The record-union., 1891-06-27

/ tlIGy grew up anu Dad tlfllc. EaGhefS
grasped me by the hand with tears in their
| eyes, and bade me farewell in deep, pas
! sionate, husky tones. Grandfathers and
| grandmothers wiped their specs keer-
fully and told me to be sure and not get
lost at sea. Dainty little maidens, who
were waiting for their daddies TO die so
! that they could get their fingers on the
! booodle, Wept profusely, and asked me
! to return when their cruel parents were
defilnct.
and l was seen no more by the sad sea
waves,
''Nor up the beach
Nor down the beach,
Nor anyWherGS at all.;'
| When | arrived at San Buenaventura
! last Monday the usual reception and fuss
was omitted. ] had not notified the peo-
! pie of my approach, and | caught them
! unawares. They apologized for not know
! ing l was coming, and said that the Asso-
clated Press dispatches had informed
! them that l was on my way to Chile to
! lead forlorn hope for the insurgents. AS
! Ventura has no police force | made
ringing speech upon the carelessness and
! cuSSedneSS of the people who reside there.
! applying to to them such epithetS as has
! occurred TO me while trying to sleep on
the train, and a feeling of congenial fel-
! lowship was established.
! The old mission town has not changed
for the worse since | left it thirteen years
| ago, and the population has been doubled
One of the most reliable liars III the Land
Of Sunset told me that the town was wax
| ing up, and would soon make great
noise, but ii is so quiet now that one can
drop into saloon and hear the cork
pulled out in the canyon on the other side
of the graveyard. One can also hear the
! n Wit In u oct
of countenance, upon the kelp along the
| beach
One part of the town has grown, but
the old or business portion is Just the
same as twenty years ago, or, for that
matter, half a century ago. The old
"dObies' remain as of yore, with one diff
ference-the old red-tile roofs have been
replaced by shingles.
The oldest building in Ventura is now
being torn down. It is not only the
oldest building in the town, but the first
residence ever built there. 1t was erected
! by the Indians who labored for the first
padres. The building is, or was, l6x4
feet, low and squatty III appearance. The
| heavy walls were punctured with one or
/ two square apertures, just big enough to
let cat through, perhaps, and one door
! in front. The roof was made Of tiles. bat
in 1878 modern shingle roof was put on.
From the time of its erection, 1I5 years
ago. this building has been almost con
stantly used as a residence. 1t was only
when the last of the family died, leaving
no heirsto inherit it, that it fell into the
hands OF Al. Ayres, the proprietor of the
Ayers Hotel, which stands hard by Mr.
Ayres is responsible for the destruction
of the old building, and has, l think,
made a serious blunder.
If l owned that old 'dobe in which the
first Franciscan Monks of California
slept, where Father Ventura and Father
Junipero Sierra scratched for fleas and
swapped stories about fish, and erstwhile
granted absOlution to some darlz-eyed.
pensive Indian maiden, or ordered some
dark and dismal wretch, who wouldn't
work as q decent body should, to be
taken out and thumb-screwcd into a
good humOr, or mayhap discuss the
future greatness Of the country and ate
sparingly Of tltnt pears-if [ owned this
Old building l should make it pay with a
big 2.
In the first place 1 should make dis
cOyery in the old houSe-an ancient scroll
Of parchment, written by Father Juni-
pero Sierra, and which would, when
translated, be a thrilling tale of love,
murder and religion. The hero should
be spirited away and lodged in the jail on
the hill, and the heroine should be
tortured every day for several years.
/ Then she should die, after which the hero
should be liberated, and spend the bal
ance OF his days tearing his hands and
Wringing his hair, uttering woeful
plants and gradually losing his appetite
Toward the last he should become a
victim of insomnia. and in the last
chapter should upbraid the priest and die
to slow music in the old house Just as the
/ spirit of the heroine came down the
stoyeplp3 to ghost the Old padre and
stick thorn into his conscience
OF course this is merely an outline of
the story; a sort of skeleton OF it. Hav-
ing discovered it ! would translate it.
have it neatly copied with a typewriter
and published. Then | would put a barb
wire fence around the old house and sell
it IN fragments to tourists. l would also
charge 10 cents for pointing out the graves
OF the hero and heroine in the back yard
There are no mosquitoes on me when it
comes to planning scheme of this sort
About the first thing l did when L
reached Ventura was to get into jail. The
Sheriff of Ventura County went to school
with me in the old days. and we have
taken more than one good basting from
! the same instructors. Therefore, when 1
! dropped into his Office, Sheriff REILLY in
viteG me to inspect the new Jail, and give
my opinion.
Il shall value your opinion" he said,
because you have been in so many
iails." Thus am 1 honored wherever I
go!
There We're about dozen inmates of
the Ventura County Jail They appeared
very happy and contented. Some were
making lemonade, others were singing
psalms, and one was picking a guitar,
while another twankled an accordion.
They had not the appearance of men in
durance vile, and as soon as my funds
run short | intend to commit a muir
der and secure incarceration in the Ven
tura jail. The man / shall murder is the
man who calls me Pilgrim" and this is
to warn him that he is known.
The old Mission Church is still stand
ing, and although 1l0 years have gone by
since ii was erected it is looking Just as
il always did; trihe more yellow, per-
haps. The old bells that were Iashed in
place with green rawhide thongs are
hanging in the tower yet, held up by the
same thongs, made hard as iron by the
exposure of more than century of time.
The old chime, which was rung at
morning, noon and night, is rung no
more. The bell-ringer has been dead for
several years, and no other hands have
inherited his cunning. One bell, with
cracked and strident tone, is used 10 an
nounce the dawn and close of day: but il
is only sound-a burleSque on the an
cient melody that once floatod ont across
the sea and summoned the half-Spanish.
half Indian population to the shadowy
interior of the old Mission. The glory is
departing from these bells. They are al
most FORGOTTEN now. and TlSt is pntfDo