Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-09-17

pIored me to spare my victims, in order
t o be sacrificed TO appease his voracious
appetite; Me eat lhIm Ne eat him p
says John. mo sabe, no sabe," says 1
and straightway consigned pussy 10 the
| deep. l tell you these circumstances 10
show what means are taken to satisfy
their miserly qualities. Much of their
living they get from the ocean, spending
Sundays and idle days in searching the
rock beach for abalonas, mussels, and
other shell animals. Yet how can we get
along Without them2 They are our
''heWers of wood and drawers Of water"
A narrow belt of comparatively level
land skirts along the waters edge-the
coast mountains forming boundary line
landward, jutting abruptly in places,
even to the waters edge. On this mar
row table-land, with its gentle decliVity,
our town Is situated. Through an open
ing in these hills come the cool and bab-
bling waters of a mountain stresm-min-
Cling here with the sea. Along these
water courses formed by nature, man
has constructed roads, along which the
productions Of rough interior find their
way TO market On these mountain sides,
and over their very SUBMITS, roads are
graded, which to you of level country,
might seem impossible; yet each day
teams of six or eight horses come trun-
ding down with loads which are truly
fearful.
To get an idea of this place, you can
picture to yourself the general descrip-
ton OF western towns, with their hastily
constructed houses, and the inevitable
"corner groce ry." We boast of quite
population, mostly of men in mill en-
ploy. The female element is sparsely
represented, though we have enough to
give character TO the place. and throw a
better influence around these sons Of toll
1t seems as if every nation was here rep
resented, though the Chinese and Indian
are the most prominent. A "ranoharea"
few rods away, serves as q home for the
latter, where they live IN all their native
ignorance. The men are quite industri-
ous-perhaps for the reason that the Sc t.
tlement of this country has made it ne
cessary for them to labor in order to get
the nesessaries of life. They love the
jingle of silver coin, and it is imperative
with them that they have their wages
each Saturday night. Yet they have
none of the boarding propensities Of the
Chinese; they know no future, but spend
their money laYishly for present enjoy
ments Outside of a few families, our
white population is mostly itinerant-
Along this coast, even to the British po-
sessions, mills are located with intervals
Of few miles. They employ class of
discontented laborers, who work for
awhile, make a stake" then roll their
blankets and SILENTLY steal away" Each
day, these dissatisfied wanders go march
ing by. like the inevitable "tramp," al
ways anticipating something better be-
yond. Our resident citizens are of the
whole-souled, genuine California kind |
living in one-story houses, kind and Law
ish to a fault
We boast of hotel, store, saloon, black
smith shop and shoe shop. At present,
an itinerant photographer is doing
ru shing business. taking impressions of
our fair women and brawny men. Edu-
cation, that great promoter of fciviliza-
ton and morality, has here reared its
temple, and our youths rejoice in the |
blessings of the free school system. Oc-
casionally, of a Sabbath, Methodist |
minister comes % miles to ''expound the |
Word, and point the way" to his sin-la-
den hearers. But ii seems like sowing
seed in barren ground, for haYe yet TO
see the outcroppings of single shoot
We obey the civil, and-I am 10th to
say-vIolate the moral law. Intemper-
ance and profanity cling tenaciouslY to
nearly every one our saloon is well pat
ronized. The hard earnings OF many
mill man drops recklessly into its till.
Each Sunday, when all are idle, Its door
stands lnyihngly open and before the day
is over the air is thick with the curses Of
drunken men. To sum up-we have
wide awake, busy little town. Our houses
are not models of architectural beauty,
but what we lack in art nature has ma de
up IN location; we are not many III num-
bers, but mighty in our littleness; we are
a reading community-keep posted on
the topics of the day, and get the San
Francisco papers daily. This -enlighten-
ment on our part, accounts for the way
we stand politically. which isl am hap
py to say-DeMOcratic.
Our State election is paased, and I de-
posted my first ballot as a citizen of Cal
ifornia, As I did it, 1t was with fe elings
of regret, to think that had renou need
all allegiance to my native Buckeye
State" Yet wherever / claim the rights
of citizenship, nothing can take from me
Ohio, as my place of nativity. As the
smoke ofthis--our last political combat
clears away, California is seen enrolled
in the Democratic galaxy of States and
as the news sped across the continent, it
was as greeting to the citizens of Ohio
to SO enroll her name next October.
In this letter have told you where l
am, to morrow leave for the city, and
upon my return MAJ at some future time,
tell you what am doing.
Respectfully, ED.
Fisherman's Bay, Sept. 6, 1875.