Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-08-02
THE FLY BY NIGHTS.
TIE Characteristics, Methods and
Resorts of tho After Darks.
A Reporters Observations Upon a Small
but Somewhat 0emonstrative Por-
ton Of HOmanity---A Bar
tender Talks on
the Subject.

can towz passes that period in its existence
when the chickens, COWS and pigs are ban
ished from the public streets, and the sgri-
cultural air lent BY thess useful animals has
given place to electric lights, a paid fire
department . night police force and other
symptoms of city, the gang" makes its
appearance to plague the guardians of the
public peace and scourge as with thorn
branches the citizen who prefers to devote
the hours intervening between 10 p. m and
daylight to sleep. In most cites this
gang" is composed of young men, the off
shoots of
WEALTHY AND EMINENTLY RESPECTABLE
families, and may number anywhere from
ten 10 hundred, or even more, varying, OF
course, with the size of the place. 1t must
not be understood that this entire number
prowl about together. On the contrary, it
is seldom that more than halfa-dozen are
seen together the gentlemen coming within
the limits of our meaning naturally break
lug up into little mutual admiration socie-
ties, clustering about some one of their
number who, by reason Of an abundance OF
cash, large capacity for beer, or some other
essential of commsndship, has been by mu.
tual consent elevated to the post of leader
and clothed with certain amount Of quasi
authority. The line of demarkation between
these various clans is always distinct and
strongly marked, but often, upon occasions
of especial convivialty, two or more OF the
LODGES OF FLY-BY.NIGHrs
unite temporarily, and sink all minor con-
siderations in their laudible ambition to
make Rome howl" and have what they
are fond of calling "a good time" Happy
is the saloon keeper who, in the midnight
hour has his gin mill invaded by such a
crowd, already comfortably full from the
multitude of rotations imbibed at various
other bars earlier in the evening. AS a
general thing the other doors of his place
are closed with the idea of somewhat multi
fying the pandemonium of sound which is
soon being poured forth in drunken attempts
at singing or oratory, and from that time
until the hour when the first faint symp
toms of daylight begin to tinge the Eastern
sky that saloon is scene OF riot which
would
PARALYZE THE FRIENDS
of the assembled crowd, were it possible for
them 10 catch a momentary glimpse OF the
picture.
So much for the gang" in general.
Wheeling, in common with other cities is
afflicted by the presence OF these midnight
uaurauders, and OF late complaints have
been made that the fun was being carried
to extremes This class musters probably
twenty-five members, and is divided into
half-a-dozen little cliques or parties. The
membership, however, is not very strict, aud
the man who may make night of it with
one crowd to-day, will be found hail fellow
we'll met" in another tomorrow or the day
after. In most places these parties are
made up of that class of young men who
being so constituted financially as to be able
to stand the no slight expense attendant
upon the sowing of wild oats, devote good
| ~ portion of their surplus time to building
1p reputation which shall entitle them to
the distinction of being pointed out as
GENTEEL ToUGHs
and Young men about town, their sole am
bition being to be considered trihe rapid
| oy their male acquaintance in general and
TO be referred to by those fond mammas
who have manageable daughters with excla-
nations of horror. But here in the Mai
City the gang which does the midnight act
| is unique in that the very young man with
| the incipient moustache does not constitute
| the rank and file Of the organization. To
| be sure, this sort of youngster is to be mel
with by the nocturnal observer, but when
| two or three such are found in party
there will be four or FIVE middle aged men
and upon occasions one will come across
one Of the party whose hair is streaked with
gray, and WHO'S old enough to know bet
ter. In fact, one of the best known OF
| OUR LOCAL CoHvIvIALIsTs'
"a man over fifty years Of age, and he al
lows no one of his juniors to Guido him In
the frequency of his jamborees or the mum.
Der of mixed drinks he can stow away.
Another gentleman who is an expert when
it comes to passing an opinion upon the
quality of the lush is q professional man
with good practice and daylight reputa'
ZION which is AL. Still another is a mer-
chant with large business and plethoric
bank account who weekly or ottener spends
the hours between dark and dawn in taking
his turn at setting EN- up singing song
or performing fantastic feats upon the ga
loon floor in efforts to acquire the latest
fancy step Of the heel and toe artists. A
reporter was in o we'll known and centrally
located saloon a few evenings age and
took occasion, as he slipped his lemonade
80: ID pariook Of
THE FRUGH. AND VENERABLE SANDWICH,
to make mental note Of the actions of a
crowd of seven or eight who come within
the scope of this article The party en-
oraced three sons of well-to-do merchants,
the boys ranging IN years from eighteen to
twenty one, two lawyers, well known pro-
fessional card sharper and confidence man
Sbo makes a fairly good living BY doing
ND" strangers and others, middle-aged
business man and q stranger-eyidently q
drummer. all Of them were Americans
and all were on the other side of half drunk
The antics OF the party, while they could
not but excite q mingled feeling Of pity and
disgust. were at the same time very anus
ing. The noise made was surprising, con-
,ideriDg the limited number present and to
theresidents Of the neighboring houses it must
have been anything but pleasant. By and
by a policeman put his head in the door
end said: "a little less noise. please gen
,lemen," and after this warning had been
repeated with increased emphasis the So
loonlst got the party out BY reluctantly de-
claring that he must close up, and they
reeled away down Market street. singing
and bowling at the top Of their voices and
making enough noise to more than warrent
THEIR SUMMARY ARREST
and incarceration in the lookup. When the
last echo of the orgie had died away within
the walls of another saloon, the reporter
called for another lemonade, and as the
barkeeper gracefully shook up the refresh
ing compound with the dexterity common
to his class, the scribe casually enquired
why he did not enforce better order in his
place and drive such parties away. The
| iannOnada akor looked nm in aurnyiaa for a