The weekly Shasta courier., 1873-03-15


the stove said, carelessly "Oh, don't OBJ
Ject." My alarm subsided in moment
Niger Joe was no negro at all His sObri-
quet only applied to the unusual blackuess
OF the color of his hair and eyes. Had L
known then what | have since learned
that Niger Joe was implicated in the terri
BILE Alley way" murder, and was only dis
charged for want of some links in the evi-
dence against him-I think | should have
preferred to him the dirtiest colored man
for bed-fellow. My sleeping place having
been arranged to the satisfaction of all in
terested in the matter, seated myself on a
three-legged stool which Mr.. Casey placed
near the stove for me. and quietly proceed
ed to make a survey of the premises and my
companions for the night
l was in room about thirteen or four
teen feet square, with ceiling so low that
could not stand upright without rubbing
my head against it. On the left side was
small bar, with collection of cracked
tumbers, two or three dirty lquor-bottles,
and a water-pitcher, minus its handle and
lip. Beyond the bar was the bedstead of
the Casey family said family consisting Of
Daniel Casey, Esq. and wife, the infant
hereinbefore mentioned, and two sons Of
Mrs Casey by former husband, who ap-
peared to be about ten and twelve years of
age respectively How they all manage to
sleep in it, this deponent knoweth not. On
the other side Of the room was another bed.
Opening from this room were two other
chambers en- suite, smaller, and filed with
beds. My "crib." as Mrs. Casey called it.,
was in the middle room. There were no
doors, and of this | was very glad at first,
but sorry afterward; for the sewer-pipe of
the floors above burst, and the sewerage
poured into the back room in the middle of
the night The beds and coverings were
the dirtiest, and the bedsteads the most
tumble-down, have ever seen. And Mrs.
Casey had the lying hardihood to tell me
that there we're mo such nice, clean beds
in the ward" Beyond beds | could see no
article of furniture. Many of the men did
not undress when they went to bed. Those
who did and the women too, all hung their
clothes on nails driven into the wall imme-
diately over their heads.
But to return to the front room-the par
lor of the Casey mansion. In addition to
the Casey family, there were fifteen other
human beings who proposed to pass the
night in that underground cellar, besides
myself. Some of the men and women stood
at the bar tippling Mr.. Casey's best Bour-
bon whisky and Jamaica rum at .foe cents a
tumbLer! Others were seated around the
stove, others on the floor with their backs
against the wall, and a respectable looking
man, his wife, and little girl, sat on the
bed near the entrance-door. having hired it
for the night for the extortionate charge of
forty cents. All men and women, who
were not smoking, were chewing. Immed-
ately in front of the stove sat four men: one
cooking red herring for his supper one
waiting to cook two slices of bullock's liver
and slice of salted pork, which lay in a
piece of brown paper on his knee; another
eager to toast a salt mackerel, in which he
had invested his last cent and the fourth
munching stale crackers and cheeserind, and
washing them down with toby of Mr.
Caseys any thing but foaming ale. They
were-Nigger Joe; Mickey McHugh, a
short, middle-aged man, with badly broken
nose and strong Irish brogue, who l am
told, is an exceedingly clever watch stuff
err" Curly Bill tall, raw-boned young
canaler. with black, curling hair, shaven
face, and very long nose; and Lame Pete,
short, stout, surly-looking man, with a
face like bulldog. and every feature in it
proclaiming him to be-what he is-an in
corrigible thief. Lame Pete has lately
done six months in Brooklyn, and conse-
quently looked tolerably fresh for Water
Street hdbitue. I never saw a man with
thief so plainly written in every lineament
ofhis face. He fully comes up to the mark
of Addison's well-known epigram on a rogue
which concludes thus:
| with all these tokens Of knave complete
Shouldst thou be honest thou 'rt devish cheat"
The rest of the company included Tommy
the Bolt, young man with a remarkable
crooked nose, who. | understand, varies
the excitement Of doing chores around Full
ton Market with little occasional til-tap-
ping; Luny Ted, well-known Water-street
character, who is on the free list of all the
lodginghouses in consideration of his being
half-wltted, running on little errands, carry
ing messages to the unfOrtunates on 1.-The
island fetching Goals, and generally max
ing himself useful, as he cannot be ornamen-
tal-poor Luny having very big head
and face like pigs, with full, ragged
beard of very dark hue; Jenny Ryan, COM
monty known as Dirty Jenny, talkative
old lady from the Emerald Isle, whose cos
tune consisted solely of an old. washed out
cotton gown, and a shawl which covered
her head and shoulders (uuder- garments,
boots, and stockings, are vanities which
she has long eschewed); woman with a
fearful black eye, whom every one address
ed as Swell-head. aud who was in a state
of maudin intoxication; q heavy, stout we-
man, with enormous eyes,fwho answered to
the name of Kate; a great, tall, bony look
ing woman. who was dubbed Green-horn,
and who also had a purple decoration under
one eye; a quiet man and his wife, who
came from the country and who retired to
bed soon after | arrived; and the family
who had the. bed by the entrance-door II
misery makes man acquainted with
strange bed-fellows," ] can vouch that the
assumption Of it did in my case. Here was
collection of beings worthy ofexbibition in
travelling menagerie; of every sex. color
and size; and all remarkable for their
training and accomplishments. There was
not one of them who would not exclaim, af-
ter the fashion of Lewis Garreli:
a. Avaunt dull vIrtuei' is oxonia's cry.
Come to my arms. ingenious Yliany""
There was much of their language which
could not understand but ! heard. quite
enough to learn that it was all about muir
der, robbery, the island the Toombs, the
cops" and kindred subjects.
And there | sat on my three-legged STOOL
quetly smoking my pipe, and taking in the
whole scene and its by-play. One by one,
the men at the stove moved away as soon
as they had cooked their "chuck' as they
called their bit of supper IA full meal is
termed square = in order to allow others
e, IL, lil-sa,x.i.s,. s..I L.