The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-05-24
DEADWOOD AND ITS PEOPLE.
PisIurrs OF Life aud Manner. Ia Ihe lilac
liiiis Capital.

PieIurrs OF Life aud NIaancr- Ia the BiacL
Iiiils Capital.
peaiwuod is the liyeliest town IN N,
United States. writes correspondent ui
the New York NtJ. and each hour add,
a. the population. business, hustle. con
fusion and wealth. Eastern reading il
Jas fiction 10 the people ui Deadwood
Who know nothing Of hard times and dul
trade Here the trader, miner and gam
bier are all coming money. No taxes {,
pay, immense profits, u daily increasing
demand for goods the richest minera.
country IN America, easily worked; u,
wonder the merchants and miners art
happy As for the gamblers and conf,
icucc men. Ucalwood swarms with them.
In fact, since little adventure of my
own, l am mcliusd 70 suspect that one,
half the men / elbow OH the street are oi
the hlnck-lcg species.
Mr. Naudauikcr II thc Il y. l.. ho,
tel recently introduced me- b. one Of the
sAurpcs., most successful and best known
confidence men Ia the country. II am
= blAcklcg, said my new acquaintance,
"and you know II. but | never take ad-
vantage uf poor mani mean miner
working Tor u stAky-trudtrs and mcr-
chants are nay game. II / can bleed a
frclghtsr, / do 30 without the least com
Function. / never resort "a violence
mean the knife, pistol, or blackjack.
While / would rather steal than receive
the money rs p gift, never leave man
peuuiless. Do yuu want to scc me al
work 2 Wen. come along into the Ne
lulouu. Don't recognize me-.
We passed into the crowded. heated
room. What pandcmunium The
bar at the right was lined with half
drunken men, laughing, chatting, swear
ing, yelling Further uu WAS "a rouge a
uylr table. its dealer loudly praclaImiug
"a a gaping crowd the fairness of tho
game. BY lts side, motley thr1ng sur
rounded "a lottery and chuck-luck table,
the banker being n youth not over six
teen. At the end 81 the room WIS a mar
ruw stage. upon which appeared a plau-
ist. banjo player, and three male sing
css. The men were IN their shirt sleeves.
putting away al old clay pipes as We en-
tered. hut the instruments soon struck
up "a symphony. which was followed by a
very pretty ballad, well sung and accom-
panied Making our way cut Of the
room, We noticed o large crowd gather
ing at our night. and hcard a huarsc
voice laudiug the simplicity of a game
which / soon discovered 10 be thImblc
rig. with mt shells doing duty for Thin
hles, aud which has given to the man be
hind the table the subriQuct OF "nut
shell BIN. My companion pulled my
sleeve. and edged his way through the
crowd 20 the table.
Twenty dollars that YOU cant pick
up the shell containing the little bali,
said Bin, as he passed the three shells %
and fro. displaying tine ball at every
move. Twenty " dollars that no one can
discover the ball. and hc NAV lift the
shell himself. " A Bin turned 20 crpec-
torats, my companion quickly raised the
center she'll. plainly showing to the
crowd the ball beneath. and replaced IT,
Twenty dollars, said Bill I'm 60
Won ten, " quietly remarked my compan-
ION. lit Is all the money ! have. - No,
sir. replied Bill. twenty or nothing -
Then the two argued the point for a sec
ondor two, sud Bin being incxorahle, my
companion turned 20 n bystander and
said Come, pard, let's 60 in together.
I'll put in ten with you. The person
appealed to. confident Of his ability to
raise the right shell, complied two
tcn-dollar bills fluttercd upon the table;
the center shell was raised, but no ball
was there. or course there was cursing,
laughing. charges Of foul play and
threats, during which Bill quietly picked
up his money and slipped through the
crowd 10 the street. He makes but one
bet a night
On the other side of the street, little
lower down. stands "the Cricket" an
other great resort 1t is n dance hall
and variety theater the latter being
n novelty here. 1t was in the " Cricket "
that Gen. Crook danced in the same set
with Mayor Farnum. His partner is
still employed in the house. A violin
and viola furnish the music. Six girls
are employed in the dance hall, and are
on the floor from dark until midnight,
their partners varying in social standing
from such dignitaries as those just men,
toned to the dirtiest, blackest and
cuarsest Of hullwhnckers. The men
dance with hats ON, and huge cigars be-
tween their teeth, and seem 10 enjoy the
ten minutes set. for which they pay n
half dollar, besides treats for self and
partner. The theater is reached through
two doorways. one leading to the lower
part Of the house, the other to the gal
lery, which is divided off into seven
boxes Decorum is unknown TO
" Cricket" audiences, and, rs n consc-
quencc, 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 loudest fash
ion, peddle drinks through the audience,
The performance begins with the first
part OF n minstrel show, the circle con
sisting of "bones and tambourine "
in cork, two girls, the intcrlocutor, and
n banjo PLAYER uucorked. The great aim
of all is TO he as loud as possible, and in
this particular there seems 10 be no re-
straint Singing and dancing fill up the
programme. The performance continues
until the last auditor leaves.
The amount OF money nightly squan-
derel here upon wine. women and gam
bling is simply enormous. With drinks
and cigars mt 1.-TWO bits twenty-five
cents) each, wine (yery, poor at IS per
pint, and everything else IN proportion,
il takes but n very short 6me to run
through big sum of money. Gambling
is the great bane of the town. One can
find but few public houses where there
are not one or more games in operation,
while in many saloons the tables are
counted by the half dozen. Yet there
are many excellent people here.
Deadwood apes the airs and dignity Of
the oldest city on the continent Postal