is fully !
proven by the manners and customs of
the present inhabitants and the titles of
some of their clubs and streets.
We cannot undertake to vouch for the
correctness of any one of these state
ments about the First Families of the
Bluff more than another further than
to state we believe all of them to be as
correct as the majority of stories handed
down to us concerning the aborigines.
But, fortunately for those who think
the grandest thing invented for
the amusement of man, we find in Span
ish novels the name of the adventurous
Knights who had the hardihood to brave
the briny ocean in a stout ship, and,
in company with nine hundred and fifty
soldiers clad in steel and twelve priests
bearing crosses, travel through painless
woods, regardless of hunger or thirst, of
the hot sun or the heavy rain, of the wild
animal or the fierce savage, to invade
the land of the Blufiians. Ii was De
Soto, or The Sot, so called in an age
Of romance when noble Knights got
drunk on the blood of Moors, Jolly
Monks screwed the eye-lashes Of Jews to
and Pizarro ornamented the
wales of Peru with human heads. This
and liberal-minded youth, not
his Castilian birth and the
boast of his ancestors that they were the
redressers of oppression and the bene-
factors Of society, had as keen an eye to
business as a railroad president; and
after taking a few drinks with Charles
the Fifth, one fine morning, in very
bland and becoming manner asked that
royal gentleman for thirty leagues of the
land of Florida. His Majesty of course
like some of our congressman freely
gave what did not belong to him;
and De Soto, after drinking to
.hes health of the King a thousand
lines, took up his carpet-bag and landed
n Florida about the summer Of 1889
he found the everglades cool and refresh
ng, and ordered bis followers to pitch
heir tents in the best patch they could
ind, and commence a game of poker.
This was the first time this important
game was played on this continent 1t
10 astonished the Indians that they re-
luested to be made acquainted with its
mysteries and its beauties. The Span
sh had no objection. provided the In
lians put down thirty thousand acres of
and against tin whistle The bets
we're made, and the game progressed
airly- until the second deal, when big
Indian, having four aces in his hand,
claimed the tin whistle; but rough
spaniard, determined at all hazards TO
have the acres, showed hand with five
lces, and demanded the game. This
caused big row, which ended in the
Hight of the Spaniards The Indians
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