Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-06-07
MARVELLOUS CHANGES.
An Observant Visitor on the Improve
ments in California in Ten Years.

An Observant Visitor on the Improve
ments in California in Ten Years.
Will ]. Davis, proprietor and manager of
the Haymarket Thester, Chicago accom-
panied by c. E. Cook, of the Baldwin Thea
ter, San Francisco, arrived in Sacramento
yesterday and are temporarily at the
Golden Eagle, where Mr.. Davis was met
by RECORD UNION reporter last evening.
Mr.. Davis, during an interesting chat,
proved an entertainer, principally by
reason of the fact that he had not been in
California for ten years. and it was there
fore pleasurable to hear him dilate upon
the wonderful improvements that had
taken place in this State in the last decade
When l first came to California" said
Mr.. Davis, fourteen years ago, l brought
a novelty-no other than the Original
Georgias, the first troupe of genuine darkys
that ever gave minstrelsy on this coast.
Although it was a good sized company
the principal expense was the travel, as gen.
ulne talent in the East at that time was
drug and very cheap. The weekly salary
list of the whole company did not equal
the amount of money Mr.. Haverly was
paying Emerson, but the darkys were do
ing all the business. So great was the
curiosity to see them, and so cheap was
the company, that we resolved to play
every town on the coast that had public
hall. This involved some rough travelling,
but | was young and careless and didn't
mind the fatigues of the trips, some of
which | remember distinctly, for on one
occasion we barely escaped being held up
stage robbers in the Tehachapi country.
Now railroads stretch out in every
direction. Cities have sprung up that were
not on the map then. The only things
that look natural are the everlasting hills
Los Angeles presents the greatest change to
me. | could not find anything familiar
there but the old Pico House, now closed.
The entire San Gabriel valley was sur
prise. Riverside was unknown, Pasadena
likewise, though l think the growth at the
latter place an unhealthy one.
Sacramento looks very much the same
in the business quarter. though won
derfully improved in the matter of resi-
dences. The Metropolitan Theater was
mere then, but not the very elegant Metro
politan of to-day. San Francisco, like this
city, is readily recognized in the business
quarter. but its changes in the residence
quarter is simply marvellous, and its sys-
tenn OF cable-cars positive wonder. We
think we have cable street railways in Chi
cago, but we haven't.
" l have travelled about the State a great
L
there's another railway system in America
like the Southern Pacific. The equipment
is unexcelled and the management appar-
emily perfect, and when one stops to con-
sider the advantages offered in California
in the way of railway travel and hotel ac-
commodations, l can see nothing to
prevent this State becoming a paradise for
tourists. Hotels like the Coronado, the
Del Monte and the new house at San Rs
tael have no counterparts in the Eastern
resorts"
Do you observe much change in the
people themselves, Mr. Davis?
Yes, great change. For instance in
Los Angeles the Spanish element is almost
lost sight of. There seems greater influx
of Eastern people. When | was first here
the Southern element seemed to predom-
lnate-or at least was more noticeable
possibly because of the pdtOiS in their
speech which always arrests attention.
There is yet another change. Twelve years
ago Flood and OBrien, Mackay and Fair
were great men. Not once have l heard
either name this time. l think the ceebri-
tes just now are named Choynski and Cor
bett, with an occasional reference to men
named Dempsey and La Blanche greeting
the observant ear which goes to show
that one has but to be way up in his par
tcular line to command attention in Cali
fornia-possibly | should say San Fran
cisco in this connection.
"All in all, am greatly impressed with
California, so much so that whenever pos
sible during the season that my theater is
closed shall spend my vacation on the Pa
citic slope. | had rather have the clear, bra
cling air of California one summer than a
round of the most fashionable resorts
of all Europe"
'Is your theater closed now ?n was asked
of Mr.. Davis.
ut closed last Saturday. l left Chicago
few weeks prior to the closing, because
Al. Hayman, proprietor of the Baldwin
and New California theaters, and myself
had secured the Bostonian English Opera
Company for ten weeks tour west of Chi
cago, and | came along to personally direct
the affairs of the enterprise. The company
soon appear here, but as we have been
playing long engagement in San Fran
cisco, and as this is a reading public, I'm
not going to talk about the Bostonians
more than to say we are turning away
almost as many people as we accommodate
every night at the New California"
MIR. Davis is the husband of the contralto
donna Jessie Bartlett Davis, well remem-
bered by Sacramentans as the leading lady
artist of the first Carleton Opera Company.
The lady has many friends here
A young lad of five is travelling with Mr..
Davis, whose striking likeness to the con-
tralto proclaims him the son and heir. The
visit to Sacramento IS a flying one, as Mr.,
Davis, because of the serious illness of Mr..
Hayman, is compelled to hasten on to Salt
Lake and Denver. He will return to San
Francisco this morning, and leave for the
East Immediately after the close of the
opera engagement at the New California
SATURDAY. night.