The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-09-11
Our BrOadbril Letters.

Pernicious Effects If Yellow-O Covered
Literature Rivsr Pirates and their.
Haunts Death Of Z Noted Criminal
Rise IN Mining Stocks business, eto.
NEW YoRx, Sept. 4, 1850.
ED1ToR CHIEF:
Every few days when you take up
the newspaper, yon see an account Of
the exodus Of young boys who are 60
ing West to fight the Indians. They
have read for months the villainous
literature with which the country is
flooded, till they gradually begin to
think that there is nothing no noble
or SO much to be desired as life of
adventure among the indiana, or bold
feats upon the highway. II this thing
were coDlined to the wild hoodlums
Of the streets, it would not be ut all
surprising; but, unfortunately, the
mania has taken hold Of the young
sons Of some Of onr best families, and
it is almost time that Anthony Com
stock turned his attention in that di-
rection.
You have frequently heard me
speak of the river pirates; aud people
who live away from these great cen-
tres Of crime are apt to suppose that
they are dark mystic rious race who
move about only under the cover Of
night, and who shun the light of day.
Nothing can be further from the fact.
The haurts of the river pirates, and.
their homes, are just as we'll known
to the police as Trinity Church or the
City Hall. Along Greenwich street,
West street, q portion Of Washington
street, aud the little streets that cross
them, the haunt Of the most desperate.
river pirates and masked burglars are
to be found. They all own boats, and
during the daytime many of them
serve as sailor boarding house rum
ners, boarding vessels against the re-
monstrance Of the captains and off.
GERS, and carrying the crews off bodily
to their hollis, where they are made
crazy with the vilest Of rum, thor
.oughly debauched, feeceds of their.
hard earn;- e, and then, while drunk,
sold to some outgoing ship master
who is in want Of q crew. Laws have.
been enacted for their protection, of
= assrs Laye bssn appointed by tle.
Government "a administer tiem, but
still the iniquity goes on. The river
thieves form guild among them
selves, and are generally men who
have followed the water for a living,
and who also have served term or
two in States prison. As q class,
they are the most desperate thieves
We have, and they think no more of
taking human life than they would Of
shooting dog. They seldom attack
vessels on moonlight nights, but wait
till the weather is dark and stormy,
and then they hold high carnival. If
detected they fight, and if beaten they
leap into their boats, fighting desper-
ately as they retreat, aud escape I'M
der cover Of the darkness. None but
the most desperate aud determined
men undertake this business, and from
their ranks have come most of the
masked burglars who have kept the
river towns in terror for the past fif-
teen years. If you want to get sight
of the river thieves, don an old,
ragged suit, the more dilapidated the
bettor, and stroll along Greenwich
street, aud down the little streets
which lead from it to the river. Near
midnight is the best time, when the
nights are fair and bright, for at those
times lie abaDd0ns himself to drink
ing aud dissipation, but when the
weather is foul and the night is dark,
he never touches liquor, for it might
make his hand unsteady when he fires
the fatal shot which kills, or it might
muddle his brain when he needs a
cool head, and so at these times he
never drinks. But just take peep
into the pirates favorite haunt: The
cellar is low, and it has a sort of
damp, clammy smell, almost like the
atmosphere of tomb, modified to a
certain degree by the clouds Of to-
bacco smoke, and the fumes of the
most villainous whiskey. Seated
around in various parts of the room
are men who evidently belong to the
grand army Of tramps, and who sit
there only BY sufferance. Around
several tables at the back of the room
sit men playing cards, deeply intent
on the game. In various parts, scat
tered around among the tables, are
gaudily dressed women, whose bloated
faces and bleariDg eyes tell unmis-
i takablv the story Of lifelong dissina.
tion, of which they have reached the
last and most degraded stage. Here