The union Democrat. [volume] (Sonora, Calif.) 1854-1946, 1871-04-08
SONORA. TUOLUMNE COUNTY, APRIL 8, 1871.

ready perhaps reigning belle. with half q
score Of pistaled and bowie-knited admirers
ready and glad TO resent any fancied indigni-
| ty put upon her. did not like to have these
elderly young women come to my school.
The chivalry of jamestown were always con-
gregated about the nearest saloon-door when
the University was dismissed, TO see the bevy
of beauty pass on their way home. The fem
mime element was still scarce in the mines,
and the growth of the native stock was watch
ed With eager interest. Most Of my young
ladies were snapped up 10 the jaws Of matri-
mony at sixteen. saw them so depart with
out murmur. Indeed. | was rather glad
thsn otherwise, knowing that at last they
had a master.
As Peter had said, there was very clever
set of boys in jamestown. They were from
all portions of the Union. They owned
auartz-lsdges which were laying for buyers !;
they had held Office or intended to. just
then. they bad nothing in particular to do,
and they cid IL. That was twelve wears ago,
before the golden dreams of California had
settled into the stern realities of the present
These clever fellows soon found me out. /
was congenial; teaching school was an ex-
hansting. devitalizing occupation after four
o'clock, felt withered in nerve and muscle.
The school-teacher's brain does double duty !:
it must, at the same time, govern and teach !;
II must keep one eve open to check dozen
small minutes, liable at any time to break
out. The moment your back is turned, you
feel that the juvenile chiefs Of rebellion are
fermenting mischief. This strain, for six
hours daily, frets aud tires. and the teacher
needs rest. The clever boys welcomed me,
and gave me rest.
The ssOwls" were a midnight society of
jamestown, composed OF these clever fellows.
They dressed in black gowns, cowls, and
hoods with white crosses on the back. Doc
tor d - was at their head. i became an
active member. The owls" turned night
into day; and indeed the soft, balmy air OF
midnight, in the foothills, is far preferable
to the hot breath of high noon. Too often /
sought my pedagogical couch, warned by the
morning streaks Ct dawn; and heavy settled
the somniferous weights on my eyelids during
the long afternoon schonl-session, while Billy
Smith halted, suffered, and stammered
through his reading-lesson. Ills voice, to
my sleepy ears, at times merged into the buzz
and rustic of the school-room, and then l
would pinch myself, and walk about the hot
University to keep awake. In the dead of
night, thu sOwls'-every grocery and sa-
loon being closed in town-would enter my
room, and seat themselves silently and i'm.
pressively in the center of the Apartment. In
one corner were two hushel-baskets full Of
old books and papers pertaining to the Sher-
IFS Office, during its occupancy by Jim S..
Jim s. was an ''Owl." These baskets
would be soemnIy dragged into the center of
the circle, there contents poured on the floor,
and the Owls" as they informed me- "a
/ spectator to these proceedings, lying on my
bed in the corner. would commence examin-
ing the accounts of the county for the fiscal
year; anc then deliberate among themselves
as to the prorriety of removing me, bed and
all, to the piazza, while they should confer
concerning some intensely private and impor-
tant county matters. It was funny, and
pleasant. / liked it. But among the more
quiet ard sober people Of jamestown, it be-
came at length rumored that noise. as Of
revelry by night, was too often heard proceed
ing from the school-master's room; which was
caused mainly, suppose, by the arguings
and special pleadings in the crest divorce
suit brought by Tom Scott, Virginian,
against Tom Mcdonald, Bowery butcher
bov, and which case, for three consecutive
nights, was tried at my chambers, before
Judge H. Tom at length recovered
| $4,000 alimony. just before the hour that be
1 SnOulu open DIS suOVs anu slice Ste8kS LOT the
early breakfasters of Jamestown.
One day All Sam, gifted Monaghan cook,
came to me with a note from Bob G.,
then living at Swett's Bar, stating that All
Sans case, as in all other cases, the course
| of true love had not run smoothly; that All
| Sam loved maiden countrywoman at Chi
| nese Camp; that this countrywoman had been
fercibly torn from him by villains, and was
supposed to be in dnrance at Jamestown.
Would / help All Sam recover his etolen
bride? / would. The "Owls" were sum-
moned together. 1t was one function of this
association to see that justice was done,
though the heavens tumbled. stated, also.
the case to Lawyer C; and he without
my knowledge, contracted with All Sam TO
restore him his bride for thirty pieces of sill
| yer. We hunted half the night through the
Chinese quarter. and found the maiden stow
| ed away in hen-coop.. We rescued her,
bore her to Lawyer C--'s Office, locked her
in, and went in quest Of the groom. He was
at last found. supplied with opium. and in
Opposed just then for ematrimony. But Law
| yer c. was an ornament to his profession;
he was full Of fire and energy; he had predes
tnated that couple to be married that night.
| Al Sam was borne to his bride at two o'clock
in the morning. Wherever candle could
find foothold in Lawyer C-'s Office, one
was placed AMI lighted. The ceremony was
performed, as the Oriental couple were in
formed, in the American fashions the 'Owls"
in full regalia. and headed by two Virginia
6ddlers--to whom drawing the bow came as
natural as drawings bead on a buck--march-
ed around the couple several hundred times,
marched them all over jamestown, to all the
airs that ever were iidled on American soil;
and finally they were legally united by the
Justice of the Peace, and the ceremony ter
minated in a wrangle between the Lawyers
and the Justice ia the matter Of fees; c.
paying the expenses Of the cerimonv, as he
had contracted to find, deliver, and merry
the bride to All Sam for the round sum of $40.
ANY one may ace from this sketch the DIFF
fculties attendant on pedagogical career at
that time in jamestown. could not afford
to lose my share Of participation in these stir
ring scenes. Yet il was hard to carry such a
load, and at the same time train the Young idea
to shoot. The sober people frowned. and said
that the school-master should conduct himself
with more decorun, even if ii were in Cali
fcrnia