San Andreas independent., 1858-09-18
Death of Hon. w. /. Ferpusor

Mr. Ferguson, of Sacramento. who wa,
shot, IN duel, by George Pen Johnston
ESQ., at Angel Island, on the 2lst Angus,
last, died on Tuesday evening of this week
at the Union Hotel, San Francisco. He
was shot in the right thigh, having the
bone shattered by the passage of the ball
On the evening of the duel he was taken
to the Union Hotel, San Francisco, where
he remained up to the time of his death
Un an examination of the wound imme
diately after its infiction, Mr.. F. was in.
formed by his physicians that without
amputation, the chances of his recovery
were as one against thousand. He re.
Piled that he would take that chance. and
refused to submit to amputation. On
tuesday last the condition of the patient
made it necessary, in the opinion of the
physicians attending, to lay open the
wound and remove portion of the frac.
tured bone. As soon as the bone was
exposed, it became evident that amputa-
ton of the leg offered the only chance of
saving the patients life. The bone was
completely shattered and the interstices
were filed With pus. He was informed
of these circumstances, and by the advice
of his friends, consented to the operation,
which was performed under the influence
of chloroform. But little blood was lost,
as the veins and arteries were taken up
with great rapidity; but the patient ex-
pircd from the shock to his nervous sys-
tenn, in about half-hour after the ope-
ration.
Mr.. Ferguson was, according to best
accounts, born in the State of Pcnnsyl-
vania, and removed, at an early age, to
St. Louis, Mo-, from which latter place
he went, in boyhood, to Springfield, Ills.
In Illinois he studied and practiced law,
and was regarded as a young man of ex-
traordinary talents. In 1S48 he was one
of the Presidential electors. In 1853 he
removed from Springfield to Sacramento
city, engaging in the latter place, in the
practice of law-mostly criminal practice,
in which he was eminently successful.
In 1855 he was elected State Senator
from the county of Sacramento, and has
constantly since filled that office with dis
tinguished ability. Mr.. f. was in his
35th year at the time of his death; in
person little below the medium stature,
with pleasant, manly face, head inclined
to badness, clear, sparkling eye, ready
wit, genial nature, stirring eloquencc, con-
yincing argument, and at times, when
goaded by his opponents, most caustic
irony. He was on all hands conceded to
be the ablest debatant who ever occupied
a seat in our State Legislature In his
life it was possible for him to make ene-
mics, but not possible for him to bear
malice. In Sacramento, his friends were
the entire community of his acquaintance.
Great preparations were made for the re-
ception. and burial of his remains at that
city, on the arrival of the Wednesdays
boat. He leaves widowed mother, one
brother and two sisters in Illinois.
The death of such man, in the very
flower of his life, is public calamity un-
der any circumstances, but in this in
stance most deeply to be deplorcd indeed.
He was sacrificed to the Codc," on the
most trivial grounds, and when there was
no delibrate malice in anything he said or
did. That code stands branded by the
laws of the State as cruel and infamous /;
the law thus branding it was pcnned by
the very hand now red with the blood of
this noble victim. We shall engage in
no crusade against the duello, on this oc-
casion, nor shall we attempt to aggravate
the already tortured soul of Mr.. Fergu-
sons antagonist. There is enough of this
without our aid. The public will doubt
less be treated to numbcrless essays on
these prolific heads, cmanating from a
press always eager in catering to popular
ebullitions. If, however, we have law,
engrafted on our criminal code, which
condemns to infamous punishment those
who fight and slay each other in single
combat, let it be enforced or repealed.
Low WATER.-There is great dcarth
of water at the present time, in this coun-
| ty. The bitches are mostly dry; the best
of them have barely enough to preserve
tho fumes from destruction hv rho hoat