The San Francisco call., 1896-03-22

unpunished, and it went through without
opposition. But when it came to the
Senate trouble commenced. Many of
those statesmen held the view that ne
groes were not as good as a white man
and that God had created them so.
One rather boisterous member got up
and barring his arm to the elbow pointed
to the veins and said: ''See that Anglo
Saxon blood in there. 1t is not like AZ
rican blood. 1t has come to me through a
long line of noble ancestry and would in
suit my race if l acknowledged that it was
no different from the blood of a negro"
The little sally brought forth rounds of
applause, until very small member got
up excitedly and cried: 'tNo It's not
like negro blood; but if you examine your
noble ancestry you will most likely find
they were robber barons, cutthroats and
pirates" This squelched the other men,
Der, hut when the bill was put to the vote
it was defeated.
While the Legislature was in session the
citizens of San Francisco exerted them
selves to the extreme to entertain the
mem pers. There was at least some big
social function every week, and the ladies
of the City held several fairs for the bene-
fit of the flood sufferers. The largest re-
ception during the session was given by
Mr.. Maynard in his elegant residence.
Nearly all of the members were in attend
ance, and it is said to have been one of the
grandest social events in the City's history.
The Thirteenth Legislature did not fin
ish its labors until May Is, 1852. In addi-
~ q do ,%c
for capitol building fund and ordered
changes in the foundation OF the present
building, then in course of ofconstruction. 1t
was discovered that when the food was at
its height what was intended for the first
floor was seven feet under water.
The adjourning of the Thirteenth Legis-
lature to San francisco raised a most
important point of law, and there is
still some doubt as to whether the laws
then passed are legal. Many eminent
lawyers of the time said the Legislature
had no right to adjourn here and that they
were doing their work for nothing. How
ever, none of the laws then passed have
had their validity attacked.
OF the 120 men who formed the Thir-
teenth Legislature only five Senators and
fourteen Assemblymen are still living, as
far as can be ascertained. Following are
their names and the counties they then
represented: Senate-P. A. Gallagher,
Calaveras; w. P. Hamman, Placer; 0. b.
Powers. Solane; BENZ. Shurtleff. Shasta;
F. NJ. Wauncastle, San Joaquin. Assem-
bly-S. G. Biglow, San Francisco; James
E. Brown, Santa Clara; Juan Y. Cott,
Monterey; ]. M. Cunnard. Butte; ]. H.
Dennis, Ell Dorado ]. G. Dow, Sonoma; !;
F. M. Lane, Stanislaus; A. G. McAllister,
Marin; Thomas Brien, Calaveras; Thomas
B. Shannon, Plumas; E. B. Smith, Sierra;
John w. Van Zandt, San Mateo; G. E.
Wilson, Sutter.
Out of those living Thomas B. Shannon
and S. G. Biglow reside in this City. Mr.
Shannon's memory is remarkably clear in
regard 20 the events related, and he
speaks of the Thirteenth Legislature as if
it met yesterday instead of thirty-four
years ago. .l'll tell you,' he said, when
speaking of it, .sthe Thirteenth Legislature
didn't do much in a political way. 1t
didn't elect a United States Senator,
but it was a session that was a
session. We were kept on the jump all
the time and the people were nearly al
ways with US. The thirteenth was ses-
sion in class by itself. because it had
different kind of business than any other
session that ever convened. ALI the time
we were sitting we were on the watch for
news from the front. Whenever the men,
bers did not show up in time you could
count that there was some important war