The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-05

| DRY because of the cool daring that
| characterized it, and it must be I'M
derstood that bravery was not an I'M
! common trait in the inhabitants of
| Carson; men carried their lives in their
| hands, and quite frequently lost them.
| In order to appreciate the situation
| fully, you must know that the popu-
1ation Of Carson City was composed of
about the toughest and most disorder
! ly agglomeration of the refuse of Cal
| lfornia that was ever assembled at any
! one time or place; gamblers. murder
| ers, road agents and all sorts of un-
| classified toughs. They were about
evenly divided between the North and
| the South, the only politics being very
| pronounced unionism on the one side
and outspoken rebellion on the other,
but, as any discussion between repre-
SentativeS of such views during the
hottest period of the war was general
ly concluded with six-shooters, all par
ties kept pretty quiet on the subject,
and politics was about the least excit-
ing cause Of murder, there being 9TH
ers sufficiently numerous to give us a
man for breakfast nearly every
| morning.
Like all other Pacific coast mining
towns, Carson had an immense saloon,
with all the sporting attachments, such
as billiards, roulette, faro, poker, etc,
and at all times Of the day and night
it was freQuented by several hundred
men, who amused themselves talking,
drinking, gambling and reading their
letters, as most of them received their
correspondence at this headquarters.
1t was called the Magnolia" and was
kept by Pete Hopkins, who, l believe,
still f1ourishes at San Francisco.
'"The telegraph had reached us in
1862. and we kept pretty well posted
on what was going on in the states.
On the 14th Of April, 1865, 1t was flash
ed over the wires that President Lin
coin had been assassinated, and the
excitement was intense. Men studious-
ly avoided the subject, for fear of be-
ing misunderstood and being drawn
into deadly conflict. The news was
not credited at first but soon became
confirmed and generally accepted as
true. The Union men determined that
some public demonstration should be
made to recognize the event. meet
ing was held, and a committee ap-
pointed to formulate programme. 1t
was decided to put the town in mourn
ing, have procession and mock
funeral, an grafton and appropriate
resolutions. all of which was the cor
rect thing. An evening or two before
the ceremony was to take place the
committee come down to the Magnolia
cided upon. The chairman mounted the
bar and made his proclamation. add
ing that any one who failed to hang
out some emblem Of mourning on his
house or place Of business might ex-
pect to be roughly handled.
1.-The room was crowded and with the
most inf1ammable material. Had
bomb been exploded on the
top Of one Of the billiard ia
bles the effect would not have
stirred the rebels to greater depths.
Among them was an old Virginian
whom we will call Capt. Jones. He
Immediately accepted the challenge
and speaking up loudly, he said: I am
damned glad Lincoln has been killed,
and If any man attempts to put any
mourning on my house or interfere
with me for not doing so. there will
be a good many more killed
Everybody knew that the old man
meant just what he said, and was al
ways equipped to make good his prom
ises. The effect was remarkable; in
stead of precipitating fight, 1t SEEM
ed to paralyze the crowd, and nothing
came Of it that night; the captain was
wise enough to quietly disappear.
Capt. Jones had a small brick build
ing on the main street of the town,
block or two from the Magnolia, where
he had his office and lived in q back
room.
cat the proper time the procession
formed on the plaza Bands of music
were interspersed through the line.
The orator and distinguished citizens
were in carriages, every vehicle in
town being brought into requisition.
There was a large cavalcade of horse
men. 1 rode in a handsome buggy
with the principal gambler In town,
and many hundred footmen followed,
the Cinnamon bringing up the rear. It
was a beautiful day, the sun shining
brightly. The procession moved off
majestically down a street back Of the
main thoroughfare and then turned
into the principal street. Every house
on the line of march displayed signs
Soon appeared In the distance Capt