, 1877-05-19
DEADW00D CITY.
Glimpses of Life I'm n Pioneer Black XIII
Town.

| Town.
From q DesdwOod City letter TO the New
Yoik. Sta We clip the following: Ou the
other side of the street. q little lower down.
stands " the Cricket" another great resort.
II is q dance hall and variety theatre. the
latter being g novelty here It WAS In the
Cricket ;" that General Crook danced in the
same set with Mayor Farnum. His partner
| is sill employed III the house. A violin and
viola furnishes the music. Six girls are en-
plOyed in the dance hall, and are on the flour
from dark until midnight. their partners
varying in social standing from such diyni-
tsries as these just named to the dirtiest,
blacklist and coarsest of 'bullwaokers.' The
men dance with hats on, and huge cigars be-
tween their teeth, and seem to enjoy the ten
minutes set, fo- which they pay e half dol
lar, besides treats for self and partner The
theatre is reached through two dOOrwAys.
one leading to the lower part of the house,
the other to the gallery, which Is divided off
into seven boxes. Decorum is unknown TO
" Cricket audiences, and as a consequence
the performance is virtually one of show and
not for the ear. Great clouds of smoke fill
the room, while many girls, dressed in the
ioudest fashion, peddle drinks through the
audience. The performance begins with the
first part of minstrel show, the circle con-
sisting of a. tOnes" and " tambourine" in
cork, two girls, the interIoeutr, and a banjo
! player uncorked. The great aim of ell is 10
be as loud as possible, and in this particular
there seems to be no restraint. Singing and
dancing fill up the programme. The perfor-
III.
The amount of money nightly squardered
here upon wine, women and gambling Is
! simply enormous With drinks and cigars
at "two-biis " % cents each, wine Cvery
poor a, 50 per pint, and everything else in
proportion, i. takes bpt very shor. time to
run through big sum of money Gambling
! Is the great bsne of the Gown One can
fnd but few public houses where there are
| no, one or more games In operation, while in
many saloons the tables are counted by the
half dozan- Yet there are many excellent
people here.
Deadwood apes the airs and dignity of the
| Oldest city on the continent. Postal service
has been secured, aud to-day Pos master
Adams, a carpet bagger from Omaha, with
boiled shirt and shiny hat, opened a regular
ly established offics and began the sale uf
stamps. Heretofore II has cost ten cenjs 20
receive letter, except by the Cheyenne line.
! The latter has the contract until tho close of
! the fiscal year and will carry daily mail,
as will also the Fort Pierre and BIsmark
| lines as sOoa as they begin running, which
Will be IN about two weeks. The Sydney
Stage Company has sold ous 10 the Cheyenne
Company, and hereafter daily stages will run
over that route.
Ths first daily paper in the hills, the Tunes
made its appearance here last Saturday II
is folio, five columns 10 the p5ge has The
Associated Press dispatches is well edited,
and presents a fine typographical appsar-
anee. Its editors, Aessrs. Warner and New
hard, are old Denver priutArs, and are conf
dent of success. The Pioneer, the first Black
Hills journal. will also soon appear daily.
The arrivals of .'tender-feet " in this city
alone average 100 day. and as the season
advances, the iufux becomes greater Hotels
can Accommodate about one In ten; the other
nine sleep III the stables, ten $, wagons, etc.
You can safely assume that four r-fifths of the
entire number will be on their way back 10
the States with empty pockets. All the good
mining ground has been taken up. A number
of farmers have arrived, taken ranches in
Rcd Valley, and begun :illage. l counted
thirty-six on their way to the Belle Fourche
one day last week. They will make money,
the soil is excellent for agricultural pur-
poses. while the market will be the best in the
country next Winter, unless the business Is |
oVerdone. Hay now sells at 500 per ton, |
and it is very scarce at that figure. 1t costs |
about So 90 per ton TO gather 1t.
An, h.r ,l,fo ia
solitary ice man. He harvested several |
thousand tons last Winter, and as he indends |
charging five cents per pound, his profits, |
will be enormous.
Building goes on rapidly all over the city. |
keeping sawmills and carpenters busy Gight !
and day. Rents are ourrageously high, a |
small cabin of unplaned lumber brings S25 |
10 80 per month. Masonic and Odd Fellows |
lodges have been established. Divine service |
is held every Sunday. A largely attended |
school has been opened.
Mines ara being opened rapidly, but the |
abnndnnceOf water prevents thorough work |
ing of them Merchants and gamblers have
decided to take and pay out gold dust here |
after at the rate of SIS per ounce redac-
tion of two dollars.
A mass meeting was held here last Sunday |
to discuss the feasibility and wisdom of form
ing a new territory out of the Black H'll
country. Tbs action was brought about b. |
the conduct Of Governor Pennington in sp- |
pointing non-residents 10 every Office created i
by the ratification of The new Sioux treaty. |
The question was ably discussed, and call |
issued for convention 10 assembls here on |
the 2lst inst. a petition will be pesented 20 |
Congress at the coming special session, and |
there is but little doubt that the prayer OF |
the %. 900 people now in the Hills will be |
promptly aud fsvorably answered