Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-06-05
THE WICKEDEST CITY.
Eli Perkins Over the Rockies and in
the Reckless Cowboy Towns.

Eli Perkins over the ROCKIES anu III
the Reckless Cowboy Towns.
BUTTE CITY, MON, May 3l.-Butte
CITY, Mon, is conceded now 10 be the
wickedest city IN the world. 1t 80 far sur
passes Dodge City, Cheyenne and Lead
willie in pure and unalloyed wickedness
that it is a shame to mention them in con
nectlon with Butte City. Butte acknowl-
edges no rival but Miles City--a cowtown
over the mountains OF the Northern IA
citic. Miles City tries hard 10 be the
wickedest city, but, being a simple
CowtOwn, 10 cannot compete WITH
Butte City, which has 6oth mines ana
cattle ranches. Helena, Mon, situated
between Butte and Miles, is proud OF us
wickedness, too. Ii has its myuads OF
gambling saloons. where Cinnamon ana
COWBOYS buck the tiger at the same table.
1t has its concert saloons, It's Ffehch
demi-monde quarter, it's African deihl-
monde street and it's Chinese bad houses,
with their burning candles IN 'front.' Dut
Helena has to ac6nO edge-sadly ac-
knOwledge-the supremacyof wicktdness
TO Butte.
have seen the wickedest city move |
West m any times. l have seen Abilene, !
Kan, with its cowboy dance houses and |
gambling palaces, move no to cheyenne. /
Cheyenne was proud, in 1874, TO be called 1
"
there, and the Young Mems Christian AS
ssOcistion broke them up. | remember |
/ how they had woman suffrage there In /
1875, and ninety wicked women came out |
in a body, tOO& the polls and elected the |
barkeepers and gamblers to the highest /
offices. But alas! Cheyenne degenerated I
Into an ordinary Christian town. Wicked /
ness then went over TO Dodge City. Dodge !
City then had one long street, every house /
a saloon. Bullets whistled down it aud [
dead men were hauled out OF 1t from I
morning till night. She flung the devils /
red rag at all Kansas. She deted the 7. NJ. /
c. A. and the prOhibitiOnist, but finally /
the dreadful Y. NJ. 9. A. came up and |
camped on her bloody street, her devil /
destroying prohjbitionIst cleaned out her
saloons and her gamblers and dem-moade
left for Butte City. Poor Dodge City
The mines about Butte are very rich.
The Anaconda mines have no rival.
Money is cheap and flies like chat in the
wind The bOOtblack Will not look at
your boots for less than 20 cents and the
newsbOv sells the 1-sheet Miner for 10
cents. Mr.. Zingertest, the editor of the
Miner, admitted to me that he was
Christian and member OF the Methodist
church in Oberlin, o., but son" he said,
don't mention it IN Butte. If you do no
one will read my paper" 1t was case
where an editor had to pray secretly in
his closet and then go out and play rou-
lette to gain the respect of his subscribers.
A sad. sad case!
At night Butte assumes its most scar
let hue. The town is red all the time, but
at night electric lights reflect through
stained glass a thousand cardinal and
amethyst rays. The houses Of the demi-
monde are now all open. In and out
surge the people, chatting the low
necked, shOrt-sleeVed scantily -dressed
a 81 nIH
up to these pariors OF the syrens,
who sit at the windows dressed
in drawingroom decolette. When
you come to the gambling saloons the
ffoAts seem to he removed and the dozens |
of roulette tables seem to he even with |
the street. There they sit, women, China |
men, cowboys, miners and Christians in |
disguise. The clergyman does not play, |
but he comes in to show his democracy |
to the boys and receive a donation from
the man who breaks the bank and sud |
denly becomes generous.
The Butte concert saloons are usually |
underground. the saloon is square, with |
a row of private boxes all around the top. |
The orchestra is occupied by cowboys |
and miners, who guzZle beer at 25c. per |
glass with fiabby barmaids. The boxes /
are occupied by bank presidents. mer- |
chants and wealthy citizens, who sit be- |
hind lace curtains and drink Missouri /
at 50 a bottle with |
spfightly girls in gauze dresses or tights. |
The gambling tables and the broken-voiced |
Singers make a pande mOnium Of the |
place. The weird electric lights make |
theroOm look like Hades Illuminated. AT |
ii O'Clock the singing Is now and then |
disturbed by pistol shots from the cow /
boys who shoot down INTO the ground, |
unless they have an especial dislike to /
the singer; then the bah whisps through |
the curtain. Sometimes the cowboys |
chat toe merchants behind the curtains |
in the boxes and make them order whisky |
fnr the orchestra. Every body calls every !
body else BY his first name, and there is |
perfect democracy throughout the saloon. |
There is nocOncealmento OF Wickedness, but |
each one does all he can to make the con-
cert hall the wickedest place in the
wickedest city in the world. The next
morning everything is fOgotten, and the
merchants are in their stores, the miners
in their mines, and the pistolled cowboy
punching his cattle ten miles away.
ELI PERKINS.