The weekly Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1872-1887, 1875-05-08
The City Front After Dark.

The streets blocked with hacks AMI
wagons; bells ringing, whistles blowing,
men yelling; crowd of new arrivals
rushing oil the dock, nnh Il crowd max
ing their way to the III Captain. 4 man
steps ashore, valisc in hand; two rival
runners pouncc upon him; one snaicllcs
his vali-c, aHd the other sciZcS him by the
arms and coat lapel, until finally he con-
vinccS them that he is going i'll horse.
car to his private residence, instead Of per
"kerridgc" to a hotel. lie is dropped,
and his prosecutors pouncc upon another
unfortunate. Above the din rises :. Here S
II free coach and kcrrige Ia the Lick
House 'Jump aboard, sir, and I'll
take you 10 the best house in town fDr''-
"Bedbugs and mosquitoes arc unknown,
and you vii! find everything in tho
"Bath-tubs in every room and walters al
ways ready to''-''iiG: your d----d tacS
"3t o: Inc way, si5." SJOm the last pas
scDgcr Is ynnG; lie hacks 90 iGmUcriE,:
up street, anG comparative iIcacc Icigus
Passing up Davis street wr stop at one of
The coffee saloons that there abound, ana
call for cup of ",lava"--its always Java
and roll. There is an Italian, with
range making coffee, and looking n.kant
ut the hungry-eycd customer pcrchcd on
stool; on the cudutCr glass case flied
with cakes against The wall, !t2i:;nd the
counter, row al bottles, Banked on
either side Ey elephant tueks, and set of
with "A bronze cast Ofn COrpulcnt and jolly
seaman with n cigar in his mouth and n
clock in the region where other scamcn
are accommodated with uhdomcnS. The
bronze marine Is quite familiar, and looks
AT ms with Knowing lccr, which virtu-
ally says that he could tell thing or two
il he wished. He continues his familiar
ity and We begin to feel like rcScntin9 il,
when the brigaHdish Italian observes that
lack has run down and proceeds to run
him up with II key. On the first move
mcnt of his abdominal machinery Jack
raises his eyes, and then drops them, To be
raised again is if in holy horror Of the
vOraCity of his masters customers. lie
continues this until VIC gulp down our
coffee and rush out To escape his inSidi-
Ors lccr, and find ourselves Oh the street
and pant nf Al living crowd Of ScaIncn
They lounge about !istlcssly, gazing into
shOw-windnwS und saloons. Anon, we
pass II slop-shop, and are greeted by Il
hungry and dirty looking vendor uf "shcrp
clntliHing,' who calls us "minc trent and
wants lis 10 step in aTd buy some nf his
"Gonts.' Passing on, We arrive 1T I'll.
loon on thu corner rf Nni!cjo and Davis
streets, famous as tho resort uf SEA -larihg
men. We enter and see II long counter;
behind II two men aud behind thcm the
same bottles, mirror, and the bronze mar
liner. y. The rear end of the counter is -
row of barrels SurmOuntcd Ivy liquor
cases extending across the room, forming
y partition and shutting of portion of
the apartment from view. Behind this
barrier We find about twenty men stand
ing around n table, and intensely inter
cstrd in game Of "pokrr," engineered
hy fireman, nn cX-puliccmnn, hack
driver and n hontman. The limit is ten
dollars, and some lively betting prerailS.
Aitcr remaining hero Il few minutes we
quietly take uur leave and walk over past
the NrW V0rid ut her wharf and along Ia
India Dock. We gCl on the dock and
move along few feet to he suddenly
startled 10y II "Ilold nr, my ijricndI' from
u man with his hand on his pistol, who
steps ont Of Il pilu of grain and demands
our business. lie is satisfied aud then
becomes communicative. lie states that
hC is watching the giain ns the thieves
arc lively and at their old trick Of steal
ing along the edge oi the wharf and drop.
ping sack of grain into their boats
Even ns he speaks his experienced ear
detects the pi'lsh Of nn oar, and he hurrics
quietly over the iCiain sacks aud chal.
!cngrs boat cnIucrcd 10y the rays of his
dark lantern. "Cu>ipm House. is the
rc.ronsr, and darkcns his lantern aud ~.
turns to resume our conversation. lie
captains that The c.Istom n;li,crs nIC
Watching the Vessel with the Ird top.
| light just arrived from Chin. on the tool.
Oui for smi.ti"rs. A'trr opium and
other goods. And he tells how they gc
up ns fishermen, pass al"nGsidr ni' newly
arrived ship, spread their nets in such /
way ilnt n case Of opium happening I,
lHIi overheard hy accident il caught il
The nlorc'oid net and haulcd aboard ih,
boat. This little game is now well un
lcrst0Od, and fishermen, whether real u
fictitious, have now t0 give all ncwly.ar
ri"cd vessels widr berth, and bc con
tent to catch bass and ruck.cud in plac
mr cana nf opium and bales of silk. Ar
rived AT hay street, wc stop iU view th
lighiS pn the water from AlCn!IuH anil ScS
sells IN the stream. 10 the left MCip9s
wharf looms UP; and beyond, Fort Point
while tho bcacn's light cnmra strcamin
o'cr the wave from The lighthouse on I'll
other aidG of the Date. Sitting on th
shore aud looking out on tlrc deep, dar