, 1862-02-20
FROM CALIFORNIA.
Mere Concerning the Great Flood.
THE REPUBLICAN ADMIN
ISTRATI0N.

SAN FRANCISCO, January II. 1862.
s'Rain, rain, rain! nothing but rain,!"
Talk Of the wet season of 1649, talk Of the
Hcod of '5e, bring ont the Oldest inhabitant,
and let him tellhis experiences Of wet seasons,
and it will be found that this winter caps the
climax-nothing short Of the ancient deluge
can come up to it. It has Eained almost In
cessantly for weeks, ami. while write the water
is pouring from the heavens as il the " eternal
bung were loose" The result Of this unpre-
ccdcntcd fall of water, has been the complete
flooding Of every wiley in California, destroy
ing property to tho estimated value of seventy
five millions Of dollars! and hundreds Of hu-
man lives. In MY last I spoke of the flood Of
the 9th Of December, which submerged the
city Of Sacramento; that visitation proved to
be merely the premonitory symptoms Of what
was to come; the valley of the Sacramento,
from the mountains to the sea, from the
Sicrras to the coast range, is one vast lake. I
came down the river yesterday, and as far As
the eye could reach on either side
Was one wild waste Of waters. The
city OF Sacramento was flooded in every
pa1t. Not one spot of dry land, except por-
tion Of the leyee, was visible for mites around.
Boats piled through the principal streets, in
which the water stood from three to ten feet
| deep. The Legislature is in session, and for
several days the members were conveyed to
| tie State House in boats and landed on the
| Capitol steps. The food commenced rising
rapidly On the 10th inst, just as the new Re-
| publican Governor, Stanford, was being 1nau-
! :5ursnet, and before the services were over the
waters were around the Capitol. Mr.. Stan
| the State, and furnished in a sumptuous mar
| ner. During The previous flood the wafer
| stood three feet deep in his drnWing rooms, but
it subsidized before the meeting Of the Legisla-
| ture. Mrs. Stanford had put her house In per
feet order for the receptions and leyees which
she proposed to give, but on Inauguration day
The alarm 7fas given that the floods were con'
iug; go before they left the house for the Ger.
eMony Of Inauguration, they took up theiI
caJpets and placed the piano npon+ chairs H
readiness for the anticipated rise. Wher
1hey returned, three hours later, the water
was flye feet deep in the parlor, and the piano
tail atioat.'
All tic ranches in the Sacramento valley
with their stock, horses, sheep, buildings
orchards and implements are utterly destroy
cd. Tic towns Of Richland and Rio Vita, be
low Sacramento, are swept away. The othe
valleys of the State--the San joaquin, Cal
encras, Napa, Toulunnc, Mokclumnc, ETC., sui
fcred iii a like manner.
In the mining sections the damage seem
, equally great, as the villages situated o.
bars, high above any previous flood, la
| il many instances been carried AWAY. knight
Ferry on tic St,uislau5, lost half its bushes
houses The magnificent bridge at that place
! WAS carried down stream Jacksonville, i
Tuolulnne county, was destroyed; also the lin
bridge on Stoney bar. In the Northern mine
nearly every suspension bridge wa6 lost, Il
5 tEougI, they had been hung at an altitud
i where it was supposed no flood could posslbl
: reach them. But the water rose ut Folsom
the astonishing Liz Slt Of sereRtyjiye feet abos
/ ,a,,f0
L fiyc feet above low water, aud at Knight IS Fe
e ~ thc portion Of the town destroyed Was 81
!. llated on plateau sixty feet above the rive
= Such an unprecedented rise was never befol
+ heard Of in t1iis country. It has caused mol
i damage than hostile army, marching in tt
y has ALREADY contributed thousands Of dollars
9 the relief OF the sufferers, aud is furni5hfr
c shelter, food and clothing fur all the hon,ele
: w}io conc. 1t is sad sight to see the unfo
y. tunate losers by this calanity. The do"
" pr story Of their house, on a river ranch
o and brought them pcnnyless to the city Th'
~ Lad lost all Their stock and improvement
- before the food were valued at sG0, 900.
- The ntw Republican State Administration
:e f.irly inaugur1ted tho caiyalry hare be-
"a cleaned ont, the places that knew them on
~ will know them no more forever; Yankees j
Il. i'll the ascendant, Yankees in the Clsto
II fiuuse, Yankees in the Mint, Yankees in +
r. Executive, Static, and Legislative department
Is Yankees everywhere. Chivalry, bowie-kniyt
~ aud ''Dixic'' y l1ayc gone down, while e
~ mouth Rock, baked beans, and Yankee Dc
=, die l,:lyc gone up. The result will be a H.,
II State. Stanford is man Of iinc talents, grt
= cncrEy, and u 1hosou. b, patriotic Republic:
r. Hc viii use all lis power for the purpose
h.. plating California III ii proper condition for
IT 1c1lsc i'll case OF foreign Invasion, and G.
d. tsibu1ing her portion towards sustaining
n Government. Both branches Of the Lcssi5
w ~. tu1e are enlirently Union, aud ready for act
mr. ard extreme measures.
It's 1t Was refreshing 10 hear the new Speaker
.ss the Assembly rise in his des}s-that desk
ut tea filed by men wko are now traitors
|sc proclaim, "War, war to the knife, War to
n death, against treason and tzs.itnrs-" Tt :
nt unfamiliar music i'll that place, but glorious
,;,. L tekcn that treyolutions never 60 b.
r. r. war3s'' We feel greatly the loss Of the r
,ar Exrress-it should be resto-ed-twlce Il ":
nj it regularly furnished us news but ten days
81 Tie telegraph occasionally gives us b
H. items but the ilctails do not come to hand
,11. the Overland Mail untier twenty FIVE days
II give us the 'sPony." If you have any pity
eir us, urge Congress to restore that animal to
~ ~ with, j. T.