USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The annals of San Francisco; containing a summary of the history of California, and a complete history of its great city: to which are added, biographical memoirs of some prominent citizens > Part 28
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ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
to south, and one-third of a mile from east to west. In this space was comprehended the most valuable part of the city, and where the most precious goods and merchandise were stored. All was destroyed ! The damage was moderately estimated at from ten to twelve millions of dollars.
WHITNEY JIC
San Francisco after the fire of May 4th, 1851.
In this conflagration some of the old store-ships that had been hauled high upon the beach, and gradually closed in by the streets growing over the bay, were consumed. Of these was the old "Niantic." This vessel had long lain fixed at the corner of Clay and Sansome streets, where the hotel, which bears its name, was afterwards erected. The " Apollo" and " General Harrison" were also burned. Among the incidents of the fire, it may be mentioned that Dewitt & Harrison saved their warehouse by using vinegar in the absence of water, eighty thousand gallons of the former fluid having been employed by them in protecting the building. By breaking up the wharves, and so cutting off the connection with the burning masses, the immense amount of val- uable shipping in the harbor was saved, which at one time was in the most imminent peril.
333
FIFTH GREAT FIRE.
San Francisco had never before suffered so severe a blow, and doubts were entertained by the ignorant that she could possibly recover from its effects. Such doubts were vain. The bay was still there, and the people were also there ; the placers of the State were not yet exhausted, and its soil was as fertile and in- viting as ever. The frightful calamity, no doubt, would retard the triumphant progress of the city-but only for a time. Sour, pseudo-religious folk on the shores of the Atlantic, might mutter of Sodom and Gomorrah, and prate the idlest nonsense, while envious speculators in cities of California itself, that would fain rival the glories of its grand port, might preach till doomsday of the continual strong winds that prevailed in the latter place, and which were certain, so they said, among thousands of wooden houses, to fan the veriest spark into a con- flagration, again and again. The citizens of San Francisco were content only to curse and vow vengeance on the incendiaries that kindled the fire, and resolved to be better prepared in future to resist its spreading ravages. After the first short burst of sorrow, the ruined inhabitants, many of whom had been burned out time after time by the successive fires, began again, like the often per- secuted spider with its new web, to create still another town and another fortune. While the city lay one vast black and still smoking tract, preparations were made to erect new buildings. These were generally at first formed of wood, low in height, limited in extent, and slightly constructed ; but, before long, such rough, slim, temporary structures, began to give place to the present magnificent buildings that decorate our streets. But one other great fire was to come.
CHAPTER XVI.
1851.
T. Butler King removing the custom-house deposits .- Frank Ball's song, and custom-house appoint- ment .- Dr. Robinson's rhymes .- Incendiarism .- The case of Lewis, charged with arson .- The facilities with which criminals escaped from punishment .- The Vigilance Committee .- Contracts of Mr. Merrifield and the Mountain Lake Water Company to supply the city with water.
MAY 28th .- The custom-house, at the corner of Montgomery and California streets, having been destroyed by the fire of the 4th instant, another building was speedily fitted up for the same purposes at the corner of Kearny and Washington streets. The treasure, amounting to upwards of a million of dollars, had been preserved in a large safe (which had escaped damage from the fire) in the old building. To-day the removal of this treasure to the new custom-house took place ; and the manner of doing so created some little excitement and much langhter in the town, from the excessive care and military display which the collector thought fit to adopt on the occasion. Some thirty gigantic, thick-bearded fellows, who were armed with carbines, revolvers and sabres, surrounded the cars containing the specie, while the Honorable T. Butler King stood aloft on a pile of ruins with a huge "Colt" in one hand and a bludgeon in the other, marshal- ling his men and money " the way that they should go." The extraordinary procession proceeded slowly along Montgomery street to the new custom-house, Mr. King, marching, like a proud drum- major, at the head of his miniature grand army. The people, meanwhile, looked on with astonishment, and with some grief, that their city should be considered so lawless and wicked a place as to require so formidable a force even to guard millions of trea- sure in broad daylight, and along one or two of the principal streets, where there were continually present thousands of the
335
REMOVAL OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE TREASURE.
most respectable inhabitants. But immediately the farcical na- ture of the whole exhibition struck the most phlegmatic, and peals of laughter and cries of ironical applause accompanied the brave defenders of " Uncle Sam's" interests to the end of their perilous march. It was felt that there was but one thing wanted to make the show complete-half-a-dozen great guns from the presidio.
In the absence of other matters of local importance, this bloodless achievement formed the subject of a humorous song, composed by a young man of the town, and which he sang in one or more of the public saloons, on many occasions, " with much applause." The thing had a run, and served to fill the clever author's purse. He had a large number of copies litho- graphed, on which was a caricature print of the procession, and these he disposed of at a dollar apiece. In a single night he sold five hundred copies at this rate. As the tune to which the song was set was a popular and easy one, soon the town rang with the story of " The King's Campaign." But besides this effusion, there immediately appeared innumerable paragraphs, squibs, jests, good sayings in social circles and the public jour- nals. It is one of the penalties which people must pay for their superiority in place over their neighbors that their actions are pretty severely criticised, and, when occasion serves, ridiculed. It was so here " with a will," and to Collector King's great mor- tification. " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." But kings and collectors have potent remedies for the many evils that beset them. Frank Ball, the writer of the song in ques- tion, was shortly afterwards sent for by the collector, and favored with a private interview. Ordinary men might have “ beat about the bush," or employed a friend in the little transaction which followed ; but the Hon. T. Butler King, with the same dauntless face which he showed on occasion of the treasure re- moval, bluntly began conversation with the anxious poet, by ask- ing whether he would not like to have a desirable post in the cus- toms. Mr. Ball, gasping with surprise, mumbled, " Yes, surely !" " Then, Sir, it is yours," said the collector, gravely. In gratitude Mr. Ball could do no less than stop singing his famous song, which was doubtless what his honorable and doughty chief ex-
336
ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
pected. Cerberus was sopped. This anecdote would be incom- plete unless we told that certain underlings attached to the cus- tom-house, struck with a new light, began forthwith to chant the obnoxious stanzas. Unluckily they had mistaken the game, for the fact reaching the ears of the collector, one of them, caught in the act, was instantly, though quietly, dismissed from the ser- vice. It was a pretty illustration of the fable of " The Man, the Spaniel, and the Ass."
TREASURE
Caricature.
There are so many serious matters-murders, suicides, larce- nies, grand and petty burglaries, assaults, fires, and the dismal- like in these " Annals," that we are glad, and so too may the reader be, to have an opportunity such as this of introducing a facetious subject, which once delighted the San Franciscans. We, therefore, give an illustration of the caricature above al- luded to, and the song itself :-
REMOVAL OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE TREASURE. 337
"THE KING'S CAMPAIGN ; OR, REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS.
" Come, listen a minute, a song I'll sing, Which I rather calculate will bring Much glory, and all that sort of thing, On the head of our brave Collector King. Ri tu di nu, Ri tu di nu, Ri tu di nu di na.
" Our well-beloved President This famous politician sent, Though I guess we could our money have spent Without aid from the general government. Ri tu di nu, &c.
" In process of time this hero bold Had collected lots of silver and gold, Which he stuck away in a spacious hole, Except what little his officers stole. Ri tu di nu, &c.
" But there came a terrible fire one night, Which put his place in an awful plight, And 'twould have been a heart-rending sight. If the money had not been all right. Ri tu di nu, &c.
" Then he put his officers on the ground, And told 'em the specie vault to surround, And if any 'Sydney Cove' came round, To pick up a cudgel and knock him down. Ri tu di nu, f.c.
" But the money had to be moved away, So he summoned his fighting men one day, And fixed 'em all in marching array, Like a lot of mules hitched on to a dray. Ri tu di nu, &c.
" Then he mounted a brick and made a speech, And unto them this way did preach, --
' Oh, feller-sogers, I beseech You to keep this cash from the people's reach. Ri tu di nu, f.c.
"' For,' said he, "tis well convinced I am, That the people's honesty's all a sham,
22
338
ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
And that no one here is worth a d-n, But the officers of Uncle Sam.'
Ri tu di nu, g.c.
" Then he drew his revolver, and told 'em to start, But be sure to keep their eyes on the cart, And not to be at all faint of heart,
But to tread right up, and try to look smart. Ri tu di nu, g.c.
" Then each man grasped his sword and gun, The babies squalled and the women run, And all agreed that the King was one Of the greatest warriors under the sun. Ri tu di nu, Ri tu di nu, Ri tu di nu di na."
They were a wild, perverse race, the San Franciscans in those days, taking much delight in whatever mortified the "city fathers." They are immoderately fond of fun and devilment still ; and any thing of a peculiar spicy nature,-from a simple fall in the mud, or the kissing of a pretty girl, up to the five thousand dollar bribe of a senator, or a municipal papa, or grand- papa being caught lurking about the premises of a jealous mar- ried man, flies like lightning, or their own great fires over the whole city. The people live so much together in hotels and boarding-houses, they meet so frequently for talk and drink (in vino veritas) at bars and billiard-rooms, that every piece of scan- dal or matter of public interest is sure to ooze out and be dis- cussed in all its bearings. A dozen daily papers by hint, inu- endo, broad allusion, and description, considerably assist the promulgation and spreading of idle tales. Hence, they often as- sumed an importance which other communities may think they scarcely deserve. The year of which we write, 1851, had a full share of such local and temporary facetice, some of which may appear worthy of record, if it were only to illustrate the times. The affairs of the aldermen's salaries and the curious medal busi- ness were both prolific subjects for jesting and outrageous merri- ment. Dr. D. G. Robinson, a proprietor of the Dramatic Mu- seum, gained considerable popularity by a series of doggerel, " random rhymes " which he gave on his own stage, in which al-
339
INCENDIARIES AND OTHER CRIMINALS.
most every municipal man of mark was hit off, and sometimes pretty hardly too. So highly were these verses relished, and so much favor did the author gain thereby with the people, that Dr. Robinson was triumphantly returned as alderman to fill a vacancy which had occurred in the first board. He was after- wards seriously named as likely to be the most popular candidate for the mayoralty in 1852. Such rewards do the generous citi- zens bestow upon those who amuse them. Dr. Robinson's rhymes were subsequently collected into a small printed pamphlet, which will no doubt possess much interest to such as still relish the gossip and scandal of the day. It would be out of place to give here any characteristic quotations from the work. People look back already with surprise to the favorable notoriety which these songs gained for their author, and more especially to the elevated position to which they were the means of raising him. We have narrated the absurd affair of the removal of the trea- sure, and given the relative song, only because they were reck- oned rather important events of the time, and concerning which there was much public merriment for a long period afterwards. The parties interested can now well afford to laugh heartily at the whole business. These things, also, form one illustration of the state of society and "life" in San Francisco at the date of their occurrence.
JUNE 3d .- For some time back the attempts of incendiaries to fire the city seem to be increasing. Cases of this nature are occurring daily, where the suspicious circumstances are evident, but where unfortunately the really guilty party cannot be de- tected. It is extremely difficult to discover criminals in the very act of committing arson. Incendiaries do their deeds only in dark and secret corners, and if interrupted, they have always ready a dozen trifling excuses for their appearance and behavior. The train and the slow match can be laid almost any where un- observed, while the " foul fiend" quietly steals away in safety. The inhabitants had got nervously sensitive to the slightest alarm of fire, and were greatly enraged against the presumed incendia- ries. This day one Benjamin Lewis underwent a primary exam- ination on the charge of arson. As the evidence was being taken, the Recorder's Court began to fill, and much excitement
340
ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
to spread among the people. At this time, a cry of "fire !" was raised, and great confusion took place in the court-room, people rushing desperately out and in to learn particulars. This was a false alarm. It was believed to be only a ruse to enable the prisoner's friends to rescue him from the hands of justice. The latter was therefore removed for safety to another place. Mean- while, some three or four thousand persons had collected outside of the building, who began to get furious, continually uttering loud cries of " Lynch the villain ! Hang the fire-raising wretch ! Bring him out-no mercy-no law delays ! Hang him-hang him!" Colonel Stevenson harangued the crowd in strong lan- guage, encouraging the violent feelings that had been excited against the prisoner. Mayor Brenham endeavored to calm the enraged multitude. Loud calls were at length made for " Bran- nan," to which that gentleman quickly responded, and advised that the prisoner should be given in charge to the " volunteer police," which had been recently formed. A motion to this effect was put and unanimously carried. But when the prisoner was looked for, it was found that the regular police had mean- while carried him out of the way-nobody knew, or would tell where. Perforce the crowd was obliged to be satisfied, and late in the afternoon it gradually dispersed.
This is one instance of the scenes of popular excitement which were now of frequent occurrence in the city. Repeated losses by fire, and the terrible array of unpunished, undetected, triumphant crime, were turning the inhabitants absolutely savage against the supposed criminals. Matters were coming fast to a head, which was immediately to ripen into the " Vigilance Com- mittee." All these popular " demonstrations" were ineffectual in deterring the "Sydney coves," and those of a like character, from the commission of the most reckless, wanton, and flagrant outrages. Incendiary attempts were now remarked almost daily. Not only the desire for plunder, but malice against individuals, and an unnatural lust for general destruction, seemed to inspire the villains.
In regard to the particular case of Lewis, it may be men- tioned that the grand jury found a true bill against him for arson. Twice shortly afterwards was he brought before the Dis-
341
MOUNTAIN LAKE WATER COMPANY.
trict Criminal Court for trial, and on each occasion his counsel found a "flaw" in the indictment, which quashed the proceed- ings. These delays and defects in the law were working the suf- fering people up to madness. This is only one case, but it may be taken as a fair specimen of the general inefficiency of the ju- dicial officers and tribunals in punishing crime. The grand juries were continually making formal complaints that their present- ments were disregarded, and that criminals were somehow never convicted and punished, while generally their trials were so long delayed that the prisoners either escaped from confinement, or the essential witnesses in the case had gone nobody knew whither ; and so the prosecutions failed. San Francisco was truly in a desperate condition at this period of its history. Though few arrests were made in proportion to the number of offences actually committed, yet it may be mentioned, that, to take one instance, on Monday morning, the 9th June of this year, there were thirty- six cases before the Recorder's Criminal Court from one district alone (the second), out of the eight composing the city. " Of the whole," we quote from a journal of the time, "six were for drunkenness, six for fighting, six for larceny, three for stabbing, one for burglary, four for fast riding, four for assaulting officers, three for keeping disorderly houses, one for an attempt at rob- bery," &c. Yet the previous day, Sunday, on which these of- fences had been committed, had been remarked by the press as having been unusually quiet and decently observed-without any noise or crime worth noticing.
Of this date an ordinance was passed by the council boards, and approved of by the mayor, granting to Mr. Arzo D. Merrifield and his assigns, the privilege of introducing fresh water by pipes into the city. It had happened at the various fires that the numerous public water reservoirs were either wholly or partially empty ; and great difficulty was at all times experienced in filling them. This reason, as well as the desire to have an abundant supply of pure, fresh water for household purposes, had long led parties to consider the best means of bringing it into the city by pipes from a dis- tance. Various schemes were talked of among the public, and discussed in the journals. The plan of Mr. Merrifield to bring
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ANNALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
water from a small lagoon, called the " Mountain Lake," situ- ated about four miles west of the plaza, and which was well sup- plied by springs, was at length approved of by the common council, and under the ordinance noticed the projector became entitled to certain privileges for the term of twenty-five years, upon condition of his plans being carried into effect. Mr. Merri- field, his associates and assigns, were authorized to break open the streets, and lay down water-pipes in the same, upon properly filling up and replacing the openings. The quantity of water to be provided in a general reservoir, and the amount of discharge by pipes, were both fixed ; while provision was made for the amount of rates to be paid by the citizens using the water, which rates were to be adjusted by a board of commissioners to be chosen annually by the common council. At the end of twenty- five years, from and after the 1st day of January, 1853, the en- tire water-works were to be deeded to the city, in consideration of the privileges and benefits that might accrue to the projector and his assigns and associates during the said term of years. The corporate authorities were also to be entitled to the gratuitous use of the water for the purpose of extinguishing fires, and for hospital and other purposes. In terms of this act, Mr. Merrifield granted a bond for fifty thousand dollars that the works should be completed on or before the 1st of January, 1853.
The gentleman named having conveyed his privileges to a joint-stock company, called the " Mountain Lake Water Com- pany," another ordinance was, of date 14th of July, 1852, passed and approved of, whereby the former one was amended to the following effect, viz. : That the new company should only be en- titled to the privileges granted by the first ordinance for the term of twenty years :- that the board of commissioners to fix the rates payable by those who used the water should be chosen, three by the common council, and two by the Mountain Lake Water Company, under the regulations specified in the ordi- nance :- that the term within which the works should be con- pleted should be extended to the 1st of January, 1854, provided the Water Company should expend fifty thousand dollars on the works within six months of the date of the ordinance, and at least a similar sum every six months thereafter until the said last
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HANGING OF JENKINS.
mentioned date :- that the privileges granted to the said Water Company should be exclusive for the term of five years after 1st of January, 1853 ;- and, lastly, that the said ordinance should expire at such time after the 1st day of January, 1855, as the said Water Company should refuse, or be unable, to supply the city, at such elevation as the common council should fix, "one million of gallons of pure and wholesome fresh water during every twenty-four hours."
74
ST QLES
Thisaulas
Hanging of Jenkins on the Plaza.
JUNE 11th .- The " Vigilance Committee" is at last formed, and in good working order. They hanged at two o'clock this morning upon the plaza one Jenkins, for stealing a safe. For the particulars of the trial and execution, we refer the reader to a subsequent chapter, where also will be found an account of the other doings of this celebrated association.
1
CHAPTER XVII.
1851.
The sixth great fire .- Destruction of old buildings .- Execution by the Vigilance Committee of Stuart, Whittaker and Mckenzie .- County and city elections .- The Vigilance Committee sus- pend operations .- Wells & Co. suspend payment .- Opening of the Jenny Lind Theatre .- The American Theatre opened .- Shipping in San Francisco Bay .- Ball of the Monumental Fire Company .- Indian disturbances and volunteer military companies .-- Severe storm.
JUNE 22d .- The sixth great fire. It began a few minutes before eleven o'clock in the morning, in a frame house situated on the north side of Pacific street, close to Powell street. The high winds which usually set in about this hour from the ocean during the summer season, speedily fanned the flames, and drove them south and east. All day they spread from street to street, consuming one building-square after another. The water reser- voirs happened to be nearly empty, and even where the firemen had water enough for the engines, their exertions were of little use in stopping the conflagration. Nor was it much better with the hook and ladder companies, whose useful operations were thwarted by the owners of the property they were seeking to pull down for the common good. Subsequent inquiries seemed to show that the fire must have been raised by incendiaries, while several attempts were detected during the day to kindle various distant quarters of the town, yet untouched by the flames. The fire extended from Powell nearly to Sansome street, and from Clay street to Broadway. Within these limits ten entire squares were destroyed, and large parts of six others. The total damage was estimated at three millions of dollars. Happily the chief business portion of the town escaped, and which had suffered so severely six or seven weeks before. In the fire of the 4th May, every newspaper establishment in the city, except that of the " Alta California," was totally destroyed. In the fire of the 22d
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SIXTH GREAT FIRE.
instant, all escaped, except that of the journal named. These conflagrations made no distinctions of persons or properties ; but with a wild justice, sooner or later, reduced all to the same level. The proprietors of the Alta now lost their building, presses, types, paper and office furniture, just as their brethren of the broad sheet were ruined before. The City Hall, located at the corner of Kearny and Pacific streets, which had been originally erected at an immense expense as a hotel, and was purchased more than a year before by the corporation for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and improved at a heavy cost, was totally consumed, although the principal office records were saved. Mr. Thomas Maguire, the proprietor of the "Jenny Lind Theatre," on the plaza, which was a most valuable building, now lost all again,-a sixth time, by fire ! But it is needless to particularize losses, where every citizen may be said to have been burned out several times, and to have again and again lost his all. With a sigh or a laugh, according to the temperament of the sufferer, he just began once more to raise his house, stock it with new goods, and arrange his future plans. The indefatigable spider was at work again.
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