| THE LAND
OF GOLD REALITY VERSUS FICTION. BY Hinton R. HELPER. 1855 |
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SAN FRANCISCO—CONTINUED. WE will now look into Clay street, which intersects Montgomery, and runs parallel with Commercial. Next to Montgomery, this is the most fashionable street in the city; the large establishments where retailers deal in ladies’ and gentlemen’s dress goods being situated upon it. The side-walks are narrow, and generally crowded to such The following little circumstance, which occurred here about a year ago, will show that, however culpable it may be in those who make a regular business of gazing intently in ladies’ faces, the act is sometimes induced by a natural and inoffensive regard for the Page 70. A very clever married lady, whose notions and ideas of things were somewhat akin to those of the Merry Wives of Windsor, espied a gentleman gazing very earnestly in her face, when she turned to him, notwithstanding they were both on the street, and asked, “Why do you stare at me so hard, sir? Have I done you The gambling-houses cannot be overlooked in a true sketch of life in San Francisco. One of the largest and most frequented of these, called the Diana, stands a few doors above us. The building extends, through the entire block, from Clay to Commercial street, and has a front proportionate to its depth. The doors, which lead into it from either street, are kept wide open from nine in the morning till twelve at night, during which time the hall or saloon is generally filled to overflowing with lazy men, of little principle, whose chief employment consists in devising some sinister plans of procuring Page 71. On one side is a bar, attended by a lady, assisted by three young white men and two negroes. This is largely patronized by the occupants of the saloon— one-fifth of them drinking because they have been lucky, and the other four-fifths drinking because they have been unlucky. Around the walls are suspended showy paintings and engravings, some of them of the size of life, representing nude women in every imaginable posture of obscenity and indecency. Seated around numerous tables, covered with cloth or velvet, and finished expressly for gambling purposes, are some rare specimens of greedy speculators in the folly of their fellow men. The proprietor of the house rents his tables to professional gamblers at a stipulated sum per month, with the condition that he is to receive a certain per-centage on the net proceeds of their swindling operations. Usually, two gamblers form a co-partnership, hire one table, and station themselves opposite each other, so that each can understand every manśuvre and secret sign of the other; and when a good opportunity for cheating or defrauding presents itself to one of them, the other is always prepared to divert the attention of the audience or of the interested party from his partner’s motions. Every possible variety of gaming that can be accomplished by cards and dice is practiced here; and every false and dishonest trick is resorted to (often with more than anticipated success) to fleece ignorant men of their purses. Page 72. Lying on the top of each table is a pile of gold and silver coin, denominated the bank, the size and amount of which, as a matter of course, depend altogether upon the wealth of the proprietors. I have said “the bank” is composed of gold and silver coin; it must be one or other, or both of these metals in some shape— whether in dust, ingots, bullion, or coin; for these constitute the sole recognized currency of the State, there being no paper money or bank-notes in circulation. At one of the tables we observe two proprietors, as before described. One of them is a lank, cadaverous fellow, with a repulsive expression of low cunning, full of hypocrisy and deceit, taciturn in disposition, unengaging in manners, who was formerly a Baptist preacher in Connecticut. The other has a vinous, fat, and jolly countenance, is open-faced, enjoys a joke, is lively, laughs at his partner for being so melancholy, is affable and courteous to strangers, talks a great deal, as might be expected, since, before he came to California, he was considered one of the most promising young lawyers in Mississippi. The proprietors of another table are two old gentlemen of “three score years and ten,” whose white hairs and wrinkled brows would seem to belong to a more honorable station in life than that assigned them by destiny. Page 73. A third table is used by a couple of Spaniards, whose scowling brows and treacherous eyes indicate that they are better qualified for the transaction of infamous and atrocious deeds, than for fair dealing or magnanimous behaviour. A Jew and Jewess have command of the fourth table; the fifth is under the direction and management of a French gentleman and lady; a young American girl and her paramour have charge of the sixth; while the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and so on, are presided over by sundry sorts of wicked spirits, unworthy of being named. Octogenarians, youthful and middle-aged men, married and unmarried women, boys and girls, white and black, brown and copper-colored, the quarrelsome and the peaceable, all associate together; and, at times, as might be expected, fight, maim, and kill each other with the same indifference with which people generally pursue their daily occupations. I neglected to mention before, that, in some conspicuous point of the principal houses of this character, there is generally erected a stage or platform, upon which a company of musicians perform at intervals of a quarter of an hour. This they are employed to do for the purpose of enticing unsuspecting strangers and passers-by. Like those engaged in the liquor traffic, these gamblers are a public nuisance, a burden upon society. They do no sort of profitable manual or mental labor; yet the community grants them a license to abuse the public, and to debase themselves. Page 74. Their occupation being a discreditable and dishonorable one, it robs them of that degree of happiness and respectability which naturally belongs to every industrious and upright man. Like a deadly contagion, they blast and destroy all with whom they come in contact. Thousands of these swindlers live by their expertness in gambling and tricks of legerdemain. Dissipated, reckless, and restless, they rove from place to place, rarely acquiring decent habits or becoming permanent citizens. They are, nevertheless, great lovers and admirers of women; and most of them make it a special branch of their business to cultivate a due share of female acquaintance. But we will now bid adieu to the blacklegs, and return again to the street, merely stopping a minute or two, as we pass out, to listen to the enchanting strains of “Katy Darling,” or “Lilly Dale,” played by the brass band in attendance. What is here called the plaza, or park, which occupies one square between Washington, Clay, Kearney and Brenham streets, now lies before us; but as it is nothing more nor less than a cow-pen, inclosed with unplaned plank, we will say but little about it. In the middle is planted a tall liberty-poll, near which is erected a rude rostrum for lynch-lawyers and noisy politicians. Page 75. If there is a tree, or a bush, or a shrub, or a sprig of grass, or any thing else in or about it that is green, or that bears the slightest similitude to vegetation, nobody has ever yet seen it; and, as a pleasure-ground, it is used only by the four-footed denizens of the city. On the east side of this delectable public square is the California Exchange, before the steps of which are stationed from fifteen to twenty French peasants, who pursue no business save that of blacking boots. Most of them have acquired or adopted this ornamental occupation since they left La Belle France. A few doors above the Exchange stands the City Hall, which was formerly the Jenny Lind Theatre— a very neat stone structure, but wholly unsuited for In this way a monstrous swindle was perpetrated upon the community, by fraudulently appropriating the public money to the use and benefit of private individuals. But the fraud could not be remedied; the city officers had been elected as the representatives of the citizens, whose rights and powers had been vested in them, and if they were so base as to prove recreant to their trust, the penalty had to be paid by their constituents. Page 76. They consummated their corrupt bargain for the theatre, the properties were removed, and, after the expenditure of much time, labor, and money, in making alterations and additions, the building was converted into what now stands before us— the City Hall of San Francisco. The principals in this iniquitous transaction enriched themselves and their accomplices at the expense of the city treasury, suffering nothing except the denunciations and execrations of an abused and outraged public. This is a fair sample of the disposition that is made of the public funds throughout the State. Sheriffs, treasurers, and tax-collectors, in the majority of cases, are expected to decamp with all the money in their hands, or to embezzle a part of it; and it has passed into a proverb, that no honest man can be elected to a city, county, or Were we to remain an hour or two in this vicinity, we should probably see a police officer rolling “a perpetual hymn to the Deity” on a wheelbarrow— for that, we believe, is Poe’s euphemism for Page 77. On the north side of the Plaza are some of the best French eating-houses in the State. One of them, the Cafe du Commerce, which, translated into English, means Commercial Coffee-house, is quite famous for its choice gastronomy. A better dinner can be procured here than in an American house, because the French are better cooks, cleaner in their culinary arrangements and preparations, more polite and attentive to their guest, and less accustomed to adulterating their provisions. Dinner, without wine, costs two dollars for each person; but with it, from three to five dollars, according to quality and quantity consumed. The stranger cannot promise himself any thing very sumptuous or delicious in the way of eatables, even in the All the more substantial articles of food, such as flour, meal, beef, pork, and butter, are imported from Europe or brought from the Atlantic States. As these provisions are sent around by Cape Horn, they must pass twice through the tropics before they arrive in San Francisco; consequently, most of them become more or less sour, musty, or rancid, which, as we all know, renders them not only repugnant to the palate, but also injurious Page 78. But, notwithstanding their transportation of from seventeen to twenty thousand miles upon the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, old or fresh, sound or unsound, they must be sold, served up, cooked, eaten. They cannot be wasted or thrown away, for that would be a losing business, and people did not come to California to lose money, but to make it; nor does it matter to them whether they make it by the sale of sweet flour or by the vending of putrid meats. Sour flour is sold at reduced prices to the bakers, who mix it with a larger quantity— say twice as much— of that which is sweet; then it is manufactured into bread, delivered to the restaurants, and devoured by the populace. The flour put up by the Gallego and Haxall mills, of Richmond, Virginia, receives less damage in its transit through the torrid zone than any other— at least, this is the reputation it enjoys in California, those brands being more highly prized and more eagerly sought after by bakers and consumers. Next to the Richmond, the Fredericksburg and Georgetown flour is most in demand. How it is that the flour manufactured in the localities just named, or in the vicinity of those localities, retains its pure and primitive qualities better and longer than that produced at the North, which, with few exceptions, spoils on the way, I am unable to say— unless, perhaps, the latitude or climate imparts to it a healthier condition or a preservative principle. Page 79. Within the last one or two years, considerable quantities of the cerealia have been cultivated in the low lands and valleys of this State, and a few flouring mills have been erected, which are now in operation; but the proprietors mix their grists so much with rye and barley, that the flour is less marketable than it would be if it was ground out of genuine wheat. To give character to their spurious compound, they practice a double imposition, by packing it in empty Gallego and Haxall barrels, which are clandestinely purchased and kept in readiness for the purpose. Thus they steal the reputation of the Virginia brands; and, by placing their falsely-labeled, inferior flour in the hands of their rascally agents, they succeed in effecting large sales of it to those who are not particular in their examinations. Though the fraud is easily detected when the barrels are opened, there is no chance of obtaining redress; for, in most cases, these deceptions are carried out in such an indirect or complicated way, through factors and agents, that it is too difficult a matter to trace them to their source. If, however, the guilty parties are discovered, it amounts to nothing; because here, where the laws are so loosely and imperfectly administered, where all strong persons do as they please, and weak ones must do as they can, it costs more to adjust a wrong than it does to endure it. Page 80. This system of cheating and adulteration is carried out in all ramifications of business; and if a man is not continually upon the alert, he is sure to suffer the penalty of his negligence, by having a worse thing than he bargained for thrust upon him, and that, too, without redress. To return from our digression: although the French are somewhat more philosophic and scientific in their preparation of viands, we perceive no material difference between their mode of living and our own. They eat more slowly, are more graceful in their deportment at table, and seem to enjoy their meals as a feast, rather than to devour them as a necessary repast. Wine is their principal drink, morning, noon and night; and dinner to them, without it, would be as insipid and unpalatable as breakfast to our American grand-mothers without coffee. After the main part of the meal is finished, it is customary with them to sip a small cup of strong coffee, as a sort of accompaniment to their dessert. This, however, they do not flavor with cream, as we do, but use Cognac, burnt with sugar, instead. It is an unusual thing for them to drink water at any time, except when mixed with wine. I have the pleasure of the acquaintance of a very worthy and estimable French gentleman, who assured me that he had taken but one drink of crude water in four years, “and then,” he added, “it make me sick.” SAN FRANCISCO—CONCLUDED. AFTER a night’s lodging in one of the human stables of Page 82. In the opinion of the duelist, he is emphatically an honor-saving man; and in matters of personal difficulty and dispute, there is no one so capable of giving suitable advice, or so well prepared to supply the necessary instruments of polite slaughter, as Dr. Natchez. Among the fiery spirits of this Western Metropolis, the slightest affront, even though it may be purely accidental, is considered a wound to dignity curable only by an application of Colt’s revolver to the breast of the transgressor; and as Dr. Natchez enjoys the reputation of preparing the best remedies for wounded honor, all those afflicted with the disorder apply to him for relief. Laying before him their ailments and grievances, he will at once say the cause must be removed; the offending party is waited upon with a challenge, which is accepted; and the Doctor, with commendable impartiality, superintends the preparation of the weapons for both parties. Passing on towards the summit of the hill before us, we soon arrive at an elevation from which we have a clear and uninterrupted view of the whole city, which contains, it is supposed, from forty-five to fifty thousand inhabitants— about one-fifth of the entire population of the State. The original water-boundary of the city, on the east, was in the form of a crescent; but, the bay being shallow in this particular part, its shape has been changed, by filling it in with sand from the adjacent hills. Page 83. Owing to the steep declivities of the original site of the city, this encroachment was demanded and effected by those engaged in commercial pursuits, who wanted level ground. The land thus made, being the most eligibly situated and convenient to the wharves, is far more valuable than that of natural formation. At first, however, heavy losses were sustained, in consequence of the insecure foundations of most of the buildings, some of which gave way entirely, and had to be reconstructed. Now, however, they understand it better, and take special care to pile and plank the foundation thoroughly before the superstructure is erected. The process of filling up these water-lots was very irregular; and, as the work advanced, several ponds of water, which afterwards became stagnant, were cut off by these means from the ocean. In other places, the tide receded from the shallow parts of the bay, and from the surface thus left bare, as well as from the ponds last mentioned, there arose large quantities of highly offensive and almost suffocating gas, which obliterated all the painted signs in the immediate vicinity. Strange to say, the effluvium exhaled from these foul ponds and marshy places did not produce disease. The wind blew it off or counteracted its insalubrious effects. Viewing the city from our present elevated position, we look in vain for any verdure. Page 84. Indeed, there is not a shade-tree in San Francisco. Nor, if we search the outskirts of the city, can we find either trees, coppice, vegetation, or any green thing whereon to feast the eyes. The earth all around us is as sterile and unproductive as a public highway. We feel a void, as though a friend were absent. Nature wears a repulsive and haggard expression. Oh! how few there are amongst us who duly appreciate trees, those noble earth-fingers that point to heaven and uplift the mind to God! According to my judgment, there is a greater combination of the beautiful and the useful in a forest oak or hickory, than in all the gay exotics which are so carefully reared by the florist. I entertain no doubt that a large, luxuriant elm would attract more attention in San Francisco than a menagerie or circus; and it is Page 85. Many other natural and artificial deficiencies and Land of Gold: Chapters: VII - VIII. TaxJudas.com ScoolDaze.com John R. NEAL set the stage Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism. The First Acadamic Farmer. For Bottom Fishers — Switch and Bait at VINBOB’s Bait Shop ! |