The herald., 1893-01-27
AN oLD-TIME BooM-A "REMINISCENCES.

cipitation has been exactly as one woul,
have desired it to have come. Last yea
was the nearest approach to dry on,
we have had since the disastrous yea
1867. The California season EN-
braces two years, because it general,
begins in October of one year and ends
about the end of May in the next. Thu!
we have the anomaly of apparently con.
founding two years when we are only
referring to one. The HERALI
early in the present year pu
itself on record to the effect that
this winter, the rainfall would bs
anywhere from twenty to thirty inches
or higher. AS far as the precipitation
has been recorded so far our prediction
looks like sound one, for the reason
that from two to three times as much
rain falls between the first of January
and the last day of May as is recorded
prior to January lst. As we have said
during the current season the rains
have been specially propitious. They
have fallen exactly when needed and in
the right quantity to assure the best re-
suits. Year before last we had much
more rain than we needed, but it came
at such inopportune times that it actu-
ally rotted the grass and did great dam
age to the crops.
We have referred to the celebrated
dry years of 1S76-77. There are some
interesting "reminiscences in connection
with that season. Booms have by no
means been unusual things in the his
tory of Los Angeles. We have had
them at regular intervals. They come
when they get ready and nobody car
stop them. In 1873 sprang up what
might be called the 'dobie boom OF Los
Angeles. 1t ran along in what was then
mere village until the failure of the
Bank of California resulted in that of
the bank of Temple & Workman, of this
city. That bank went under with up
wards of 81, 100. 900 due depositors, who
never received so much as one dollar of
their deposits. OF course, such an
enormous defalcstion was enough to cast
a gloom over any city, and as there were
only 5000 or 1000 inhabitants in Los
Angeles ct that time its depressing
effects we're correspondingly increased.
In this case the ole adage that misfor-
tunes never come singly vas verified.
At that time we had no tributary back
country of any extent, and Los Angeles
and San Bernardino counties were but i'll
the initial of their development. The
Southern Pacific had not been completed
to Los Angeles, while the Sunset route
was then only plan on paper. To
complicate matters, and to intensity the
gloom, a dry year of unexampled mag
nitude set in when the autumn rains
are usually looked for. The whole face
OF nature was shriveled up. Sheep died
by thousands and cattle were driven
wherever, in the mountains and out of
the way places, few scattered pastur-
ages could be utilized. Great numbers
were taken to Arizona. In one case.
down near Compton, band OF horses
sold for So.
In those days no provision was made
for dry year. Stock and sheep were
allowed to multiply without regard to
their maintenance in case acant rain
fall should make it's appearance. There
was probably not stack of hay in the
whole county. There was only here and
there patch of alfalfa. Agriculture and
horticulture, in the sense in which those
terms are now understood, were un-
known hereabouts. Nearly everything
that was consumed in family was then
brought here from abroad-hour, bacon,
butter, in fact, all the household neces-
earies--so that in that line there was not
much to complain of. But the animal
kingdom, outside of mankind, simply
withered up and largely disappeared,
either from starvation or deportation.
The total rainfall for 1S76-77 was only
1855 inchen.
But that was by no means all. The
list of miseries required to be completed
to the point of "flled full and flowing
o'er." A violent smallpox epidemic
set in and swept this city as with the
besom of destruction. 1t was aggra'
waited by the fact that the less intelli-
gent portion of the native California
population had an invincible repugnanct
to vaccination. A goodly fraction o
the inhabitants of Sonoratown was
swept away, together with a sprinklinl
of Americana. That put the climax or
disaster. Everybody that could ge
away left. They stood not upon the
order of their going but went at once
This hegira was assisted by the emigra
tion OF large numbers OF our people to
Arizona, in the quest Of livelihood
Surely no blscker cloud ever hung over q
place than that which impended over
the city of the Angels then!
And 60 things went on, with very
little amelioration, till the opening o
the year 1880. In that year our popula
ton amounted by the census to IL ,3OI
in the city and about $4,000 in tn
county. About that time our peopl
| began to pluck up little spirit and t.
feel that they were alive. The exten
sion OF the Southern Pacific into Arizon
expanded our trade. The boom whicl
eliminated in 1sS6-s7 set in, and shortl
everything was galore. The collapse 0
that boom was attended by no such dis
heartening features as that which fol
lowed tho suspension of the Temple