Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1854-01-07
MEN AND Tnrses IN CALIFORNIA

face of ors,,n9I viii, shanties mud novels
tents1with here aud there wooden or brick build
inssof some pretensons to respectablilty. VI some
hundreds on board the steamer, with the exception
of returning Californians this was with four out OF
five the general expectation The magnificent steam
ships however, which passengers are transported
from Panama to San Francisco, Cts but small com
pliment to say they excelthe steamships from New
York to Aspinwall and San Juan, as much as the
Astor House does Cherry street sailor boarding
house} do something towards dispellpg the Illusion.
In accommodations, in fare, and IN every
$ tends to make voyage tolerable TO iacisl'l
they point not to mud hole, but to CITY Oh mag
nifcent proportions. The next shaking the Precol,
ceived Impression liable to, is on entering inc uol
8 den Gate. In running down long range OF
. coast hundreds of miles without a tree or shruD
s and other hundreds of miles covered WITH INC ny
oat and broused by myriads OF WHO cattle, d;
of desolaton comes over BODY ana TINS Is T h;iI
need until a very small opening between high mis-
Il dsc6Vered-the opening so small as not 10 NC ST.
until lust about entering it. This pass is tnat caeu
the Golden Gate and we'll is it so named You scar
cely get at its mouth, when the panorama oeg eob
mia ito annie magnificent proportions, and each
revolution of the steamers wheel but increases INC
Management of the beholder On your rlght manu-
and on your left squadrons OF merchant 'esSos'
ships briggs and schooners; bound IN or out, anu VI,
the shore the comng>avalanche OF enterprise anu
civilization throws out its aTant courlers; on -
further and you open upon Guy OH tiie TI LII
HILL not closely built city, but houses wei "ar
and pretty closely together Wharves too' are sei'
and vessels living at them, And this Is San frames
CO. exclaims of the astonshed ones wen, WIZ
would have thought it. expected to hnd mud ,! nou-
SEES etc. etc. But stop little, my trleno on nItl
and we round the base of the hill, and then, anu
them and then, bursts upon the astonisneu oI1"I
sight that battles description Talk about huu
and shantes, and tents, and look on TINS scehe' us
magnificent panorama, this wonder OF the Moilu'
th fairy c;ty not of the Pacific but of the Universe
and it is impossible to keep still the shout rings ana
the hat goes up in the air, and IN TACT so ge - INC
revusion in feeling and SO completely Is Tue pieI
liz o1 intO q POP
Won have to hold in from actually believing that you
are in New York with half dozen Brookiy MS thrown
in Fleets of ships at anchor, anu as TIC s'e'li
ship threads her way through these meets more arr
opened up dischargng at the hundred piers, anu
the scene presented is about near Jdc stmtte 10
the North River from the Battery to Canai stree',
and the East River from Counties slip to the looaceo
inspection Warehouse, their difference oeinS III la'
. or of San FRANCISCO The piers here are three and
four times as long. Not an unlike feature TOO, Is
that presented by the steamboats, and steamships.
They swarm at the wharves, and run to ABOUT every
place steamboat can get at, from Sacramento anu
above it. down to the city. But astonshed as We
are at the shipping and water view, that on iandg
beats it all blind. Wherever one turns, STACKS VI
magnificent stores, three and five stories nSh, Speu
did hotels and public edices, either built or DeinS
erected and talk of your marble stores ana palaces
and SO can San Francisco. From the window oeslde
which write this is spread out within the range ol
my vision, young New York IN ltseh, anu my VIC"
takes in less than third of it.
So much for the first impression OF San Francisco
the first gush of feeling on being dsaPpointeu
.agreeably. But next comes the sober SECOND
Thought !" A ramble about San Francisco ana VI |
cnity, while it helps to excite astonishnent at the
same time presents features that go somewhat 10
eaden the plcasurable emotions excited at hrSt
The police regulations of the city are good, but the
admixture of foreigners from all parts OF creatoh'
with their general loose notions as to what IN an
kee land would be denominatcd fixed principles Oh
morality" render this probably as immoral as any
of the other large cities of the Union The ooserV-
H. mall
cause is very loose Theatres open, as on every
other day, masquerade balls take place. and 1t Is
set day for horse-rcng. The gamb!lng-houses TOO,
are numerous but not permitted to keep open on
Sunday Another feeling in the mind is that OF DIS
gust at the number of houses of prostitution Ihey
abound in certain quarters of the city on scale OF
magnifcence; and in the Chinese quarters Ii Is not
too much to say, that nine-tenths OF their women
are public prostitutes The Chinese, too, are the
most invcterate gamblers, probably on the iace OF
the earth. Every Chinese house in one OF their
quarters is gambling shop, with open DOORS ana
day and night their tables are crowded The meth
cd of gambling is simply odd even. \ large num-
Der of brass counters heaped on the table ana
covered up, and after the stakes and bets are all
down, the counter uncovers the heap, and proceeds
to them to another part OF the table, tour at
time, with stick, and the odd or even III the num-
Der decides the winnings or losings.
6 So much for the first "sober second thought;
but now comes the result of experience, ana TINS
adds the most pleasing feature to the scene W oman
lovely women-are making their appearance IN
hundreds. Every steamer brings Its hundreds, anu
children, too, coming from the Atlantic States,
and thus families reunited and our streets pre-
sent somewhat the appearance of cities on your SIDE
With this pleasing change, too, comes another as
pleasant Gambling houses are less frequented, tine
being marked one. Cafes and coffee
houses less frequentcd and the churches are bet
ter filled, and Sabbath is almost II not quite as
still and in its outside observance any city,
even Brooklyn that city of churches.
The greatest wonder of all is, how such place as
San Francisco built comparatively as it has been IN
day, possesses many institutions that are calcu
ated to render it of the most substantial cities
N the Union. It's rise heraded by the flourish
Of the bowie knife and revolver; and life, well as
property, at the mercy of che convict and the
assassin This, you remember, bid fair to lay waste
not only the city, but the country as we'll But
strong minded men were here, though few in numb
n comparatively, they at last in their might
md declared few though they were, such things
should not be. The man is here, who from the top !
If flour barrel, in the midst of the congregated
Masses called upon the good men and true, from the
Atlantic States well from foreign lands, to stay
he tide of infamy. That man offered himself vic
i'm for the general good and amid weapons of death
denounced the convicts and assassins who then
lot The slncss of death followed his appeal, but
only for moment, when from the crowd ergcdme (
hat band, to whom is due the stability and prospe- Z
1ty of San Francisco This man will over be remem- :
'ered here, and his memory too will be identified .
nth the city of his adoption. short distance from
where write, lis small engine house, which too {
viii be long remembered in this connection. Back
by the strong of the firemen of that day. the
Eiglance Committee formed at the meeting alluded =
aboye) at the toll of the bell of this house. assem-
-, .lr IL r-Ilz