USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume I > Part 59
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Woman Suffrage Movement
Another indication of the spirit of unrest in California at the beginning of the Seventies was the attempt to persuade the legislature to submit an amendment to the constitution according to women the right to vote. A petition was presented in the assembly on March 2, 1870, and a committee of five was appointed to formulate such an amendment; but when it was submitted it was refused engrossment by a
Appoint- ment of Assessors Urged
429
SAN FRANCISCO
vote of 47 noes to 23 ayes. There was not much agitation of the subject in advance of the presentation of the petition, and the summary action of the legislature in refusing to submit the proposed amendment to the people was not regarded as an arbitrary act. The paramount political idea of the period was that stability of government could only be secured by avoiding precipitate action; and in the matter of changing the fundamental law every precaution was taken to prevent the evil effects of popular caprice, by compelling the electorate to carefully consider in ad- vance the probable or possible effect of changes in the organic instrument.
CHAPTER XLIV
SOCIAL SIDE OF LIFE IN SAN FRANCISCO IN THE SIXTIES
THE VACATION HABIT STILL UNDEVELOPED-NEAR-BY ATTRACTIONS-GOLDEN GATE PARK BEFORE IT WAS RECLAIMED-THE CLIFF HOUSE AND WOODWARD'S GARDENS FAVORITE RESORTS-GRAND OPERA GREATLY APPRECIATED-FAVORITE OPERAS OF EARLY DAYS-CONCERTS POPULAR-THE REIGN OF MINSTRELSY-ACTORS OF PIO- NEER DAYS-THE DRAMA DURING THE SIXTIES-VOGUE OF BENEFIT PERFORMANCES -BIG PRICES PAID TO HEAR EDWIN FORREST-HARRIGAN AND OTHER CALIFORNIA FAVORITES-EARLY VAUDEVILLE-LOCATION' OF OLD TIME THEATERS-SAN FRAN- CISCO'S FIRST DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE-SOCIETY IN THE FORMATIVE STAGE-FIRE AND MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS-PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS-SPORTS-POLITICAL TURN- OUTS.
CITY
AN
A Stay at Home People
HE resident of San Francisco in the Sixties was not much addicted to gadding about. In a preceding chapter the reproach brought by Oaklanders that there were many people living on the peninsula who had never taken advan- O tage of the opportunity which a commodious ferry boat * SE OF SA presented to visit the eastern shores of the bay was reproduced, and it appears from other sources that the San Franciscans were equally indifferent to the attractions of other parts of the out- side world during the decade. In an article published in the editorial columns of the "Bulletin" in 1870 there is an enthusiastic description of the glories of a nearby Redwood forest, and an appreciation of the floral beauties of the fields which has for its peroration words of advice to get away from work and enjoy Nature. The declared purpose of the writer was to impress on readers the folly of making a daily grind of life when it is so easy to break away occasionally and get some real delight out of living.
As editors were still in the habit of writing eulogies on the delights, and the bene- fits resulting from the vacation habit many years after, which were accompanied with awful warnings against the dangers that menace men who refuse to rest, the investigator might easily commit the blunder of assuming that life in San Francisco was lived under the high pressure system at this particular period. But nothing would be further from the truth. It is true that the vacation habit was not general in the Sixties, but that was more due to the fact that getting about was not as easy as it is at present, and more particularly to the feeling that the comforts of the town far surpassed those offered by the country. Besides the equable climate marked out no special time for the business man to take a rest, or for the lounger to flee from the discomforts of the City. There was no season of the year in which a man could
Vacation Habit Undeveloped
431
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SAN FRANCISCO
not work in perfect comfort, so it became the fashion to work on interruptedly until another fashion superseded it, and then men and women went to the country because it was the fashion to do so.
Country Resorts
Still there were some who sought out the places where Nature might be enjoyed, and where the physical man might be built up. The various springs within a com- fortable distance of the City had a fair share of patronage, and those who visited them were offered conveniences which were not so common at the time as they became later. Thus we find in an announcement of the attractions of the Calistoga Hot Springs that "an important advantage is the telegraph connecting the hotel with every part of the state." There was also an alluring intimation that the visitor to the hotel which was situated three and a half hours travel from San Francisco by boat and train would be met on the arrival of the latter at the terminus by the stages of "the renowned Foss and Connolly line." The stage had not yet become a thing of the past in city or country, and the people took as much interest in the statement that a new line of "busses" had been put on as they now do in the an- nouncement that a new limited overland train, made up of palace sleeping, dining and observation cars will be dispatched daily.
Near By Attractions
In a circular adorned by a rude wood cut which was disseminated in 1870 we find several interesting bits of information. It opens with the words "Roaring Ocean! Surging Breakers," and closes with the statement that the Cliff house can be reached by "new covered busses connecting with the Lone Mountain cars every half hour." It contained a neat touch which must have appealed strongly, namely, "Take you out in buggy time." That was a phrase full of significance to the San Franciscan of 1870, for it meant "going some, and then some," and to him who had no buggy it conveyed the joyful tidings that if he went to the Cliff he would not have to take everybody's dust. In the early Seventies the Cliff house had already achieved fame as a resort, and no traveler who visited the City failed to make a trip to see the seals. To have done so would have been, in the estimation of most San Franciscans at that time, a case of playing Hamlet and omitting the melancholy Dane.
The Park Before it Was Reclaimed
In 1870 the expanse of land now covered by trees, shrubbery and lawns, and known as Golden Gate park, was a waste of sand. The dunes presented an unprom- ising appearance, and the landscape gardener who foresaw their redemption must have been gifted with a powerful imagination. Like the billows of the ocean the roll- ing hills stretched away in the direction of the City, and to the accustomed eye they gave evidence that they were not always in repose. But the outlook appeared to have no discouragement for those who were determined to create a park. Their faith in themselves was unbounded. They wrote letters to the papers describing what Holland had done in the way of converting water into land, and in resisting the encroachments of old ocean and said what the Dutch have done we can do and they and their successors energetically set to work to verify their predictions, and make the best of the bad bargain imposed on the City by the greedy squatters.
The Cliff House
The attractions of the Cliff house were limited. The stranger enjoyed the novelty of seeing the huge seals disporting on the rocks in plain view from the porch, but the San Franciscan's visit to the resort was more intimately connected with the delight of speeding over the road behind a swift horse or a pair of them, and the refreshments served at the restaurant at the end of the sprint. Very often the drive was punctuated by stops at roadside houses, for the pleasure seeker in the
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THE SAND DUNES OF GOLDEN GATE PARK BEFORE THEY WERE CONVERTED INTO A GARDEN View from the old Seal Rock House, taken in 1865. The work of reclaiming the sand dunes was not begun until the seventies
433
SAN FRANCISCO
Sixties was very apt to feel the same aversion for long periods between drinks as the governor of North Carolina whose name has come down to us in history as a stal- wart objector to human drouth. During the period when speculation in mining stocks was brisk a good observer with an extended city acquaintance, by stationing himself at some vantage point on the Cliff house road could easily tell who had been lucky or unlucky in the contest between the bulls and the bears.
The popularity of Woodward's Gardens was of a different sort. Its attractions appealed to the family man, and papa and mama with their progeny thronged the resort on Sundays and holidays, and to some extent divided their Saturday afternoon between it and the theater matinees. The performances in the pavilion of the gar- den, a great barn-like structure, guiltless of decoration of any kind, with wooden stationary benches, were not neglected by the people, but from the stress laid upon the special attractions of the menagerie, such as the acquisition of a "Japanese rooster with a tail twenty-six feet long," and other astonishing natural history freaks, it is reasonable to suppose that the management regarded the histrionic features of their concern as subordinate to the main purpose of inducing the citizen of San Francisco to take some recreation in the open air which he had to do if he wished to take in all the sights, as the monkeys and other animals, those in cages and those in paddocks, were not crowded into a stuffy enclosure, but were placed where they could be seen without the accompanying infliction of bad odors. Then there was the aquarium and the aviary, both creditable in their arrangement and the variety of their exhibits, so on the whole Woodward's in the Sixties was pretty well abreast of the times, and served as an excellent substitute for a public park, even if an entrance fee was cxacted.
If the standard of the dramatic and musical performances at Woodward's Gardens was not high, that reproach cannot be brought against the professional caterers for the amusement of San Franciscans in the Sixties. Something has already been said about the extraordinary devotion of the pioneers to music and the drama. The development of this predilection was so rapid it almost denies the suggestion of evo- lution. It is true that for the first two or three years after gold was found at Sutter's fort the circus held triumphant sway in San Francisco, but its place was soon usurped by high class amusements. The sawdust ring gave way to grand opera, and no city in America was more eager to hear the latest production of the great composers than the new town by the Golden Gate. As early as 1851 there were regular performances of Italian and French opera, and in some years, as in 1858, there were as many as eleven seasons. A simple enumeration of the various com- panies visiting the City between 1851 and 1861 will indicate the strong hold music had on the populace during the decade. In 1851 and again in 1853 the Pellegrini Opera Company sang Italian opera; in 1853 the Planel French Opera Company was at the Adelphi; in 1854 Thillon's English Opera Company appeared at the Metropolitan and later in the same year a French company sang in the same house. In 1854 the San Franciscans seem to have surrendered to opera, for in addition to the companies mentioned Kate Hayes, a great local celebrity, gave Italian opera and Madame Anna Bishop made her first appearance singing in Norma, Sonnambula and Don Pasquale. The company to which she belonged gave two seasons as did also the Thillon English Opera Company, and in the same years Madame Barili-Thorn also sang. In 1855 Madame Bishop repeated her triumphs and formed an alliance with Madame Barili which was known as the Bishop-Thorn combination. Signora Gar- Vol. I-28
Popularity of Woodward's Gardens
Grand Opera in San Francisco
434
SAN FRANCISCO
batas also appeared at the Metropolitan. In 1856-8 a French company sang at the Metropolitan and in 1859 Bianchi was at Maguire's opera house on Washington street and was followed in the same house later in the year by Lyster's English Opera Company which gave four seasons. The same company gave performances in Italian and English in 1860 at Maguire's.
Favorite Operas of the Fifties
From the same source that this information was derived we are able to resurrect the programmes and gain a knowledge of the class of music which appealed to the miners and the rather mixed population of San Francisco in the Fifties. In 1851 the San Franciscans heard Sonambula, Norma, La Fille du Regiment, Favorita, Dame Blanche, Gilles Ravasseur and The Barbieire de Seville. In 1854 The Crown Diamond, Daughter of the Regiment, Black Domino, Bohemian Girl, Lucia, Norma, Don Pasquale, El Maestro de Capella, The Enchantress, Cinderella, The Pride of the Harem, Linda de Chammonai, Der Freischutz, Judith, Martha, Jeanette's Wed- ding, Ernani, Lucrezia Borgia, Nabuco, Marie de Rohan and Fra Diavolo. In 1885 Robert La Diable was given five nights in succession and L Elisir d'Amore, Don Giovanni, I Duc Foscari, I Lombardi and La Gazza Ladra were sung. The list of 1860 repeats many familiar operas, Favorita, Lucia, Bohemian Girl, Traviata, Norma Maritana, Ernani, Lucrezia Borgia, Trovatore, Sonambula, Lurline, Der Freischutz, Fra Diavolo, Midas, Rigoletto and The Rose of Castile.
The habitual opera goer whose knowledge of the chronology of musical compo- sition has not been cultivated will be surprised to find how nearly modern taste harmonizes with that of half a century ago. With few exceptions all the operas sung in the Fifties in San Francisco are still held in high esteem, and some of them ignored for a time have been resurrected very recently. But there is evidence of a vast difference in the taste of the two periods. Five nights of Meyerbeer's Robert La Diable would not be offered by the most venturesome twentieth century manager, nor would the bravest prima donna dare to sing Norma night after night as Madame Anna Bishop did with the enthusiastic approval of her audiences, but it may be fairly said that taken as a whole a repertoire could be reconstructed from the pro- grammes of the Fifties, which with a few additions would satisfy the most exacting modern opera goer.
During the Sixties there was no abatement of this musical fervor. The very ample diary from which this information is extracted tersely states that "there was no opera in 1861." No explanation of the failure of the impressario to provide that form of amusement is given, but it was probably due to the disorganized condition of affairs at the East. In the following year, however, the purveyors of music resumed their activities. In 1868 Biscaccianti, who became a great favorite, made her appearance in Italian opera, and the Bianchi Company gave three seasons in May, July and August and in October to December. In the ensuing year the same com- pany entertained the people week after week, and Madame d'Ormy's company sang Il Polutio. By the close of the year Signora Bianchi's name was a household word, and her latest programme made the interesting announcement that it was her twelfth season. It also contained the name of Roncovieri, a member of her company and the father of Alfred Roncovieri, superintendent of public instruction in 1912. In 1864 the Ghioni Italian Opera Company and the Richings' Opera Company sang in the City. Caroline Richings was then at the zenith of her popularity and the San Franciscans testified their liking for her by giving a good support to the company during four seasons between June 9th and October 31. In 1865 the Bianchi Com-
Opera in the Sixties
Heavy Operas Enjoy Favor
435
SAN FRANCISCO
pany gave its 13th season, and produced Faust which had its first representation in this City on May 17th. It had been performed several years earlier in Paris, but it was a novelty in San Francisco and was greatly appreciated, being sung three successive nights to crowded houses. Adelaide Phillips and Madame Anna Bishop also entertained the San Franciscans in 1865, the latter giving her twelfth season in that year. In 1866 there was a three months' season by the Brambilla Company, an English company known as Howsons, and Bianchi gave her 14th season. La Juive and Crispano e la Comare were produced. In 1867 there was a new candidate for favor-the Bonheur Italian Opera Company, and the Howsons and Bianchi com- panies also performed. In 1868 the principal musical event was the opening of a season of fifty nights by Parepa Rosa at the Metropolitan. In addition to this the Lyster Opera Company from Australia sang at the same opera house, the engage- ment extending into 1869. In 1870 Carandinis Opera Company from Australia won a measure of success from the general excellence of its performances, which, however, were not noteworthy because of the failure to present acceptable singers in the leading roles.
The popularity of concert singing was very decided in San Francisco, and some of the artists who achieved success in opera appear to have made their talent do double duty. The high rates of admission charged, and cheerfully paid, was doubtless the temptation. In 1852, 1853 and 1854 Kate Hayes was able to secure audiences at prices ranging from $5 to $2. Miska Hauser also sang to $5, $3 and $2 seats, and Madame Bishop's popularity was great enough to permit her to exact the same rates in 1854. But before the end of the decade Madame Elise Biscaccianti, who had obtained $5 for seats in 1852 was pleased to sing for a $1 admission. In the Sixties there was an evident inclination for classical and serious musical compositions. The Bianchis in 1866 sang Mozart's Grand Requiem Mass at the Metropolitan theater with a chorus of 15 tenors, 15 bassos, 8 sopranos and 4 contraltos. The orchestra was well balanced consisting of 34 pieces and was composed of 5 first violins, 4 sec- ond, 3 violos, 3 violoncellos, 2 contra bassi, 2 flutes, 2 clarionettes, 2 horns, 2 trum- pets, 3 trombones, 2 bassoons, 2 oboes, 1 tympanum, 1 grande caisse and cymbals. A couple of years later the Parepa Rosa Company rendered The Creation on two suc- ceeding Sunday nights, but the oratorio was by no means new to San Franciscans, Madame Anna Bishop having produced it by request in 1855, and also the Stabat Mater of Rossini.
It would grossly misrepresent the musical status and taste of the early San Franciscans to permit it to be supposed that they were wholly absorbed by the higher class of compositions. The people of the Fifties and the Sixties were many sided in their likes and dislikes and took with equal kindness to oratorio and negro min- strelsy. The veracious diarist has recorded for us a procession of minstrel com- panies between 1849 and 1870 which suggests an uninterrupted popularity enjoyed by the burnt cork artists during the period embraced between the two dates. Com- mencing with the Philadelphia Minstrels, who opened at the Bella Union on the night of October 22, 1849, we have the following formidable list: Philadelphia Min- strels, 1849-1851; Pacific Minstrels, Washington hall, 1849; Virginia Serenaders, Washington hall, 1850; Sable Harmonists, at the Jenny Lind in 1851; Buckley's New Orleans Serenaders at the Adelphi, 1852; Rainey and Donaldsons at the Amer- ican, 1852; Buckley's Minstrels, 1852; Rainer's Operatic Serenaders at the Amer- ican, 1852; Campbell's Minstrels, 1852; Buckley's Minstrels, Sable Harmonists,
Popularity of Concerts
Reign of the Minstrel
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SAN FRANCISCO
Tracy's Minstrels and Donnelly's Minstrels in 1853; Backus' Minstrels and Christy's Minstrels in 1854; Christy and Backus' Minstrels and the San Francisco Minstrels in 1855; the same companies in 1856; Max Zorers, Woods Minstrels, and San Fran- cisco Minstrels in 1857; California Minstrels, San Francisco Minstrels, Christy's Minstrels and Lyceum Minstrels in 1858; San Francisco Minstrels, Wills and Hus- sey's Minstrels and Billy Burch's Minstrels in 1859; Hussey's Minstrels, Burch and Murphy's Minstrels and Billy Burch's Minstrels in 1860.
There is no mention of any company performing in 1861 but the popularity of minstrelsy remained unabated during the remainder of the decade with chang- ing candidates for public favor. In 1862 there were four companies: Sam Pride's Colored Minstrels, W. H. Smith's Minstrels, San Francisco Minstrels and the Minstrel and Vaudeville Troupe. In 1863 the San Francisco Minstrels had the field all to themselves. In 1864 the San Francisco Minstrels shared popularity with Ben Cotton's and Murphy and Bray's Minstrels. In 1865 there were three troupes: the Wellington, the San Francisco and Hussey's New York Minstrels. In 1866 there was a company which described itself as a Minstrel Tournament, and Talbot's Minstrels. In 1867 the Wellington Minstrels, Leslie and Raynor's Minstrels and Dan Bryant and Joe Murphy's Minstrels in 1868. Smith & Co.'s Minstrels and the California Minstrels held forth and the latter company maintained its existence a couple of years longer and began to witness the waning of the popularity of a style of amusement which had attracted the American and had subtracted his dol- lars during many years. After the Seventies there were sporadic recurrences of the minstrel fever in San Francisco and towards the close of the decade there was a revival which lasted into the Eighties, but the palmy days of minstrelsy passed with the Seventies.
In reviewing the course of the drama in the Sixties the names of many actors who were favorites during the preceding decade are met with. James Stark, a tragedian who appeared with Mrs. Kirby at the Jenny Lind theater in 1850 made his appearance nearly every year during the Sixties. He was very versatile and gave the first representation of the roles of Brutus, Coriolanus, King Lear, Falstaff, Shylock, Sir Giles Overreach, Richelieu, Ingomar, Hamlet, and Virginius in San Francisco. Buchanan McKean, who had been a favorite in the City about the time of the second Vigilante episode, reappeared and performed in 1861, 2, 3 and 4 at the Metropolitan opera house. It is related of Mckean that while acting Pizarro in February, 1856, he refused to finish the last act because Cora's child cried aloud in the audience. Cora was the man who committed the crime which brought the wrath of the San Franciscans to a head and set the Vigilance Committee in motion. McKean subsequently expressed himself very strongly on the subject of bringing children to playhouses. C. N. Thorne, Sr., a very popular actor during the Fifties, and familiarly known to the theatergoers of San Francisco, returned to the City in 1861 and was at the American and Metropolitan during the ensuing four years. Frank Mayo, a name not unknown to the present generation of theatergoers began his career in San Francisco during the turbulent year 1856 and returned to the City in 1858 and appeared frequently between that date and 1865. Edwin Adams, who made his appearance in 1867, became a great favorite. ' He was a tragedian of note and fully reciprocated the appreciation of the Californians. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean visited San Francisco in 1864 and in 1865 they played an extended engagement, the receipts of which averaged $1,100 a performance.
Actors of Pioneer Days
Minstrels of the Sixties
N
CO
MARKET STREET IN 1865, LOOKING TOWARD TWIN PEAKS
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SAN FRANCISCO
There were other favorites in the Sixties whose names are still more than a mere memory to the present generation. John Drew, the father of the present well known actor of that name appeared in 1859, and there is a significant mention of . the fact that his burlesques at the Opera House were so popular that prices of ad- mission were raised. He reappeared several times in 1860, 1861 and 1862. Ma- tilda Heron appeared at the Opera House on Washington street in 1865 after several years absence from the City. Julia Dean Hayne, another celebrity who had first appeared in 1856 in "The Hunchback" returned to San Francisco in 1860, reappearing regularly every year until her death in New York in 1865. Charlotte Thompson and Mrs. D. P. Bowers and C. W. Couldock visited the City towards the end of the Sixties and played successful engagements.
The sensationally and frivolously inclined were by no means neglected by man- agers in catering. There was for instance Ada Isaacs Menkin who made a thrilling descent from the highest part of the stage bound to the back of a galloping horse in the drama of Mazeppa. The actress had other talents than the ability to stay on a horse when tied to the animal; she also wrote poetry, which however, was not near so popular as her shapely form encased in tights. Dancing was by no means a neglected art, and the appreciation it commanded explains in part the strong hold maintained by the negro minstrel troops whose programmes always contained "terpsichorean" numbers.
In the attitude of San Francisco audiences towards the dramatic profession there is discovered a note of fondness which one seeks for in vain in the reminis- cences of the stage in other cities. There is a surprising number of artists who were literally appropriated by San Franciscans and virtually adopted. Edwin Adams, who had first appeared in San Francisco in 1867, when his health failed some years later, returned to the City and was given a rousing "welcome home" benefit which netted $3,000. It is said of him that the warmth of the appreciation of San Franciscans had so endeared the City to him that he constantly longed to make his home with its people. Mrs. Judah, who began her career as early as 1852, years after her practical retirement from the boards, when she could be in- duced to play a character part with some great actor or actors, would receive ova- tions calculated to disturb the equanimity of the star. Alice Kingsbury was another actress who obtained a strong hold on the affections of the people. The parts which she most preferred and which San Franciscans liked best to see her perform were "Fanchon" and "Topsy," but she was an excellent all around character impersonator and had marked literary inclinations.
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