The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-10-16
Letter from the West.-NO. 4.

San FRANCISCO, CAL, Sept. 20, 1S69.
Mr.. EWING Il promised that my next
letter should contain some account of this
city-but the difficulty is to know where to
begin. When l stop to consider that
twenty years ago the spot on which this
magnificent city now stands, was vast
sand bank, and that not dozen white men
could be found OH the shore, am over
whelmed with establishment. The spacious
streets, the broad sidewalks Of flag stone
or asphaltum pavements, the teeming thous-
ands that daily and nightly crowd these
avenues the grand and imposing buildings
that are to be found on every street. ira
versing the centre of the city; the hotels,
banks, stores, public buildings and private
residences, presenting, at every turn, evil
lavish expenditure of it-all these things
combine to impress the beholder with won
der and establishment, when we remember
its early history, and the hundreds of for
tunes that have been wrecked upon this far
off western coast, in the struggles of the
early pioneers. A few of those early pio-
neers still remain, and they are now the
substantial men of the city. l have met
with men who were six months crossing
the plains with an OK team, and were obliged
sometimes to live upon acorns-who are
now men of business, in high standing and
are considered substantial men. All who
had the wisdom to lay out their capitol in
lands, instead of periling their life and
health in the mines, are now, and have been
for years. reaping golden harvest in the
astounding increase in the value of town
or city lots. Land that was then to be had
for the merest trifle, now commands thous-
ands and thousands of dollars. Outside of
the built-up portion of the city, the whole
ground is an immense sand bank or piles
of sand blown up, and covering completely
a rocky hill-presenting the most desolate
appearance Of itself-and yet lot 81 feet
wide and 1877 feet deep, will command, in
some of the least favorable localities, at
least $4,000. The population of the city is
estimated at about 175, 0OO At this time,
the city is literally crowded to its utmost
capacity.
The Industrial Fair of the Mechanics
Institute is now open, and the immense
building prepared for it, is filled with the
most elegant productions of art, industry,
and ingenuity, have ever had the pleas
ure Of seeing. Taking the whole together,
| am sure l never saw it equaled in any
eastern city. Fruits, flowers, wines, oils,
native silk productions, wooden goods,
blankets-far superior to any ever beheld
furniture of the most gorgeous style and
finish, furs, gold and silver ware, gas fix
lures, pianos, organs, paintings and stat
uary, photographs, ivorytypes, &C., &C.;
farming machinery, domestic utensils, and
a thousand other things l cannot pretend
to mention, crowd the building, which can
not, think, be less than GOO feet long, and
with centre and side wings not less than
400 feet wide-with galleries all around
and a third floor above. At night, when
lit up with more than thousand gas Jets,
and crowded with visitors, it presents truly
an imposing view. Large numbers are
brought to the city as contributors or vis-
tors to the fair, and with the members of
our body, and daily visitors, numbering not
less than 400 each day, and excursion par
ties from the cast, continually coming and
going, keep the hotels crowded to overflow
ing.
The Lick House, the Cosmopolitan, the
Occidental, and the Russ House are hotels
Of the first class. Hotel life is it would
seem, extremely popular. The Lick House
IS almost exclusively filed up with families
occupying suits of rooms as boarders. The
dining-room is most magnificent affair,
and OF ltselfis said to have cost $4,000. The
Cosmopolitan, where l am staying, has
large number of families boarding also
1t seems to be the most popular house of
the city, from the CT owds that are constantly
coming and going. At the o'clock din
ner, the dining room, which is very large
and very elegantly finished, with not less
than thirty mirrors of large size in the side
walls, is filled with crowds of ladies and
conference.-the ladies dressed in the height
of fashion.
The whole city seems to be one vast fair.
Montgomery street and kearney street are
the two principal streets for the retail bust