Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1897-10-23
FED FORTY MINERS.
WHEN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS
CHARGED HIGH PRICES.

and Eggs Were AS High as 81 Each some
Of tho Great Hotels Of san Francisco In
Those Booming Days.
II life was not all "cckes and ale
among the forty miners; II among the vast
majority the daily menu was limited 10
"slapjacks, hard tack, = coffee and
beans. occasionally diversified by an IN
fortunate jack rabbit or quail whose mis-
placed confidence in mankind brought
them too early to the pot of the hardy
miner, neither was It entirely devoid Of
luxnries in living for those whose appetites
were on par with their financial ability
to crafty them.
In san Francisco the lux4riously in,
clined were won't 20 seek hahitation.
whether for legitimate OF Legitimate rea
sons we need not now stop to inquire.
Opportunity for self indulgence Of appe-
tire was not wanting from the very begin.
ming Of things, provided, as already hintod
at, that good digestion, while waiting on
appetite was supplemented by sufficient
supply of ''shekels' to give practical roin
to its indulgence Where the gambler
flourished IN all his glory and the CLINT
and glitter Of gold, passing from hand TO
hand on all sides. was too common 10 excite
observation or comment IL need not DO
wondered at that no limit of price put
upon the good things of life'' would pre-
vent men enjoying them.
Even among the adventurous and hardy
"gold hunters" the yearning for the flesh
pots which they bad left behind them did
not pass unassuaged whom opportunity Of
fered, no matter though the rate 20 be paid
therefor was one far beyond the bounds OF
what they had been reared to believe was
more than the ''height of extravaganza.
Recalling a scene in illustration of this
fact, the writer may mention an incident
OF the month of July, fS49 Encamped,
with his companions upon the banks of
the Sacramento where Sacramento City
was Just beginning TO take on the SEM
blance of town in the stages Of embry-
onic form, he witnessed the arrival of q
daring Spectator who had como all tho
way from tho mission OF San Jose with a
wagon load of potatoes and onions for sale.
In less than 30 minutes every onion and
potato had found d purchaser at the upset
price Of 81 per pound, while the venture
some speculator started back richer but
probably no wiser man than he was when
ho conceived the profitable venture
But Il IS tho hotels and hostelries cf
San Francisco in 1890 and the early ffties
that this paper is intended to recall, in the
belief that the wide contrast between the
cheap luxurious living of today and the
prices of that early period may not be DO
void Of general public interest Perhaps
in no other aspect nor from any other point
Of view was the composite and cosmopoli
tan character of the population In San
Francisco at that time more strikingly ex-
enplihed thar through the national
nomenclature of the restaurants of the day,
as well as tho national personality Of their
enterprising proprictors.
IL there WINS this wide variety Of nation
atty of hotels and restaurants, with their
conoomitant Of varied national character
istics in cookery, there was a singular
sameness in prices, no matter whence he
came or what the nationality of tho host.
Theirs was tariff for revenue only
(which homo industries had to pay for and
against which there was no protection,
| Notwithstanding tho fact that there were
cattle in countless herds upon IA thousand
hills in those days, though game WAS in
abundance and the waters teemed with
fish. yet all these common needs were not
yet brought TO market in sufficient guam
OF vegetables there was practically none
/ To put it as writer in the ANNALS OF
San Francisco sententiously stated it,
"In 1S49 the announcement of renl cab
bage for dinner would have set halt the
population frantic with strangely stirred
appetites. The justification of this seem.
ingly exaggerated remark will be found in
the perusal of some OF the hotel bills of
fare Of that day, where the potato figures
of hardly less value than "a golden apple
of Hesperides" and plate of cabbage cost
so cents. In one sense at least cabbage
heads were far less common in those days
than they are now, saying nothing about
the other slang sense of the expression,
since n nickel will buy whole one sold at
retail big enough TO feed whole boarding
house If fairly supplemented by its legiti-
mate ally, the toothsome corned beef
The old adobe City Hall, which stood
on the southwest corner of Kearny and
Clay streets, was the first hotel of preten-
! tious proportions and character erected in
San Francisco. 1t was built In 1915. In
the days of its greatest glory-in 1S49--its
bill of fare embraced ducks and quail at
from So to So each, salad from 81 to SO,
and eggs from rs cents to 81 each
| The Parker House, which stood on
Kearny street, where the new hall Of JUS
tice is, was built in 1880 by Robert A.
Parker. 1t was 81 story wooden build
ing, the lumber in its construction costing
5000 per 1000 feet. 1t went down in the
first great fire of Dec "a, 1S49, while un-
der rental mainly to gamblers at S15, 900
month. Rebuilt in the spring of 1850, it
went down once again, and finally, on
May 4, 1850, in the second great conflagra-
tion, that being the very day upon which
ii was completed.
While tho name WAS literally legion Of
the Italian osteries, German wirthschafts,
French carharets, Spanish firidas, Chinese
chowchows, American, English and 9TH
er restaurants, at every one of which prices
were charged that would stagger tho rich
and well kept hahitues Of the Palace of to-
day, the so called first stop hotels were
neither conspicuous in dimensions nor
numerous. "Top high water mark was
supposed to have been reached when the
Ward House was built and opened in the
autumn Of 1S49. 1t was situated ON Clay
street, opposite the middle of the old PLAN,
and, although then regarded as an inspir
ing and luxurious affair, would today
hardly pass muster for third rate beer
saloon 1t was the fayorite placa of resort
| and fI,1ulcypDpa for tho eIita ~ that dav