National Republican., 1873-01-08
BRET HARTE.
THE ARGoNAUTS OF '4e.

-BhuahaOte Anecdotes.
Lincoln hall was well filled last evening to hear
the renowned author Of the "Heathen Chineen
on the early history Of California. Mr. Harte's
appearance was greeted with generous ap-
plause. We present a brief report Of his lee
tufe. Hesaid: It's my purpose tonight to tell
you The story Of the ArRonauts Of 40; to talk Of
an episode In American life typical OF the Greek
adventurera, whose name Ia borrowed for its
ttle-a crusade without cross-an exodus
without prophet. For more than three hun
dred years california was, OF all Christian cOun-
tries, the least known. On old English maps II
was marked In q strange locality, aud In Spanish
tradition Its history was wrapped. For centu-
ries freebooters had cruised along its shores and
within ton years past party Of gold diRgers
found large piece OF wax in the RIBS Of a rot
ten ship, and further search In the ruins Of the
ship proved that Sir Francis Drake had been
there before them. Those were the peaceful,
pastoral days Of California, when the Angeles
bells were rung calling the good people to prayer
and sleep beforeo O'Clock. But political aud
s soSIa eA.n!Sahe y. ehsueu Mhen me iaNorlte
eyes.
The Argonauts were iawless, irreiirious band
OF men. They had no supenttlous iites, were
enthused by no high ambition, and were scepti-
cal even Of the existence OF the golden fields
until they saw them. Being mere adventurers,
they accepted with calm philosophy whatever
are you going 10 do with those suice-bOxes ="
said new-arrived fortune-hunter to his friend
"They will make irut-class cOffins, nwas the re-
u they % ala not burn bur their vessels behind them,
they at least left tho ship ArRo to lie idle at the
wharf. The sailors were shipped only for the
outward voyage. Nobody expected TO return,
recognized the man who rOwed min ashore from
the vessel, and who charged him $50 for the
service. Were you not senior wrangler In OK
ford In isl9 Z" he asked. 81 was" he answered
''but was also stroke-oar at the regatta;r and
he was happy at the opportunity Of turning the
pleasures OF an idle youth to advantage. At
Hart saw 10 the walter a gentlemsn whom, IN
hts childhood, he regarded as the embodiment of
excellence and social accomplishments, Fear
revolver-he sought the truth from the landlord,
and found his surmlses correct. RegTetting the
lowly condition OF the man, he asked n II would
not be possible to 1l his place. 'Tm afeerd
not said the proprietor, with q sudden suspl-
cion, "and don't think you would do"
. A distinguished lawyer, on landing In San
Francisco, shouldered his baggage, not being de-
q stranger shouted; ''that Is only half a load,
and straiRhtway he nunR his yalise on the law
yer,s shoulder, giving him SO for his services
In distant parts o. the country they len children
picked and lamentlng. They deserted their own
wives, and In some extreme cases even deserted
the wives Of others. SOME Of the hest men had
the worst antecedents, and some OF the worst
had q spotless Puritan pedigree. With excellent
delineation Of the character and habits OF the
Argonauts he described their mode Of life and
their passion for gambling One night at faro
bank man slipped dead under the iAhle. Three
physicians, all players, declared he died OF dis
ease OF the heart; the coroner, who sat at his
jury; the inquest was straightway proceeded
with, and they returned verdict In accordance
with the facts
A simplo-mlnded Western man, who made a
few thousands In the mines, entered one OF
these gambling saloons the day before his In.
tended departure for home. From mere listless-
ness he threw down $40 gold piece; In two
hours he won fortune, and an hour later he was
begRar. lie gave up the idea OF going home,
and became low gambler. In ayear. tired with
waiting, his poor wife sought him In California,
and told her story to the notorious gambler,
John ocres. That evening ocres traced the man
chsnce OF play and lost observing that that was
the only thing In his life he ever did on the
square. The social life Of that day was peculiar
A lady stlll exhibits broken chair, occasloned
by the discharge Of a gentlemAns revolver while
sitting down IN bashful confusion. Women were
so few, propOHioned to the men, that an Officers
wife bOasted Of having full platoon to accom-.
pany her home.
With the innux OF strangers the condition Of
naut element moved toward the mountain. They
constructed nothing save what was portable,
lived almost exclusively on beans, dressed In the
most picturesque costumes, and the Identity of
two gentlemen was known, In all seriousness. by
the labels on their pantaloons, a. "Genessee
Mills," and Eagle Brand" The absence Of do
nestle ties induced friendships so strong as to
be undimlnished even In death. Insult a man :
"partner" and you more than insulted himself
In their relations were observable the iealOusles
OF conjugal life, and one once dolefully re.
marked, "My partner left me; well, / might
have reckoned on it, for he was always dckie
and fond Of Jewery aud dress" In the
Sierras the uncouth hut kind wife Of q
Texan was venerated as the embodiment OF
heavenly grace aud beauty. She died, aud the
most heartfelt grief peryaded the entire camp
Blear-eyed Bill, saluting his partner, asked what
she died OF. doctor says she died Of Nostalgia,
was the reply. 'What the - Is that?- was the
question; and the answer was, "a Kind Of Iong 9
Ing to get 10 heaven" The laws against dis
honesty were 50 strict that dishOnesties were
| punished with death. A horse-thief was tried
and the jury having retired to deliberate upon
their verdict were slow on returning into court
The Judge pushed his head through the door OF
| their room and found they had not agreed
member we are waiting for this room to lay out
the corpse In" with real poweTthe lecturer re-
fened to the fondness for witticisms 30 gene
Ial among them, and the eplgramInatic terms In
which they were expressed. gentleman re-
piled once 10 query Of parishloner Of the Rev
Thomas King, that as u preacher he won every
An engineer on the Pacific railroad told Of a
comrade who died Of consumption "POor Jlm
he said, got running slower and slower, until
one day he stopped on his center.r What pic
ture Of the helpless hitCh Of this weary human
machine. A teamster met a surveyor and &
farmer angrily discussing. Siding with the sur
ycyor, he said, 'lf were you would Just the.
odOlite that fellow out Of camp" Another team
ster was rebuked for his profanity by young
girl from Camp-meeting "why, Miss, said he
"yOu don't call that swearing, do your "Why you
ought TO hear Bill Jones exhort the lmpenltenI
mule"
Tue names OF places were expressive. A let
ter dated from "Dead Broke" was not calculated
to induce credit, and a stranger would hesitate
to accept an invitation to "Murterer's Bar"
stage IN California was run from Happy Vale,
TO Mount Dolores, and from Blazes to Purlssima
Adyertng to the recent spanish colOnlsts ht
minutely described how the Argonauts at irs
pretended friendship and afterward completed,
robbed and despoed them. They Joined theiI
fandangoes and bull-nghts, but were decidedly
anxious tn give the bull q show. on one or two
occasions they substituted q grizzly bear, thai
cleared the ring and enectually wiped out the
two nrst rows OF benches. But with experience
the Spaniard became wise and ailied himself with
his oppressOrs. Being the earliest inhabitant hi,
evidence on the question OF titles was so valuable
that he knew everything that was wanted to sup
ply a deficiency on either side Of a case.
The Heathen Chnee came In for his share Oi
the story A. new element, and an all-impOTtanI
one, and the lecturer then said In conclusion ; |
once more refer TO the ArganAuta OF 30. In the
rank and nle there may he many known person.
ally to some OF this audience. There may be
gaps which the memory OF others may supply
There are homes all through the land whose
graves all over California on whose nAmeless
mounds none shall weep. IbhOull like to end
this picture with . flourish, but the trumpets
and the bands have gone on before and the
mountains are beginning TO hide the ATgonAuts
from our view. They are marching TO the city
by the sea they are watching for the sail OF the
last Argo, and when the last ArgOnaut shall have
passed In, she, too, will spread her white wings
and slip unnoticed to the golden gates that open
In the distance.