Connecticut western news., 1872-08-16
A California Colony.

trymen, to purchase, by general effort, piece of land, lay it out into individual farms, plant these with grapes for wine, ard to do all this by one general head or manager, and in the cheapest and best manner possible. After some discussion 50 men joined to buy tract of 1, 165 acres of land southwest of Los Angeles. They paid for this S2 per acre, and took care to get for this price also sufficient water fright for irrigation. The land was selected and bought by the leader in the enterprise, MT. Hansen of Los Angeles, German who had long lived in Oalitor- mia. The Anaheim Company consisted, I you must understand, of mechanics, in the main. There are several carpenters, 8 gunsmith, an engraver, three watch makers, four blacksmiths, a newer, a teacher, shoemaker, miller, several merchants, bookbinder, a poet { of course ], four or five musicians, a natter, some teamsters, hote[keeper, and others not farmer among them all, pray notice. Moreover-and this I say with certain degree of hesitation there is some reasons to believe that the members of the company were not even emineAtly successful in their callings. They were not getting rich in San Fran cisco, where most of them lived. Several of them had money ahead, but most of them, I judge from what I hear, were men ready enough to better their for tunes, but to whom it would have been impossible to buy 8 ready made farm of even twenty acres.
 We'll, it was agreed to divide the l ,165 acres into 50 20 acre lots, and 50 house. lots in the village, leaving some lots for school houses and other public buildings, IA in number. The first contribution or payment toward the common stock bought the land. Thereupon MT. Han sen was, very wisely, chosen Resident Manager, and the shareholders quietly went on with their pursuits in San Fran cisco, taking care only to pay up the calls on their stock as they became due. It was the managers duty, meantime, to go on with the improvement of the lots. This he did with hired labor-Indians and Californians.' He dug @ main ditch seven miles long, to lead the irrigating water over the whole area, and 45O miles of subsidiary ditches, and 25 miles of feeders to these. He planted on each 2eacre lot acres in vines 5000 vines and some fruit trees. He fenced each lot with willows, making 54 miles of outside and 35 miles of inside fencing. These willows are now topped for frewood, and as they grow rapidly they give very fresh and lovely green to the aspect of Anaheim. This done, he continued to cultivate, prune and keep up the whole place. At the end of three years, in 1860, all the assessments were paid each stockholder had paid $1,200, and a division of the lots was made. This was done by a kind of lottery. All the lots were Fieweds and assessed at their rela- tive value, from !$1, 400 to $500, accord ing to situation, Sc. When lot was drawn, if it was valued over S1, 200 the drawer paid the difference; if less, he received the difference. Thus he who drew $1 400 lot would pay $2,00: he who drew 8 $6,0O lot would receive $6, ,O0 additional in cash. When all were drawn, there was sale of the effects of the company-tools, horses, &c. and on balancing the books it was found that sum remained on hand which sufficed for dividend of over $100 to each share holder I believe the actual cost of the lots was but $1 ,OSO. For this each had 20 acres and town lot 15Ox200 feet, with 5000 bearing grape vines and some fruit trees.
 Then the owners broke up at San Francisco and came down to take pos session. Lumber for building was bought at wholesale for 50 families 8 school house was quickly CT cted shop keepers focked in and bought the town lots 8 newspaper was begun mechanics of different kinds were attracted to the colony and the colonists themselves had at once about them all the convenlences for which, had they settled singly, they would have had to wait many years. Now, it must be remembered that these co1onists were not even farmers or gar deners by trade. Only one had ever made wine. They began as green hands; some of them borrowed money to make the improvement, and had to pay heavy interest. They had to build their houses, and make their gardens, and support their families. want to give you briefly the results of the experiment 1st There was struggle for some years, but in this early time, everybody tells me,
 they all had enough to eat, a good school
 for their children, music and pleasant
 social amusements, and they were their own masters. 2. Only one of the or1gi- nal settlers has moved away and the Sheriff has never issued an execution n Anaheim. 3. The property which cost $1 ,O90, is now worth from $5000, to $1O, 900, and I do not believe more than one in ten of the colonists would have
 been worth to-day, had they remained at
 their trades in San Francisco, any money
 at all. 4. There are no poor in Anaheim.
 5. It is the general testimony that the
 making of wine and brandy has not caused drunkenness among the colon
 ists. "When you see drunken man in our town it will be an Indian or an Irishman," said several people to me. 6. I have not doubt that the moral standard of the people has been greatly
 improved. Their children are well train ed the men are masters of their OWL lives they have achieved independence and what to an average New York : mechanic would seem the ideal of for tunate existence, The average clear in come from their vineyards, which now contain mostly sixteen acres, is about $1, 900 per annum. Some few fall below this, but most of them go above. They 5 have besides this, of course, their gar B dens, which here yield vegetables all tht
 year round their chickens - in shor the greater part of their living. They livt we'll; it is a land of plenty; and to me q who remembered how painful and un e pleasant is the life of mechanic O - artisan in New York, it was a delight t : see here men and women who had re deemed themselves, by their own efforts
 from this drudgery and slavery.
 j., WHAT A LITTLE CARE1EssNEss DID, t To show how serious confagratiol a may spring from small cause, the grea s oil fire on Hunters Point is given. 4 o river barge received two thousand bar e rels of refined oil, and was preparing te e leave. The Captains wife was arrang e ing the beds in the cabin aft, wher