New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-23
SAN FRAN CISCO.
PERSONAL. JOURNALISTIC. AGRICULTURAL
AND DRAMATIC TOPICS.

AND DRAMAllC IOI lO0'
,v,ov Az OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
SAN Francisco. April 1.-The sudden uo''" y,
Thomas H. Blythe last week remoVeu Sp'o"
Californian, who. unlike most OF ms ieiow n'i''on
n.,,as had fortune thrust uoon him. lie WIS an
E-.;sbman and came here IN the early days with
. enc ann in hard cash. This he loaned at rulnHus
80 of interest Like the majority OF these money
l.ndars he had small faith in the permanence OF
v,ovrtb of San Francisco. Finally, by what he
reua rded az hard luck. he became LANDOWNER
large block of property in one OF the mtIhoV-s''
ssoresr now the business heart OF the Guy. ha'ins
fallen INTO his hands by the foreclosure OF a mort
gage of s.. 900. Since then be has mainly deVo'ed
himself TO the Improvement OF This 'eal estate
buildipg large business block upon portion OF IL.
He never dabbled in mining stocks but ne lhuni1eu
in the equally ruinous luxury ofdiggmg a @Zoo'ooo
A;,cb 70 irroate vast tract of mesa land in Sonora
that he bought for song. Sull, in spite OF this
loss and of expensive habits, he died leaving an
astote valued at Y4OO0O00. For the last 1--WE
rsers he had been living with a young woman
L,own "a Miss Dickson. She DOW lays claim 10
hs;ng bis widow and to an equal share OF he prop
.r.y with Florence Blythe, a daughter by an early
marriage now IN England. A laborous search was
made for WILL as it was known the millionaire had
made several and tnen destroyed them "hat pur-
ported TO be a Photographic will was shown to some
of the milIionaiIes friends few weeks before MS
death but the most diligent search by the Puohc
Administrator has failed to find 1t, In 1t the daugh-
Ter reccived about half the estate and the mistress.
Miss Dickson, only $4,000. Meanwhile. another
woman. who once lived with Blythe and sueo
him when he discarded her, has appeared on the
.cene and will make a legal onslaught upon the
fonr millions Thus the case bids fair to make
local sensation.
Hrox ft,a daft
the Harbor Commission, caused much satisfaction
here. He was identified in Guaymas by Sam"
Rrannon who once departed under somewhat SINH
Tar circumstances aud was arrested by the Mexican
authorities An examination of his accounts shows
that he stole at least $4,000; yet when he was
placed In custody he said that he had intended to
return to San Francisco and settle his accounts as
eoon az the affair had blown Over"-a cynical but
suggestive commentary on the moral sense oil the
community The defauler ought to be on the way
here now, but his extraditiOn has been delayed by
stupid blunders of the State authorities in making
out he necessary papers, which have compelled the
forwarding of an entirely new set of documents.
The old war over the Associated Press disp itches,
which once ragged here so forcby. is ended forever
The new Western Associated Press. which is now
well established furnishes all the chief newspapers
with Eastern news and thus saves burdenng the
overland wires with duplicate dispatches of routine
news Thus there is left ample field for enterpris-
ing journals TO indulge in special Geographic news.
winch at least two of them utilizing The old
Democratic organ The Examiner after heroic
effort TO gam firm fOOthOd by lavish display OF
enterprise has subsidized and cut down expenses III
ali directions. Ii still MAINTAINS a business Office.
about a. large cigar stand. IN the corner OF the
new Phelan block in Mar6et-st. and 1t modestly
placrs a cut of his five story structure. which GOV,
ers half entire square, on It's envelopes Labelled
"1he Examiner Building" Even monumental as
suraDce like this cannot save II, ana IL promises
soon to sink into the condition or the leading
Bourbon organ OF New-lOrk
A healthy tendency in agriculture in this State is
shown by the movement to split up vast mexican
ranches 10 the southern part of the State and parcel
them ont to small farmers. A few DAYS ago the al
most royal domain of Ex-Governor Pho Pic0, near
Los Angeles, derived from an old Spanish grant be-
fore the admission OF California AS ate. was sold
for $50, 900. Divided INTO small ranches TINS prop
eriy viii find a ready sale among the Eastern peo-
pie who have became enamored OF tie climate and
of the profits OF orange culture.
What promises to work good deal OF damage to
fruit growers hrOug hout t1e State is the ap9"ini-
meDt OF one Boggs, ward politcian ana looDyIH,
as Horticultural Inspector The salary Is not large
enouph TO make IL an object for the inspector TO
hIre a COMPETENT assistant, hence the WorK oI III
curing mo tree pests ana Other sources oI ~ hteo
10 fruit-growlng interests, will probably 60 by the
hoard This is one OF the devices 10y which tue
Democratic party expects To make Itseti sOId
with the honest granger IN the next election.
Nearly all dramatic performances in this city for
the last two months have been beneath contempt
The theatres seem 10 he gwen over 10 variety SHOWS
of a low order or tn thar urid melOdraDa which Is
as wholly out Of date as the bag-wg ana knee
breecnes of the last century. A lew good concerts
this week and the Thomas concerts are TO be gwen
this sumner Meanwhile there is an absolute
dearth OF decent amuseinents