Mark Twain
San Francisco Daily Morning Call/September 3, 1863
(Specially to the Daily Morning Call)
Important from Nevada Territory
The Election in Virginia City, Gold Hill, Carson and Dayton, N.T., Yesterday.
Splendid Union Triumph – Suicide of a Pioneer – Jack McNabb Shooting Policeman – Talk of a Vigilance Committee, etc., etc.
VIRGINIA, SEPTEMBER 2. – Virginia polled 2,737 votes; Gold Hill, 1,086. The straight Union ticket is elected by an overwhelming majority. Same in Dayton and Silver City. James A. Rogers, one of the earliest pioneers, blew his brains out this evening. Cause, “discouraged.” He had been very low with the mountain fever for some time. We had fifty extra policemen on duty all day. They were kept busy. This afternoon, Jack McNabb, a notorious desperado, shot at a negro. He was not arrested. Afterwards, he created a disturbance, and Officers Watson and Birdsall tried to arrest him, when he shot Birdsall in the breast, and a special officer, named Burns, in the arm. Birdsall is not expected to live till morning. The people wanted to hang McNabb, but were prevented by the officers. Gen. Van Bokkelen, Territorial Provost-Marshal, asserted his authority, guarded the jail, and closed the saloons and stores. The city is infested with thieves, assassins and incendiaries. There is some little talk of a Vigilance Committee.
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