Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-10-05
THIRTY YEARS AGO.
THE CURIOUS VERDICT FOUND BY A
COUNTRY JURY.
How oficer O'NeiI Prevented a Case of
Lynching-An Early-Day Art
Critics Bad Break.

one night he cut q slit in the tent, reached
in with his arm and stole the money.
The chief witness for the prosecution was
jim Butler, who testified that he ss~
Donks in the act of extracting the bag q.
dust. Counsel for the prisoner addressed
the Court as follows;
May it please your Honor, the indict-
ment is not sustained, and / demand the
dismissal Of the case. The charge against
the prisoner is that he entered a dwelling
in the night time with intent to steal. The
testimony is clear that ne made a.. open
ing, through which he protruded himself
about half way, and stretching out his arm
committed the theft. But the indictment
actually charges him with entering the
dwelling, or tent. Now, your Honor, can
a man be said to nave entered house
when only one half of his body was in and
the other half out?
Judge-"I shall leave the whole matter
with the jury. They must Judge of the
law and the fact as proved"
The jury brought in verdict of guilty
as to one-halt OF his body from the waist
up, and not guilty as 10 the other half.
The Judge sentenced the gully half 10
two years Imprisonment, leaving ii to the
prisoners option to have the innocent half
cut off or take il along with him.
........ Onthe night ofSeptember3 0th SEN
sational shooting ARRAY occurred near this
city, which came near terminating in q
bard's Gardens between William II. Brown,
livery stable keeper, and William Nc
Gee, route agent of the Daily Democrat and
Foreman of the Neptune Hose Company.
The men Quarreled over the right to seat
on the outside of a hack which was just
about TO start for the city. MCGEE struck
Brown, who jumped off The hack, drew his
pistol and shot MCGEE in the forehead. The
wounded man fell into the arms OF the
driver. James Vera, while officer G. p.
ONeil, who was present, arrested Brown
and disarmed him. MCGEE was placed in
side the hack and driven to the city. As
soon as the iremen heard of the shooting
they assembled at Third and ] streets and
were discussing the affair, when word came
that Brown was being taken down | street
to the City Jail A hundred excited men
rushed over to Third and | streets, where
officer ONeil soon appeared with his
prisoner. The fremen made rush for the
latter. CRYING, Kill him !" Hang him %
shoot him !' etc, and in an instant O'Neil
and his prisoner were completely sur
rounded. Above the noise the voice of the
officer could be heard crying out, Stand
back. or I'll shoot youm O'Neils nerve
had the desired effect, and he succeeded in
getting his prisoner safely to the Jail, Brown
in the meantime crying out Murder He
was nearly exhausted from fear and excite
ment by the time he reached the jail
IA little incident occurred during
the State Fair that caused young gentle
man from Colusa to quit the city on short
notice. His name was R P. Glass, and he
was on his way with some friends to the
Pavilion when, at Sixth and l. streets, he
overlook young woman carrying child
in her arms. She spoke to Glass, saying
that she had suddenly been taken i'll, and
asked him if he would not carry the in
| FAINT as fer as the Pavilion. Glass being a
gallant young man, promptly relieved the
Young mother OF her burden, and when be
and his friends reached the Pavilion he
turned about to deliver up his charge, but
the mother was not there-she had slipped
away and left the child with him. What
| Glass did with the babe could not be
learned, but he disposed of it somehow and
struck out for the wilds of Colusa the next
| day. He could not stand the guying Of hi:
! friends.
Referring to the Grafton by Ed
| mund Randolph before the San Francisco
| Pioneers in 1860, in which reference was
| made to Captain J. s. Smith, an early ex'
| plorer of the Pacific coast, Thomas
| Sprague, writing from Genoa to the UNION
said he W ell remembered Smith. The lat
| ter was The first white man that ever went
| overland from the States to California. In
| the employ of the American Fur Company
! he made the trip in 1925, crossing the SierTs
/ j u. Ia frot-
ersed the country southwark to San Diego
and returned BY way of Mono lake. II
that vicinity Smith discovered gold, anC
took some specimens back with him to tn,
encampment on Green river. The com
psny sent Smith back to California the fol
lowing year, with a large party OF men, t
prospect and develop the gold fields. Blu
Indians attacked and killed Smith ant
most of his party, and the compan,
abandoned further efforts in that direction
Sacramento bad art critics thirt
wears ago, as she has now. One of thes
gentry connected with local paper under
took to criticise some of the works OF ar
on exhibition at the State Fair with tn
same air of superiority that some of tn
present day art critics assume. He wa
especially severe on one of the artists Mrs
n. W. Cole for imposing on the Direct
ors and the public by trying to palm of
Autograph for an oil painting" When tn
lady explained, through the columns of tn
| UNION that what the alleged critic had as
serted to be a Autograph was simply
crayon sketch, the whole town laughed
The critic got leave of absence and wen
into the country for month.
....... When The City and County Super
visors went into an eleciion for certain Off
Gals the first week in October, 1860, Ell
| Msyo was candidate for reelection g;
Poundmaster. He was somewhat sur
prised when he found that some memhe
of the Board was supporting ex-UniteC
States Senator w. N. Gwin for the sam'
place. The Board, however, generously
elected Mayo by a small majority. Thu
same waggish Supervisors also voted fol
John B. Weller for Superintendent of thu
Cemetery, and came near electing him owe
r. p. Jacobs.
....,... Referring to the failure of tht
English hop crop in 1860, the UNION the1
prophesied: "All countries that are sub
ject in the summer season to violent rain
and sudden changes of weather are in
measure unfit for the cultivation of hops
California will yet be the quarter to which
all will look for the best quality of thi
article" The prophecy has been Amos
fulfilled already.
/ -........Jerome q. Davis created q sensa
ton in local horse circles by paying $500
for a one-half interest in the stallion Rat
tier. But the Rather blood was good ant
has done much to advance trottine interest
in this State.
......"News had Just been received of tn
capture of General Walker. "the gray-eye,
man of destiny" otherwise known as
fiiiouster, with Colonel Rudler and eight,
of his men, in Honduras. Walker an,
Rudler had been sentenced to be shot.
........one day during the races at III
| Yolo Park course Frank Malone, til
stable-keeper, and Mike Brannigsn, tn
notorious hackman, were arrested by on
d. S. Campbell on charges to murder
Campbell was badly beaten.
.........The Monumentals of San Fran
cisco were the first firemen in the State t
try steam engine. They procured
steamer" and gave the first public tris
on the 1st of October, 1860. Il was vii
messed by thousands of people.
.........It was deemed worthy of remar
by the press in these days that Sacrs
meato vineyardist was shipping q ton {
grapes daily to San Francisco, Now Sac
ramento grapes are shipped daily by ID
carload.
......,..On the basis of the School MAJ
shals report, the population of Sacrament
| CifV was estimated at 13 S06 in 1860 al