Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1850-03-28
Life in San Francisco

y ~
tough stories, which you will be justified
in believing over-told, but l assure YOU
one half the truth is not told. Just CON
ceive Of 25,OOO to 10000 men of every
nation, cline, and tongue, thrown togeth-
er on barren shore without shelter fer
their heads, in country abounding with
gold, the great goal for which all men are
striving, every man with his pockets full,
at least shortly after his arrival, with
tlity TO one hundred gambling houses di-
rectly on the plaza or public square,-
these men subjected, many of them, to all
sorts OF inconvenience, sleeping on the
wet ground, with only canvass ten: to
shelter them from the pitless storm with
houses and stores filed with millions of
gold and silver, into which the most Lung-
ling burglar could enter with perfect ease,
and yet no robbery or crime is perpetrat-
ed to be compared with that prevailing in
the same amount of population in any 9th
er city in the world. We have convicts
from sidney,--Freneh, Irish, Scotch,
English, Danes, Swedes, Spaniards, I,al-
ians, Chilenos, Chinese, Malays, Airi-
cans, Russians, and Americans, in alltheir
variety, from the patent leather gentleman
of Broadway to the Texas ranger. Con-
ceive if you can such a hotch poch as
have described, and moreover that every
thing is to be regulated in place grow
ing so fast that nothing can keep up with
tho women to superintend households ;
the streets nearly knee-deep in unctuous
putty mud, and people living like pigs,
and paying So. day for mere eating
which their swine at home would rebel
at! We sleep in our little bits of shan
ties, three or four in room Il Is feet
in. its dimensions such room as no
'Bildy' or Patrick would consent to live
in. Rents continue enormously high, and
nearly every thing else in propostion.-- -
For Uncle C.'s wood house, were it here,
I could get, by cutting ii up into rooms,
at least, s52lOO per ronth--not year. A
cup Of tea and two half slices of toast cost
81 eggs Toe each Ii. e. So per doz.--
Washing Sc to 50 per doz., and Of course
every thing is dirty. Onions so cents
each potatoes $50 per bushel; hay $500
per ton; corn 81 a bushel; butter 81 a
pound, etc. Here you see all classes of
people thrown together in this way with
such amounts Of gold in their possession
as they never saw in their lives before.
and without restraint. Justice is law
here, and there is none Of the vexatious
delays attending the process of the conrts
a. home. To give YOU an instance OF an
actual case in California iurisprudence.--
To day man was cited before a Justice
to answer TO complaint brought against
him, and upon the opening of the court, to
his surprise, the plaintiffs counsel called
the plaintiff TO the stand TO testify in the
case. The counsel for the defendant OBJ
iected 10 this proceeding, but withdrew
the objection, as it would secure to him
the privilege of putting his client also
upon the stand. The Judge said this pro-
ceeding was little irregular, but he had
adopted the course frequently in small
matters as being the quickest way Of get
ting at the truth. The parties accordingly
told each bis story, and the Judge then
said in few words, that it was clear 20
his mini that the plaintiff was in the
wrong and that the defendant was right {:
he should therefore make hole in the
plaintiffs Paper
Generally, the people here are quite
we'll behaved we have little drunkenness,
but now and then murder at the gam
bling houses. Upon the whole | have
found more honor III the absence of near
ly all law, less meanness and petty swinI-
ling and large swindling than at home -
confirming me in my favorite doctrine that
men are made bad by the hard grinding
of necessity and poverty, and rot by an
inherent tendency 10 evil in themselves. -
fNew Bedford Mercury. Nor TnUE.
FINANclAL ANECpoTE OF ALBERT
GALLAr1N.--Greata as Mr. Gallatin was
as tinancier, he never seems TO have
employed his talents for his personal ad
vantage, although opportunities were pre-
scented 10 him by which he might have en-
rched himself. One or two anecdotes
may he mentioned in proof Of ths, vouched
for by his hiographer:
While Secretary IF the Treasury, il
was necessary OH one occasion to pay the
interest due by the United States on q
loan made in lIoIlanl. The interest was
TO he paid in London, and ,hc late John
Jacob Astor made proposals to Mr. Gala
lin 10 provide the necessary funds in the
manner stated in the agreement when the
loan Was u,aae. Mr. GaiIaiin stipulated
certain conditions 10 Mr. Astor, which,
after due reflection, were accepted. But
it seems Thai he did mol exercise the same
s.garity which marked bis other financial
operations. for in disposiug OF il, OF in itl-
filling his contract, lie found himself mi
nus some 10000 sterling, OF about $50
600. This loss Mr. Gailtin uh> >ereeI
to me, did not seem 10 cause Mr. Astor 50
much uneaSiuess as the circumstance that
| should have shown more financial
knowledge and shrewdness than lie, and
he ever alle. expressed the highest conf
dence in my opinions, and manifested a
strong attachment Tor me. When ! left
the Treasury in 1916, Mr. Astor made me
pressing offers 10 associate myself IN bus
mess with him, but | declined.' | ex-
pressed some surpriseto Mr. Gal'atin. and
said, Why did you not accept lis offer?
If ycn had, you would now have ranked
among our millionaires.' He replied by
that peculiar shrug O. his shoulders which
EXPRESSED more than words, intnating
that wealth was no object with him.
L.