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Page 75
"Begorra, thin," bawled Patsey, "it's mesilf ut'll niver vote fur this
big Yankee 'ristocrat, _inne_how. Ef he wuz a foine Irish jintleman,
now, er even a r'yal prince av the blud, there'd be no sinse in his
airs, bedad!"
Tom and Bill were less noisy in their just wrath, but it ran equally
deep: "He belongs to the party. But when Daniel comes up for
office--look out! We'll score a hard day's work against him, party or no
party!"
The major rose to the occasion. Being a bit of a politician and an
old-school Democrat, he could not resist the opportunity presented. With
a humorous air he sprang to the nearest stump and improvised an electric
little speech which sent the men back to labor, _madder_ if not
wiser voters.
With other living witnesses of the events narrated, often wondering over
the strangeness of the scene of long ago, I am truly glad at the
eleventh hour to find the solution of the problem in _moods_,
rather than in a snobbish pride unbefitting the greatness of the man.
F.C.M.
Feuds and Lynch-Law in the Southwest.
A great deal has been said and written lately about feuds and lynch-law
in the districts around the lower Mississippi. The reports of recent
lynching there have probably been very much exaggerated; and it would
certainly be unfair to form a positive opinion about the matter without
a thorough knowledge of all the circumstances.
No one who visited that part of the country before the war could return
to it now without noticing the higher degree of order and the numerous
evidences of progress. But lynching law-breakers and resorting to the
knife or pistol to settle private disputes were once ordinary
occurrences there, and they were usually marked by a businesslike
coolness which gave them a distinctive character.
In the winter of 1853-54 I was clerk of a steamer owned in Wheeling. The
steamer was obliged to wait some time at Napoleon for a rise in the
Arkansas River to enable it to pass over the bar at the confluence of
that river with the Mississippi. Napoleon then had between three and
four hundred inhabitants, and was considered the worst place on the
Mississippi except Natchez-under-the-Hill. Some of the dwellings were of
considerable size, and, judging from their exterior, were kept in good
order. They were the residences of the few who belonged to the better
class, and who, to a certain extent, exercised control over their less
reputable townsmen.
We were treated very kindly by the citizens, and they declined any
return for their hospitality. We soon noticed that we were never invited
to visit any of them at their dwellings. At their places of business we
were cordially welcomed, and they seemed to take a great deal of
pleasure in giving us information and affording us any amusement in
their power.
Having some canned oysters among our stores, we twice invited a number
of our friends to an oyster-supper. Although our invitations included
their families, none but male guests attended. This, together with the
fact that we rarely saw any ladies on the street, seemed very strange to
us; but we made no comments, for we discovered very soon after our
arrival that it would not be prudent to ask questions about matters that
did not concern us. At church one Sunday night we noticed that all the
ladies present--composing nearly the whole of the congregation--were
dressed in black, and many of them were in deep mourning. This gave us
some idea as to the reason for their exclusiveness. Soon afterward a
murder occurred almost within my own sight. Two friends were standing on
the street and talking pleasantly to each other, when they were
approached by a man whom they did not know. Suddenly a second man came
close to the stranger, and, without saying a word, drew a pistol and
shot him dead. The murderer was instantly seized, bound, and placed in
the jail.
The jail was a square pen about thirty feet high, built of hewn logs,
without any opening except in the roof. This opening was only large
enough to admit one person at a time, and was protected by a heavy door.
The prisoner was forced by his captors to mount the roof by means of a
ladder, and then was lowered with a rope to the ground inside. The rope
was withdrawn, the door securely fastened, and he was caged, without any
possible means of escape, to await the verdict and sentence of the jury
summoned by "Judge Lynch."
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