The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-04-03
Am-FOels' Nay.

dull times and inclement weather, wa
livelier than usual in Opelousas. Many
persons here received letters from Wash
ington, six miles distant, to go there OF
important business at a fixed hour
Lawyers were asked to attend to case
in magistrates courts ; notaries to draw
up Wills, inventories, and thelike. Some
went and some did not. A comparison
of letters showed that they were gener'
ally written by the same person, who
signed different names, and alleged diff.
ferent ~pretences, according to circum.
stances, to make them "take.' Some
were exact copies of each other, with
different names signed. Wilkins ware
house was the general rendezvous
Those who attended, we suspect, made
him tap a barrel of Dowling's best.
In Opelousas, there was a general
hubbub among the lawyers and of
ticers of court. The morning was cold
and raw. Capt. Garland had just rode
in from his residence in the country, and
was busily engaged making q fire. A
friend entered his Office and told him a
stranger was over at the Clerks office,
who wanted to retain his services in a
suit that he seemed to have plenty OF
money and would no doubt pay a big
fee cash in advance. He threw down
This armful of wood and rushed out OF
his Office like one mad, as if the building
had been on fire, and broke foFsthe
Clerks Office. 1t is needless to say that
he returned q. sadder and wiser man.
Z. L. Lewis, Esq, also came in from his
residence in the country, rather late
and some one told him that a man nam
ed "Giles" had been hunting for him all
morning /; wanted to see him on very i'm
portant legalbusiness. He moved about
briskly for sometime, asking everybody
he met if he had seer q man named
"Giles.n He finally "smelt the rat.''
Some n told the Clerk that a stranger
was in his office, who looked like a mer-
chant from the city and wished to pay
him some costs. Costs are difficult to
collect now, and this Clerk moved for his
Office at d $40 rate, but found no costs
but his trouble. The joke how
ever was a heavy box of bricks that enc
merchant sent to another on the shout
der of a cOlored victim, anote accompa-
nying. The first party stated to the
carrier that q mistake had been made,
the box was ~foracertain other merchant
further on, according to the, contents of
the note. He lugged it on to the next
one; whossaidflIe note was for him but
not the box, it belonged to the first per-
son to whom it was sent. The, patient
and weary carrier lugged it back again,
when the discovery was made by some
mark Imaginary on it that had not
been observed before, that it belonged
to some one else in another part of town.
who would be certain to receive it and
pay carriers charges. We did not hear
how it ended, but the last we saw of
this perseyering carrier, he turned a
corner almost ont of sight, with the box
of bricks OF his shoulder, in search of
its owner and his reward.
As for ourself we received o letter,
about ten o'clock, from Washington,
from one person saying that a certain
other d wished for MS to meet him
there If possiBle; atsNelve o'clock pre-
cisaly, on very Important business on-
corning ourself principally, and to re-.
quest q certain other person to accom-
pany us. We thought some one whom
wesIad never heard of before had died
and left us a fortune, that was there
and then TO- be delivered. We almost
broke our neck getting to the stableand
Harvesting the horse in the buggy; fear
full of being behind time. We trotted
round hunting for the gentleman who
requested to accompany as, and at
last found him making a brisk hHnt for
(" Giles. He would not hear to going,
until some one who thought he would
fatigue himself to death in search Of
''Giles,n enlightened him in regard to.
that imaginary client, when he consent
ed to go. We made the discovery. then
that several others had received letters
soliciting their presence in Washington,
a comparison of which showed the
chirography.