New-York tribune., 1874-03-28

franCiSCO
The Ataat,o is far from horizontal That West now
| ovcr yorgeous does not shower on her Bohemians
| barharic pearls and gold and mutton chops.
hungry man looking round for dinners does not hnd
waiting tables miscellaneously spread in " barDar-
| oua profusiou." As for crude adventures, you can
] walk several squares in San Francisco ater "ie"v
| fan without getting knocked on The head' ana
wish as much could be said for Brooklyn Ana my
regard for the undressed truth forces the adhssoi
| that have seen rapacity for money-geItlhs o'' VI
| san Francisco-say in Broad ST.. New-i0rK' oan
| Francisco in fact, is very much hhe o'no,
| cities Mt present. 1t is each for himself
and one member of profession goes iof
another when opportunity offers with an avidlty
eoual,pc ANYTHING have ever seen in q New-En-
GLAND village IL called upon for frank expression
of opinion. and guaranteed protection from the
ean.nurtured hands of outraged PUritans, should
say that San Francisco very much resembles boston
tue main difference that can now recall beng tna'
in the one city people take their drinks up s''n'
in broad daylight while in the other they so oo"n
into a dorl, cellar for them But am not prepared
10 deny that the real Californian son OF the red so
and the blue sky will he altogether different from
everybody else including myself: for his own sake
hope he will be. But prophesy that If 1he attain
tic writes about him, and he takes things au sete"F'
"a the critic intmates that he may the first dspra-
on 10 Boston and kin his reyiewer-at least tins
would he his ambition if he be real Californian.
The late Mr.. William Mulgan would never nave
stood being called a Californian Humorist more
than once
The fact of it u.s. there's deal Of bosh written by
transcendental critics about climatic Influences
on writer's. Take sweet thrush OF the
topaz crest and emerald pnons. for instance; does
he not sing of palm trees. and "syrOp, and specs,
and bulbulsi Yet the while he is sitting in Boston
Common, and not on the shores OF the BoSphoius'
Aud has not Swiubume swaddled and soaked Ill the
chilling fogs of England evolved warmer verse than
ever sprang into rank life under the burning srn OF
the tropicsi Verify. look at what myself have
done under the most opposite surroundings FROM
the embroidered magnifcence of this present essay
Won may fancy me sitting on skeD diyan, with
houri on nv left hand and fragrant demlJohn OF
| something good to drink within convenient reaching
distance on the right But the real truth OF 1t Is,
that am straddling stool in Boonton drug store,
with nothing around Inc more inspiring thall COM
plicated soothing syrops patent catharc' anu last
| AHonfcs-the issue of the last month. ] mean
How it may be with the other gentlemen whose
| names are mentioned as having deeply received
tbe California stamp" am not prepared to say. But
so far as | am individually concerned, California
contrived TO take all the stamps originally had, in
|
TO which it was my blessed privilege to contribute
and never received any from her in return worth
speaking of.
| may be over sensitive, perhaps, as regards the
classification put upon me- But turn the thing about
and take the other end of 1t for change. Suppose
| that were to sit me down and write an elaborate
treatise on the Italian poets-Dante, Boccacco, ana
all the rest, among them mentioning the editor OF
| The atlantic putting him in, too with large over
| bim-how would he like that 7 have never called
him an Italian Poet-never said that he was Poet
at ALL not even writer of macaronic verses, If re-
member rightly Yet he was resident OF Italy
much longer than / of San Francisco Still l
do not see that for four years soourn III Venice L
should set him up as Venetian Blind, nOtwithstand-
ing that he has seemed to see the value of my
contributions very clearly.
| Nordhoff has been in California for some time of
| late. writing about agriculture. suppose The At
lqptc the first opportunity il has to say anything
| about California Farmers, will refer to Charles
NordhOff as a representative one and bcstow large
| + on him.
| Nearly four years of my early life spent-or
misspent-On whaleship, alternating between the
| South Seas and the Arctic regions Why not pass
| me down to posterity as the Feejee Funny Man, or
the Esquimaux Prose-writer' 7 This would be nearer
the correct size of it, fancy. And then something
compressng the head by lashing board on the top
of it. after the fashion practced by some tribes of
| ingenious aborigines something might be said of
| NV having deeply received the Feejee stamp
which would be literally true, indeed, as have
some very choice tattooing about to show for it,
! Or the stimulus which dissipation upon train-Oil
exerts upon the brain might be gracefully discussed;
the critic if facetiously inclined, and feeling his
want of relevance to his surrounding conditions at
| that particular time-wbich ] take it is the re-
| viewers mild way of intimatng that some one is
| drunk-might remark that my cOdexes Smelt of the
midnight oil.
| Mention has already been made by The Californian
as an incident in my chequered career. We'll, hap
pening into an aucton-room the other day. picked
up an English edition of Bret Harte-published by
] one John Camden John Camden and Amboy
| Uotten II was prefaced by biography Of the
| author written by some one named Bellew-a man
who goes to and fro upon the earth giving readings
| / am told. Here l found it stated, among other
worthy and heroic acts of Mr.. Harte that he estab
| called The Californian in which he assisted by
| a Mr.. UeIby" This was the crowning outrage, and
| rushed off to BoOnton to beg of my friend Harte
| who was reported to be residing in New-Jersey
| that he would find ont who his bOgraphers were
and furnish them with proper spelling of inyname
| so that under no circumstances could they shield
| themselves from my just fury if they printed it
| "Welby;" in consideration of which kindness
wouldn't care cent whom they set up as founder or
founderer Of The Californian But getting to Boon
ton was confronted by The AHdnic as has already
been set FORTH and in my indignation forgive
| the foreigner who believed about Welby.
| In conclusion, simply wish to point the moral
that nothing is easier than not to write about man