St. Paul daily globe., 1891-09-14
MEMORIES OF THE ALTA.
The Early Days OF the Oldest sar

The Early Days OF the Oldest San
Francisco Newspaper Recalled.
The demise few weeks ago of the
San Francisco Alta California, the old
est newspaper of the Golden State, and
for many years the most powerful and
attractive, calls up many "reminiscences,
one of which is the fact that it took
stand in favor of the first vigilance COM
mittee by its printers ''jeffjng." John
Nugent, who. before going to Califor-
mia, was a Washington correspondent
of the New York Herald, was
the editor and proprietor of the
San Francisco Herald, which in the
early days of San Francisco was the
best moneymaking paper on the Pacific
coast. The Alta was owned by an asso-
citation of printers, who just managed TO
make both ends meet. 1t was known
what course Nugent would pursue. He
was an out and out "law and order''
man, Democrat from the word go and
virulent opponent of the vigilant
methods. The printers on the Alta
were about equally divided, the major
ity being opposed to the methods of the
committee, however. But one of them,
with a little Talleyrand i'll his makeup,
said:
Now is our chance to forge to the
front. Nugent will oppose the vigi'
lance committee, but the people are
with it."
But" cried another typo, ''there is a
leader already OH a galley denouncing
the vigilantes.
II move that one from each side jeff
whether we come out for or against the
committee" suggested the foreman.
This was agreed to, and the EN- quads
were got and the 'jeffing" commenced.
III few moments the contest closed,
those in favor OF sustaining the com
mittee being the winners. The next
morning tue Alta came out virtuously
for heroic measures and the Herald
against the committee. There were
two sides, but one was like a pigmy
looking up at the pyramids. There was
only a sickeniDg minority. IL was the
grasshopper in the turkey gobbler's
mouth. Nugent was known to be as
true as steel to his principle and to his
friends, but whole brOadsioeS of big adj
vertlsementS went from the Herald tO
the Alta. The latter was enlarged and
became the organ of the people, and the
chivalrous Herald sckened and died.
The Alta went Oh and upwald and
made many man rich, continues the
New York Times. One of its prOprle-
IOrS inaue over Sl,UOU,OOU ana lOSI IL dll
i'll stocks, and afterward borrowed $780,
600 from Leland Stanford. He died a
few years ago a total wreck, and his
paper was resuscitated by James q.
Fair, the Central Pacific Railroad com.
pany, some friends of Justice Stephen
j. Field and a man named Mclaughlin,
and for about eight years the dear old
| Alta has eked out precarious exist
ence by getting little out of the rail
road, the water company and the Sharon
| estate. off and on, until. all forsaking it,
| Oh account of its loss of calculation and
| lack of power and influence and gener-
| ally turgid ways. it died a solemn and
| almost unnnoticed death.
But it had been great paper in it
day, and made many millions of dollars
1t had two of its editors killed in duels
IL followed Boderick, Baker and L
Starr King to their graves. 1t stood out
| for the Union all through the war ant
died at the aye of forty. During the
last five years it has been edited by ;
man named Irish, who has thrown JUS
so much time away, as he received only
small pay, yet is one of the most de
lightful writer's upon the Pacific coast,
and by far the foremost orator.