Norwich bulletin., 1909-04-24

l back to the appraisers store, and the 1 table was set for three weeks as we had left it-which was the last of our
 attempt to economize in living.
 My first Christmas in San Francisco
 was celebrated in Aca pulco. It happen | ed in this way: When l sailed out of | New York on November 20. 1850, 1t was understood that we would arrive | at Sah Francisco in plenty of time for l Christmas. But on arriving at Pala- ma, we took the steamship Tennessee, ! and the captain of that ship was the most cautious captain that ever sail | ed with, although I had been for many
 years sailor. He had such a dread | of the rocks and shoals along the coast that he would stand off shore all night, | and it would take all next day to sight | the land again. That why vas my first i Christmas in San Francisco was spent i in Acapulco. But that cautious skip
 per. as he grew older grew more dar- l ing, and he took ta "hugging the shore,' and during a dense fog one
 night he entered a narrow inlet north of Golden Gate that he couldn't have found his way into in broad daylight. The ship was left high and dry on the beach where, like John Browns body in the grave, she lies mouldering. To | commemorate the sagacity of the ship 1 (so to speak) in finding her way into that lonely little habor. it was given | the name of Tennessee Bay.
 The Christmas of 1851 was duly ob- served in San Francisco with all the merry greetings of the season. At
 Barry & Patten's, Billy Blossoms and the Blue Wing, everybody received the assurance of the distinguished cOnsid- eration of everybody else during the day. and at night a Christmas ban quet was given at Jones' hotel, which
 stood at the corner of California and
 Sansome streets, where the Bank of
 California is now located.-1 The ban
 quet was served at ten dollars a pIS. S,
 and to those of us who had been pay
 ing a. dollar and a half for a meal
 made up of baked beans, bear steak,
 codhsh hash and potatoes from Aus
 tralia, 1t was worth all it cost. The
 roast turkeys were @ sensation to most
 of us, who had not seen a turkey since
 leaving our eastern homes. I remem-
 Der a few guests that were seated at
 the board There were Judge Ogden
 Hoffman, Collector King, Colonel E. T.
 Baker, J Minot Brown, c. K, Green, Captain Shillaber. James Wainwright,
 Selim Woodwork, George w. Gran
 miss. James Macondray, James Riddle
 and Mayor Brenham. At nine o'clock
 we all sat down and at half past two
 a. m. we all arose, and as there was nc
 oakland boat then, everybody stayed
 until the wind-up of the jamboree. The speeches. as I remember them,
 were fully up to the average of the after dinner speeches of the period. But the remarks of Collector King
 seemed to me more like a Fourth of
 July oration than an after Christmas dinner speech, and it paved the way for his going down to San Jose when the legislature was in session and running for the United States senate
 oT4 ha o+ crat+
 When the news of the Americas having won the international yacht race in October, 1851, reached San Francis co there was much enthusiasm. I have always thought, and think yet, that there is not within the United States a people of purer patriotism, of more devoted love of country, or who look forward to the future greatness of the republic with loftier feelings of honest pride than the people of Cali fornia, and this feeling shows itself on all occasions. When a clipper ship ar rived, making a passage from New York in less time than it would have taken the ships Of any other nation to cross the equator. it was not the cap tain nor the builders who got the credit of the performance, but to the Ameri- can nation all the praise was awarded. When we received the news that the awards of the Worlds Fair for the best agricultural implements exhibit ed went to Americans, no one inquired who was the inventor or whether they were made in Maine or Florida, It was sufficient for this people to know that an American gained the prize. and when friends met they congratulated each other on the success of our in genuity
 The news of the great race in Eng land was received here at nine o'clock night, and before eleven there was hardly a man, woman or child who did not know that the America had beaten the world and that the English press had been forced to acknowledge that Britannia rules the waves' no longer. But there were very few who asked where or by whom this yacht was built or who sailed her. The whole arangement was American. and TO fur ther questions were asked, but through out the night you could have heard called out, Three cheers for the Amer icai" "The America has beat the worId!" and responded to by people returning from business or by parties elated by the news, who had stopped too long in some saloon to talk over the matter, and were now homewa~d bound full of enthusiasm and bad brandy But do not think from this that all the enthusiasm was confined to the visitors at saloons, for the feel ing pervaded all classes. Nor was it patriotism alone which was the char acteristic of the early Californian. The whole-souled generosity and noble hearted way of doing business was destined to make this people great in all they undertook. and 1t was these peculiarities, united with an enterprise that rebuilt a devastated citv twice within a year, each time finer than ,s,,l. the stranger with wonder.
 In 1851 an Australian came to Cali fornia and after mingling with the gold seekers in the mining region for awhile, he located a claim and was doing fairly well when 1t occurred to him that the land he had known in Australia bore a striking resemblance to the land he was working, and the more he thought about it the more finally he disposed of his claim and sailed for that faraway land. Nothing more was thought of him by his asSo- ciates until the startling news came that gold had been discovered in Aus tralia and that the discoverer was a miner from California At that time had been detailed by MT. Guthrie, chief inspector. to inspect an Austral- ian brig that had arrived with cargo of potatoes that were selling at fabulous price. The supercargo and owner of the freight was young Eug- lishman, and a very agreeable man to knew. When the news of the gold dis- cOvery came he made inquiries and found that it was on his own land. As soon as he realized what the news meant for him he was nearly frantic with joy. He told the captain to do the best he could with the cargo, and immediately sailed away for his home and the promised land. The captain soon disposed of his potatoes at re- duced rates and without uro itfpp foy, q