, 1861-06-28
OUR CALIFORNIA LETTER.



the newa Of the stirring events that are trans.
piring upon the Atlantic slope; consequently
California is twice q week On the tip-toe ol
excitement, ~ tho dispatches from the tssea!
OF war'' are distributed BY means Of the tele
graph aud innumeTab1e '"extras.n You who
can ecarce1y walt for The evening papers to
asce1tain what has transpIred since morning,
can form some Idea Of the narrowing suspsnse
which consumes u II VIC i'm mpatiant1y wait the
dreafy Interval Of three days between our dis
patches, and then know thst the news Is ten
Days old In the present rapid march OF
events, where twenty -four hours arc biz with
tho fate Of the nation, what may not tzansplre
In ten days: To illustrate: few days since,
the pony brought the news Of the exposed
condition Of the National Capital; that the
mob st Baltimore had succeeded In cutting of
communication with the loyal States; and
that Tho rebel armies were rapidly concent1a+
tirg in Virginia for the purpose Of striking q
blow at Washington before It could be rein.
forced. On reading this, the excitement waa
intense, How did ne know but 1T that very
moment traitoru were In the possession Of the
Federal City, laying their destroying hands On
national archives, and defacing the national
monuments1 The, Inst mail brought me a
perfect avalanche OF Chicsgo papers, by which
I received full details Of the intense enthus1.
sem which fires the patriotic Sons Of the old
"Prairie state.n All honor to the noble eons
OF 1l!iEoF. While first in peace, they will, II
opportunity offers, be literally first in the
hearts OF their enemies. Would that could
enjoy the blessed privilege Of going to the
field Of strife With my old company the Chica-
60 Dragons. Here We are Obliged to rust
out with inactfou, but the anxiety to be with
you in the midst Of the fray is intense. Calf
iosnia Is loyal to the core, aud anxionsly walts
Eons to the field Of battle for their country
and its 1ag. She is rich; her Golfers ars Tiled
with the shining gold; her hills are sown
with the gi1terlnK dust It is ready to be
poured out to tustain the Government, A
regiment is now being raised which will be-
equipped and sent forward BY private sub.
sctiltion, ut all e7ents, whether requisition
is made on this State or not.
A Union meeting Was held here recently,
which for magnitude enthusiasm and display,
exceeded any demonstration ever before made
On The Pacific coast. The citizens and mill
tary turned out e7s naasse. The city and ship
ping in the hArbor WAS dressed in the Ameri-
con tlBg from stop to toe" the saucy banner
Of the free, faunted from every house, emf
one sentiment pervaded the assembled multi.
tude, and that Nas devotion to their country,
and the most unlimited "coercion" to trait.
ors. Addresses were made by some of the
most distinguished men in the State, among
whom we're Senators NcDougal anu
Latham; they al breathed the right spirit,
McDouga especially was emphatic In declar-
fhAtf f31a E4r f%Ft tf,n -x
must be used to put down the traitors. He
said tha3, from personal acquaintance with
Mr. Lincoln, he knew MIN to be brave, pst
rlotic and capable man, just the 1nRn for this
emergency, and that ho was ready to sustain
him IN his prcsent policy to the end. Latham
his usnais intensity he evidently appreciates
the set Of the ttde Of popular feeling, and Is
he is very expert at swimming with the
stream, he will, no doubt, keep up With the
"aplles," and show himself ready to sustain
the present position Of the Goyernmen.-as
ln1 6 at least rs 1t Is popular:
Our State Legislature has At last organized.
After passing resolutions signifying the rcadi-
ncss Ct this State to respond to the 1equisi
tions Of the President, for troops to keep
down the REBELLION. On the passage Of the
resolutions, there We're; twelve Yotes against
them, cast by Breckenridge Democrats, who
are well known seceseionists, although they
claim to be Union men; they are the last
ttmuants ct the once powerful "chfYa1ry''
party, that ruled this State with q rod Of iron,
but which now is completely routed, they
will never bo heard Of again. But 1t seems
they we're not willing to pass to the shades Of
obsirion, without adding one More to the list
Of these Who have fallen victims to the bar
baIous code due|o.
In this case the combatants were Mr. Show.
alter, 1usmber Of the Assembly from Masipo-
Tkn~1 =
the eame body from Sun BarnRdino. ShoWa1-
ter Is q IatiTe Of Pennsylvania, but q Breckin-
ridge Lecomptonlst- Mr. Pie1cy was from
illinois, very JouDg m2n, aud Douglas
Democrat; he acted With the Eugent chly3lrY
party early In the session, but when he found
they we're not eound on the Union question,
he boied and voted for McDouga for Sena.
ter, and supported the Union resolutions,
mentioned above, to which ShoWalter was op-
posed. After Piercy had abandoned them,
they sought in various Ways to fasten quar-.
rcl upon him, which at last they succeeded in
doing on the debate on the resolutions pledg-
tIg California to sustain the Federal Govern.
1nent. They fought on tho 25th ulk, in Marin
county, across the bay from this city,
With rifles, st forty PAGES. AT the second
fire, Pie1cJ vas shot In the head, md killed
Instantly: sboHaltcr's second was the noted
Tx mas Hay es, who was one OF Tsrry's sec
onGB In the duel with Broderick. He seems
determined to keep up his rcpu tatien Is O man
capsule Ct playing all the " roots " In duelin.
ns at the moment before the second fire he
cs1sed to Mr.. Piercy, commanding hin to hold
his gun in a ditlesent position, which, OF
course. had tendency to affect that gentle
mans nerves and destroy his aim It really
Etens marvellous that in these comhats the
friends Of freedom invariably fall /; tho
bloody record now stands. Broderick, Ftru.
son and piercy, It is hoped the list haa closed
forever, "a the Wfetchcs who introduced the
code In this State have nearly all been driven
out Of the country; the few that are lett must
follow their friends, or they may eventually
Ne hear Of the great financial pressure you
ere now having In the West, owing to the de-
p7eciatfon Ct your paper currency, caused b5
tie fall in Southern stocks; and while ne re
gret your misfcrtunes In that respect, VT
Nevertheless are enabled thereby to compare
tho "Faper' with the hard money" system
and eee the immense advantages Of the latter
Here, as you know, our: sole Circulating mtdi
um is specie, In which there Is no fuctuAtion
It Ia always at p4r. The huAiuees community
Is never called upon to suffer d heary loss bJ
depreciation Of its currency, Is Il invariably
circn lion, whenever the usual channcls O
trade are obst1ucted or changed by exhaorM
na1y disturbing CAUSES California, as yet, hal
not been eensibly affected by the National dif
flculues In her monetary atfairs-a1cept In tn
increased rate Of exchange on N. T., caused b.
The increased risks Of sh1p 1pment but even thsl
counte1balanced In great measure By th
sn1all Shipments Of treasure, and eonsequen
retention Of gold in the country. All kinds q
business is Improving; immense blocks Q
buildings are going up in an directions, Will
innumefahle Structures for rent or dwelling
are being erected whole streets have bee
built up Since the drst Of January. The dwell
irg houses ara usually first class, contstnln
bath iocms,- &c. The demand for tene
nents Is 60 crest, that : in desirabl
localities, houees arc rented before the
arc completed. To illustrate the VI
in which they rush things here, vi
state an instance. One block, which last jar
ualy Was covered With ahand hill, In heigh
fioln fifty to seyent5-fiye feet above the stree
church, and eix first class dwelling house
e1tctcd and completed thereon aimee th1
time. We do not have any complaints OF th
| "hard times;" everything moves On with Il
accustomed security. The lucky appolntee
to the government offices in this State, ar1ivc
| beeteged By few Thousand p2triots, read
to I'll the clerkshIps aad deputy ships, n the
bestowal. This being the first chanca ths R:
publlcans of the Pacific side have had to rsat
| er perfona1 service 10 governmen ent In the VIA
| OF holding office, It Is not surprising that the
Should show considerable a1acrity in teode
irg their services. The city election came Q
on the 21st ult., and resulted IN the electlo
| Of the "Peoples' ticket" which WAS suppor
hr RepublIcsns and old Vigilance Commltte
men; the other ticket WIS called tho" Un1o
Ticket" which was put In the field, b
| portion Of tho Republicans nd Don!
faced "Union Ticket" enclosed you vi