New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-11-20

squirting water out OF their mouths III az =
forcibe fashon,-certain 1t is that our cio'hoS o'
signed to these extraordinary apostles OF
have come back uniform, well-ironed and beautiiniS
white which is more than can be said always in the
praise of Christian laundresses, with whole arnorS
of washing-machines sprnklers, wrnging machines
patent mangles and Swiss irons.
SACRAMENTO.
Next we were in the suburbs of Sacramento, among
vineyards orchards towering oleanders III i"ii
bloom, white and rose and pink. pomegranates' ngS'
and flowers innumerabe. And next elgRt weary
people were debarked in huge depot, among
shouting. excited, excelent-tempered, and shoulder
ing crowd, and this Was Sacramento. MIR. Colla1'
having persstently declined all Receptions, there
was nothing for his friendly hosts but to let him 20
to his hotel in quiet Which they did, with the as
sistance of full band, an artillery salute.
procession of military and civilians, showers OF
bouduets several open barOuches for his following
huzzas, hoorays, and hihs, fattering but going oil
in deafening volleys which, after the tenth round,
wo could cheerfully have foregone, and mile ortwo
OF closepacked citizens, bowling and cheering! Thus
unheralded and unnoticed we managed to wend our
ouiet way to the Golden Eagle in tho course OF
an hour. but if tho Vice-Presdent had con-
seuted TO be received l don't think he would yet
have gotten there such new bands and new artillery
companies and new crowds of friends, such Com
mittees. and orators and tributary bouquets would
have sprung UP to block the road After nightfail,
n cool salt wind swept up the river from the sea,
and conforted us for whole week Of hot srocco And
a bright dnner-table, all flowers and fruit ana meat
for the pcrishing. comforted too And so did our
all sitting down together for coy evening, we ana
n dozen new friends But behold, hardly were the
chairs drawn up when wave or two OF great sea
of people out-of-doors lapsed into the room, and
washed off Mr. Colfax. Presently we heard him on
the balcony making a WISE sensible, and friendly
speech TO his constituents in which he said in effect
that if loyalty and the manly virtues did not keep
pace with the material growth of State Its pros
perity was hollow, splendid as it might SEEM And
that it was such a pity to let any petty and local
jealousies or any undue haste to be nch interfere
with the usefulness of the stupendous railroad
which he had done his best to make possible, and
which they with wonderful perseverance, and labor
had but For that, if it did not establish nearer
friendship between East and West, between Old and
New. and did not compel exchanges of interest
and knowledge, as well as of commodities and money,
If it but earned wealth for its and did not
also develop higher order of citizenship wherever
its influence was felt it would painfully and disas-
trously have failed of its best uses Much more he
out of the depths of his aectionate and hearty good
will and then, breaking away from further friendly
solicitation and hand-shakngs that would have
weared an antomaton he came in to sweep us all OF
to bed For in the morning were TO be drives, and
visits, and sights enow and in the afternoon San
Francisco.
/ knew a philOsophic American youth who spent
six weeks Europe once, and nsed to vex his friends
thenceforth with monoogues on the incapaclty
of the Anglo-Saxon for sef-goyernment, and with
minnie analyses Of the comparative culture OF Con-
tinental capitals So should take shame to myself
if had not wholly seen and understood a city of
twenty thousand inhabitants in two hours of cursory
observation and here, dedicated to waiting pos
terity, the results Of my study. Sacramento IN
large village which has outgrownits village clothes
and sprawls with ungracefully evident arms ana
legs, that it has not learned to manage. IL had
only great fiat sandy stretch TO live on, and neither
work nor prayers, nor tears, could make that tame
dullness picturesque Then it received baleful
legacy OF regular streets which would decline exist
ence rather than each other half an inch short
of or beyond the .equal points of intersection which
their geometrical founders decreed. Not crescent
not an oval not a circle in town. Only the dcpreSS
ing exactness of checkerboard regularity. We are
very little better of at home, admit, but Broadway
is a saving eccentricity, and there small arrow
heads of verdure where il touches the avenues. And
then we have hills and Park in the very midst OF
the City Of the Future But irc had no chance The
perpetrators Of our right angles had, by their ugly
lamp-posts, been lighted ITO dusty Death before we
were grown up enough TO demonstrate. But out
here where there is room enough for picturesque
growing and energy to achieve 1t, and where not
even the most skillful curves and sweeps could
wholly oyeTbear the blank and hateful monotony of
the Site without mellow distances horizon line OF
grandeur TO DO satisfied 10 read In the geography
This city is regularly laid out in uniform blocks
upon wide plain and Is convenient and thrifty is
too ptiful contentment too tasteless success for
these ambitious and rich burghers. The citizen needs
a beautiful and well-ordercd city, the man needs
beautiful and we-Ordered home. Character thrves
better. have doubt that in fiat town of regn-
lar streets and all the houses with the sreetdoor in
the same place, and the same number of windows in
the front and of the inhabitants interested in
the same occupations as is the case in - Heavens,
] was near being imprudent,-we will say in New
Constantnople or New Babylon, the men and women
of the third generation would be as like as two
marbles, and quite devoid of angles interest.
So if Sacramento, now in her bright youth, could
have all her streets tossed up in blanket to fall
wherever they would. declared from that energetic
reform would open lew irregular flaceb ana COurs
and Parks, and Crescents and Ovals, with double
row of trees in the lesser oval included within, be-
tween the opposite rows of houses-why then she
would be a shining example which much bigger
cities, even cities with hills. OF a Lake Front or q
dowry of the fairest bay IN America, might sigh to
emulate.
The dust of Nevada is to the dust Of California as
foam to pillows. / know not how often in the day
mako their watprV rounds, but SacFa-
mento, conscientiously trying to keep clean, sits
melancholy among her gray trees with ashes on her
head because she fails so utterly. Her streets are
white and flying powder which carriage wheels roll
up into gritty clouds of dirt and which the wind that
ll..-. md ai nil