The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-10-02
Night in CHEYENNE.

The town of Cheyenne is in Wyoming
Territory, on the Union Pacific railroad,
about 500 miles west of the Missouri,
and is the principal point from which
miners and Others start for the Black
Hills by stage. All the characteristic
scenes and elements of frontier life are
met at Cheyenne during the day, but at
night the peculiar life of the border may
be witnessed in I'LL its varied phases. A
correspondent says:
At night Cheyenne is whirlpool OF
excitement. one hundred drinking and
gambling saloons in full blast, brass
bands clamoring through the streets,
myriad lamps with their refectors flash.
ing their vivid rays through the dark
shadows upon the palpitating mass OF
human beings surging through the wide
avenues. McDaniels, Belle Union aud
other varieties theater open their yawn-
ing doorways to the stream of mortals
flowing constantly in and out. The for
mer is the prominent place it consists
of two spacious halls, handsomely ar
ranged and ornamented, and contained
in one building. The theatrical hall is
resplendent with gaudy, frescoed walls
and ceiling, the brilliant colors and gild-
ing being in keeping with the fashy
tastes OF the patrons. A range of twenty
private boxes form half oval above the
extensive lower hall, where the perform
ers, principally female singers, congre-
gate during the intervals between the
acts. The stage is of pretty large size,
gayly decorated. General admission to
the concert saloon, twenty-five cents,
including drink or cigar ; up stairs,
twenty-five cents extra. Every night
the place is crowded with this mixed
population, representing nearly all races
the tawny Indian in blanket, breech
clout and leggings the greasy Mexican,
dark visaged and sullen; the ChineMan,
childlike and bland the negro, the Keu-
nacka, and finally the white. Nearly all
wear the regulation sombrero buck
skin suits, gayly ornamented with beads,
are worn by many, but the majority are
attired in the California drilling. Of
course, everyone is armed with q six
shooter or bowie, and shooting or cutting
scrapes are frequent result of ine-
briated contention. The saloon is over
flooded with waiter girls.
The gambling hall, like the rest in
town, is run day and night, Sunday i'll
cluded, openly, and is attended and
patronized by both sczes, old and young.
The games operated are ''faro, "keno,"
roulette" ''rouge tnoir, "vingt un,"
lansquenette, "freeze out" or "po-
ker," and number Of other card games.
The tables are constantly crowded, and
money changes hands rapidly. This
hall is equally as large as the theater,
and also trimmed up y; it is connected
with the ner by three wide doorways:
The gambling is done with " "chips,"
which you receive in exchange for your
cash. The stakes are iruited from ten
cents to S12.50 in faro. McDaniels' is
generally considered "square game"
and literally patronized. Some ''brace"
games are dealt in town, but by the pro-
fessiouals are avoided. -Four "dance
halls" are run in different parts of the
town, and are we'll attended but they
are the most degraded of all the de-
bauched dens.
Camp Carlin, mile and half, and
Fort Russell, three miles north of the
town, contribute something to its life.
The soldiers seize every opportunity to
come here, and ara often seen in very
dissolute state. Every day and evening
detailed squads are patrolling the streets
in search of their stray comrades, and
often they are obliged to transport them
off in wagons.