The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-11-22
SUNDAY IN SAN FRANCISCO.
How the Day is ObServed-Churehes without
Influence Day Amusements.

|
Influence Sabbath Day Alusements.
| Ii you put grain of strychnine into 6
| hogshead OF water, the water will have 6
perceptlbiy bitter taste. Add Que droI
OF liquid carmine to a gallon of water
and it will be perceptiDly colored. L
would seem that in the glorious develop
ment and growth Of San Francisco from
Il small mining town TO a great metro
p0litan city Of more than quarter of 8
million of Inhabitants, its primal charac
teristics would be completely absorbed
But this is not the case, and the taint o
the mining element which controls the
financial, which governs the physical
also dominates the spiritual aspects o.
| San Francisco. Miners are invariably
irreligious, and here the churches have
absolutely no influence. They are filled
on Sundays with well dressed people,
and that is all They are powerless to
influence public opinion. Miners are
habitually superstiGlous, and not with.
out reason, Tor they see in the course oil
their eventtul lives SO many queer
Things, that. being incapable of phlloso-
| pnizing on the law Of condolences, they
give themselves up, body and bones, to
| the mumDO jumbo OF soothsayers, clair
VoyanCs, asVrologers, mediums, and lor-
| tune-tellers. All the journals contain
more or less Of the advertisements OF
these gentry, and the less reputable are
| full OF them. These are curiosities OF
! literature, and reveal facts which the
columns of the journals aforesaid would
never tell. They show that not few OF
| the wealthy spectators in mining
stocks depend upon these creatures for
the knowledge which guides their opera
tions. They give more than a hint of a
widespread belief in "obeah women, !"
as the colored clairvoyants style them
selves in the West Indies. From infor-
nation which l have received, l can
state that the Californian puts more
confidence in old darkey mediums than
in any other, and when they come from
the West Indies, especially the French
islands, like Sainte Lucie, and the east
ern part Of San Domingo, about SaYan-
nah la Mar, he has implicit faith in their
revelations.
One OF the results of this impotence of
the churches is that there is no public
observance of the Sabbath. All the
saloons are open, all the billiard rooms
are in full blast, there are performances
at many of the theaterS, If not at all Of
them; the majority OF the stores are not
closed, and the streets are full Of vehicles
of every kind. II is also the chosen day
for making excursions, and every Sun
day San Francisco pours out its popula-
ton by myriads over the ferries to Oak
lands, to San Raiael, and to other points
in the neighborhood Of the city. EXcur.
sion trains are run by the railroad that
goes northWard 10 Russian River, and
by the Southern Pacific, which is to
reach San Diego some very fine day. A
few of the travellers on these occasions
simply go to enjoy the scenery, which is
both wild and beautiful, but the majori-
ty are hunters after deer, wild duck,
snipe, quail, and other kinds Of game.
They have with them their dogs, and the
stranger who happens on Sunday to be
down at the Davis street wharf, whence
the ferry starts for Sancelito, the ter
minus OF the Russian River Road, is
startled at sight so foreign to Eastern
notions, and to the religious ideas ia
which these men were bred. For the
great ma ajority-nineteen-t eths-ot
them are from States where a man
would sooner think OF cutting his throat
than going out with dog and gun to
hunt upon the Lord's day. 1 do not
pretend to pass judgment upon the alb
stract proposition Of its being wrong, or
right to do so. l simply point out that
the atmosphere of a community SO
tinged with the mining element quick
ly dissolYes The most stubborn religious
views.
The fact is, must plead guilty to
having gone on their excursions myself,
but not for shooting purposes. My OBJ
Jectlye point was a butter ranoh on,
Point Reys, the proprietor Of which (Mr.
Howard is one of the truly progressive
men Of California, and thoroughly alive
IN of mi, i'm
ulation. He has endeaVored to build up
great dairy farm, and has succeeded
admirably, for the butter which is made
on the Point Reys ranches is as good as
Philadelphia butter, and l believe that
is the highest point Of excellence attain
able. Also, the pecuniary profits have
been, of late years, considerable, and
are steadily increasing, which is still
more agreeable. And, lastly, the prop
erty is principality which will, in due
time, be worth more than A.
r. Stewart ever owned. To arrive at
this place, the line, which is narrow
gauge, has to wind through succession
OF hills, in general covered with beau
tilully bright verdure, but without any
trees. In the occasional ravines Whicn
the railroad spans, there are the red
wood trees, SO famous over the world,
having been cut down Tor lumber. The
huge stumps are left, ana show what
growths were there before
the railroad penetrated this wilderness.
1t is not entirely wilderness now; for
wherever there is a track there will
gather a population. But it is rather
scant, for the whole country is better
lifted for pasturage than for any other
purpose, and SO one sees few evidences |
Of tillage from the windows OF the cars.
The first time that L accompanied MIR. |
Howard devoted myself exclusively to
the scenery, and gazing on old |
around whose skirts the |
railroad runs. But on the next occa-
sion considered the passengers. In
the rear of the passenger cars there |
W ere two cars used for ballasting on |
other days, but which had been utilized |
OH this occasion for the special accom-.
mediation of the hunters, who had mus
tered SO strong on this Sunday as to
Overwhelm the train. Planks were |
stretched from side to side, on which,
the men sat, guns in hand, and |
with their dogs at their feet. There |
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