USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1893 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 5
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THE COUNTRY FOR WHICH YOU FOUGIIT.
After breakfast Mr. Wilson, Ed and I took a stroll through the Chinese fishing village of Pescadero and found some things worth seeing, perhaps, but what we saw on this little stroll may be described as the filthiest looking of anything we saw during the whole trip. The boats had come in from the night's fishing, bringing bushels and bushels of squid. A por- tion of these were being cleaned and prepared for drying by toothless old Chinamen of hideous looks, and this operation, with the surroundings and the unhealthy look of the fish, was enough to make one shudder on being told that these were being prepared for food, though there was a bit of reaction on being told they were all to be sent to China. But the greater portion of the catch was to be dried for fertilizing purposes, and Chinamen were busy spreading them over the fields to give the sun a chance to get at them. The fish were handled in buckets and with shovels, and as they resembled nothing more than half-made, light-colored jelly, full of all kinds of dirt, the process was a sickening one to look at. We did not watch the process any longer than was necessary to get an idea of it. We also made an inspection of the village, looking into the houses and at the people, but a very brief inspection was enough.
Learning that the "long drive was one of the attractions of Monterey, Ed and I hired a team at a wonderfully reason- able price for a favorite resort, and took the drive. Well, it paid. Whoever did not take that drive made a mistake. For seventeen miles we rode, now along a beautiful beach, now along rugged cliffs, with ever varying scenery, with something new to look at and enjoy all the time. At seal rock we stop- ped awhile to watch the movements of the hundreds of seals, which is always interesting. Far out, miles from any signs of civilization, we found a lone Chinaman, squatting on the ground by the side of a small collection of shells. It seemed comical to find him there, and we wondered where he was going to find any customers, but when a carriage came along and the lady therein made purchases for " cach of her Sun- day school scholars," and then we made several purchases,
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we began' to see that he had not made a mistake in his location. He was a happy Chinaman, all smiles, and I could not help thinking of my friend's Indian experience, and won- dering if he were not laughing at the fool Melican man who bought his shells.
FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE ESSEX CRUISE.
Monday morning, May 23d, we awoke to find the train in motion, and by the usual breakfast time were at San Jose (pronounced San 'Osay)-as pretty a city as we saw. We rode around the city, obtaining a good view of the Lick Ob- servatory, at Mount Hamilton, more than forty miles away, paying visits to East San Jose and Santa Clara, rolling ten pins in a pretty little alley which we found way out nowhere in particular, and passing a very enjoyable forenoon, secing new beauties everywhere. It would have taken but very little temptation for Ed and I to remain at San Jose, there is so much there that is attractive, and there is such a cozy, home- like look, and so many signs of taste in all directions. The famous electric lighting tower in the centre of the city is alike a wonder to all visitors, and a suggestion to all munici- palities which light the streets by electricity. The light is placed in the top of the tower, one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet high, and sheds its radiance all around -- in the yards, back and front, as well as in the streets-throw- ing a soft mellow light far more pleasant to the eye than are the electric lights placed on poles only a short distance above the line of vision, and diffusing more light where it can be utilized than by any other mode of lighting which we saw. It is unnecessary to say anything about the streets, only that they are, as in most California cities, wide and straight. The buildings are fine and everything about the city bears the impress of being well kept. A feature of the streets are the business signs, which extend from the build- ings over the sidewalks is a graceful curve, giving a very pretty effect and almost compelling one to read them by their very novelty of position.
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We only regretted that we could hot stay in San Jose longer, as we took the cars again at noon for a ride through the beautiful Santa Clara Valley. In the afternoon we paid a visit to the Leland Stanford Jr. University at Palo Alto, and enjoyed looking about the grounds and the buildings, while we admired the benevolence and breadth of view of him who founded the University on so grand a scale topo- graphically and so broad a scale educationally. Senator Stan- ford devoted the magnificent sum of $20,000,000 to the found- ing and endowment of this University, which constitutes it the wealthiest university in the world, and believing in that kind of training for the young people of his state that will fit them for the duties and requirements of every-day American life ---- that will equip them for the conquest and utilization of those vast material resources that abound in this new western world, he has announced that at the Stanford University the polytechnic education shall be given prominence; that while the higher and accepted university training will not be neg- lected nor forgotten, it will be the policy of the institution to graduate from its halls engineers, electricians, artisans and mechanics, as well as professors, artists and literary men. We also visited the Stanford stock farm, where we saw some of the fastest horses in the world, as well as many of lesser fame but of great promise, and also had the privilege of visiting the training stable and seeing how young horses are put through their paces by intelligent trainers.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY.
Then to the good car Essex again, and between five and six o'clock we rolled into San Francisco. I think all were glad to get there. We had been having a wonderful ride and had seen a good deal of this wonderful State, but had been "hustling" for many days-riding in the Essex by night and sight-seeing in the day time, and were getting somewhat weary of even this pleasure. More than this we had seen so much that was new and remarkable that we really needed a change in the programme so that we might digest what we had seen. So we were glad when we
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arrived at San Francisco. The headquarters of the association were at the Occidental Hotel, but many had friends with whom they stopped, by which they enjoyed a double pleasure. Ed and I found a home while in that city with Mrs. Mary A. Wilson, a lady formerly from Rhode Island, with whom I had a pre- vious acquaintace, and a pleasant home it was. Mrs. Wilson, like most of the Californians, is always pleased to see some one from the old eastern home, and made us feel more than welcome. She has two splendid sons, who did much to make our stay pleasant, taking us around, and showing us many things of interest which we should not otherwise have seen. But more of them by and by. We found her residence very soon after arriving in the city, and were glad to "get some- where." It really had a little bit of getting home flavor, to know we were to stop a few days, after so much riding about the country.
The next day, Tuesday, May 24th, we were the guests of the San Francisco Examiner, one of the most enterprising dailies of the Pacific slope, and a right royal host we had. Early in the morning Ed picked up a copy of the Examiner and found therein portraits and short sketches of more than three hundred delegates to the conven- tion-a feat of newspaper enterprise that in its line exceeds anything ever attempted on the Atlantic coast. The accompanying illus- tration will show you, comrades, not how I looked on arriving at San Francisco, ex- actly, but how the Examiner made me look. And right here, before I forget it, I wish to thank the business manager of the Examiner, C. M. Palmer, for personal favors. Under guidance of our host's representatives we took passage on a steamer, in the morning, for a sail around San Francisco Bay. Just before the steamer left the dock I had a sad reminder of the old days in Virginia. A section of artillery was firing a salute, on the dock, in honor of the Governor of California, who was with us, and by a premature discharge one of the artill- erists had his arn shot off. The unfortunate man was taken
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THE COUNTRY FOR WHICH YOU FOUGHT.
away, and the salute was finished just as though nothing had happened -- just as we saw done, comrades, at Trevillian Station, though our battery was not exactly firing a salute, and it was the other gun that did the mischief.
Will any of those who were on steamer Ukiah that day ever forget the pleasures and wonders of that sail? There was lit- tle of the bay that we did not explore, and everything was new and strange. We were given a good view of the Golden Gate, even entering into its portals, though we did not sail through it. We had a splendid view of the city of San Francisco-a city sit- ting on many hills-from numberless points, and found new beauties at every point of view. We found plenty of San Fran- ciscans to point out the places of interest and there was a won- derful social and happy feeling over all. During the day the steamer stopped for a while at El Campo, a pleasure resort, where we disembarked for a season to roam around. The band, which made lively music all the day, started up the music in the dance hall, and soon gentlemen and ladies from all parts of the country were mingled in the waltz, the polka and the Virginia Reel. It was exceedingly interesting to watch them, and dancers and non-dancers alike seemed to enjoy it. Indeed, so enthusiastic did some of the dancers become, under the inspira- tion of the air, the scenery, the surroundings, and the music, that when preparations were making to return to the steamer and the band struck up "America," the waltzers were again on the floor. This was an amusing surprise to me. I remember a long time ago, "way down in Maine," at an evening party, where some of the young people were very anxious to dance and there was no music, the grandmother of the house very kindly volunteered to sing for the dance, and gravely struck up, in her cracked voice, in a sort of chant. "Life is real, life is earnest," which broke up the dance, but I never expected to see dancing to the tune of "America." But we learn something new every day in these busy times. During the day, also, we paid a visit to the Union Iron Works, where were building two or three of the new government men of war, where we had an interesting hour or so, and got some idea of the changes in gun-
-
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boats from the days when we did not fancy the sound of their shells going through the air but called them "cast iron stoves." But we also got some new ideas of the power of these gunboats. their form, size, etc., and took on an added pride in the United States.
In the course of events a collation was served on the steamer and then, as is altogether too customary, followed a season of speech making. But it was excusable this time, and the more so because the speaking was so remarkably good, and the presid- ing officer, W. H. Mills, of the Southern Pacific Railroad, was the best man for the place that I ever saw in more than twenty years of attendance on like occasions. There was singing by a quartette, and I was sent back among you quickly when 1 heard them sing
" Blow, bugles, blow, Set the wild echoes flying; Blow, bugles, blow, Answer echoes, dying."
Then the quartette sang " America," in which the assemblage joined, and never did it sound more magnificent to my ears. There was something in the air about us, and the circumstances. that made the familiar tune and the familiar words, as sung by representatives from every state in the Union, sound unusually grand, It filled my soul as it did once before, just after the war, when on a visit to the Soldiers Orphan Home at Bath, I heard the children of our deceased comrades sing.
"Land where our fathers died,"
with a touch that gave new meaning to the words. I glanced at my confederate friend and found him singing with all his might, with the tears rolling down his cheeks. That filled my eyes, and as I looked away from him I saw that this form of expressing patriotic feelings was just then quite general. I can see my confederate friend now as he looked then, although that was more than six months ago, and as I think of this in- cident I am forced to confess that he is quite as loyal, and has quite as much respect for the stars and stripes, to-day, as though he had worn the blue instead of the gray.
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I must relate one story that was told at this gathering, be- cause it illustrates newspaper enterprise, and especially the enterprise of the Examiner. Thomas T. Williams, city editor of that paper, was explaining the cause of the wonderful suc- cess of this paper, which he said was due to the fact that "we publish all the news, and deliver the papers all over the city for fifteen cents a week," and in illustration of his statement that they spare no expense in collecting news he told this story : One afternoon word came to the Merchant's Exchange that a vessel had been wrecked on the rocks in a certain locality ; that all on board were drowned except an Italian, who was clinging to a rock; that the sea was running so high that no boat could reach him, and that he must surely drown at high tide, which would be at twelve o'clock that night. There was no hope for him. Soon after this word came, the proprietor of the paper, Mr. Hearst, told Mr. Williams the story, and direct- ed him to " save that Dago." Mr. Williams was a bit surprised at such a direction, and inquired how it was to be done, when Mr. Hearst replied " I don't care how, only save that Dago and scoop all the other papers." This was enough. Mr. Williams detailed two men for this purpose, and in response to their query as to how they were to do it, replied in the words of his employer, "I don't care how you do it. only do it, and scoop all the other papers." This last clause awakened their enthusiasm, and by chartering a tug-boat. skill, pluck, good seamanship, some swimming, plenty of rope, and a good deal of risk, the two men succeeded in carrying out their instructions. The result was, " all the other papers " the next morning had an account of the wreck, in which they drew a vivid picture of the man on the rock waiting for the tide to come in and drown him. They imagined his terrible sensations as he lay there with the water slowly rising, and rising, and rising about him, a little higher, and a little higher, and a little higher, till he must have known that he would die the next moment, and they all killed that Dago at just twelve o'clock, at which time he was in the Examiner office and the men were pouring hot cof- fee into him.
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After remaining on the bay nearly all day, we returned to the city, and in the evening the convention opened. I am not going to give you an account of the convention-not at all, comrades. But I wish to give you a few lines of a poetic greeting we re- ceived, both for the kindly expressions it contains, and for the strain of native pride and enthusiasm that runs through it :
Hail, hail! good friends, all welcome hail; By speeding car o'er ringing rail, O'er mountain waste, o'er hill and dale, . Welcome, all hail ! * Behold a land of genial skies, Of pulsing hearts, of gladsome eyes, Where tears are few, and few are sighs.
Come feel our pulse, so full and strong, Where youth survives life's wind and storm, Where speed the crimson currents warm, While years unheeded fly.
Aye, come and view our landscape o'er From heights o'er which the eagles soar, Where harps . Eolian chiine;
From out whose peaks the cataracts pour In silvery threads, then seek the shore 'Mid flowrets, fruit and vine.
Aye, view our fields of oil and wine, Where Palm and Pine their branches twine, Where fruit and flower of every clime Invite the admiring eye.
Come where the mount and glen outpour Their generous sands of golden ore; Which still from age to age, maybe, Shall fill, still till, earth's waiting store -- Waiting, still waiting, yet for more, Till drops shall till the sea.
And hence to please your wondering eyes, Lo, mount on mount, andi peaks on peaks arise Till visions fade, like hopes, amid the skies. * * * *
And when away by speeding rail, Or 'neath the onward bending sail, God speed ye hence; and bail! all hail! Oar hearts are still with ye.
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I know you will pardon me, comrades, if I give you the fol- lowing extract from a California paper, to show you what sort of a party I was in, and what the Californians thought of us as a whole. I will say, though, that I think every one of the party would endorse the last clause, at that time.
"They come from all portions of the United States and are mingling in one homo- geneous fraternal body. The angular representative man from New England, with Ma predilection for apple pie and beans, the bustling little neatly dressed cosmopoli- tan from New York, the omnipresent Ohio man, the gentleman from Kentucky who knows what he wants and knows where to get it, the rustler from Kansas with the breezy remnants of the latest cyclone still clinging to his person, the clarion-voiced wator from South Carolina, the pushing. not shoving, scribe from Alabama, the comfortable looking flannel-clad gentlemen from Wisconsin and Minnesota, the wyster devouring mortal from Maryland and gentlemen and ladies from all other parts of the Union are all here, and they wouldn't be anywhere else at the present moment."
EIGHTEENTH DAY OF THE CRUISE.
The convention closed Thursday afternoon, and before twelve o'clock that night we were again on board the Essex, with a good deal of the "getting home" feeling on again taking our places in the car. At midnight we started for another ride about the great State of California, to go sight-seeing in a new line. Up to this time we had been shown what the State could do in the way of tilling the soil-now we were to see something of her mineral resources. We arrived at Sacramento the next morning three or four hours late, which we were told was due to the fact that there had been an accident to the pontoon at the mouth of the Sacramento river so that the train could not cross the river, and consequently we had had to go round, making an extra ride of ninety miles. This delay made considerable difference in the day's ride and enjoyment, but it could not be helped. We made no stop at Sacramento, but kept right on to Woodland. where we took breakfast. We were riding along the shore of the Sacramento river, and noticed that the banks were very much over-flowed, in some cases, judging by the situation of the trees, to the extent of a mile on either side. Then we learned that the cause of the accident which gave us the ninety miles extra ride was this same flood on the Sacremento.
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This at first seemed rather queer -- this extensive flood in a land where it never rains-and we could not understand it. After- wards we learned that owing to the extreme heat of the week before, when we were sweltering in the San Joaquin valley, the snow on the mountains had melted with unusual rapidity, hence the flood. This was rather an interesting experience, and went far towards proving the statement of our guides at Los Angeles and at Stockton, that the heat was entirely out of season. But we had a splendid ride along the overflowed river, through a fine fertile country that it would do any one good to see. Some time after noon the train arrived at Chico, where we remained a few hours and were treated to a regular old-fashioned down east coun- try picnic. This was held in an extensive grove, and a handsome grove it was, and the people were there from all the country round. There was a good substantial picnic dinner, albeit it had suffered some from the sun while waiting for us; there were various sports, and on the whole we had a very good idea of the way the people in the country in this great State enjoy themselves. As usual, there were many present who came. some of them long distances, to see people from the old eastern home, and I had the privilege of meeting some from my own city. I had never seen them before, to be sure, but they were just as glad to see me-I was from their old home-and I fancy I was able to answer some, at least, of their many questions satis- factorily. After a few hours of rest and refreshment here, we returned to Sacramento, to be ready for an carly start the next morning.
Now it happened that one there was among us whose birth- day this was. How this secret came out, I do not know-per- haps his wife gave him away. At all events the fact became known, and it was determined to celebrate the event on this return ride to Sacramento. The victim was one who had been especially active during the whole trip in making it pleasant for all by joke and story, and his reputation for telling big stories and making large statements had grown wonderfully, all good naturedly of course. At the proper time he was called up and given a talking to by one of the party, when Rob Roy deftly
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crowned him with a wreath of California's brightest and choicest flowers, and the following rhyme was thrown at him, much to his own amusement, as well as to the amusement of all on board. Ilis name is naturally disguised in this transcript.
I dreamed I died, and at the heavenly gate Applied, with fear and dread, to learn my fate; St. Peter calmly scanned me o'er and o'er, And " sized me up " as ne'er I'd been before, And then replied, in firm but gentle tone, " Come in, come in, your record here is known." Surprised and pleased. inside the gate I passed, While through me thrilled the thought, " In heaven at last." A moment more I heard another rap Upon the gate; it opened with a snap, And there stood Frank I. Wardwell, just the same As when on earth he bore that honored name. St. Peter looked a moment in his face, Then said to Ananias, " Give him your place."
During the ride this afternoon, my confederate friend kindly loaned me a paper from his home, containing a paper which he had read before some confederate army association, giving his recollections of the journey to Richmond of his company from his home, in Alabama, at the breaking out of the war. The paper was a very interesting one, and I enjoyed reading it. I found that he and his comrades were as enthusiastic in their devotion to their cause as were we, and that the journey was as full of pleasant incidents and cordial greeting as was that of the Northern troops in the early days --- by the time we went to the front the new had worn off and our journey was a more serious matter.
IN THE MINES-PLACER MINING.
Saturday morning, May 28th, when we awoke, we found our- selves among the foot hills of the Sierras, surrounded by some of the finest scenery we had seen. Up the mountains we climbed, around the "Horn," filled with the enjoyment of the ever varying scene in the early morning. But this magnificent ride was a short one. The train stopped at Dutch Flat, where We were given an inkling into placer mining. Great prepara-
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tions had been made for our benefit here, for here everything was new and strange. We could understand something about the fruit groves and vineyards, but few of us had any idea about mining except what we had obtained by reading -- now we were to see it. And by the courtesy of the people we were to see it in all its stages, from the primitive pan to the modern hy- draulic method. We were taken over what seemed to be the bottom of an immense sand hole, over rough ground, with no paths or roads, and with a little stream of water here and there. We learned that this was the famous Dutch Flat gold mine, out of which has been taken millions of dollars' worth of gold. The portion over which we were walking had been dug over and over until, though there was still gold in the sand and gravel, as we found, there was " not enough to keep a Chinaman alive." All through this desert looking place we found old "forty- niners ", willing to show us how gold is obtained from the earth in placer mining. Here is one with a pan, the original and most primitive way. The pan is much like an ordinary milk pan, Placing himself by the side of the stream the miner dips up the pan full of gravel. With the aid of water he washes all the gravel away, leaving only the gold, which, being heavier, sinks to the bottom and remains in the pan. Ed and I hap- pened to meet with one who was prepared to show us how thoroughly. He had brought from his home a small bit of gold, half as big as a small pea, and also a single grain of gold, the smallest piece imaginable. These he placed in the pan, and it was wonderful, after every filling of the pan with gravel, and the subsequent washing away of the gravel by a peculiar moving to and fro of the pan, to see the bit and the grain of gold remain. It was a very interesting process to all of us, and we watched it narrowly. We began to understand the full meaning of the term, which we had often heard in the east, even, "It panned out well," or "It didn't pan out well." Next to the pan came the rocker. This was simply a contrivance to enable the miner to wash away the gravel with more speed and less labor. Instead of holding the pan in the hands and manipu- lating it carefully, the gravel was placed in a wooden box,
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