Sharp County record., 1878-01-18
Garland and Its DanCe-HOuSe.

Garland City. This is the newest
town in Colorado. The Denver & Rio
Grande Railroad reached here the 1st
Of August. Immediately the plucky
fellows who advance with the railroads
erected a little town and called it Gar
land. It is in the heart of the Rocky
Mountains, and 220 miles south from
Denver, and at an elevation of over s..
600 feet. Garland possesses no attrac-
tions for the tOuist, except in so far as
it is a specimen of extreme Western
life. 1t has two good hotels, one week
ly newspaper, two forwarding houses,
four or five business houses, two dance
houses and thirty-siX saloons 1t is the
present terminus of the d. & r.
G. R. r., and all the supplies of the
great San Juan region are forwarded
by wagons from here. This forward
ing business is immense, and, outside
of the saloons and dance-houses, is all
of Garland. The dance-hOuse might be
said to be Garland. Your correspond
ent visited it last night (Snnday) and
saw it in full blast. As your readers
have no idea of dance-house, and as
it is one of the principal adjuncts Of
Western frontier life, | will try to give
them some conception of this one. 1t
is large one-story frame building,
opening by wide doors upon the main
street. You are first attracted to the
house by the outside lamps, and by the
music and hilarity within. Entering,
you see near the front OF the hall, on
one side, bar, and opposite faro
table, with crowd of eager players.
The dealer has the solemn, careful air
of a Judge, handles his cards dexter
ously, slowly, watching every part Of
the table with the keen eye of an eX-
pert, his countenance perfectly COM
posed, and Interchangeable at either loss
OF gain. l watched this game for an
hour, The man and his opponents were
a study. One sharp, blue eyed, hand
some-visaged fellow, with slouch hat
and mountain overcoat thrown care
lessly over his shoulder, piled up his
chips, alternately winning and losing
never saying a word, and never chang
ING expression. John Cinnamon was
there. John bought s. worth Of chips,
and risked them on a few deals-lost
them all. With a placid smile-"a
smile that was childlike and bland'-
he departed. In few minutes he re-
turned with another innocent Chinee.
Another V was invested and lost.
Smiling the two departed, and returned
reinforced by third. The same pro-
cess was gone through, and the next
time our valiant Chinaman returned he
was reinforced by fourth. They in
vest S. more, a few looks and words be-
tween themselves, the chips are piled on
two cards, as if determined to lose or
win all at once, and they 60
out for the last time. In side-room
a number of games-Mexican monte
and others-were going on at lively
rate. But to the dance. In the rear of the
room, on an elevation, three viOlins give
forth the music and keep time for the
dancers. The women are the degraded
camp-followers, American and Mexi-
can. Some Of them have fair faces, and
a few were elegantly dressed. One of
them told me she had her wardrobe
from Chicago, and another from Den
yer. The majority are ugly, repulsive
looking creatures. The men are of ev-
cry class and condition. The merchant,
the railroad contractor, the drummer,
the tourist, and the travelling invalid, the
adventurous miner, the hardy noun
taineer, the WAGNER who has returned
from summers toll over mountain
roads to New Mexico and Arizona; the
lazy, lousy, repulsive Mexican greaser
all help to make up the molly crowd.
Of course many are here only as specta-
tors. The dance-houSe is the only place
of amusement, and every body goes
from some impulse or other. The wom-
en- invite the men to dance. You dance,
and at the front bar you treat your part
ner and pay dollar; at the rear bar,
not quite SO ari5tocratic, 80 cents. A re-
fusal to dance is not always accepted,
and you may be pulled on to the floor,
and made to dance and pay. Being a
tenderfoot-th is the name all strang-
ers 60 by in the West-your correspond
ent was excused-COr. Louisville COu-
r1er-J0aTnaI.