Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-04-29


Tho sails they stained a rich brown. They
had an enclosed wharf on North Beach.
and when the fleet was in port these boats
rose in rows on all four sides Of the wharf.
singing to themselves with the creaking OF
their cordage. In the early morning tho
feet would creep through the mists Of dawn
and San Francisco people who loved the
beauties Of the bay used to rise early TO
watch them come into the wharf and un-
load their red rock cod. their big salmon,
king Of the river mouths. their boxes OF
silver sardines. The Chinese fish vendors
came down to bargain with them by signs,
and the wharf was alive with color. The
fishermen wore their native costumes
gaudy shirts, sashec high boots and Tam
O'shanter caps with big pompons. They
are big, hardy and handsome men and
they made pictures as they dragged out
the fish or cleaned their brown nets At
these early morning markets. They lived
IN their boats. After the fish were ont
they used to light oil stoves in the holds
and cook their meals right there. One or
two restaurants which they frequented
when they took their Fridays off in port
were pieces of Naples-until the tourists
found them and spoiled them.
Brave Fishermen.
These fishermen are hardy sailors, ven
turing far out toward the Farallones in
their little boats. once they served the
Americans we'll in disaster. On the morn
ing Of washingtons birthday, 1901, the Pa
chc steamer Rio dc Janeiro tried to come
into the gate at o'clock while there was
a thick fog. A flood in the rivers had
changed the currents in the night; the pilot
went wrong, and the Rio tore its bottom
out on a reef so close to Fort Winfield
Scott that the light on the fort flashed
in the eyes Of the men on the bridge. a
heavy ebb tide carried It out toward the
sea and 1t sank with all on board There
is a life-saving station only a mile further
on, but that night, of all nights, there was
in the lookout above the fort a stupid
surfman. who did not understand the pro-
longed whistling of the steamer. So the
life savers. slept through it all.
But through the mist came the fishing
fleet, loaded down. The fishermen ran into
the wreckage, saw what had happened
threw their fish back into the sea and
cruised about. picking up the crew and
passengers. They brought in with them
more than 100 persons who must have
drowned but for their prompt aid. A hun
dred and twenty others were lost.
In the Home of the Exempt Firemen on
Portsmouth square were the relics and
documents of the first vigilantes. who in
1851 cleaned out the Hounds" and the
Sydney Ducks" The relics of the second
and more famous committee, that Of 1856
were in Pioneer hall, which is down. There
was lot of other valued relics there
The one single object which Californians
will be most sorry to lose was the bear
,Ir coll 10
public was founded by Americans at So
noma. On the plaza of that town they
raised a crude flag made by their women
and displaying the figure of a bear. The
republic lasted only few months; little
later. at San Juan Baptista, Fremont nailed
the American flag to a pine tree; but the
raising of the bear flag was regarded as
the act Of American occupation and the
bear became the state emblem. This flag
was carefully kept and was brought out
only on great occasions. There is dim
hope that the vaults in which it was locked
preserved It.
Almost all the relics of the days Of gold
must be gone except a few which were in
the Golden Gate Park museum.
Romance Burned Down.
Everything in San Francisco had ro-
mantle history; it went with the climate.
An old business block at Montgomery and
California had been down and up before
In the early days, when they got ready
to make the city permanent, they found
that there was no building stone TO be
had They solved II by bringing from
southern China shiploads of granite The
first order, "stone enough for three-story
building" was a puzzle for the Chinese
To be sure they had the order filled right
they built in China a stone building OF
the dimensions mentioned in the specifica-
lions, took It down and shipped 1t across
the Pacific. This used to hold the Adams
Express company. In the early days LOT
of powder blew up in the basement 1t did
many things to the surrounding buildings
but never disturbed the structure OF the
Chinese stone cutters. The Mantle build
! ing, at Clay and Sansome, was named
after a vessel that was wrecked there
when the water came up TO that point
Sheds were built over 1t, and the decks OF
the Mantle became the floor Of a store
When they tore the sheds down they took
away most OF the wreckage, but left the
foremost OF the Mantle, which became q
part of a new building. So went the tales
up and down Montgomery. Kearny and
Battery streets.
On Sausome street, where the FIRE trav-
eled fast on the first day, the Alaska Com
mercial company had a beautiful collec-
ton OF Alaskan objects which # has beer
gathering ever since It went into the
north. Irreplaceable are their lost ivory
carvings. the ancient work OF the Alaskan
Indians.-New York Sun
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