The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-21
ALL TIE VILLAGE IN JAIL.
Enforcing Long Forgotten Blue Laws in q
West Virginia County.

WREELINs, w. Va, March 20-Pleasants
county, in this State, is one Of the most dead
alive places that could well be imagined. 1t re-
sembles one OF the away back ole virginny
counties, without any of the F. F. V. flavor
about it
A little over year ago the first railroad was
run through the county-Senator Camden's
Ohio river road 1t has been the talk of the
county ever since. Farmers walk or ride miles
once or twice week to see the trains whiz
along and at St Mary's, the county seat, the
entire town turns out morning and night no
matter what the weather may be, to see the
trains pass. The engineers, conductors and
train hands are to the people heroes of no ordi-
nary type, and the passengers are gazed on with
i'll concealed envy.
In fact the admiration for the train hands has
grown so strong in the breasts of che younger
fair ones of ST. Mary's and this feeling has been
SO encouraged by the train hands themselves
that about ten days ago the town council met to
consider the evil, and finally to abate it passed an
ordinance making it an offense punishable by a
fine of 50 for train employee to wave his hand
kerchief or in any other way cheer up any
maiden whose heart was probably yearning for
aie natsainablo or anything else - This ordi-
nance tore the town up fearfully. The train
hands laid in an extra supply of handkerchiefs,
and now there is o continual dutter of white
FROM the train as it passes through st. Mary's.
This bold defiance of the law has of course only
increased the mad passion in the hearts Of the
fair.
This town of st. Mary's, by the way is a
curiosity. The funniest thing perhaps is the
Jail. 1t is built of logs and outside of the win
dows, which are indifferently barred. the jailor
has builr little pens of barbed wire so in case a
prisoner should happen to get outside the win
dow he gets into a barbed wire enclosure that
would hold him possibly minute
st. Marys has no roller-skating rink, and in
its stead the people, when not watching the
trains, have been widely reveling in the festive
game of domnoes, and it has been reported that
the editor of the county paper was nearly ruined
by losing IL cents at one sitting. The town
sometime since was divided as to the merits of
the spider and the block game. The spider
game carried the day, however, and the block
game is now almost q thing of the past Re-
Gently q commercial traveller introduced to the
residents the game of stud horse poker, showing
hew 1t could be played with the dominoes, and
here Is where the trouble began.
The conservators Of the peace could stard
don,inoes as long as the name of poker was not
connected with them, but there the line had to
be drawn, and last week the county was para
lyzed by an avalanche of indictments from the
grand jury against persons for playing domi-
noes. The postofice was great rendezvous for
the players, and every one of them was caught.
The minister of the town, Rev. r. HI. Blouse, a
prominent lumber dealer, two young ladies from
Parkersburg, who were visiting there, and all
the leading people of the town were captured.
There is az old law in that county that forbids
the playing of any game except cribbage, back
CANNON, chess and bowls, and under this the
arrest was made What the resu.st will be when
the cases come TO trial remains to be seen.