San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-04-11
THE FORTY MINERS"
VAGARIES OF THE MEN WHO TOOK
CALIFORNIA AT THE FLOOD.
They Were Not Ruffians, but Were Merely
RebelIing Against Shams and Conven-
tionalism-They ReveIed in Freedom and

tionalism-They Reveled in Freedom and
Were Like Unrestrained School Boys.
When the men of 40 came to California
they were suddenly cut off from many of the
habits, usages and customs of the older COM
munities in which they had been born and
bred They found themselves among new
set of neighbors from many countries who
had in similar manner been so cut off. All
had been turned out of ruts of thought which
had existed for generations, and into which
old communities always settle.
The literary men of old countries can write
dizziness and rehash of other mems thoughts
for generations before they are found out
Children are taught directly or indirectly to
regard with reverence the emanations of
some semi-fossilized brain, although in such
emanations they are neither interested nor
amused. But they must know certain things,
or pretend to know them or admire them, and
Why's Because they would be call ignorant
if they did not.
Now, when men are turned loose in such a
great pasture as was California thirty-nine
years ago and find themselves even for a
short time beyond the dictation of colleges
and universities and B. A S and LL.D.'s IS,
there comes a tendency on their part to kick
up their heels and run rampant for a time in
the intellectual, sense.
FREEDOM IN TALK AND DRESS
They seem infected with the wild, unsub-
dued nature around them, and in their first
sense of freedom they do many wild, gro
tesque and even improper things That is
why your ancestors, the argonauts, gave such
dreadful names to these towns-such as
"Hangtown," "Murderers' Bar" "Shirtail
Canyon and the like. 1t was a reaction
frorI Ae pretentious style so long practiced in
the eastern states and older countries. The
tendency to call some one horse town-Rome,
or Athens, or lthaca-names generally sug-
gested by some village literary pomposity,
too, shows his classical education Reveling
in their freedom the argonauts in the earlier
days invented within a couple of years a new
set of terms, almost a new language, bredout
of the country itself and the new conditions
and modes Of life above them-such as
Planned out, ""Give up the flune, ""Broke,"
strapped Busted" and "Petered out"
Men liked to talk improperly and in an out
landish fashion, because in the older states
the schOolmaster's rod first and the rod of
popular opinion afterward had been so long
held over them to make them talk properly
They have been made so to do in so far as
they did not out of love, but fear, and any
thing learned out of fear will be rejected af-
terward fora time, even though it be a good
thing 1t is a luxury for a boy to wade
through mud puddle and soil his clothes
when at home he has been from first to last
licked into clean garments and the first and
last thought associated with pair of clean
pantaloOns is his mothers threat that if he soils
them he will be punished. California gave her
first settlers liberty to dress, talk and act in
many things about as they pleased. OF course
when men first have liberty in anything they
are apt to abuse it, or rather make bad use
of it, But liberty they've got to have some
time or other before they can learn to make a
proper use of it. You can't make an expert
horseman unless you give him full liberty
with the horse That is a very shaky kind of
goodness or virtue which always does the
c0mmendable thing because some one else
says it is the thing 40. That kind of good
ness is very often deep down in the depths
wanting to do the forbidden thing, but not
daring to do it for lack of opportunity.
Many of your solid citizens of today, pill
lars of church, state and society, during
their earlier years in California went for
things forbidden in the older states ''fat
footed" They went for the fandango, for
faro, for monte, for the bar-for anything
and everything which the New England Sun
day school said was wrong. They went and
saw, and tried and tasted, and drank to the
dregs and found the cup bitter and the ac-
count. when footed a. in the LEDGER of