Los Angeles daily herald., 1875-10-29

that Smith does take comfort in the
loss of his neighbcr's house Is none
! the less true. Men are ashamed to
complain when they know that every
me about them is in as sad plight as
themselves. In the midst of its ashes,
therefore, Virginia is cheerful, and
instead of crying over split milk Is
bravely setting about to build ur
again what the fire has laid waste.
rhe energy of the business men of the
city is remarkable Before the wrecks
# their three and four story brick
buildings are done smoking they have
set small armies of laborers to work
clearing away rubbish and putting up
temporary shanties. Stuck up within
few feet of the red-hot smoderine
piles of debris are little written no.
tices informing the public that so-and-
50 are not by any means dead yet, but
will resume business in day or
two. Others still more enterprising
have had lumber hauled to the ground
and with all dispatch are erecting
buildings and preparing to begin bus
lness again at the earliest possible mo-
ment On street the Lafayette mar.
ket ran up a shed yesterday and last
night, and to-day has been doing
hipy bttsi pocc In ohnn. anI ctaa |. q
The Snug saloon has reopened in a
little corner shanty, and over a bar
formed of two rough boards dispenses
whisky to the Virginia sufferers at the
generous tariff of one bit a drink.
The restaurants are doing a rushing
business, and in those of the Rawbone
variety the improvement in the. class
of Gust omers proves that the fire, while
levelng brick and stone, did equally
as effective work on the social lines.
Gas being one Of the departed luxu-
ries, candles in elegant sticks COM
posed of small blocks of wood and three
nails grace rne tables of the eating
houses. The walters are saucy and
excited, and the importance Of the
proprietors can only be equaled by the
dignity of special policeman. Home
less people who the night before had
camped on the hill-sides, in the old
tunnels, and bivouacked behind boul-
ders and piles of sage.brush devoted
the hours of yesterday TO search for
more comfortable quarters, and gene
rally succeeded. To the credit of hu-
man nature it may be set down that
not single instance is known where
the doors of those who escaped ruin
have been closed against the home
less. Every house in town Is sort
of barrack, the spare beds are all dou-
ble-loaded, of course, and half the pop
ulation sleep on shake-downs, eat
where they can and keep up an amaz-
ing cheerfulness. Yesterday toward
sundown cold West wind sp:ang up,
which brought rain. After dark the
rain changed to snow, and it seemed
as if heaven were determined to send
its whole list of Affections upon the
suffering city in a lump. The few sa-
looms remaining of the prosperous
hundreds of Monday did Il tremendous
business. Mixed drinks We're gener-
ally barred, as the press of business
allowed no time for such connections,
and the Virginia sufferers had to COLI
tent themselves with uncompromising
straight. The sufferers were deprived
of even their whisky after s O'Clock,
for at that hour Gen. John B. Winters
detailed squads of men who marched
about peremptorily closing all saloons.
This move, though rather summary,
was u good one. A great many men
had taken more liquor than was good
for them, and fights were becoming
too frequent fer the comfort of sober
citizens. The military took entire
charge of the town and preserved
property from thieves, who were nu-
merous, and during the day carried off
good deal of property from the sites
of burned buildings. Strollers along
the devastated streets found bayonets
confronting them at the most unex-
pected points, and were forced to turn
hack