Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1885-12-16
Twas In 81.

in leaning up against the railing like
wise, and remarking without the for
mality of an introduction, ..,.,.
"Glorious climate, isn't it Judge3"
"Ob, yes" he promptly responded.
"Glorious climate-glorious climate
of Californy. Nothing like it."
"Have you been down lOng?"
"No. Jest came yesterday.
Haven't been here before nigh on 40
years. Came down to pull the rope
for Casey in sc you remember. Twas
long here some place. I reckon, but
these dod-gasted new buildings kind
of makes me disremember, you know.
Oh, them was the daysl We didn't
have no murderers prancin' the streets
unhung in them days. No common
sheep-thieves were runnin' for Con-
gress then. Ever run a Vigilance
Committee, young fellow?"
The reporter blushingly confessed
his inexperience.
"Wsll, l hev. Say, you haven't
got an extra chaw about you that you
are not using precisely at this
moment, hev your"
The reporter made haste to accom-
modate him, and, thus refreshed, the
old pioneer took fresh grip on the
supporting post and began:
at was way back upon the Yuba
River in '57. ] had just been run
ming a Justice mill, and just complet-
ed my term of office, and the fellow
who they put in didn't know more
about law than jackass knows about
virtue. Well, it was along in them
times that the Vigilance Committee
was at work down here at the Bay,
and the thieves and rapscallions took
to fockin' up to our section of the
country, and began to stealin' what
ever we had worth stealing
THE COMMITTEE OF TWO HUNDRED.
"This yer Justice of the Peace
wasn't doin' his duty, anyhow, and so 1
took it on myself one day to call a
meetin' of the boys down in Scurvy
Bills gin-mill. After Scurvy had
treated all around once and Col.
Higgles had reciprocated twice, l got
up and called the meetin' to order. 1
drew attention to the fact that the
thieves and bunco steerers were a
fockin' up from the Bay and pourin'
into our homes like flies in the
milk-pitcher, stealin' our sheep and
endangerin' the rawbones of our
jackasses and the coppers on our dead
mothers eyes. l told 'em as how
them fellers from Murphy's Flat, with
their secret way of dealin' poker from
the bottom Of the pack, was leadin'
our most respectable citizens into the
highways and lowways of bankruptcy.
l brought to their notice the awful
consequences of allowing them young
bucks from Marysville to come over
with their waxed mustaches, insinuate
their foul carcasses in the peaceful
sublimity of our hearthstones, where
purity, virtue, honesty, economy and
reform reigned, to steal away the
hearts of our daughters and our
wives. I brought to their observation
the undeniable fact that the soiled
doves of Frisco were film the
whole camp with anger and gnash-
in of teeth. showed 'em all these
here things, and then just put the
question to the boys fairly and pint
edly rs to whether they as men,
fathers, brothers and mothers, was
agoin' to stand idly by and see our
glorious country defiled, our sheep
and HOSES stolen, our homes debauch-
ed and our glorious climate covered
with arnica. ! jest put the matter
pintedly, l did, and axed 'em plainly,
as man to man, what they proposed to
do, whether to grin and bear it or buy
the hemp. After silence Pike
Smith set up the drinks, and then
Judge Hawkins rose and lowed that
he, as man, was not ngoin' to en-
dure the tyrant's heel upon our necks,
the rascality Of the Murphy Flat
pOker-players to drain our ex-
chequers, the tentacles of the Marys-
vile tenderfoots and octopuses to
throttle our daughters Cor our neigh
bors' daughters in cases where some
of us didn't have any of our own),
and glorious climate covered with
arnica and disgrace. He moved that
we run a Vigilance Committee and
drive all these evidences of effete
civilization beyond our confines.
Well, sir, would you believe that
committee was organized right on the
spot, but as it was secret I couldn't
tell you all. Scurvy set up the drinks
in honor of the occasion.
THE COMMITTEE ACTS.
"In about week we were informed
that feller from Frisco had troubled
mule.driyer for &4.75 in coin and