Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-28

facing on Bush was n great two-story
and barn-like structure called Music
| Hail." erected by Harry MeigS in 1852.
There were lodging rooms and some
small stores on the Montgomery street
side of the edifice; and lived in one of
those rooms for nearly seven months,
my next door neighbor being a young
man named John w. DeFrewer. who
came to California from Battle Creek,
! Mich. The citizens of San Francisco
offered a prize of $100 for the best orig
inal song to be composed for the Fourth
| of July celebration of 1856, and John
won the prize with his song Columbia,
| the Gem of the Ocean," which has been
| played and sung in every fair land of
earth; and which 1 deem the greatest
of all our national melodies. Poor De
Frewer enlisted in Walkers army of
| filibusters and was taken prisoner at
the battle of Castillo Rapids, where he
was shot with over eighty others. Tom
Mcguire and the old original band of
San Francisco minstrels spent over
$500 in a vain attempt to find his grave
and bring his body back for burial on
California soil.
Market street up to 1860 was about
the next thing to no street at all. Two
immense sand hills stood where the
Grand hotel and Lick house afterwards
stood and the sand blew off them into
the streets as fast as any one could
have carted it away. One day along
came a prophet and his name was
David HeWes. He had been street
contractor but picks and shovels were
too slow for David, for which reason
he imported the first steam shovel ever
brought to California. He took down
the sand hill at the north side of the
street and on that lot was erected the
first Mechanics pavilion, of which John
Sune afterwards a banker) was presi-
dent. At the end of three years it was
torn down by James Lick to make room
for the Lick house, then the first really
elegant hotel ever erected on this coast.
Hewes (whom I saw on the street
here few days ago. got permission to
lay tracks down Market street to Beale
and thence to Mission and Howard.
With these appliances at his disposal
he filled in all the water lots between
Sansome street and Folsom, and is
more to be regarded as the improver
par excellence of San Francisco than
any one man I can now name. His
new machine earned for him the nick
name of "Steam Paddy Hewes," and
then they dropped the STEAM" One
day man named Pat Kerrigan, whom
/ had known in the Yuba mines, came
up and asked me if / could get him
job of work. 'I cannot, Pat, but you
go over there and ask Paddy Hewes."
Kerrigan went off, and came back
about ten minutes later with a half
angry expression. He'd not give me
annie wurrk, and be the same token
he's no Irishman at all at ALL"
n
The theaters of those days were
grand. Nearly all the stock actors in
the old Metropolitan and Maguire's
opera house afterward became stars
of national reputation. Frank Mayo,
Agnes Booth, Julia Dean Hayne. Ed
win Booth, George Pauncefort, Harry
Perry, Harry Courtain and Charles
Wheatleigh, all great actors in their
respective lines. 1 include Edwin
Booth in the above list because his
last engagement, in 1855, was his first
essay as a star.
Among the operatic stars of that
day We're some already world-famous,
and in February, 1856, the Metropolitan
gave the following marvellous presen-
tation of MoZart's masterpiece, with
this great cast: Donna Anna, Mime.
Anna Bishop; Don Elvira, Mime. Clo-
tide Barili Zerlina, Nine Anna Thil-
lon; Don Giovanni, Sig. d. Lauzoni;
Leporello Herr Mengis: Commenda-
tore. Sig. Carlos Scola; Nepomuck, Sig.
A. Roncovieri.
The streets were lighted "al giorno"
till a. M, as the opera was not fin
ished till 12:40. Among the great mu-
sicians in the orchestra there were
forty-two in alb were Nicholas Book
sa, conductor; leader of the first vio-
lins. Sig. Arditi; leader of the second
violins, Charles Schultz; flute and pic
colo. Christian Koppitz; cornet, John
Bayley, and contra bass, Sig. G. Bot
tor in London; Schultz was conductor
of the orchestra at the old California
theater for sixteen years; Bottesini
was always conceded the greatest con-
ira bass player in the world, and IL
ever there was piccolo player that
could beat Koppitz L never heard of
him.
The gaming of that day were
very different from those of the pres