The Sidney herald., 1955-09-15
Russell MERGERS
Return From
Interesting Trip


Following is an account of the
Trip the Russell MERGERS took Il
sacramento the last two weeks il
August:
by Mrs. Russell Mercer
Ever since making our very en-
Joyable trip to see my brother
Bill Hammes, his wife Jean, anC
two daughters at Ferndale, Wn.
just one year ago, we had beer
planning to make a similar trir
to see another brother, Gene, his
wife, Beth, and their 1O-months
old baby who live at 2O39 Hooke
Way, Sacramento, Calf. 1t took
us three days to get there; Boze-
man, the first night, Elko, New,
the second night and on to Genes
at 7:30 p. m. Wednesday. After
we had become acquainted with
our dear little nephew and the
children we're glued to the TV set
watching a Walt Disney picture.
Gene got to work on his ham ra-
dlo, contacted a ham in Belling-
ham, Wn., where my mother lives,
and he in turn called mother, re-
porting to her that we had arrived
safely. If there are any hams op-
Grating in this area, by the way,
his call letters are W6BRE.
Gene and Beth had comfortable
sleeping room for all of us - so
comfortable, in fact, that we could
not drag ourselves away in time
to 60 to Los Angeles as we had
planned.
Beth worked for the state in
Sacramento before her marriage;
consequently Sacramento is home
to her. Gene, who works for the
Pacific Telephone Co., in the mi
cro-wave maintenance division,
likes Sacramento very much, too.
We kept him busy chauffering
us around, first to the state capt.
toll, where we saw the large por-
traits of the past governors, in
Guiding ex-governor Warren. The
huge palm trees lining the walks
reminded us of oversize pineap-
pies. The governors mansion is
stately and ancient looking, car
riage house and all. They plan
to build a new one soon. I would
say that the present one would
make quite a museum.
We were happy to make the
acquaintance of Beth'S sister and
her husband, Sylvia and Frank
McDebiitt, also of Sacramento.
McDebitt, also of Sacramento.
Pacific Telephone Company.
The Croker Art Gallery IS
surely worth ones time, even tho
it does not contain any of the
great world masterpieces. I was
especially interested in a small
sketch, "Study for the Head of
an Apostle" by Peter Paul Ru-
bens, the famous Flemish artist.
This is one of the few hanging in
the famed ballroom, a beautiful
room that saw so much square
and round dancing in the 70's that
it had to be refloOred. Mrs.
Crocker's parties were renowned
throughout the west. It was she
who donated the gallery to the
city in 1885, some years after Mr..
Crocker's death. The main gall
lery contains a large collection.
AS far as I could tell, the oldest
of the group was Madonna of
the Cherries" done by Girolamo
Libri, who lived from 1474 to
1856. In a different section they
hung the modern paintings, some
of which we liked very much and
some we didn't understand.
William Land Park is very pref
ty with its winding paths, some
lined with beds of flowers of ev-
cry hue. The zoo was interesting,
but it did not compare with the
San Francisco zoo which we saw
later.
Suffers Fort is perhaps the
most outstanding tourist attrac-
ton in Sacramento, dating back
well over a century. One would
have to spend hours there in or
der to see it all, with its many
relics of the past. I was interest
ed in a loft stairway which was
closed to the public. The plaque
at the foot of the stairs described
the crowded conditions at the Fort
in the gold rush days of 40. The
loft was rented out to men at a
dollar a head. In return they
were given a very small area on
the floor for sleeping quarters.
The large loft would be full to
overlooking with sweating, ours
ing men, some discouraged, others
gloating over new found gold. Yes,
it was a colorful era.
We were given a arm well
come by Mr.. and Mrs. David Joel
son, early day residents of Cos
sett flat, and their families -
Gordon, who works with Mr..
Joelson in their well equipped
cabinet shop, his wife, Barbara,
and their three children - Stella
and Dan Crowley, who have two
sons-Dan piloted a B29 in the
last wal - and Marshall. who
has a good job as head accountant
at Aerojet, his wife, Una, and
their two sons. They all have nice
and love Sacramento. Mrs.
Joelson is slowly recovering from
a broken hip. Before we left, we
$50 o1ad +o hear that she took