Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-30
SOME REcoLLEcTIoNs OF SAN FRANCISCO
Written for The Herald.

institute, held on the ground where the
Lick house afterward stood, that James
Donahue exhibited low-pressure beam
engine made at the foundry owned by
himself and his brother Peter. and since
known as the Union Iron works. This
engine was of 34-inch diameter and ten
foot stroke of piston, and so perfectly
was it balanced that it would make
a complete revolution by its vacuum
after all the steam had been pumped
out of II.
James has been nearly thirty Years
dead and the engine after lying idle
for over twenty years was finally put
into the "Tiburon" ferry boat on which
it has done yeoman service for eighteen
years past. There Is Cor waS) group
of statuary in honor of Peter Donahue
on the lower end of Market street, but
none to his brother. who was q greater
mechanic than Peter ever began to be.
The first suburban railway leading
out of San Francisco was the Market
street road, beginning at the corner
of Market and Third streets. 1t was
propelled by steam and carried train
of three cars on week days and five on
Sundays. The locomotive was after
ward sold to Portland, Ore, and bore
the name of Geo. w. Weidler" in its
work of building the first ten miles of
the Oregon & California railway. The
builder of San Francisco's first road
was Col. Thomas Hayes, for whom
Hayes valley and Hayes street were
named, and its first conductor was
Frank McCoppin. who afterward be-
came mayor of San Francisco. He be-
came Il trusted friend of Col. Hayes,
who one day introduced him to his
sweetheart, Miss Maggie Van Ness
daughter of an eX-mayor of the city
1t ended in McCoppin marrying his en-
ployer's best girl and the relations be-
tween Col. Hayes and McCoppin We're
soon afterward severed.
In those days there were from ten
to twenty auctions of merchandise held
daily, nearly all the auction houses be-
ing on Sansome and California streets
while the real estate auctioneers, such
as John Middleton and Theodore Payne
had their rooms on Montgomery, near
California. The largest firm of grocery
auctioneers was Poulterer, De Ro q
Eldridge, while a smaller concern in
the same line was that of George F.
Lamson, whose daughter Gertrude, is
now known to the playgoers' world as
Nance O'Neill" The chief auction
firm in drygoods and clothing, up to
1860, was Smiley, Yerkes & Co., but af-
ter that time Newhall, Eddy & Co. took
the lead and held it to the end of the
race. Old John Middleton died nearly
thirty years ago. One day in 1868 he
got into an argument with Ex-Governor
John G. DoWney in front of his office.
In reply to some statement made by
Middleton, Downey exclaimed: "Yer'e
a dem liar!"
"Biffl" went out Mr.. Middleton's
right q rrO
When the ex-governor arose from the
sidewalk he added
Politically, 1 name. Jawn."
But there was never any cordiality
between them afterwards. 1t happened
that Bishop Kip had been talking with
them a moment previously and had
just started across the street when he
met Father Hugh Gallagher of st.
Mary's church.
Good morning, Father Gallagher
said the bishop.
Good morning. bishop" said Father
Hugh, Pm glad to see you lookin' so
well. An, be the way. were you the
referee in that fight?"
= 7 have gotten this far along without
mention of the vigilance committee of
1856 (n1y number was 532), a body that
had been called into existence Tor
renewal would be more proper) by the
killing of James King of William. Mr..
King was q native of Washington, D,
c., and there were four men there
named James King, none of whom had
any middle name. Being the son of
William King he took the peculiar
name above given. After the failure
of Adams & Co.'s bank, of which he was
note teller. in March, 1856 he was out
of employment for several months,
after which he started the Daily Bull
letin, now the oldest paper in that city.
All that he said about l. c. Woods,
Alfred A. Cohen and Judge Lake was
fully deserved, but on some other occa-
slons his attacks were without war
rant One of his targets was Maj. A.
A. Selover. an excellent man, and an
other was eX-Congressman George W.
Wright.
The truth was, Mr.. King was an
honest man but not always ready to
concede honest motives to others. But
when he attacked the ballot box
suffers. who really controlled the
political machinery of that city, he was
right to the core, though it cost him
his life. The head of the gang was a
tough named Dan Bagley, but the
Machiavelli of the bunch was James P.
Casey, who had served a term at Sing
Sing for embezzlement. On a certain
day an article appeared in the Bulletin
referring to Casey as "a man who had
done the state (of New York; some
service; and the next day Casey called
on King and threatened him with per-
sonal violence if he did not deslst from
his attacks.
"Mr. Casey" said King. "you so into
any reputable business for living and
you will have nothing to fear from me,
But as long as you follow politics for
your Municipalities that are full of
knife, slungshot and pistol shall con-
tinue to expose you for what you are.
You plot all these villainies, and Bagley
Devoe, Duane and Cole are only your
plant tools"
"Well. / give ye war-r-nin' now, Mr.
King, if ever your paper spakes disre-
spectfully of me again, yer blood be
on yer own head"
Two days later there was a row
over a political caucus held on San
some street, where Bayley, Ira Cole,
Bob Crozier and three or four more
of them emptied their batteries and
several were shot, but none fatally.
In the Bulletin of the next day. Mr..
King referred to the occurrence as