The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-03
LITTLE WARD, THE VIGILANT.
One OF the Remarkable Characters
of California in the Early Gold
Seeking Dnys.
ON the San Francisco BulIetin.

Jams VINO PARTICIPATED IN the early anu
lively times OF San Francisco and who
helped to make the history of the city,
such as it was find the name Of George
r. Ward a relative of the Ward, who was
"A member of the great New York bank
ing firm Of Prime, Ward & King. and of
Sam Ward, later in life known for his
gustatory tastes. George II. Ward came
here early in the SOS from New York with
his brother, James r., sent out in a ten
tative way by Prime, Ward & King, who
wished to feel the new country and its
business. Little George Ward" as he
was called, soon became a man of affairs
in the nascent community of San Francis
co. Standing about feet inches in his
stoclIings-the same hight, by the way,
that Napoleon Bonapartc is credited with
in history, showing a bilious complexion
and checks inclined to flabbness. he was
a remarkable if not a conspicuous man
among the shifting and restless crowds of
Adventures who moved in the streets of
the Bay city or filed the theaters and
other places of public resort, Always
faultlessly dressed, he was never the length
of his bootsole behind the fashionable
mode of the eastern times. lie was quite
as fond of good living as his relative Sam,
and the comfortable looking bow win
dow" small but compact, that he car
ried in front proved It. He always wore
a Knox or Mealio beaver hat and his boots
were from the most fashionable New York
makers. with several additional lifts to
the heels in order to increase his apparent
hight
He was one of the members of the ex-
ecutiVe committee of the vigilance COM
mittee of 1856, and Is described by fell
low member, yet surviving. as one of the
bravest fellows he ever knew; a man alb
faI w with To-
in the city and its environs for the cele-
brated Edward McGowan, and encounter
ed such desperate characters and entered
so many dangerous places that several
times he came near losing his life. 1t was
for this unceasing activity that the hunt
ed mantle ubiquitous Ned-toolS advant-
age of the initial letter of Wards middle
name, and called him ''Robespierre
George Robespierre Ward-after the ter
ror of the French revolution. He did not
follow MCGOWAN In his wanderings down
in Southern California, as his committee
duties here were so arduous as to demand
his constant presence. In the list of posi-
tive and brave men, who undertook the
purgation of our city from the scoundre-
ism that infested 1t in 1856, there was no
more resolute, heart-whole and efficient
member than little" George r. Ward.
The Inconvenience, sometimes, of Mr..
Wards dimnutive stature may be Illus
=
the relation of two Incidents He was
present on one occasion at an important
meeting of the directors-he being one-of
a commercial company Michael Reese
was there also, in the same capacity.
There was a good deal of friction in the
proceedings much anger and many loud
words, particularly between Reese and
Ward Suddenly Ward, who was facing
Reese. jumped on chair and drew O pis-
toll, which, from his position, he was en-
abled to place directly against the ample
stomach of the portly capitalist.
"I'll have no more OF this, Reese" he
shouted. by -, I'll blow your brains
OUT
The position of the pistol in relation to
Reeses anatomy, the real, or pretended,
fury of Ward and the terror of the CAPT.
talist were too much for those present.
They reeed and roared with laughter,
and then the meeting broke up in
most admired disorder-the fear-stricken
Michael leading the van down stairs The
pistols by the way, that Ward was in the
habit Of carrying, were single-barreled and
ivory handled a little over a fingers
length. Ward disliked California methods
so much that he would not even wear a
pistol in his hip-pocket, If he had one in
his pantaloons, after the usual fashion,
but preferred to carry the weapons In Ills
vest. Some one, referring to this fact,
tauntiugly remarked that "Robespierre
Ward could not carry a Colt in the ordi-
nary manner, as his legs were so short
the muzzle would touch the ground" The
Ward pistols are yet in possession of Mo-
tary Public George r. Knox. an expert
in all matters connected with the code
duello, who often says, in his humorous
way, that "the field of honor" as It ~
called, has as much pasture TO feed the
comic element in human nature as to sup
ply the tragic.
/ do not know that, with all his bellig-
erent inclinations, George Ward was ever
concerned in an actual duel, although
duels were common enough In his day.
He came very near being principal in a
hostile affair. though, several times; but
by some means. the meeting on the field
was averted. A strapping fellow, with
whom he thought he had casus belli,
said to him one day while there was a
good deal Of fighting talk going on:
"Why, you id little whiffet, If / were
TO fight you, / would have to dig a hole,
and conceal half my body, to meet you on
equal terms You have enough to shoot
at, as far as / am concerned; but there Is
precious little of you in sight. You are
not an average man."
friend Of mine was cognizant one day
Of an incident that vexed Ward a trhe,
He was trotting along the sidewalk of
Montgomery street, with his little. supple
cane in hand, when he met the gigantic
merchant, Fredlander, who stood nearly
seven feet high and who was as great In
his commercial capacity as he was In his
stature. He saluted his altitudinous
friends, who gazed down on him from his
superior hight through his spectacles, with
that melancholy look habitual to him:
"Oh, it's you, Ward"
Then leading him to a neighboring door
way, as If he were a child, and point
ing TO "A stairway, said
Mount the steps. l want to talk with
you"
The little fellow hoped up five or six
steps, and brought his head on a Level with
that OF the mercantile son Of Anak and
the two had a long. and SO far as Fried
lander was concerned, comfortable chat
on some business matters But Ward did
not like the conspicuty OF the position,
which was noticed by every passerby and
laughed at. He chewed his lip with vex-
alton and was only happy little fellow.
when the interview was over, and he was
allowed to descend from his perch.
1T is usually dawn before the sultan