USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 6
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 6
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How I MADE ADOBES IN THE EARLY DAYS. (By F. A. Miller.) The word adobe is of very ancient origin, coming to us directly from the Spanish down through Arabic from the Egyptian hieroglyph, meaning "brick." Adobe is the Spanish-American word for the sun-dried clay used by the Indians for building in some of the Southwestern states of the American Union and was in use in Mexico and Peru.
This style of building is best suited for a dry, arid climate and one where timber is scarce unless protected in some way. Wooden houses are an invention of the American, worthy successors of the log cabin and only economical and possible under the modern machine, the saw mill. Previous to the saw mill the whip saw and the sawpit with the top sawyer and the under one laboring and sweating to turn out the few boards neces- sary for finishing a house. The stone and brick walls of the European style were pretty much of an afterthought in this country and took much time and preparation in their erection, but the American with his labor- saving devices could, if necessary, put up his rude habitation alone.
It has been put down almost as an axiom by the modern American that those who came before us on this continent did not know very much and that modern invention was a necessity before we could enter into and enjoy our possessions to the fullest here. Experience, however, is teach- ing us that each people with the appliances at hand has been able to make the best of the situation as they found it.
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The old Padres with their vows of perpetual poverty and mortification of the flesh as a healthy religious exercise and never using an animal for riding purposes in their peregrinations from mission to mission in imita- tion of our Saviour, naturally choose the most severe in daily life, and, that comfort in our sense of the word would be a useless pandering to the lusts of the flesh, but such in actual practice is not really the case for the missions as built were models of adaptability to our California climate. It may be, however, looked at from the standpoint of their times that the mission buildings were really houses of God and so on the usage from time immemorial that nothing was too good in the service of God. therefore, in building his houses everything should be as grand as possible and everything in this connection should be of the very best. Therefore for purposes of use the mission buildings had everything of the best. Naturally the most readily available material would be in use-and so in the first place clay was the material used. Afterward if more durable material was desired brick and stone could be used.
Modern science and experience are showing us that after all, clay is about as comfortable in use for modern dwellings in our time and after being tried for a time and partially abandoned, it is again coming into use. Reinforced concrete has been popular, durable and safe, but is not in reality as comfortable as adobe is a greater non-conductor of heat and cold.
As made under modern conditions the process is very simple. The English method built the clay in the walls as often as one batch after another could be gotten ready so that the wall was in one solid piece when completed. The Spanish method, however, is the same as mentioned in the Book of Exodus where they were made with straw. Whatever may have been the situation in Egypt in ancient times and the conditions in regard to the use of straw in making adobes, no straw is required in making adobes in Riverside, for it is a drawback rather than an advan- tage to use straw. In some places, however, owing to the peculiar clay used they are apt to crack in drying and the use of straw, or some such material, may make it hold together better.
With our ordinary loamy soil here no special preparation is needed for about one-half each of the top soil and of the sub-soil make a good admixture. If there is too much clay in the soil an admixture of sand is beneficial and will make harder bricks. The soil and sub-soil only need to be dug up and thoroughly mixed by turning over. When fully mixed water is added and the whole body made of a uniform wetness. Some people use horses or oxen in mixing while others keep turning over with the shovel until it gets of a uniform consistency. The good old way with the Mission Fathers was to get the Indians to turn in and mix it with the bare feet until it is well mixed up. In warm weather, which is always the best time, this was agreeable and beneficial exercise. Where any quantity was to be made Indians make the best of helpers. As only a small batch can be made at a time, owing to its getting too dry before moulding, the operation has to be repeated often.
A smooth, clean drying place has to be prepared in advance con- venient to the pit in which the material is prepared. Whatever the size of brick decided upon, according to the thickness of the wall, it cannot be much less in thickness than one foot as at best there cannot be much bond in the clay. A form the size of the brick required must be made. Four by eight by twelve inches makes a fair size, for if much larger than that, they are heavy to handle. The frame is then set out in the drying yard and the tempered clay is then carried in the hands or in a barrow, hand or wheel, and is then put in the mold. When full and well pressed in, the mold is lifted and the brick left to dry while the others are
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being moulded. In this way the field of a size required is gradually filled up until the required number is made. It takes a few days to dry them. As soon as dry enough to handle they are turned up on their side until quite dry and hard when they can be stacked in piles until ready for the building.
If rain should come while drying it is disastrous as it will melt and spoil the shape, rendering remoulding necessary. After the bricks are fully dry they are used in the building the same as any other bricks, using clay for mortar in place of lime and cement.
Modern methods of finish, use cement for plaster in varions fancy rough forms of rustic. When finished and whitewashed or tinted the building is both durable and comfortable and is getting more popular.
CEMETERIES. Without any intention of joke it would appear to be a very grave subject to say something about our cemeteries. But there is not any reason in the world why we should look on them with sadness or grief.
Evergreen Cemetery, one of two cemeteries in Riverside, is the oldest, having been reserved by the Southern California Colony Association for cemetery purposes at the time of laying off of the colony grounds and consisted of one two and a half acre block and originally included in the mile square. As Riverside has outgrown the estimates of its founders so has the cemetery which now embraces seventeen and a half acres with a prospective need at a no very distant future of ten acres more.
I cannot describe Evergreen Cemetery better than by quoting from the by-laws of the company, as follows: "Evergreen Cemetery is a beautiful burial ground, ideally located at the foot of the rugged Mount Rubidoux, convenient and easy of access by paved roads.
"The grounds are laid out on the park and lawn system and all lots are sold on the perpetual care plan. The association is non-dividend paying ; the surplus cash available from year to year is deposited in a trust fund held by the association. This fund is constantly increasing and is invested in United States bonds, mortgage loans and other first class securities.
"The revenue from these investments is used for the maintenance of the lots which absolutely guarantees perpetuity. The board of trustees receive no remuneration whatever for their services."
The cemetery filled up very slowly for the first twenty years and was very much neglected when at a meeting of the trustees of the association consisting of Dr. K. D. Shugart, G. D. Carleton, P. S. Russell, D. C. Twogood and I. W. Atherton, there were elected Wm. McBean, D. A. Correll, J. M. Drake, J. C. Hardman, John A. Simms, who immediately proceded to put the grounds in good shape and to straighten out other matters that were needing attention. They were able to obtain a complete record of all burials and at the first regular annual meeting the following members were elected: John A. Simms, president ; E. B. Culnan, vice president ; J. C. Hardman, secretary and treasurer ; John F. Backstrand, H. H. Hinde, S. L. Wright, members of the board of trustees. Mr. Hard- man has continued in office ever since and it is to his efforts, supported by the other members of the board, that we have what is today one of the most beautiful and well kept cemeteries in Southern California. The superintendent, Robert McFarlane, is also the right man for the place, for in addition to his regular duties he has annually one of the finest displays of chrysanthemums to be found in Southern California. At first there were no regulations in regard to burials and all the wonder is that any record was kept at all.
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The trustees are very much hampered by state laws that prevent any sale or transfer of lots by individuals, which in case of families moving away or getting extinct leaves in many cases much unoccupied ground necessitating much more land for burial purposes. It is not like older countries where the same ground can be repeatedly used, for here in California the area of burying grounds is constantly increasing. How- ever, the trustees have power to regulate the matter of monuments and in one part of the cemetery there are no upstanding monuments. Look- ing back at the past, great efforts were made by prominent men of their time to perpetuate their name and fame of whom now nothing remains. In the catacombs of. Rome and other places there still remain names, but when the modern sight-seer inquires who the parties were, or to whom the names belonged, no answer can be given except to a very few and even they are hardly known as benefactors of the race. Even more so is this the case in regard to the pyramids which are commonly classed as tombs, but may have had a significance apart from their use as tombs. But when we look back to the dim and unwritten past, and ask where are all those who lived before us and their place of burial when not cre- mated, we know no more about where yesterday's wind and force that carried it along is today. Even the Egyptian mummies preserved, but unknown in our time, have been used as fertilizer at times. While we like to preserve the remains of our loved ones who have been laid ten- derly and tearfully away, who knows when we are laid away there will be any to keep our memory green or whether oblivion may overtake us? Even if we are noted in our community where we have lived and died, who knows whether the name and fame we have built up will endure for "the fashion of this world passeth away?"
There is also an expensive mausoleum where those who do not wish to have their remains mix with common clay may be interred. It is in use by some, but although owned by an outside association will ulti- mately fall to the cemetery authorities.
Olivewood cemetery is some distance out from the city center, but has not been used for so long a time and not having as much of a reserve fund, is not in as high state of ornamentation and beauty as Evergreen Cemetery. It contains thirty or more acres and occupies a beautiful slope in amphitheatre fashion which will give it great beauty when fully improved.
A SNOWSTORM IN RIVERSIDE. The following account of a snow- storm in Riverside, written by Mrs. John J. Hewitt whose family were early settlers in Riverside after Riverside became known for orange growing, will give the humorous side of some of our weather experiences. There is no record of such a snowstorm before or since. Beyond break- ing a few limbs off our citrus trees, nothing of harm otherwise came of it, and it illustrates the saying among old Californians that you cannot judge the climate by anything that has passed. The only thing at all like it was in August, 1884, when there was a thunderstorm accompanied by hail, which lasted for two hours and the rainfall amounted in all to two inches. It was purely local, not extending very far in any direction.
My husband, John J. Hewitt and myself with two little children left Freeport, Illinois, in a raging snowstorm, almost a blizzard, bound for the Golden State-California-on the 20th of December, 1881. On the 24th of December we landed in Denver, Colo., where we spent the holi- days-leaving there on January 2nd, 1882, and arriving in Riverside on January 6, 1882, having left the cars at Colton and finished our trip in the old style Oxford stage coach drawn by four horses and driven by
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a Mr. Robinson. As we wheeled into the yard in front of the Glenwood Tavern among the orange trees, my first thought was-we have dropped right into Paradise. Every turn we made our eyes beheld great large yellow oranges and flowers of every description. We were kindly wel- comed by the master of the tavern, Mr. Frank Miller and his efficient manageress, his sister, Miss Alice Miller, now Mrs. Richardson, who still holds the same position, and made to feel quite at home.
In the evening after putting my little girls to bed, Mr. Hewitt and I wended our way downstairs to the parlor which then was the long middle room of the present abode, and was both parlor and office, to see and get acquainted with other guests of the tavern. As I was anxi- ous to obtain all the information possible concerning our new abode where we expected to live for the next three or four months, I com- menced asking questions of Miss Miller.
Among other questions I asked her if they ever had any snow here -her reply was, "Oh! no-there never has been any snow here within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant." I made answer that it seemed to me very strange with snow so near on the mountains which were in plain sight. She qualified her answer by saying, "Oh, it never comes any nearer than the mountains." Pretty soon we retired for the night.
The next morning when I looked out of the window snowflakes were falling so thick we could scarcely see out. I said to my husband, "Just see the snow-Miss Miller said it never snowed here, not within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant." He said, "Well, she certainly has made a mistake this time." We went downstairs to breakfast, and as we entered the dining room we met Miss Miller coming out. I said to her, "Miss Miller, what do you call that stuff falling down out there?" She said, "Oh, don't speak to me! I am so ashamed I don't want to speak to anyone." "Well, I said, it looks to me like a regular old-fashioned Illinois snowstorm, but I didn't know but they had a different name for it out here." "No," she said, "it is snow, but I don't want to talk about it."
"Well, we went to breakfast, sat down at a table and waited and waited for some one to come and take our order. The waitresses were all out snowballing and washing each others faces in the snow. After a time they came in and brought us some breakfast, then others came in and waited on the different tables, then out again they went and they kept that up, alternately waiting on the tables and snowballing until finally the guests all had their breakfast.
There were eight inches of snow fall-the branches of the trees were laden and in some parts of the valley several branches were broken off where they had the weight of both oranges and snow. It was such a novelty that even the business men and the clerks got out into the streets and went to snowballing and some improvised sleds cut of drygoods boxes, and when they went to take the horses out of the stables they wouldn't come out, stretched their heads out and seeing the ground so white they backed into their stalls and wouldn't venture out into the snow. Thev were actually afraid, but after a time they were coaxed to come out and they were hitched to these box sleds and the people went sleighriding. You never saw anything so funny, and never saw a more beautiful sight, than the snow piled up in the branches of the trees and intermingled with the beautiful glossy leaves and bright yellow fruit. Well that snow lasted three days and the most peculiar feature was that it didn't melt. It was not a wet snow, neither was it a very cold snow. The sun came out bright and warm, but the snow still clung to the trees and it never hurt the oranges on the trees a particle. It did kill the lemons and limes, they were so much more tender, but as for the oranges
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in a few days after that a Citrus Fair was held in what was called a pavilion which stood where the Loring now stands and long tables were filled with the fruit from these very same trees which held eight inches of snow in their branches for three days and this fruit was arranged in every conceivable style and geometrical figure you could imagine-pyra- mids-crosses-triangles-squares-crescents and all were so bright and beautiful, that they never seemed to have come in contact with any snow. But as I said before, it was not a cold snow, but a very peculiar thing happened, which I think no one has ever been able to account for, and that was that on the third day we looked and the snow was still there, then again we looked and it had disappeared. It didn't melt, for there was no water to show any melting, there was a litle wind blew up and it just simply flew away-I suppose to the mountains where it belonged. There never has been a snowstorm quite like since or in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant.
The snowstorm out on the Box Springs mountains came the nearest to it, and many people went out to see it and play in it, but it didn't reach the oranges and beautify the trees by settling in the branches. This was my first introduction to the land of the Sunshine and Flowers -the great and famous golden state where snow was never seen, only on the peaks of the highest mountains.
OPIUM. It may be of interest in the history of Riverside to know that the growing of opium was tried as an experiment in 1871, the first season the water was available for irrigation early in the season.
Dr. James P. Greves, secretary of the Southern California Colony Association procured and planted some of the seed of the opium poppy thinking the production of opium would tide over the period (financially) between planting and fruiting of the orange groves. So far as produc- tion was concerned, the experiment was a success and the opium of good quality.
The method employed is to slit the seed capsules on the stalk of the poppy in several places so as to let the juice exude. When the juice is sufficiently dry it is then carefully scraped off with a knife and gathered. It is rather a slow process and under the labor conditions then and now prevailing, it was impossible to make it a paying success and it was never again tried.
RIVERSIDE MILITARY BAND. The following address was given on the dedication of a new bandstand or shell by Harry Woodward.
In the July number of the "Pacific Municipalities" are given nine tests of a town. The Riverside Chamber of Commerce in its September bulle- tin, on behalf of the City of Riverside, has answered each of the nine tests for the benefit of the prospective newcomer to our beautiful city.
In the fifth test the following question is asked: "Does the town have a good band?" And the Chamber of Commerce has answered this question as follows: "The Riverside Military Band has more than a local reputation as an excellent organization," but this answer to me does not seem to do justice to the organization now known as the River- side Military Band, which after a struggle of over twenty years for its very existence, as it may seem, now bears the highest reputation in the State of California, as an excellent musical organization.
In the fall of 1900 several music loving boys organized under the leadership of R. Miller, a band known as "Riverside Junior Band," in the round room under the old town clock in the Castleman Building at Eighth and Main streets. Each member of the first organization was
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an amateur, but under all adverse conditions and without any expectancy of reward, the band continued its existence. The trials of our first leader were many, but through hard and painstaking efforts, he kept the boys together and when he relinquished his leadership after a period of two years, our band was on a firmer basis.
From its very inception, there has not been a lapse of organization, and through the entire period of twenty years, has acted as a unit with- out the lapse of a single week. The average life of an amateur band is about twenty weeks, and when you realize that our band has remained together for over 20 years you can then understand why we today are proud of our organization.
It has the honor and distinction of being the oldest band in this com- munity, and although at times in past years, it seemed as if Riverside would lose its band, conscientious workers in its behalf kept the organi- zation intact.
You may ask the reason for the success of our organization, and we can only say that every member of our band has always the best interests of Riverside at heart and dared to do different, and that while other organizations were forced to disband by reason of insufficient financial support or on account of internal dissention, our band steadily went ahead, although during the early years, and even up to the present time, the members of our band were required to expend their private funds for the purchase of instruments and give their time not only for rehearsals but for concerts for a very small reward.
The first public concert attempted by our band was given in the old bandstand located in this park and formerly located in White Park. No municipal aid was given to the boys and all the funds obtained for these concerts were contributed by private subscriptions, from the good merchants and citizens of our city. When you realize that the members of our organization received less than one dollar for each concert in the beginning and now receive but the sum of two dollars, and that each concert requires from four to five hours preparation and two hours more to present, you can readily see that the members of our band are not mercenary, but give their services gladly and freely for the benefit of our city and the citizens and with only a small remuneration for the services rendered.
Shortly after the first concerts were given, considerable opposition to Sunday concerts arose through the efforts of various people in our city, and attempts were even made to refuse permission to our band to play in the parks of our city, even though there was no expense to the city or to the citizens thereof, but finally through the efforts of Mr. P. T. Evans and Mr. C. L. McFarland and others, permission was given to our band to use the parks for the purpose of playing our concerts, and I am pleased to say that at the present time any objection to our playing on Sunday in our parks has been overcome.
Through the efforts of our leaders in the selections of the music given by us on Sunday, and from the fact that all numbers were very carefully selected, our audiences on Sunday have grown from less than one hundred to more than two thousand.
For several years the merchants and citizens continued to support the band by popular subscriptions until finally we were able to obtain municipal aid from the city fathers. It has always been the purpose of our band to render music of the highest class and by doing so, we believe that we have made and kept many friends and in a measure have assisted in making Fairmount Park the pleasure spot it is.
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The success of our band through the trying years of its early growth is due largely to the assistance and help given us by Frank A. Miller, P. T. Evans, S. C. Evans, C. L. McFarland, Ex-Mayor Ford, and our present Mayor Honorable Horace Porter. These men found time to listen to our troubles and many times they have helped us with their advice and with their work and even with their contributions.
Our present leader, Mr. Hilverkus, deserves a great deal of credit for the hard and painstaking labor he has been compelled to undergo in perfecting our organization and keeping the men together, and giving to Riverside, the band which we are justly proud of. Although he is a strict director, he is more than patient and painstaking and strange though it may seem, is the poorest paid director in the State of California. A great deal of the work necessary to obtain financial assistance in order to carry the band through its many trials falls necessarily upon the manager of the band, and with the exception of Leonard Wilson, who has since passed away, and who was manager for a period of two years, and Mr. McDonald and Charles Darling, who each served one year, your speaker and Mr. J. Wesley Shrimp have acted as managers of this, our band, for over sixteen years.
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