Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-05-05

q negro boy DTOuSnJs MN nOLe. he
opened it casually and read the fol-
lowing: ss'
Mr.. Warde Come as soon as you
can to Peters Rest, No. 1905 Com
merce street. A river man there can
give you a great story for the Ga
zette. His name is William Jackson.
:. "A Friend"
4 Irving received q great many notes
like this, and it occasioned him no
surprise. Peters Rest had reputa-
ton of a not very reassuring charac-
ter; still he was often called to such
places, and he gave it no particular
thought. He finished the work upon
which he was engaged, and at IL
o'clock started for the choice locality
to which he had been called.
As he was passing the station
house, Fenton, the detective, joined
him and asked whittier he was going.
To Peters Rest" said Warde.
That's a nice place to go to, !" said
Fenton, laughing.
81 was called there to get piece
of news,'' replied Warde.
I will go with you,,' said Fenton;
sit may be something in my line"
"All right; but remember that this
is mine, and if there's anything in it
the Gazette gets it exclusively 2
"Of course
The locality which the two men
were about to visit was considerable
distance from the station house, and
it abutted on the river. Commerce
street originally ran parallel with the
river but the current of the Mississ,
ippi, which is ever making some ex-
cuse for q change, had eaten away q
large part of the bank so that the
upper end Of the street ran almost
into the water. The rear end of sew
seral houses on the west side were ac-
tually suspended over the stream,
and it was only a question of time
when they would topple into the
swirling waters; but it is rather a
venerable observation that because
q thing did not happen yesterday
people are inclined to think that it
will not happen tomorrow. And so,
many persons on upper Commerce
street continued to reside above the
river, knowing full well that there
would be an end to it some time, but
fondly expecting that somehow they
would move out day or two before
the crash came and the river claimed
a lot of refuse not its own.
That portion Of the city syarde and
Fenton entered knew no such l,ISlu,-
RES as ]aInplights, and depended e4.
tirsly upon such illuminations as 4
mplaeent moon would furnish. on
this particular night the nooa was
eaRte nding interniitt ently with d sea
of crested clouds, To the right as
they trayersed the rounded street
bending with the river bank, several
k,cqtton sheds spread their huge di-
mensioAs in solid hlackness. The
houses were mostly old and dilapida-
ted and peopled with the city's dregs.
II was here that thieves, rough boat
men, idle plantation hands, and
that great herald Of the transient
and the shifting known as the
tramp, were fond of congregating.
And it was apparent. that the ac-
commoda cations were ample for this
kind OF population. There were dens
of various shades Of iniquity; ram
Ehackle sheds where the tramp could
readily find free accommodations for
tho night; greasy corner groceries
where stale vegetables and riot breed.
ing liquors were sold, together with
thg dsftainty thai one would take Il 9 !
the trail 6ots deaf I'll where the Sthef
1Is 4. 8 boa riding houses where river
aaHd piantati ion hands wsre packed
Chinese fashion. In short, one could
soc here every sort Of building, ex-
cept the church and the school house.
AS the two men continued their
walk the houses became less numer-
GUS, and they passed vacant lots, be-
yond which they could see the sill
very CLEAN Of the river.
Az last they Game to Peters Rest,
It was q two-storied house, which
In its day had been considered one
OF the abandonment residences In the
city; for. in the early days OF Niius,
this congeries Of filth, crime and deg
relation had been the most eligible
partSof the town. Yet nobody aysii
dreamed at the time Of this story
that Hell.s Halt Acre, which laS
Ranked Ia shadows to the north
would one day be reclaimed again
and travarsed by railroads and re.
sound with the hum Of business; foz
now the desperate and the rough
were omnipresent in that locality.
II The exigencies OF the time had con
troyerted this old mansion into the
very worst resort OF its kind in the
city. 1t was become the rendezvous
Of NIL sorts Of disreputable men and
women. 1t was here that under the
influence OF liquor, which was I'm.
equalsd In vileness, all sorts Of evil
ISacts wAss struck crimes were