New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-07-05


would prefer to he sound asleep at earthquake ulhe
THE nURRYISG EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKES.
II 4, now almost two years since any very severe
earthquakes have occurred but there Is NOT 'he 'V'
assurance that another will not occur pelore nave '"
,o finish this letter. But for this constant hPpiehehT
IL would be possible to at little more OF 'e ue''S
OF the phenomena related in little more oheeIiu man
per The peopc here not remarkable TOT reverence
Int they have a most profound and unaneeteu resco'
for eartbouakes and however brave they may y 10 p
NJ distance OF three months from the event. ter cnu
like humility 20 return at the hrSt ihuerne Vi
the internal forces One Of the recent earthquakes Oc
curred on sunday when all the devout people were AT
,ho,r places OF worship At the first shock every
vorshiper started for the door without waiting
for the benedctOn. In Of the chuches the minister
who was lust In the midst Of his thirdly ana ABOUT 10
,i,o, an argument on the final perseverance Of the
saints besought his people to wait until he hid nnshed
his sentence He assured them on the best authority
bis ov,n-tbat IL was call over" and finally Gained
them down As he was about to proceed another shock
came harder the first, when he picked up MS nat
and made for the advance OF his congregation
The lady who related the incident to me- anu VINO was
present the occasion, says that as nc teu tne ooi
ner Of the street leading from the church, his coata
o,,od Iita n stage vbip The strain the nervous
svstem during one OF these earthquake ysitatOns Is
something awful to contemplate. Many people nave
died from the fright and great many more h"'o We
come hopelessly insane. one lady VINO mas pa77cu
thrOu oh
that she invariably faints away az the
first shock. and ia always sick for weeks
ofterward The frstl impulse, when a shock Is
felt Is 70 make for the street. and everybody goes III
whatever condition he is In AT these umes' I'no"
nothing and speed everything Ladies nave Deeh ko"h
TO leave their chignons behind, and old gentlemen nave
been quite obivious ther wigs In several cases. peo
pie have Jumped their bath-tubs and rushed 10 te
street without even coarse towel To identity them All
this seems very cOnca to think Of but the lady VINO re
lated the facts to did MT dream that there was any
thing the least funny about them There was grave
solemnty about her recital which impressed Inc huch
more than the facts themselves. So that on the "hoe
have concluded to be satisfied with WhaI Is 'o' nv
and not press for occular proof.
A RULE THAT DO Mt WORK BOTH WAYS.
There is prevailing notion at the East that something
in the social life in the atmosphere OF the Pacihc
coast so develops sharpcns the intellect hat people
cannot remain long here without being conscious OF
their superiority ordinary mOrtals nave even
heard suggested that of tedious paragraph
lists i'm the Atlantic cities might mend their mediocry
or that Of their children by suitable sooun here say
couple Of centuries such matter don't know that
any benevolent millionaire has thought OF founding
hospital for exhausted incllccts after the plan OF Dr
Holiness Retreat for Decayed Punsters, but the IDEA
would not q bad II is, however, an uDquestoned
fact that there greater proportion of unatcs in Cali
fornia than elsewhere in Chrsteudom. Isn't there dan
ger Of crowding much steam and is not health
full activity of mind though 1t be sluggish and
COMMONPLACE preferable to a sickly precocity which
| means early decayl on the whole, think !
will continue to be duh have wit
| messed a number OF instances Of remark
able shrcwdness here owing az must believe, to the
actinc rays Of the sun" of them is in the making
of change II there is thing which genuine Cali
fornian dcspses than another il Is small sums Of
money and especially small pieces OF money "bit'
is the smallest measure money known in the vernac-
ular of the Pacific SLOPE Theoretically, Bit Is
2i cents practically IL IS either 10 cents or 10 cents
according to the direction which the Of exchange
takes "A the stranger within the gates Is usually the
man who pays out the money, and il Is his prerog
carry the large pieces of silver such quarters
and half dollars he finds that his "bits" payable are
always - cents and his "bts' receivable always 10
cents This of the little games OF the Coast, and
| very nice one 1t IL. Mark Twains Jumping Frog of
! Calaveras was modelled after il. Moral Go be
| pasted in the hat: Travellers from the East
| who wish to hold their the Pacific
| Coast should never fail 10 lay in plentiful
supply OF silver ten cent pieces. This Alteration OF in
difference to exact values is Of the unnecessarily
pleasant things OF California. People here are neither
moro rich nor generous than the same order Of be-
ings other parts Of the country They have quite rs
much Use for th,ir small change and is quite mpOr
tant for them receive all that due them a il is for
folks who live the other side of the Sierra Neyadas.
| The Bank Of CafOrnia-Of which wish to speak more
fully in future letteF-has done good service in intro
ducng small coin. such silver Eve, .ant pieces, and
the nickel penny and two-ccn pieces The newspapers
and the arst ocratic fort miners make feeble show
OF opposition there neither logic in their
protests and the of the people demand the
! innovation, there is no doubt as TO the result
! HALF DOLLAR OF 80 ACCOUNT.
4 good story or two is told Of the Boston Party
which was here last Summer The members OF this party
werc the most part men who were IN the habit Of
knowing where their money went and OF making and re-
ourne exact change This trait led them into many pro
oneed and not wholly decisive contests and eventually
! attracted good deal Of attention. Californian was
characterzing their small ways with more emphasis than
good taste when another Californian took up the gaunt
LET in their behalf "Thcy can't help it," said he they
don't act rOm penuTiOusness, but from education. They
have always been used 10 close calculations and exact
settlements, and they can't 20 back on lifeong train
well there's one thing they can do" said the other,
The sane party visited the Nevada silver Mines and
upon coming out OF the tunnel one of them offered their
of the mine, half dollar for his trouble. The miner
looked at the money moment and then turning to the
man said, May ak YOU how much you are estimated
| M home 10 be wort"
About twenty give thousand dollars. replied the
| Bostonian.
well" said The miner guess won't take your half
dollar made a quarter Of million here last MONTH
There constant complaints Of hard times here rs
there everywhere. The standard reason assigned is
dry and CONSEQUENT shortness Of the gain crop
am satisfied that the difficulty lies in another direction,
viz the foolish policy Of the banks and the people III
! sticking 10 hard money currency ! honestly believe
that il greenhacks were tomorrow adopted Throughout
! tie Stale ~ TIE standard OF values, tltIe WOMB
follow elasticity OF trade which would a,tou,b ana
! delight the people And there would not be the
slightest difficulty in doing II. II few OF the leading
money cd with the Bank of California at their head
should iEdGguI1te the movement But, Tor reasons OF
their own this class of people mady persist IN Ignoring
the situation and c9nnVng their unp3trioc ana unWl,e
policy The condition OF Gallo MIA to M products Is
not nearly 80 bad rs Is generally beloved There L. or
short wheat crop bat not failure by any means
have Just returned from trip mp the NapH valley, aud
although The country does not look green ana lf>h
a. IN Tie habit of seeing in the Atlantic states,
where rain fas n summer the crops 0f cereals very
fine AMI PROMISING cannot say the same OF The sacr3-
mcDtO Valley, of other parts OF the state IN