USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 59
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" First-We declare in favor of a Farmers' Commis- sion, established by organic Stat daws, for the pur- pose of' weighing and scaling the price current of farm produce consigned to commission houses.
"Second-That the Government bonded debt shall be paid as rapidly as possible, at its face demand, in lawful money of the United States, namely, gold, silver, and paper coin, without distinction. as fast as it shall become due, or may be declared due by law through our universal representatives in Congress.
" Third-That we abhor the communistic doctrine of repudiation as is taught by some pretended re-
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formers, and solemnly repudiate such, and their teachings, and equally abhor the funding and refund- ing of our national debt by a designing moneyed aristocracy, whose practical ultimate would be our degradation and our national enslavement.
" Fourth-That Government shall make for us a uniform and stable currency, gold, silver, and paper, at par, and interchangeable under solemn Govern- mental declaration, and that Government use and control the same for her own ends and interests, and hence for those of the whole people.
" Fifth-That we wage an eternal war against the present Shylock National Banking system.
"Sixth-That we advocate and will sustain a land limitation bill.
"Seventh-That Government surplus revenne be in part used to educate the indigent orphans of the land.
"Eighth-That we, with outstretched hands of utmost friendship, encourage and invite all temper- ance people to our party fold, to find their true political home.
" Ninth-That with the kindest regards and sin- cere respect, we invite under our broad humanitarian Greenback banner the full element of the old Amer- ican Colonization Society.
" Tenth-That we declare that we should live up to the policy and genius of our Republican institu- tions, in practically giving land to the landless and homes to the destitute and poor.
" Eleventh-That we depreciate and abhor extor- tionate interests, and will do all in our power to lessen them through a better system of banking.
" Twelfth-That all corporations be brought under legal and constitutional restraints, and subserve the people's and Government's ends and interests, as well as their own.
" Thirteenth-That first and foremost, now and for- ever, as a new political organization, we exercise all of our inalienable and constitutional rights in over- throwing all sectional and race strife.
The Democratic Convention, 1882, was held at Santa Barbara on August 21st. List of Delegates :- Carpenteria-Three delegates: John S. Lewis, Chas. Richardson, Russel Heath.
Montecito-Two delegates: W. A. Hayne, John M. Hunter.
Santa Barbara-First Precinct, four delegates: A. Davis, R. M. Dillard (proxy), H. Schafer, J. D. Peer. Second Precinct: Romualdo Carrillo, Charles Ruiz R. S. Fullington (proxy), D. F. Oglesby, J. H. Stevens, R. B. Ord, D. Moraga.
Hope-Two delegates: Napoleon Lane, John Hope. La Patera-Two delegates: A. H. Phillips, S. C. Hicks.
Las Cruces-One delegate: E. C. Cordero.
Ballards-One delegate: Benj. S. Hayne.
Los Alamos-One delegate: John S. Bell.
Santa Rita-One delegate: George Brittain. Lompoc-Four delegates: John Dockery, I. Wiell, J. G. Barker, Chas. Irwin.
La Graciosa-Two delegates: Samuel Hobbs, J. T. Holloway.
Sisquoc-Two delegates: W. J. J. Foxen (proxy), W. T. Wickenden.
Santa Maria-Two delegates: J. S. Miller, A. H. Orr.
Guadalupe-Three delegates: C. W. Goodchild, J. W. Hudson (proxy), H H. Johnson (proxy).
Col. A. W. Hayne presented the following report of the committee on
PLATFORM AND RESOLUTIONS.
The Committee on Resolutions report as follows :-
" That the Democracy of Santa Barbara County hereby express their support of the general Demo- cratic principles, set forth in the National Platforms of 1880 (and previously), as embodying, for all time, those true and time-honored sentiments, which first inspired the gifted mind of Jefferson, and animated the indomitable will of Andrew Jackson. These principles never fail. The reserved rights of the States, and of the people, and the Constitutional powers of the General Government should ever be mutually protected and maintained, economy, re- trenchment, and a strict regard to the Constitution be considered, the only principles upon which can be safely based the fabric of free government; therefore,
" Resolved, That in view of the universal corruption which, for a long series of years, has characterized the public administration of the country under the rule of the Republican party, in Congress and out of it-a corruption which now permeates every depart- ment of the Government, and has shown itself in an unparalleled waste of the public money in trust for the people, and an unjust and exorbitant rate of tax- ation, by oppressive tariffs for protection, against the interests of the masses of the people, we believe that nothing but the gigantic resources of our highly- favored country have enabled the people at large still to prosper.
" Resolved, That it is time for a change in the pub- lie administration of affairs; that never did there dawn a better prospect for Democratic success, than in the approaching political canvass throughout the entire country, when the voice of the people shall proclaim that public corruption shall cease, fitness for public office be considered, and economy in public administration be the watchword of the Democratic party.
" Resolved, That the Democratic State Ticket, recently put before the people at the San Jose Con- vention, meeting, as it does, the general approval of the Democracy of our State, will be heartily endorsed by the Democracy of our community, and will be supported, and we trust and believe, be elected by a sweeping majority throughout the State.
" Resolved, That we abjure all side and distracting issues of minor importance in the approaching polit- ical canvass, and leave all such to the individual per- formances of all honest men, believing that the Leg- islature and the Courts will eventually settle such issues upon the basis of Constitutional freedom and public morality.
" Resolved, That the Democracy of this county are opposed to Sumptuary laws, restraining the reasona- ble exercise of personal liberty in the use of Sunday for rest, recreation and religious worship, as the con- science of each shall dictate. But we, at the same time, declare our purpose to preserve the Christian Sabbath as a day of rest for all classes of the people, and that we are in favor of legislation preventing that day from being devoted to business, unnecessary labor, or to barbarous or immoral diversions.
" Resolved, That the Democratic party is, and has
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ever been, opposed to the oppressive action of unjust monopolies; that the rights and interests of the whole people of all sections are paramount to the selfish interests of all corporations; and that, like " capital and labor," the two should be harmonious, and not antagonistie; but that the people's interests must be protected.
" Resolved, That the local Democracy of Santa Barbara strongly urge harmony and mutual conces- sion among ourselves; that by such course in all the local elections soon to come off, we shall preserve our party organization; and in conjunction with Demo- erats of all other counties of the State-" from Siski- you to San Diego and from the Sierras to the sea "- we shall roll up for the State of California a Demo- cratie majority at the next eleetion, which will inau- gurate a new and better administration in our County, State and National affairs, which will mate- rially advanec the general welfare of the people and of the whole country."
The Colonel Hayne mentioned in the proceedings of the Convention is a nephew of the Hayne famous as the antagonist of Webster, in the Senate of the United States. He is a very worthy citizen, and lives in a retired way, in the beautiful suburb of Montecito.
SEWERAGE.
Santa Barbara is still without a system of sewer- age. Efforts have been made from time to time to introduce a system, but so far nothing practical has resulted. While P. J. Barber was Mayor, he urged the importance of the matter, and made estimates of the cost of purchasing and laying down sewers of vitrified pipe. This pipe is usually made of a peculiar kind of clay found in great abundance along the foot- hills of the Sierra Nevada. It is baked until it forms a semi-vitrous mass, which resists the action of sewer gas, and in many places has proved quite durable. The transportation of the article, which is rather bulky and liable to breakage, is a serious objection to its use. A thorough search might bring to light beds of elay in Santa Barbara, of the same character.
Soon after Charles Fernald became Mayor, the Common Council authorized him to employ a com- petent surveyor to make an examination and report. He, as others had done before, condemned the sys- tem of cesspools and vaults in use.
NECESSITY OF SEWERAGE OF CITIES.
"The necessity of efficient sewerage in modern times is unquestioned. No city can be considered in a proper sanitary condition that has failed to provide some means for removing from its limits all organic matter liable to decompose, or become obnoxious to health or comfort-that is to say, all sewage matter. No advantages of climate will counteract or render harmless the evil effects eaused by the accumulation of sewage matter in vaults and cesspools; and, although Santa Barbara is justly celebrated for its salubrious climate, its citizens cannot begin too soon the work of abolishing the system of eesspools and vaults, which, up to the present time, have been the only receptacles for the sewage of the city."
He recommended a separate system of sewerage by streets, as more suitable for Santa Barbara than
a combined system, or one main sewer intersected by smaller ones.
MATERIAL OF SEWER.
"From Sola Street to the beach, the specifications call for 'Vitrified Ironstone Pipe,' undoubtedly the cheapest and most durable material now in use. From the beach to its outlet in the ocean, I have recommended a box-sewer of redwood planking. Iron pipe has been suggested, but the acids found in all sewage matter would rapidly corrode the pipe, while the waves and salt-water spray would rust it on the outside. A redwood box properly constructed would, in my judgment, outlast an iron pipe, besides being cheaper.
THE OUTLET.
" As shown in the plans, the sewer is carried well out into the ocean, being so arranged that the out- flowing sewage will be exposed neither to the sight nor smell, besides being located on the northerly side of the wharf, a long distance to the leeward of the bathing grounds. There cannot, therefore. be the slightest cause of apprehension that the sewage will ever become offensive or even perceptible to parties bathing on the beach. Some of your citizens have suggested that the outlet be led into the estero north of State Street. This is decidedly objectionable, and contrary to all rules of sanitary engineering. As every one knows, the estero, during the dry season, is merely a stagnant pool of dead water, the ebb and flow of the tides being eut off by the sand-drifts on the beaeb. To discharge the city sewage into this estero would only aggravate the evil, and would eventually convert it into an immense malaria-breed- ing eesspool.
THE GRADIENTS.
" The slope of State Street is remarkably favorable for effective sewerage, being at no point less than nineteen feet per mile. In the business part of the street I have fixed the grade sufficiently low to secure drainage for moderately deep basements. Be- low Haley Street the grade is nearer the surface, but always low enough to drain the main floor of the buildings. On Mason Street the sewer comes up within ten inches of the surface-too shallow to pro- tect it from the passage of heavy wagons. I would suggest. therefore, that the grade of State Street, be- tween Yanonaly Street and the Mission Creek Bridgo, be raised as indicated by the dotted black line on the profile, and I have embodied this work in the speci- fications."
The following estimates were made for the sewer- age of State Street, from Mission Street two hundred and fifty feet into the sea :-
ESTIMATE.
3,580 lineal feet of 6-inch pipe @ 25c. $ 895 00
2,560
S-inch " @ 40c. 1024 00
1,260
10-inch " @@ 55c. 6:3 00
3.400 cubic yards excavation of trench @@ 35c. 1190 00
7,400 lineal feet laying pipe and refilling trench @ 20c .. 1480 00 14 man-holes with iron covers @ $28. 392 00
230 Y branches @ 80c ... 184 00
250 lineal feet redwood sewer, including pile-trestle and outlet-box @@ $3 80. 950 00
Extra work on Mission Creek .. 130 00
450 cubic yards filling of State Street, between Yanon- aly Street and Mission Creek Bri Ige @ 30c .. 135 00
Total. $7073 00
Add 10% for superintendence, engineering and contin-
gencies 707 00
Total cost of sewer.
Or $1.01 7-10 per lineat foot.
$7780 00
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HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
A general system of sewerage will, of course, involve heavy taxes, but the presence of an epidemie for want of proper sewerage would depreciate the value of property ten times the eost, making no esti- mate of the loss of life. The prospects are favorable that this long-agitated question will soon be settled by inaugurating a thorough and effective system of carrying away the effete matter now absorbed by the ground or disseminated through the air.
FRUIT CANNING.
This industry was introduced into Santa Barbara to furnish a market for the wasting fruit, and to test the value of the fruit produets of the country, by some public-spirited citizens. It has proved an emi- nent suceess, and demonstrated the fact that land, even at the highest rates at which it is sold, will bear the raising of fruit at prices that canners can afford to pay.
THE CANNERY-AN INSTITUTION THAT FURNISHES A CASH MARKET FOR SANTA BARBARA FRUITS.
" The Santa Barbara Cannery is an institution which is proving of inestimable value to the fruit growers of Santa Barbara County. This is the third summer that it has been in operation, and a business already has been built up that is assuming mammoth proportions. The first year the cannery was owned and conducted by its founders, E. S. Sheffield and Walter N. Dimmick; the second year Mr. F. H. Knight became a partner, and this summer the own- ership is merged into a joint stock company, with our leading business men as share-holders. This last enterprise solves the question of its permanency, and insures to this eity a cannery and fruit-packing establishment that will furnish a market for all the fruit that can be raised for years to come. The can- mery was first located on State Street, in the building now occupied by P. Naponio's store, but last season it was found necessary to have better and more com- modious quarters, and the present cannery buildings were rented. The principal works are located in the center of Dixey W. Thompson's block, between State and Anaeapa, Cota and Ortega Streets. A large barn stood in the center of the block, which has been transformed into buildings suitable for a.l the different purposes of a first-class eannery. Two brick buildings on Cota Street are used for storing fruit, and another within the enclosure is used for packing and storing dried fruits. The various ap- proaches to the cannery are arranged with special view to the convenience of wagons bringing in fruit, and the arrangements for receiving, weighing, and storing the fruit are perfect in the minutest detail. The main entrance is from State Street, and the farmers drive their wagons alongside the scales in the Receiving Clerk's department.
" The interior departments are under the supervision of the most thoroughly skilled workmeu, and the utmost care is exercised in every department. The cans are manufactured, and every portion of the work of canning is performed, on the premises. Some idea of the complex machinery, and the necessity which exists for constant eare and perfect system, may be obtained from the statement that each ean is handled fifty-four times during the process of manufacture, packing, sealing, cooking, examining for leaks, boxing up and shipping. These fifty-four
handlings, 'from the tin to the shipping,' must each be done properly, or the fruit may be worthless, and the fabor lost. Employment is given during th . busy portion of the season to about one hundred women and girls, and to a number of men and boys, While much of the work performed by these hands is very simple and methodical, no part of it can be slighted without great danger of injuring the fruit. Uneeasing anxiety is the price of properly eanned fruit, and no carelessness can be tolerated at any point in the several processes.
The first great difficulty consists in teaching farm- ers the condition in which the fruit should be at the time of picking and delivering at the cannery. Inex- perienced fruit-growers are apt to pick fruits in a green or overripe state, occasioning many losses which ought not to oeeur. It pays to pick fruit carefully, and in the right time. If it is in the right condition to pick one day, the next will be too late. The trees should be gone over many times, and no attempt should be made to pick all at once. If fruit is green, weight is lost; if too ripe, it is spoiled for canning. Above all, it should be brought to the cannery at the earliest possible moment after picking. Here it is assorted according to grades and only the ehoieest specimens are allowed to pas- into the canning department. The reputation o' this eannery has been built up on the choice quality of its fruit, and wherever it has been introduced, it has compared favorably with the best. The fruits of this section are not surpassed by those of any por- tion of California, and many varieties attain a per- fection here which is unknown elsewhere. With the knowledge which our farmers now have, and the admirable facilities which are possessed for can- ning, there is no reason why Santa Barbara apricots. and other fruits, should not aequire a world-wide reputation. The markets for this fruit during the first year were principally San Francisco and New York. The second year all the first year's custom- ers were retained, and a large London market was found. An important trade was also opened with Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities, and the sup- ply did not begin to equal the demand. The yield of the cannery this year will greatly exceed that of both the former years. Nearly all the farmers from Rincon Point to Goleta are bringing in their fruit, and the aggregate quantity will be very great. The present capacity of the eannery is from three to six tons per day, and this can be increased if necessary. As Mr. Knight says, they never refuse a load of good fruit.
The price paid for apricots this year has been two cents per pound. The year before the cannery started, the fruit went begging at a cent a pound, .and quantities rotted on the trees. Thousands of trees have since come into bearing, and tens of thousands have been set out, yet all the fruit that is now grown, and all that will ever be produced, will find a ready cash sale at the cannery. So great has become the enthusiasm of fruit-raisers that, since the cannery started, nurserymen have not been able to supply the demand for budded varieties of apri- eots. When it is remembered that Eastern farmers sell stacks of peaches at fifty cents a bushel, it will be readily conceded that two cents a pound is a living figure for apricots. And yet, when trans- portation facilities are increased, and schedules of freight are redneed, a considerable advance will be made in the price of fruit. San Jose and Los Angeles have direct rail communication with the Eastern States. Canneries at these places can make through
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contracts on material and goods at much less rates than can now be made at Santa Barbara After buying their stock at San Francisco prices, the own- ers of our cannery have to ship it here at a very considerable cost, and when the fruit is eanned it has to be shipped back to San Francisco before it commenees to find a market. The advanced price of sugar, tin, lead, boxes, and other things required in putting up fruit in Santa Barbara, and the heavy freights charged on goods shipped, are not the only elements which tend to create a difference in the price paid for fruit here and in San Jose. The great rivalry which exists between the numerous canneries situated near the overland railway routes is greatly stimulated by the remarkable demand which has recently sprung up in the East for Cali- fornia fruit in its natural condition. Refrigerator ears land this fruit in Chicago, St. Louis, New York, or Philadelphia in almost as good condition as it can be found in the fruit stores of San Franciseo. The trade is becoming of such magnitude that the product of entire orchards in the Santa Clara Val- ley are sold to agents of Eastern fruit dealers at higher prices than the canneries can really afford to pay in justiee to themselves. When Santa Barbara is on the line of a transcontinental railway, and freight tariffs to Chicago will be no greater than they are to San Francisco or Los Angeles, it will readily be granted that the fruit harvest of the Santa Barbara Valley will be worth much more than its present value. But there is certainly a debt of gratitude due to the enterprising gentlemen who have provided a ready market for the fruit crop at existing figures. The cannery is still in its infancy, and the expensive struggle of introducing Santa Bar- bara goods to the markets of the world is not yet wholly completed. Our farmers are therefore wise to lend the enterprise every asistance in their power, and to give it their best co-operation in the way of good fruits, well picked and properly delivered.
RAILROADS.
So far the agitation of railroad matters has not re- sulted in much good to Santa Barbara. The conflict- ing interest of the Texas Paeific, the Atlantic Pacific, the Southern Pacific, as well as others, have resulted in leaving Santa Barbara in her own secluded nook, without railroad communication with the outer world. Daylight seems breaking through the clouds, however. The designs of railroad men are hard to fathom, but it now seems as if a system of narrow- guage roads was being built along the coast which will inelude Santa Barbara in its course. The road has already penetrated the county some fifty miles, and will undoubtedly be built through the Gav- iota or San Marcos Passes in the course of the follow .. ing year or two, when Santa Barbara will be put in easy communication with the sight, pleasure and health-seeking world, and become what it should be, the sanitarium of the United States.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.
The continuous history having been carried down to as recent a period as the circumstances will allow, a few remarks as to the general outlook will be par- doned. The history extends over a period of a hun- dred years, if considered as merely a local affair, and
over a period of three hundred years. if connected with circumstances directly affecting Santa Barbar .. From a Mission to a Mexican Pueblo, with a spar- population consisting mostly of rancheros, living an unambitions life of case and indolence, then a bust ling American town, with the feverish and spasmodic prosperity incident to all towns of sudden growth. then to the steady growth resulting from well-estab lished industries; such is the history of the town. .The county has relatively surpassed the town. Where the thriving towns of Guadalupe, Lompoc. Central City, Los Alamos, Goleta and Carpenteria dot the plains, as late, or later than thirty years ago, the rude vaqueros herded the wild cattle. Then it wa- not believed that general farming was possible: now fields of grain eover the plains and extend far ut. the hill-sides. Then, save at the old Missions not a: apple, pear, grape or other fruit could be obtained now orchards bearing the most luscious fruit al. growing in a thousand places. Then one school ac commodated all that thought it desirable to learn to read; now no cañon or ranch is so remote that it educational advantages are not superior to the best that Old Santa Barbara contained. Then no news paper found its way into the residences even of the wealthiest; now several daily and weekly paper -. published in the county, visit nearly every home. Then information concerning the world at large was unattainable by the common people; now every one is perhaps as well informed of foreign and domestic affairs as were the hereditary rulers. Then land was worth but ten cents to the acre; now the same land is sold for $250. Then the best buildings were adobes of one story, without doors or windows; now the poorest have comfortable residences. There has been a corresponding moral and mental improvement. Life is on a higher plane. Painting, poetry, music and art have been developed until Santa Barbara has a list of artists of more than loeal fame.
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