A GREAT COUNTRY--IMPROVEMENT--ADVENTURERS--DRINKING-SALOONS--THE
OLD JUDGE--BANKS--MINE SPECULATORS--GAMBLING HOUSES--“DON’T
SHOOT”--CLIMATE--HIGH AND DRY.
_June, 1850._
The fire was fast subsiding; and as the embers died away, and the heavy
smoke rolled off to leeward, the site of the conflagration was plainly
marked out to the spectator like a great black chart. There is nothing
particularly impressive in the scene, for although four hundred houses
have been destroyed, they were but of wood, or thin sheet iron, and the
“devouring element” has made a clean sweep of everything, except a few
brick chimneys and iron pots. Everybody seems in good humour, and there
is no reason why the stranger, who has lost nothing by the calamity,
should allow himself to be plunged into melancholy reflections! Planks
and lumber are already being carted in all directions, and so soon as
the embers cool, the work of rebuilding will commence.
I found it amusing next day to walk over the ground and observe the
effects of the intense heat on the articles which were strewed around.
Gun-barrels were twisted and knotted like snakes; there were tons of
nails welded together by the heat, standing in the shape of the kegs
which had contained them; small lakes of molten glass of all the colours
of the rainbow; tools of all descriptions, from which the wood-work had
disappeared, and pitch-pots filled with melted lead and glass. Here was
an iron house that had collapsed with the heat, and an iron fireproof
safe that had burst under the same influence; spoons, knives, forks, and
crockery were melted up together in heaps; crucibles even had cracked;
preserved meats had been unable to stand this second cooking, and had
exploded in every direction. The loss was very great by this fire, as
the houses destroyed had been for the most part filled with merchandise;
but there was little time wasted in lamentation, the energy of the
people showed itself at once in action, and in forty-eight hours after
the fire the whole district resounded to the din of busy workmen.
On the “lot” where I had observed the remains of gun-barrels and nails,
stands its late proprietor, Mr. Jones, who is giving directions to a
master carpenter, or “boss,” for the rebuilding of a new store, the
materials for which are already on the spot. The carpenter promises to
get everything “fixed right off,” and have the store ready in two days.
At this juncture passes Mr. Smith, also in company with a cargo of
building materials; he was the owner of the iron house; he says to Jones
interrogatively,--
“_Burnt_ out?”
JONES.--“Yes, and _burst up_.”
SMITH.--“Flat?”
JONES.--“Flat as a d--d pancake!”
SMITH.--“It’s a great country.”
JONES.--“It’s nothing shorter.”
And in a couple of days both Smith and Jones are on their legs again,
and with a little help from their friends live to grow rich perhaps, and
build brick buildings that withstand the flames.
This fire was attributed to incendiarism, but when the general
carelessness that existed is considered, it is quite as probable that it
resulted from accident. It is much to be regretted that these fires did
not sweep off the gambling houses; but these buildings were now
constructed of brick, and were tolerably well secured against all risk.
When the burnt portion of the city was again covered with buildings, I
had an opportunity of judging of the enormous strides the place had made
since two years back, when it was, by all accounts, a settlement of
tents. Three fires had checked its growth in this short space; but a
daring confidence had laughed as it were at these obstacles, and any one
who knew human nature might see, that so long as that spirit of energy
animated every breast, the city would increase in size and wealth, in
spite even of conflagrations so calamitous. For though many individually
are ruined by the flames, and are forced to retire from the field, yet
in a small community where all are armed with strong determination, the
vacant ranks are soon filled up again, and shoulder to shoulder all
march on in unity of purpose, and gain the victory at last, though at
ever so great a sacrifice. Twelve months back there was little else but
canvass tents here, and a small, shifting, restless, gambling,
population: who was it then, when all looked _uncertain in the future_,
that sent away so many thousand miles for steam excavators, and
tramways, and railway trucks? who were those, again, who sent from this
hamlet of shanties for all the material for large foundries of iron and
brass, for blocks of granite, bricks and mortar, for pile-drivers and
steam-boats? I don’t know,--but these things all arrived; and now, in
eighteen hundred and fifty, the sand-hills tumble down as if by magic,
and are carried to the water’s edge on a railroad where the
pile-drivers are at work, and confine them to the new position assigned
them on a water lot. The clang of foundries is heard on all sides, as
machinery is manufactured for the mines,--brick buildings are springing
up in the principal thoroughfares, steamers crowd the rivers, and
thousands of men are blasting out huge masses of rock to make space for
the rapid strides of this ambitious young city. The better portion of
the population of San Francisco in eighteen hundred and fifty, may be
said to have consisted of adventurers; these were of all nations, the
Americans being in the proportion of about one-third. Many people object
to the term adventurer, as one that has been generally associated with a
class who travel with scanty purses and easy consciences. But Johnson
defines an adventurer as “one who hazards a chance;” and when we
consider that the population here have to a man almost made sacrifices
elsewhere, in hopes of the speedier reward held out by the vicinity of
these vast gold-fields, the term is not misapplied. Neither is it one
that should ever carry opprobrium; while fresh countries remain to be
explored, and facilities of communication are daily increasing, I have
no objection to call myself an adventurer, and wish that I had been one
of those fortunate ones who conferred a vast benefit upon mankind (and
secured _moderate advantages for themselves_) by the discovery of the
gold-fields of California and Australia. The most successful merchants
of San Francisco were needy men, who by chance were on the spot when
first the gold was discovered. The colossal fortunes that a few of these
have reaped, sprung only from the chances that were open to all. Sam
Brannan is probably the wealthiest of these speculators, and he
commenced, they say, by levying a tax on the profits of a party of
Mormons whom he piloted to the diggings. When the Mormons declined to
pay the tax any longer, he called them a parcel of fools for having paid
it so long, and then speculated in building-lots and real estate in San
Francisco and other cities. The rapid rise in the value of this property
elevated Sam to the top round of the ladder of fortune, where he will
probably hold on as long as he can.
The stranger in San Francisco at this time is at once impressed with the
feverish state of excitement that pervades the whole population; there
is no attention paid to dress, and everyone is hurried and incoherent in
manner. Clubs, reading-rooms, and the society of women are unknown; and
from the harassing duties of the day’s business, there is nothing to
turn to for recreation but the drinking-saloons and gambling-houses,
and here nightly all the population meet. Where the commerce engaged in
fluctuates with every hour, and profit and loss are not matters of
calculation, but chance--where all have hung their fortunes on a die,
and few are of that class who bring strong principles to bear upon
conduct that society does not condemn--the gambling-tables are well
supported, and the merchant and his clerk, and perhaps his cook, jostle
in the crowd together, and stake their ounces at the same table.
Drinking is carried on to an incredible extent here; not that there is
much drunkenness, but a vast quantity of liquor is daily consumed.
From the time the habitual drinker in San Francisco takes his morning
gin-cocktail to stimulate an appetite for breakfast, he supplies himself
at intervals throughout the day with an indefinite number of racy little
spirituous compounds that have the effect of keeping him always more or
less primed. And where saloons line the streets, and you cannot meet a
friend, or make a new acquaintance, or strike a bargain, without an
invitation to drink, which amounts to a command; and when the days are
hot, and you see men issuing from the saloons licking their lips after
their iced mint juleps; and where Brown, who has a party with him, meets
you as he enters the saloon, and says, “Join us!” and where it is the
fashion to accept such invitations, and rude to refuse them;--what can a
thirsty man do? The better description of drinking-bars are fitted up
with great taste, and at enormous expense. Order and quiet are preserved
within them during the day; they are generally supplied with periodicals
and newspapers, and business assignations are made and held in them at
all hours. Everybody in the place is generous and lavish of money; and
perhaps one reason for so many drinks being consumed is in the fact that
there is ever some liberal soul who is not content until he has ranged
some twenty of his acquaintances at the bar, and when each one is
supplied with a “drink,” he says, “My respects gentlemen!” and the
twenty heads being simultaneously thrown back, down go “straight
brandies,” “Queen-Charlottes,” “stone-fences,” “Champagne-cocktails,”
and “sulky sangarees,” whilst the liberal entertainer discharges the
score, and each one hurries off to his business. There is no one in such
a hurry as a Californian, but he has always time to take a drink. There
is generally a sprinkling of idlers hanging about these saloons, waiting
for any chance that may turn up to their benefit, and particularly that
of being included in the general invitation of “drinks for the crowd,”
which is from time to time extended by some elated gentleman during the
day. These hangers-on are called “loafers.” There is a story told of an
old judge in the southern part of the country, who was an habitual
frequenter of the bar-room, and who with his rich mellow voice would
exclaim, “Come, let’s all take a drink!” Gladly the loafers would
surround the bar, and each would call for his favourite beverage; but
when all was finished, the judge would observe, “_And now let’s all pay
for it!_” which the loafers would sorrowfully do, and then retire wiser
men.
* * * * *
Perhaps in no other community so limited could one find so many
well-informed and clever men--men of all nations, who have added the
advantages of travelling to natural abilities and a liberal education.
Most of these are young, and are among the most reckless, perhaps, just
now; but by-and-by, when this fever of dissipation has given way to
better impulses, these men will gladly abjure a life which has been
entailed more upon them by circumstance than choice, and will be the
first to help to elevate society to a standard adapted to their real
qualities--and tastes.
The banks of San Francisco are naturally important, as being the
depositories of the wealth that thousands are hourly accumulating on the
rich “placer” fields. These buildings are of brick, and have fire-proof
cellars; and although at the time they were erected the outlay was
enormous, both for material and labour, it was a mere trifle in
comparison with the profits of their owners. The banks line one side of
Montgomery Street, the principal thoroughfare of the city; and as the
space on all sides has been entirely cleared for some distance by the
fire, this row of buildings stands alone just now and solitary, like the
speculative “Terrace” with “extensive marine view” that fronts an
unpopular watering-place in England. At the corner of a street is
Burgoyne’s Bank; you enter and find it very crowded and full of
tobacco-smoke; instead of the chinking of money, you hear a succession
of thumps on the counter, as the large leathern bags of gold-dust come
down on it. Some of the clerks are weighing dust, some are extracting
the black sand with a magnet, and others are packing it in bags and
boxes. The depositors are, generally speaking, miners who have come down
from the diggings, fellows with long beards and jack-boots, and of an
unwashed appearance for the most part. However, many of these are not by
any means what they seem; they have just arrived, perhaps, from a
toilsome dusty journey, and deposit their gold as a first precaution;
and before the evening they will have been metamorphosed into very
respectable-looking members of society, and will remain so until they
return again to the diggings. Large blocks of quartz lie about the room,
in all of which are rich veins of gold. These have been sent down from
the mountains to be assayed; and the rich yield that these solitary
specimens afforded led some time afterwards to a great deal of very
ruinous speculation, for it had been represented that these specimens
were average samples of great veins, and it was only when money had been
expended in large sums that it was discovered that these rich morsels
were merely accidental deposits of gold, and by no means indicated the
value of the veins. A few rich lumps were brought to England, and, by a
little judicious handling and a few public dinners, were turned to good
account; and nothing but the bungling stupidity of some of those who
were sent here to _pull the wires_ prevented the consummation of some of
the greatest swindles that ever were imposed upon the English public. I
feel sore upon this point, for the dishonesty thus practised produced an
ill feeling against the country which was undeserved, and the stigma of
fraud and dishonesty was unjustly cast upon the whole population.
There are no public lamps in the town at this time, so that the greater
part of it is admirably adapted for that portion of the population who
gain their livelihood by robbery, and _murder_ in those cases where
people object to being robbed. But Commercial Street, which is composed
entirely of saloons, is a blaze of light, and resounds with music from
one end to the other. No expense is spared to attract custom, the
bar-keepers are “artists” in their profession; rich soft velvet sofas
and rocking-chairs invite the lounger; but popular feeling runs
strongest in favour of the saloon that contains a pretty woman to attend
the bar. Women are rarities here; and the population flock in crowds and
receive drinks from the fair hands of the female dispenser, whilst the
fortunate proprietor of the saloon realises a fortune in a week--and
only has that time to do it in, for at the end of that period the
charmer is married! A French ship arrived during my stay, and brought as
passengers a large number of very respectable girls, most of whom were
tolerably well looking; they were soon caught up by the saloon
proprietors as waiting-women at salaries of about 50_l._ each per month,
and after this influx the public became gradually inured to female
attendance, and looked upon it as a matter of no moment.
Near the centre of the town is a square, which, in common with many
other things in the country, retains its Spanish appellation, and is
called the “Plaza;” two sides of this are occupied by brick buildings,
devoted solely to gambling. We have the “Verandah,” “Eldorado,” “Parker
House,” “Empire,” “Rendez-vous,” and “Bella Union,” in one row. Most of
these establishments belong to companies, for the amount of capital
required is very large. One or two of the houses are under French
superintendence; companies having been formed in Paris, who openly
avowed their object in the prospectus they issued. On entering one of
these saloons the eye is dazzled almost by the brilliancy of chandeliers
and mirrors. The roof, rich with gilt-work, is supported by pillars of
glass; and the walls are hung with French paintings of great merit, but
of which female nudity forms alone the subject. The crowd of Mexicans,
Miners, Niggers, and Irish bricklayers, through which with difficulty
you force a way, look dirtier (although there is no need of this) from
contrast with the brilliant decorations. Green tables are scattered over
the room, at each of which sit two “monte” dealers surrounded by a
betting crowd. The centres of the tables are covered with gold ounces
and rich specimens from the diggings, and these heaps accumulate very
rapidly in the course of the evening, for “monte,” as played by these
dexterous dealers, leaves little chance for the staker to win. The thin
Spanish cards alone are used, and although the dealer is intently
watched by a hundred eyes, whose owners, in revenge for having lost,
would gladly detect a cheat, and fall upon him and tear him to pieces,
yet are these eyes no match for his dexterous fingers, and the savage
scrutiny with which he is assailed as his partner rakes in the stakes
produces no emotion on his pale unimpassioned face. The duty of a
“monte” dealer is one of great difficulty; although surrounded by a
clamorous crowd, and the clang of music, his head is occupied by
intricate calculations, his eyes are watchfully (though apparently
carelessly) scanning the faces that surround his table, yet they appear
to be rivetted to his cards; he has, in the presence of vigilant
observers, to execute feats, the detection of which would cost him his
life;--nightly almost he draws his revolver in self-defence;--and
through all this he must never change a muscle of his face, and must be
ready at all times to exercise a determined courage in resenting the
mere suspicion of dishonesty on his part, if such is expressed
incautiously by those about him.
There is no limit to the introductions one is subjected to in a
Californian crowd;--if the “monte” dealer rises from his chair, you
will probably be introduced to him, and I had the honour of shaking
hands with a murderer quite fresh from his work, who had been acquitted
a day or two previously by bribing the judge, jury, and the witnesses
against him. I should have declined the honour had I learnt his
profession with his name, but custom insists on your shaking hands on
being introduced to a fellow-mortal; and to refuse to do so is tacitly
to deny one of the great principles of the model republic, which holds
that “one man is as good as another;” and, as I heard a democratic
Irishman observe, “_a d--d sight better_!”
Amidst all the din and turmoil of the crowd, and the noisy music that
issues from every corner, two or three reports of a pistol will
occasionally startle the stranger, particularly if they should happen to
be in his immediate vicinity, and a bullet should (as is not uncommon)
whistle past his head and crack the mirror on the other side of him.
There is a general row for a few moments, spectators secure themselves
behind pillars and under the bar; there is a general exclamation of
“don’t shoot,” which means of course “don’t shoot till we get out of the
way;” but after the first discharges the excitement settles down, and
the suspended games are resumed. A wounded man is carried out, but
whether it is a “monte” dealer who has shot a player, or one gentleman
who has drawn on another gentleman, in the heat of altercation, one does
not learn that night, but it will appear in the morning paper; if the
former it will be headed “_Murderous affray_,” if the latter,
“Unfortunate _difficulty_.” There are different names for the same
thing, even in a democratic colony! The climate of California is very
healthy;--there is a tendency in it to intermittent fever and ague in
some parts of the mountains; but in the mines, sickness has generally
resulted from imprudent exposure, and the drinking of the worst possible
description of ardent spirits. On the sea coast and at San Francisco,
the weather is very changeable during the summer months. When the sun
rises and clears away the fog that hangs over the Bay, the air is as
pure and transparent as that of Naples; by noon the glass is at 90°, and
then the sea breeze sets in, and would be welcome, but that it does not
fan one gently like other sea breezes, but bursts on you with the force
of a hurricane, blows off a bit of the roof of your house, and sends the
fine dust in whirling clouds along the street, in such a way that the
people would profit by lying down flat on their stomachs, as they do in
a regular Simoom! As the sun goes down the “doctor” subsides, after
having done a great deal of good in
[Illustration: HIGH AND DRY.]
airing the town, which as yet is unprovided with sewers. Then there
creeps in steadily a heavy, fat fog, which takes up its quarters in the
Bay every night, and disappears as before mentioned when the sun
rises--under whose influence it does’nt melt like other fogs, but goes
out to sea, and watches the town gloomily, until it is time to come in
again.
These varieties of temperature during some months are methodically
regular, but are not productive of sickness of any kind. The front of
the city is extending rapidly into the sea, as water-lots are filled up
with the sand-hills which the steam excavators remove. This has left
many of the old ships, that a year ago were beached as storehouses, in a
curious position; for the filled-up space that surrounds them has been
built on for some distance, and new streets run between them and the
sea, so that a stranger puzzles himself for some time to ascertain how
the “Apollo” and “Niantic” became perched in the middle of a street, for
although he has heard of ships being thrown up “high and dry,” he has
probably sufficient nautical experience to observe that the degree of
“height” and “dryness” enjoyed by the “Apollo” and “Niantic” resulted
from some other cause than the “fury of the gale.” Leaving San Francisco
for the present to return to it again by-and-by and watch its growth
and improvement, I got all ready for a start for Benicia, a little town
on the Bay, from whence I intended to travel leisurely to Russian River.
I had chosen this district as it abounded in game; and was in quite an
opposite direction to the diggings--a visit to which I postponed until
the ensuing summer, my object for the present being to encamp myself in
some snug place in the mountains, and there live upon my gun, in all the
enjoyment of a free life and the pleasures of the chase.