, 1889-01-31
A PIONEERS CHAT.
Huntington Relates His Early
Experience.
Selling Peaches at Two Dollars
Apiece to Miners.
a Failure in journalism hut Great as q
Rsiiroader---His Opinion Of
the Chinese.

OOlQt8e, o6yu tu0 NCW AOAA 4IAOuut, 10
one OF the few Forty.niners who remain
TO tell younger generations Of the pilgrim
ages that were made TO California during
the height OF the gold fever. He 10 proud
OF the fact aud would not take Q fortune
for the reminiscence. Those were times
that made men, and unmade them, too.
Mr.. Huntington began bis business cA.
reer as u hardware merchant in Connecti.
cut, his native state. In l84S he shipped
goods TO Sacramento, then a small
mining camp. the name Of which tor sev;;
enty years had been Yerba Buena (good
herb and in 1S49 took up his abode in
Sacramento. Ia small room back OF his
store. Though dealing principally IN
hardware and metals he frequently reached
out in other directions, sometimes selling
drygoods, sometimes groceries. X he
came across fine lot Of peaches he would
buy them and turn them into gold ut .
handsome profit. He sold many wagon
load at e96 case. As there were only
two dozen in q case he got "a apiece for
them, Q fair price for peaches. Meal
fetched $40 barrel and other things were
similarly high h-priced.
Mr.. HUNTINGTON employed four clerks
aud adopted the strictest business methods.
Life in California was demorslizing and
hundreds of young men went down the
broad road TO destruction. Those who re-
stained their self.respect and kept aloof
FROM evil influences
PRosPERnD AMAZINGLY.
Mr.. Huntington never allowed one Of
bis clerks to 20 out OF the shop between
supper and breakfast. IL they had busi'
ness outside they were required to tran
tact it in the daytime. To-day three of
those clerks own property worth from
81 900, 900 10 e3,000,0O0 apiece. The
other. . victim of total deprAvity,. threw
away his opportunities and Is now driving
. cart for 81 day. Good Influences can.
not save some men from themselves nor
rescue them from the devil.
In l847 the population OF Yerba Buena
was 450. Tue name of the place was
changed TO Sacramento In the autumn of
that year, Just abeut the time when the
discovery OF gold startled the globe and
attracted men from the four corners. In
less than twelve months-from April. 1S49.
to January, lS50--it is estimated that
nearly 10000 immigrants arrived there by
see. Mr.. Huntington speaks Of Q time
in ls49 1 think It was--when. with pop
ulation OF 10000, Sacramento could boast
OF only two families. II was still a mining
camp. Men had left their wives and chill
dren at home and had gone to this Eldo-
RADIO 70 quench burning thirst for gold
II am not working for money now"
Mr.. Huntington remarked, the other day.
I'm only holding on to what I've got and
Am turning my attention to N,
GREAT RAILROAD soHshEs
for developing the country. Don't misun.
derstaud me. never refuse money when
| il ID thrust upon mo, because l have 90
many ways of getting rid 0f 1t, but there
are better things to live for than the pur-
! anti of the almighty dollar"
Mr.. Huntington was an earnest and ZEAL
Gus abolitionist. He said he sent thous.
ands of dollars to Kansas in those troub.
lous ante-bellum days, out, as be expressed
it, mot to buy Bibles with" In mis- eyes
the institution of slavery WAS most abhor-
rent. His belief is that no country can
prosper long where honest labor Is not
radicals on any subject Of sufficient i'm
portance to be worthy Of his notice. He
10 in his element when 6ghting alone
against fearful odds. "If I had lived in
the days Of witchsraft," he said, 81 think
l should not have believed in it,"
Amoag the numerous manufactured OBJ.
jections to the Chinese 10 the one that they
are not clean. Mr.. Huntington has Q word
e :sy S on On shio o Su. oomp,ny
tion," he informed me, land every day az
soon az their work vas done the little Eel.
lows would hurry Of to q branch half a
mile away to fill their tin pals with water
for bath. Returning TO camp the whole
army would strip and wash before sitting
down to supper. have seen them do this
in the coldest weather II our white lab
orsrs washed once q week they thought
they were doing WE'LL" Imagine $4,000
Chinamen on the march to and from the
branch, swinging their little tin buckets
| = I'D sr,,a - hnn kha
wash, each with half gallon Of water and
the palm of the hand for brush.
Mr. Huntington illustrates the shrewd-
ness and thrift of the Chinaman by a
series of
f. AMUSING ANECDOTES.
This is one "Up in the hills we had
about 300 men cutting cordwood. They
were divided into two companies. of $50
each, one heing composed OF white men,
the other of Chinese. One day when the
weather was cold and bitter, the Chinese
refused to turn out. They had crawled
into their huts and there they remained
al day, huddled up like 90 many sheep.
when demonstrated with BY the foreman
they shook their heads and said with one
sccord: Weather too col'ss; Chinee
workse, eat heapee; Chinee no eworkee,
Chinss no eatss.," They had come 70
| toc COuCiubiOu toht ~ -Wes Pt0Hthuio W NJ.
bernate than face the biting winds.
Mr.. Huntington favored me with the en-
tire history OF his connection with the
New York Star. In the course Of which I
became convinced that he does not aspire
70 be . newspaper man. The credit sys-
tenn Of doing business 10 considered 90
honorable in the commercial world that
the memory Of William Dorsheimer can
not be offended II | relate q single Incl.
dent associated Herewith. got IL from
a Broadway banker. Mr.. Dorsheimer.
who lived only few doors from Mr..
Huntington. was accustomed to drop In