The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-29

L
day, however, l found that rocking was
very hard work, and as the results were
poor sold the rocker to man for $50 and
moved on 10 another mining camp on the
Bear River called Steep Hollow, near Grass
Valley. There | got another rocker and had
assistance from man in working IT, Dur
ing two or three weeks we each made from
IS TO $40 a day. Then again l changed my
base.
| mined in company with some men from
BOSTON between the North Fork of the
American River and Bear River. Here we
did pretty well, probably getting an aver
age If an ounce a day. When the rivers
got low | went into business and packed
provisions and various Kinds OF goods from
place to place where mining was carried on.
/ did pretty well that summer in trading,
and also had occasional spells al mining,
but did not make much that way. In the
fall put up all the gold | had. and with
COMPANION set out for Sacramento. Up in
the mines the honesty of everybody
was such that movable property could lie
around anywhere without danger Of being
touched or stolen, but on our way down
to Johnson's ranch on Bear River we
found that a change was coming over the
habits Of people. We had something like
$1,000 to $1,000 in gold, which was carried in
a pOrtmRnteau, and we could not go TO "A
meal safely without taking the gold with
rs. We were lucky in not losing anything,
but IL was only by vigilance. We reached
Sacramento, and here l cast about for some
fresh employment / thought an invest
ment in city lots might be a profitable
speculation, but found that they were
about as dear as they are now. The winter
passpd pleasantly, but when the spring
came my money was almost all gone. Sac
ramentO at that time was infested with
gamblers.
MANY of the principal buildings were gamb-
Ing resorts, and men who had made money
in the mines parted with IL last In these
nIaces II was tie same thing in San Fran
were very few buildings in the city ut that
time. and the best of them were in the
hands of the gamblers. Numbers of people
who had come out from the East with the
intention of going back when they had
made nancy al the mines forgot their good
intentions at the gambllng-tabies and went
back TO gold washing just as poor as when
they arrived in the state. More nlSlor-
tunes came from gambling than from any
other cause.
l returned to Sacramento and again
plunged into business. and did fairly we'll
until the cholera broke out. The choleTa
carried off thousands and many thousands
fed from the city, ard business dronped off
to nothing. ] tried mining again at COlOma.
where gold was discovered, but ] did not
succeed 10 any extent, and from there |
went to HangtOWn, now PiaceTyiile, and
three or four months, employing teams TO
bring up goods, which | sold at the mines.
In the fan | returned 20 Sacramento and
left 30 or 30 cattle behind IN charge of two
men, but they did not attend to them, and
they were either stolen or lost. At all
events l heard no more about them.
j was an eyewitness Of a lvnching case
in Sacramento and it occurred in this way.
a young fellow who had drifted into gamD-
ling had got into a quarrel with another
man, and had him down on the ground aud
was knocking him about very harshly, and
n blacksmith who happened TO be passing
intpTfered ana told the gambler to stop his
abuse. Upon this the gambler whipped out
his revolver and shot the blacksmith, kill
ing him on the spot. Arrest promptly fol-
lowed this atrocl,y and the prisoner was
taken to the statGn-house on the corner OF
Second and J streets. The affair occurred
between tie hours Of and o'clock In the
afternoon. In few minutes the streets
were thrOngPd with peOple and they
gathered around the sIatOn-h0use with the
intention Of dealing out justice promptly.
few lawyers tried to allay the
excitement, hut their harangues were
without effect The crowd shouted
for the prisoner. and some of the party got
hold of long piece Of timber and used it
against the door as batterlng-ram. The
door gave way in moment and the prisoner
was in the hands of the mon the next mo-
ment. He was allowed a fair trial The
people took thp prisoner to the vigilance
committee room. and after an hour or two
spent in getting the facts of the case he
was convicted. Then came the execution.
The prisoner was taken up to Ninth or
Tenth street where the horse market was.
There were number Of large oaks here,
and the prisoner was mounted on a dTV-
goods box under one Of them. and asked
whether he had anything to say. By this
time he had sObered M, and was aware of
his peril, but lie could hardly stand on the
box from weakness and fright. He took
out his watch and asked his judges 10 send
it 10 his mother giving at the same time her
address.
1t was a touching request, and might have
excited sympathy for him, as he was fine
looking fellow, not more than p, and MS
crime was evidently the unprecedented
act Of a moment. But the crowd was in
exO.able. BY this time q rope had been
thrown over limb of the tree under which
he was standing, aud a moose had been adj
justed round his neck. There must have
been 4000 or 5000 persons in the crowd, and
those who were in the front rows sat down
SO that those in the rear could see what was
going on. The crowd shouted, Pull him
upW and away went the rope in the hands
of a number of men. and the doomed MUIR
derer was dangling in the air Immediately.
After he had hung about 10 minutes. there
were cries of let him DOWN. but there
was much mightier shout of Keep him
tberew So he remained suspended quite
half an hour, and the body was lowered
and taken away for burial
There were three victims at the next
lynching | witnessed in Sacramento. at
first people were very Indifferent about
crime, and wrongdoers often escaped pun
shment, but so much robbery had been
going on that people at last got eXasperGted
mud han frr