Sixth Sacramento inundation, 02/25/1862 [press date] 1756194 bytes
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Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3404, 25 February 1862, p. 2
NEWS FROM THE MORNING.
. . .About three feet of snow fell on the summit of the Sierra Nevada during
the late storm. The rain of Sunday did not extend to the summit.
A brother of D. D. Kingsbury, well known in this city as a bridge builder,
lost his life, February 22d, in the mountains, by a snow slide. . . .
The waters of the American rose over its banks yesterday morning, taking
away some one hundred feet of the new levee at Rabel's tannery, where
repairs have been recently made. The current spread itself over a portion
of the eastern and southern sections of the city, and was rapidly ruuning
off last night. At noon the American ceased to rise further, and was
falling late in the day. The Sacramento stood at sunset last evening at
seventeen feet three inches above low water mark. It had risen one foot
since the previous day.
Some fifty feet of the railroad embankment was washed away yesterday
this side of Poverty Ridge, seriously interfering with the running
of the cars. It will, of course, be repaired at once.
THE COMMITTEE AND THE LEVEE BILL.
EDITORS UNION:--A communication in yesterday's Bee contains so many
misstatements in relation to the Committee who drew the levee bill,
that it may not be amiss to correct them.
First--The Committee did not "take it upon themselves to prepare a
levee bill," therefore they were not a self-constituted Committee."
Second--They are not "all large real estate owners;" not even a majority
of them are so; indeed, only one can be fairly considered as such.
Third--The Committee did not at any time have under consideration the
question, "How can a levee be built without taxing real estate to pay
for it?" or any other question akin to it, but, without any question
or debate of any kind, it was unanimously agreed by a Committee, a
majority of whose members were more interested in personal than
real estate, that personal and real property were equally protected,
and should be equally taxed, and then had the "cool impudence" to put forth
such an "unjust and unmanly scheme." Seven such men as L. A. Booth,
L. B. Harris, Mark Hopkins, C. H. Swift, W. F. Knox, B. B. Redding
and D. O. Mills should have had more modesty.
One word in answer to an inquiry of the Bee, Why so much?" If the
Swamp Land Commissioners fail to build the levees outside the city
limits, the City Commissioners will have to do it; and in that event
there will be a deficiency of from $15,000 to $20,000. The Committee
do not thiuk it "is bad " or "looks bad" to require "draymen, mechanics,
policemen, small dealers, clerks," etc., and a large class who pay no
other taxes, to contribute a small part of their earnings to protect
the city, and moreover the Act provides for the surplus being appropriated
for improving outlets from the city. ONE OF THE COMMITTEE.
THE BILL PREPARED.--As prepared by the Committee, the levee bill does not
seem to contain any section which authorizes the Levee Commissioners to
condemn property for the purpose of straightening the American river. It
is as necessary for the protection of the city that the American be
straightened as it is to build strong levees. The authority to do it
should rest in the hands of the Levee Board; they should have full power
to take possession of and condemn for that purpose any land which may
be necessary. The opening of the slough known as Hoyt's, above the
tannery, would accomplish the end fully of turning the river from the
city, and relieve it from all danger from the sharp bend where the
present break is. The same remark applies to the bend opposite Sixth
street. The river can be, some half a mile above, turned across into
the Sacramento something near a mile above its present mouth. These
changes would relieve the city from threatened encroachments, and
place the levees in a secure position. But in order to accomplish the
work of straightening the river, somebody must be clothed wifti proper
authority.
In the levee bill reported there is a section empowering the Levee
Commissioners to condemn land for levee purposes. The Commissioners
may enter upon and take possession of any land needed for levees, and
may have the same condemned, as provided in the present swamp land law.
This we understand to mean that they may take possession of the land,
and subsequently proceed to have it condemned. Such power they ought
certainly to possess, for if they have not the right to take immediate
possession, and then condemn the land, they will often find themselves
seriously embarrassed. The six dollar poll tax for the benefit of the
levee fund, which is provided for in the new levee bill, will meet with
determined opposition. The principle is condemned as wrong and unjust,
as property ought to pay for its own protection. The Committee will
probably deem it advisable to modify the bill in this particular, as
the provision may prove a dead weight in the Legislature.
AMENDMENT OF THE SWAMP LAND LAW.
Senator Parks, Chairman of the Committee on Swamp and Overflowed Land
in the Senate, has introduced a bill to amend the law of last year, which
we publish. It sets apart as a special fund, for the benefit of the same,
the money received in each Swamp Land district, and when the dollar per
acre is insufficient to reclaim the land in said district, authorizes a
tax to be levied to raise the required sum. The principles of the bill are
understood to have met the approval of a majority of the Swamp Land
Committees in each house. If the Legislature does not seize all the money
in the Swamp Land Fund and appropriate it to promote the personal comfort
of members, such a law as the bill which Senator Parks proposes would
operate favorably. Its passage would place every swamp land district in
a position to be reclaimed wherever the people of the district decided to
be taxed for that purpose.
The following is the bill to which we refer:
An Act supplemental to and amendatory of an Act entitled "An Act to
provide for the Reclamation and Segregation of Swamp and Overflowed and
Salt Marsh and Tide Lands donated to the State of California by Act of
Congress, approved May 15, 1861." The People of the State of California
represented in Senate and Assembly do enact as follows:
Section 1. Upon the completion of the survey and estimate of the cost
of permanent reclamation of a swamp land district, established or to be
established by the Board of Swamp Land Commissioners, it shall be the
duty of said Board of Commissioners to procure from the Registrar of the
State Land Office a certified statement of the amount of money paid into
the Swamp Land Fund of the State by the purchase of land within such
district, and to file said statement, together with a list of the swamp
and overflowed, salt marsh or tide lands included in such district, with
the Controller of State; said Board shall also file a statement of the
amount of money that has been expended in the survey of said district
and. In other expenses incidental thereto; and the money then in or
thereafter received in the Swamp Land Fund as having been paid by the
purchasers of land within the district thus certified, less the amount
expended in the survey, shall be set apart by the Controller and Treasurer
of State from the Swamp Land Fund, as a special fund to the credit of
such district, to be applied in the reclamation of said district, as is
provided in the Act to which this Act is supplemental and amendatory;
provided, that in no case shall more than one dollar for each acre of
the swamp, tide or marsh land in such distrlct be thus set apart from
the Swamp Land Fund excepting that where more than one dollar per acre
is paid as is hereinafter provided, the whole sum so paid shall be thus
set apart.
Sec. 2. The Board of Swamp Land Commissioners shall also cause to be
recorded by the County Recorder of each county in which a district or
part of a district finally established by them may be situate, a certified
statement of the boundaries of the district, together with a detailed
list by sections and subdivisions of sections of all the swamp, marsh
or tide lands embraced in said district. They shall also file with the
Treasurer of each county in which such lands are situated, a certified
list and map showing the lands by sections and subdivisions of sections
embraced in such district.
Sec. 3. Upon the receipt of the certified list and map the County
Treasurer shall open an account with each district thus certified,
and credit said district with any money that may then be in his hands
and received as principal or interest for any swamp, tide or marsh
lands included in said district, and all money thus placed to the
credit of a district, or thereafter received for land within a district
as principal or interest, or for the tax hereinafter authorized to be
levied, shall be by him received for the use of and paid into the State
Treasury, to the credit of the Special Reclamation Fund of the district
from which it was received.
Sec. 4. If from the report and estimates of the engineer, and after
the approval of the plan of reclamation by the Board of Commissioners
it shall appear that the amount in the State Treasury to the credit of
a district be not sufficient to reclaim said district, the Board of
Supervisors of each county in which such district or part of a district
may be situate, shall, and they are hereby required upon presentation
of a petition from the holders of patents or certificates of purchase
of swamp, tide or marsh lands within the district, representing one
third in acres of the whole of said district, levy a tax on all real
estate and improvements on real estate, within that county and within
the boundaries of such district, including all real estate and
improvements to be protected from overflow by the reclamation of such
distrlct, which tax shall, in the aggregate, when added to the amount
in the State Treasury to the credit of such district, equal the amount
of the cost of permanent reclamation as estimated and returned by the
engineer for said district.
Sec. 5. The tax thus authorized to be levied shall be collected as
other taxes are required to be levied and collected, and the laws for
the collection of State and county taxes are hereby made applicable
to the tax authorized to be levied and collected under the provisions
of this Act; provided, that the tax shall be levied and collected on
the assessment of real estate and improvements made for the current
fiscal year during which the petition was received.
Sec. 6. The tax thus authorized to be levied and collected, shall be
paid into the State treasury, to the credit of the fund of the district
from which it was received, to be applied in the reclamation of such
district, under the provisions of the Act of which this Act is
supplemental and amendatory.
Sec. 7. After such tax shall have been levied, it shall be the duty of
the County Treasurer to collect from the purchaser of any swamp, marsh
or tide lands on such district not theretofore sold, the amount of said
tax in the aggregate of his purchase, at the rate of one dollar per
acre, in addition to the amount of principal and interest now required
by law to be paid, and said amount, with the principal and interest,
and cost of survey, shall be paid into the State treasury, to the
credit of the reclamation fund of the district.
Sec. 8. Upon the completion of the work of reclamation of a district,
the Board of Swamp Land Commissioners shall, on the part of the State,
deliver the levees and other work of reclamation to the Board of
Supervisors of the county in which the same may be situated, and at
the general election held next thereafter, there shall be elected by
the voters of the district three persons to serve as Levee Commissioners,
who shall determine by lot which of them respectively shall hold office
for one, two and three years, and at each general election after the
first election herein provided for, the votes of such district shall
elect one Levee Commissioner to hold office for three years, and the
persons elected as herein provided shall form a Board of Levee
Commissioners, a majority of whom may exercise the powers hereinafter
granted them.
Sec. 9. The Levee Commissioners shall have power to hire labor, purchase
material and let contracts for the keeping of the levees and other work
of reclamation of their district in repair, and may certify accounts to
the Board of Supervisors for the same, payable out of the fund in the
County Treasury hereinafter authorized to be levied and collected.
Sec. 10. The said Board of Levee Commissioners shall annually, on or
before the first Monday of March of each year, certify to the Board of
.Supervisors the estlmated cost of the keeping of the levees and other
works of the district in repair, and the Board of Supervisors are hereby
directed and required to thereupon levy a tax on all property in the
district which shall in the aggregate equal the arnount thus estimated.
The tax thus authorized to be levied shall be collected as other taxes
are required to be collected, and be paid into the County Treasury as
a Levee Fund and be drawn out on the warrant of the Auditor, upon
accounts certified by the Levee Commissioners and approved by the Board
of Supervisors.
Sec. 11. If any person shall at any time or in any manner lower or alter
any levee to facilitate crossing, or shall cut, destroy, or in any other
manner whatever injure or destroy any levee or tide-gate or embankment or
other work constructed for the purposes of reclamation, or in any manner
whatever diminish the hight, width or strength of any levee or embankment
of a district or cross levee within a district, he shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of
not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by
imprisonment for not less than ten days nor more than six months, or by
both such fine and imprisonment; and in every case of conviction the sum
of fifteen dollars shall be charged as costs and be paid to the Prosecuting
Attorney for his own use; and all fines collected under this Aot shall
be paid into the Levee Fund of the district
FRONT STREET.--Whatever may be the final-determination as to raising
the foundation of the whole city to high water mark, there can be no
question about the practicability and propriety of raising Front
street, and the business houses on the east side to the level of the
grade of the levee. The buildings on that street can be readily raised,
and at a comparatively small cost. The levee during the approaching
Summer will be put up a couple or three feet, and then the stores on
Front street should be placed on the same level. There is plenty of
room on Front street for all the heavy business of the city, and the
experience of this Winter admonishes merchants, particularly those in
the wholesale trade, that it is necessary for them to get into stores
which are above the highest water ever seen in Sacramento. This object
can probably be more easily accomplished on Front street than in any
other portion of the city. By a little concert of action the different
blocks might be carried up together. As the railroad is extended into
the country the greater will be the tendency of the wholesale trade
towards Front street. So great a proportion of goods will be forwarded
by railroad to customers that merchants in the wholesale business will
find it greatly to their interest to be convenient to the depot. But
the main consideration for the present will be the facility with which
stores on Front street can be placed above all danger from high water.
Merchants could in a very short time place themselves and their stocks
in as safe a position as the Chinese merchants on I street have occupied
during the floods which have destroyed so much of the property of our
native merchants. Had the grocery, hardware and other wholesale dealers
been located on I street they would have saved money enough to have
built a levee around the city. Levee or no levee, the true policy of
all merchants dealing in heavy goods, is to get into stores which are
above the grade of the levees. When so situated they will consider
themselves perfectly safe--and not before,
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . Legislative Proceedings..
In the Senate. . .
The bill empowering the State Library Trustees to have books repaired was passed.
In the Assembly ,. . .
The Committee on Ways and Means were instructed to report to-morrow on the Senate bill transferring the Swamp Land Funds.
The Rain In the Interior--Hight of the American at Coloma--Casualty--The Mountain Road.
PLACERVILLE, Feb 24th.
The rain of Sunday night did not extend to the summit of the mountains,
and will not carry off the snow.
The water had risen four feet in the American river at Coloma, at dark this
evening. [This will not affect the American here much, as the river at
Coloma is narrow.--EDS. UNION.]
It is now cloudy, but indications are unfavorable to much rain.
A brother of D. D. Kingsbury, the well known bridge and road builder,
lost his life on Saturday by being buried beneath a snow slide on the
grade west of Lake valley. The body was recovered on Sunday.
The road over the Summit is reported impassable to-day. About three feet
of snow fell during the late storm.
WEATHER IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY.--The Vancouver Telegraph of
January 24th gives the following statistics on the weather in Washington
Territory. They will prove interesting in connection with the data
published in reference to the weather in this State:
Since the latter end of October or the beginning of November last,
the fall of rain and snow has been almost incessant except when it
was too cold to either rain or snow. The whole coast was inflicted
with a flood of waters never before known to the white residents,
and now we have had to endure almost a month of the coldest weather
ever before felt. Indeed; our visitations from this source have not
been sparingly dealt out or coveteously [sic] withheld.
We have been favored by Charles Besserer with the following table,
prepared from the meteorological register kept at the hospital of
the garrison at this place, showing the state rf the atmosphere during
the coldest days of each Winter from 1849 to 1862. From this it will
be seen that last Friday, January 17th, was the coldest day by
9 degrees of any previous time during this period of twelve years,
the mercury standing at sunrise on that morning at 10 decrees below zero:
Sunrise. Daily mean.
1849-50, January 5, 1850 ........ 20 26.5
1850-51, December 5, 1850....... 22 26
1851-52, December 3, 1851....... 29 29.15
1852-53, December 22, 1852...... 7 16
1853-54, January 3, 1854 ........ 17 18
1854-55, December 20, 1854, ,,. 21 25
1855-56, December 28, 1855....... 0-1 8
1856-57, January 8, 1857...... 2 14.33
1857-58, Februury 15, 1858...... 14 16
1858-59, December 7, 1858. . . .... 8 18
1559-60, December 5, 1859. . 10 15
1860-61, December 7, 1860 , . . 28 32.66
1861-62, January 17, 1862.. ...... 0-10 2.83
We have also been furnished from the same source a statement of the
thermometer during the last week, as follows:
1862. 7 A.M. 2 P.M. 9 P.M. Daily mean.
January 16, 0-7 18 0 3 66
January 17, 0-10 13 3 2.33
January 18, 3 16 16 11.66
January 19, 14 17 14 15
January 20, 16 25 23 21.33
January 21, 28 33 33 31.33
January 22, 38 46 38 39
Fletcher has also again favored us with a statement of the observations
made by himself from his thermometer, which will be found to differ
slightly from that of the hospital register. The cause of this
variation is doubtless a difference of the situation of the thermometer,
and the time of taking the observations. Fletcher's has a direct northern
position, while that of the hospital is, we believe, to the westward.
However, this difference between the two statements is but comparatively
slight, and we publish them both for the purpose of showing that in the
main they are both correct.
1862. Sunrise. Noon. Sunset, Average.
January 15.... 16 32 10 19-33
January 16...... 0-10 16 6 4
January 17...... 0-12 15 10 4.38
January 18...... 4 20 16 10.66
January 19..... 12 17 14 14.33
January 20 17 32 28 25.66
January 21......28 36 34 32.66
January 22 35 42 40 39
PERILS OF THE NORTHERN MINES.--The Portland Advertiser of February
11th has the following in reference to the dangers of a Winter residence
in the Salmon river and Nez Perce mines:
For some time we have been completely cut off from any communication
with the mines. By the latest intelligence from the Dalles, we learn
that no person has been found bold enough to ventore overland to Walla
Walla, a distance of 181 miles. The ill fated party, of whom Jagger was
one, were the last who ventured over that waste of snow. Of the number
that composes that expedition, three are already dead--Jagger, Riddle
and Mulkey--two are still missing, and no doubt lost, as they have not
since been heard from--Davis and Allen--two others, Jeffreys and
Wellington, have had their legs amputated, and, should they recover,
will be cnpples for life. It is also intimated that Moody, Gay and
McDonald will share the same fate as Wellington and Jeffreys--amputation.
Only three of the whole party have escaped unscathed--James, Niles and
Bolen. This is a sad catalogue of misfortunes. But is it all? We fear not,
and must wait patiently for further advices. The severity of the weather,
the depth of the snow, and the length of the season, have had no parallel
in this section of country. The ice piled up on the river almost
approaches the dimensions of icebergs. All this, taken with the scarcity
of firewood in that neighborhood, renders a trip to that quarter as much
to be feared at this time as a pilgrimage over the eternal glaciers of
Greenland.
If the storm of snow extended to Salmon river, we greatly fear for
multitudes who are in nowise prepared for such a visitant. We are no
alarmists; but we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that over one thousand
men are as it were, cut off from the outside world, and for what length
of time none can predict. Have they plenty of provisions? This is a
most important question, but we will try and answer it. Last November,
provisions were seling at Salmon river at the rate of one dollar per
pound; pack trains were in demand, and four trains succeeded in getting
in. Others, in the latter part of that month, failed to get over the
mountains. We know of several parties who attempted to reach Florence
City in the beginning of December with flour; they returned to Lewiston
failing to make the trip. Since then, small parties of three or four
may have succeeded in carrying a few hundred pounds of provisions over
the mountain, but is this all sufficient for one thonsand men? Again,
it is well known that there are great numbers at Salmon, who had no
conception of what Winter in such a quarter meant. A great many of
them are from Oregon, who were never before at the mines, and who more
than likely made no provisions for such a season. Since then, two months
have elapsed, and two more are likely to follow before anything can be
done to remedy such a state of things. We hope all may be well, and that
we are mistaken, but "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof."
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
RAILROAD INCIDENT.--A little incident happened in connection with the
morning train from Folsom yesterday, of a somewhat peculiar character.
When the train reached Hull's ranch the passenger car and some seven or
eight freight cars, from the displacement of a bolt or some other cause,
became detached from the engine, leaving the tender and one or two
freight cars still connected with it. The Engineer and John H. Carroll,
who was also on the engine, kept too sharp a lookout ahead to think of
looking behind, and dashed on at an increased pace, entirely unconscious
of the dissolution of the union which had so recently united them and
the passengers together. As they approached the workmen at Sixteenth
and Seventeenth streets they were hailed with inquiries as to the
missing cars, but thinking the men were cheering the first train in
from Folsom since the flood, they courteously responded. The engineer
blew the whistle. Carroll rang the bell, and the engine increased its
speed. On they came to Front and K streets, when, on stopping, they
discovered their passengers and cars to be among the missing. They
went back at once, on an exploring expedition, and found the cars some
three or four miles from the city, awaiting their return--under the
guardianship of Conductor Osborne, who was in the passenger car at
the time of the accident.
RISE IN THE RIVERS.--Considerable anxiety was felt throughout the city
yesterday from a fear that we were about to be visited by another
inundation. The rains of the previous day had caused the rivers to
rise, and at an early hour in the morning the water commenced to come
into the northeastern portion of the city from the American river. There
proved to be no just foundation for alarm, so far as the business portion
of the city was concerned. The Sacramento river had risen during the
night about a foot, And the American at Rabel's about three feet. The
new levee, at which volunteers and hired workmen have been engaged during
the past week, gave way at one or two points, and a hundred feet or more
was soon destroyed. Through this opening, the crevasse at Twentieth street
and many points between the tannery and Burns' slough, the water came in,
in such volume as to flood to the depth of two feet the most of the city
lying east of Tenth and north of J streets. The outlet through the R street
railroad was such that the water poured off freely, doing but little damage
while it remained. Before twelve o'clock the water ceased to rise, and
during the afternoon it declined both in the city and in the American
river. . . .
RAISED.--The floor of the K streei market is to be raised about four
feet above its present position, to provide against future floods. . . .
THE RAILROAD.--The railroad repairs west of Poverty Ridge were so far
completed on Sunday night, that yesterday morning's train left the depot
at Front and K street, and made the first through trip to Folsom with
passengers and freight. The morning train from Folsom also came through,
but by about noon the road again became impassable by the action of the
current of water which set in in the morning from the American river.
That which came from Burns' slough, from the Tivoli, and from the tannery,
seemed to concentrate west of Poverty Ridge, and so weakened about fifty
feet of the embankment which had heretofore withstood the floods, that
it became unsafe to attempt to pass with the train. Arrangements were
made for piling the weak spot. The work will be commencsd and probably
finished to-day.
CLOSED UP.--With the first train from Folsom yesterday, the agents of
Sneath & Arnold, Booth & Co., and Lindley, Hull & Lohman, who have kept
open branches of their stores at Folsom during the late floods, came into
the city, all having closed out their establishments at that place. As
the cars will now run regularly they deem it unnecessary to keep open
any longer their stores at that place. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3405, 26 February 1862, p. 1
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
Their Causes and Suggested Remedies.--No. 5.
BY T. ROWLANDSON, SAN FRANCISCO.
EVIDENCES OF FORMER FLOODS CONTINUED.
Being compelled by necessity to compose my last paper somewhat hurriedly,
I overlooked some notes made during my first and second journeys to the
mining districts which bore directly on the points under notice. In one
respect I do not regret this circumstance, as it gives me the present
opportunity of apologizing for the somewhat garrulous tone of the
preceding related evidences, the facts detailed will I hope, compensate
for the deficiency of style, and shonld it appear, after being printed,
that they are not related with sufficient lucidity, it will be my endeavor
in some future paper to clear up any obscurity. I was in too great haste
to round periods or weigh the language employed, so as to gracefully lay
before the readers of the UNION some facts which the bulk of observers
would scarcely deem worthy of notice; but which, on this important
inquiry, possess a high value, for we are not like European countries
where carefully recorded meteorological observations have been continued
from half to three-quarters of century or upwards, thus furnishing
general and average data on which calculations may be based with some
reliance. In California on the contrary, I believe that the oldest
series of meteorological observations do not amount to a decade, and
those have been made in positions which, though of high relative value
under existing circumstances, in consequence of their total absence prior
to the occupation of the State by Americans are the only ones which we
now can refer to, have generally been made in the large centers of
population in the low lands, and not in the mountains where the heaviest
deposits of rain take place. Calculations based on rain gauges situated
at Sacramento, San Francisco, Stockton, Marysville, etc., would be very
fallacious, and it is doubtful if any rain gauge in the mountain has been
carefully observed for more than half the period of those noticed in the
low lands. As this is a deficiency that time and time only can remedy,
we are necessitated to resort to all other sources of information that
can legitimately be called as evidence, for time, if he will not wait,
neither will he move hurriedly and flap his wings in order to speed his
onward course for any exigencies of man.
Amongst evidences of comparatively recent floods, which I observed during
my two or three first journeys through California, were the following: On
the left or southern bank of the Yuba, a few miles from Marysville, there
did and probably does exist a considerable space of very slightly
undulating land, composed chiefly of angular pieces of quartz and other
rocks, from the size of peas to half a pound weight or more, but chiefly
from two to five or six ounces in weight, intermixed slightly with a fine
ochrey colored soil the vegetation was exceedingly sparse, but making all
allowance for the arid character of the soil and the droughty nature of
the Summer climate, I felt convinced from long experience and observation
on this class of subjects, that had the stony soil under notice been covered
with vegetation only half a century, there ought to have been seen a greater
amount of carbonaceous vegetable debris than appeared to exist. Further,
I remarked that the vegetation increased gradually on traveling to the
south and west towards Hock Farm, the soil imperceptibly changing from
an almost stony desert into a sandy and ultimately an argillaceous one,
the vegetation being more developed in the same order, the order of the
deposited soil being that which occurs when the materials are subjected
to flowing waters, such as will probably be seen to follow the recent
floods. There is another fact which always interested me, respecting
which I never could obtain any satisfactory information, and as it is to
be seen not far from Sacramento, perhaps some of your readers will
volunteer the desired intelligence.
The appearances alluded to are to be seen to the right or eastern side
of the road usually taken by the stages between Sacramento and Marysville.
A careful observer will remark in the direction alluded to that for a
considerable distance a low bank of sandy soil will be seen to run for
some miles on the east side of and parallel to the road, raised from
eighteen inches to three feet above the western or lower part, on which
the stages ran. The rise is abrupt and well defined. My first impression,
which has remained up to the past few months, was that the low bank
alluded to was occcasioned by an upheaval. Recent events have induced me
to think that the bank might have been caused by the ripple or the current
of a flood, or the two combined. Perhaps some attentive observer residing
in the neighborhood will take up the inquiry, and report the result.
WHAT IS URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR THE PRESENT EXIGENCIES OF SACRAMENTO.
If it was only requisite to take into consideration what ought to be
done in order to relieve Sacramento from future danger, the task would
be a very simple one. In such a case, provided no extensive leveeing
was to be carried out in future on the swamp lands, all that would
be necessary would be to raise the existing barriers a little higher
and strengthen them, and, see that they were always maintained in good
order, with these safeguards inroads even from the most threatening
quarter--the American river--might cease to be apprehended. If to
accomplish this it should be found requisite to raise the levees around
Sacramento ten feet higher than they are at present and to strengthen
proportionately, that would be the most effectual and cheapest plan.
But contemporaneously with the citizens of Sacramento raising their
defenses so as to meet and successfully beat off the destructive
agencies of future floods, other parties will be engaged (by leeveing [sic]
out, or what is called reclaiming swamp land,) as zealously in causing
the exterior waters to assume a higher level than they have done
heretofore, and if carried on to the extent proposed, namely, of
reclaiming five millions of acres, must eventually cause such a state
of things that the levees to be erected in order to effectually restrain
the water during the heavy floods, will have to be constructed so elevated
and of such great breadth in consequenoe of such elevation, as to be
beyond the bounds of practicability, having a due regard for the cost
of capital and labor required. While the swamps are open as they now
exist, and being used as a species of compensating reservoir, with no
danger of their being circumscribed in future, leveeing is the fitting
course to be pursued, and any further consideration of the subject would
be unnecessary. It may, however, with great justice be apprehended that
a large and not uninfluential party will insist upon having the low lands
now so useful as a reservoir reclaimed; in which case it behooves all
interested in Sacramento to devise or adopt measures best calculated
to meet such altered circumstances, and prevent what otherwise might
be productive of disastrous results.
There are two ways to look at this subject, one from a purely Sacramentan
point of view, in which the interests wholly and solely of Sacramento
are considered not subordinate to, but in conjunction with, those
connected with the general welfare of the State. It is gratifying to
reflect that so far as I can at present see, the interests of both are
so nearly identified that it is scarcely possible to do good for one
without benefiting the other. From the absence of accurate data on my
part, it is possible that I may be deceived in this respect, but after
carefully weighing all the elements of the inquiry which I conceive
pertain to it, than even in the limited sense of looking at it in a
purely Sacramentan point of view, the most judicious measures which
could be adopted are those which also wouid ultimately coincide with
those of the State at large. As some of the reasons which I am about
to adduce will have to be again advanced, when I come to review the
whole matter, I shall for the present relate them in as few words as
pessible. I presume it is unnecessary to dilate on any theory raised
on the presumption that the greatest source of danger from inundation
arises not from the Sacramento but from the American river. Such has
been the fact, and such might have been inferred from the proximity
of the city to its head waters especially when taken in conjunction
with the general physical outline and meteorological condition of
the districts which furnish the waters to its three forks.
In the course of the following calculation I shall assume the rain
fall to be occasionally equal to four inches in twenty four hours.
I have used a similar estimate by way of illustration on a former
occasion, and I intend to employ the same in all cases, excepting
when it is obviously unfitted. The estimate is an easy one for
convenience of reduction into feet, and though many may think it
excessive, I think I shall be able to show before the entire of this
paper is completed that it is an under rather than an over rated
estimate, and will have the further advantage of possessing a common
standard of comparison and calculation.
In a general way it may be estimated that the three forks of the
American river, above their junction, drain an area of twelve hundred
square miles, which would receive in the form of rain in twenty four
hours, 11,151,026,666 cubic feet, or 137,141 cubic feet per second,
calculating the rain fall as amounting to four inches during the period
indicated. The most popular mode in which I can exhibit to the
comprehension of the general reader this great mass of water, is to
state that if a trough was made four hundred and fifty feet wide and
thirty feet deep, and the entire column flowed at the rate of ten feet
per second, only 135,000 cubic feet per second would be discharged,
leaving 2,141 cubic feet per second to accumulate, or 184,982,400 cubic
feet in twenty-four hours. It is true that sometimes of the quantity
of rain that falls a part is absorbed by evaporation, another part
sinks into crevices in the earth and accumulates to form springs,
another portion may be absorbed by the turf and porous sands, or
other absorbent soil. If the inquiry was instituted for the purpose
of ascertaining whether a sufficiency of water could be obtained,
these questions would be highly pertinent, and for which appropriate
deductions would have to be allowed. In the present case, scarcely
any abatement ought to be made for the items noticed; in the first
place the very heavy and so justly dreaded rain-falls usually occur
after previous rains, when evaporation is at a stand; the earth is
saturated and the fissures in the subjacent rocks are already filled
to overflowing. Should, however, any such crevices absorb a portion
of the rain-fall, it would only be in consequence of its issuing as
springs at an equal rate below, and so adding to the main outflow.
Under such circumstances, therefore, the only way in which it is
possible that any of the excess of water can be stored, must be
within the banks of the river itself. This would, doubtless, be a very
large amount, but with respect to which no reasonable approximative
calculation could be made, excepting from careful observation made
on the spot at the period of flood; it may, therefore, be safely
calculated that at a rainy crisis like that we have just undergone,
and appear likely to undergo again, that it in the event of a heavy
fall of rain like four inches in the twenty-fonr hours, to all practical
purposes an amount equal to that would rapidly find its way to the
river and its various tributaries in a not far greater amount of time
than that occupied by its deposition. Part of this, as previously
observed, would be stored within its banks, as evidenced by the
rising flood; and if these banks were insufficient it would, as in
the late case, overtop and eventually make a breach into them and flood
the neighboring lower lands. In seeking a remedy for this evil, it must
be borne in mind that it is not the whole mass of waters which we shall
have to contend with, but only such part as is in excess of ths safe
capacity of the river; but this excess will vary greatly, according
to circumstances. Perhaps in the case of the American absolute security
might be attained if one fifth of its present inflow of waters during
heavy floods could be impounded or delayed in its course from head to
embouchure. Without knowing the rate of discharge of the American during
the late floods, nor the width nor depth of that stream, I feel satisfied
that I am making a statement on a tolerably safe basis in declaring that
if the upper waters of the American were impounded, as they easily might
be on the three forks to the extent of one thousand millions cubic feet
each, that Sacramento, so far as the American is concerned, would have
no need to fear future floods. The conservant tendency of such works
would not rest alone on the mere impoundage of such bodies of waters--the
whole upper streams would be equally retarded in their course from head
to overflow, owing to the lake-like character given to its course. The
value of this may be estimated when it is considered that if we can
doable the time required for a flood to pass away we double the capacity
of the watercourse, for the latter may be quite eqnal to the conveyance
of a given volume of water if allowed fortyeight hours for its discharge,
but would be incompetent to do so if it was to be rushed through in
twenty-four.
Respecting the capability of storing and the practicability of impounding
the upper waters of the American, I only recommend that which I know
has been successfully done under much more difficult circumstances, and
I believe with objects of even less importance. Respecting the cost of
such an undertaking, or the exact position where the reservoirs ought
to be placed, I cannot at present make any explicit statement, nor
could I give other than the most general idea as to the value of such
impounded waters for sluicing, irrigating, manufacturing, or other
economical purposes. All those would depend upon the judicious or
injudicious selection of each site, and the comprehensiveness of views
of the party intrusted with their selection--on which, and other points,
I will have more to say when I review the whole matter as connected with
the interests of the State. I do not conceive that Sacramento ought to
be at the sole expense of constructing works by which other parts of the
State would receive a large or greater benefit than herself. But I do
most earnestly press upon her citizens to weigh well the importance of
taking measures during the present session of the Legislature to obtain
powers that will enable them--if the funds can be obtained--to construct
works sach as those indicated and to be hereafter selected, so as to
form part of a more extended plan in which the whole State ought to
participate: in which case the outlay on account of the works constructed
for the defense of Sacramento from the incursions of the American river,
ought to be reimbursed.
I have already expressed an opinion that of the proposed model of
improving the outlet of the American, I conceive the better way would
be to turn, rather than straighten it. I adhere to that opinion, and
I feel considerable confidence that whenever the surveys are completed
stated by the UNION as being now made, that the theodolite will second
my views. I have seen a suggestion, copied, I think, from a Fremont
paper, for cutting a new channel from that place to Suisnn Bay. Prior
to observing the suggestion I had conceived a somewhat similar idea.
In an engineering point of view there does not exist any obstacle, and
some benefit could no doubt be occasionally obtained by such a cut off.
On the whole, however, I think the same end could be obtained in an easier
manner, and still retain the main waters of the Sacramento in its old
channel for outscouring [sic] objects during the Summer season. I am not
acquainted with the levels of the marsh land to the southwest of Fremont
sufficiently well to know whether or not an extensive byewash might not
be erected near that place. These and all other matters of like detail,
can only be safely touched upon when something like accurate data,
levels, rain fall, velocity of currents, tides, etc., etc, art obtained,
and measures ought to be adopted immediately to obtain them. In the
meantime, so far as Sacramento is concerned, I see no hope of alleviating
her unfortunate position should the following year prove as rainy as the
present, excepting those just noticed. Should the data indicated be
obtained and prove favorable, and a more extensive plan adopted founded
on them, I have every reason for believing that the reclamation of the
swamp lands may be carried out without endangering Sacramento or the
marginal levels; as, also, that the course of the Sacramento river could
be so much deepened and improved as to permit during the driest season
much heavier vessels to reach that city than has heretofore been the
case. These are points deserving of attention and worth struggling for.
[For the Union.]
THE LEVEE BILL.
MESSRS. EDITORS: As the new Levee Bill is necessarily so long that but
few readers will remember all its provisions upon a single reading, and
as I am one of those who studied it carefully and thoroughly in its course
of preparation, I wish to answer some objections that have been made to it.
Firat. In regard to your suggestion that it will be well to authorize
the Commissioners to build cross levees, if necessary, I call attention
to section sixteen, a portion of which is as follows :
The City levee Commissioners may use it [the surplus money, if any] in
constructing inner or cross levees, or they may use it in macadamizing
or otherwise improving one or more outlets of travel to and from the
city; and if no such money comes into the City Levee Fund, or it is
insufficient, and the Commissioners deem any inner or cross levee
necessary, they may cause the same to be built, and the money therefor
shall be levied and collected upon their estimate in accordance with
the provisions in section nine; provided, that the tax necessary to
pay for such inside or cross levee shall only be levied upon the real
estate and improvements inclosed thereby.
And this provision partially explains why a poll tax is levied--a part
of the bill which I do not defend per se, but only show why it was
deemed necessary.
Second. In regard to your suggestion about the American river, section
six authorizes the Commissioners to condemn under either the Swamp Land
Act or any Act that has been or may be passed for the condemnation, etc.,
in Sacramento county. The object of this is that the bill introduced by
Senator Heacock, at the request of the Supervisors, is, notwithstanding
your objection to its being complicated, much more simple in practice
than proceedings under the Swamp Land Law or any other law on the
statute books. And as that proposed law was, at the request of the
writer of this, amended in the Senate by inserting after the words,
"city authorities," the words, "or City Levee Commissioners," the
Board will, upon the passage of the two proposed laws, have free power
to turn the American and condemn the lands necessary for the purpose.
This is another reason why a surplus of money beyond the actual cost
of the outside levee is needed.
Third. In regard to the power of the Commissioners to make a toll road
or lease out the franchise, I think an examination of section eight will
convince you that your fears that the levee may be reduced in hight are
groundless, until the levees are all complete and delivered over, but
after that "they" (the Commissioners) "may, with the consent of the city
authorities, contract with any person or persons for raising, enlarging
and strengthening said levee, such work to be paid for by a lease,
with a right to collect tolls for a period not longer than ten years,
and the rate of tolls be fixed from time to time by the city authorities;
provided, however, that no such lease shall be made unless the franchise
is put up for public competition after at least thirty days notice in
two city papers."
If we can't trust the two bodies, the "Levee Commissioners " and the
"city authorities," to make a safe contract, after the entire people
have had the whole matter publicly before them for "at least thirty
days," we may as well cease any attempt at municipal government,
particularly as the franchise can only be granted in payment "for
raising, enlarging and strengthening the levee" after it has been
made to the full hight and width required by the engineers.
Fourth. If it is the general intention to levee the city so as to be
perfectly safe, and to oe [sic] assured within a month or six weeks from
now that such a levee will be made, a surplus fund must be raised to meet
the contingency provided against in section seventeen--i. e., the
probability that the Legislature will steal the Swamp Land Fund, and
thus render the State Commissioners powerless to assist the city. . . .
AN AMUSING MISTAKE.--The San Francisco Call relates the following:
We were told yesterday of an amusing mistake at Platt's Hall, while that
building was thrown open the other day for the relief of sufferers by
the flood. Mrs. S-----, a lady as rich as she is benevolent, and as
"old fashioned" as unassuming, appeared each day to minister practically
to the wants of the suffering. Ignoring hoops, she was looked upon as
a "sufferer" herself, and was constantly detained while traveling through
the hall with the well-intentioned inquiry, "Madam, what can we do for
you?" The interruption became at last so amusing that the good old lady
found it necessary to surround herself with crinoline of ample
circumference to prevent mistakes.
THE QUANTITY OF RAIN.--We have been favored with a statement of the
amount of rain that fell in this neighborhood from December 22d to
February 2d, inclusive. The rainy days of December, commencing with
the 22d were: the 22d, 23d, 24th, 26th, 27th, 29th. 30th and 31st;
January 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 15th, 16th,
20th, 22d, 23d, 24th, 27th; February 2d. During these days of December,
8-5/8 inches of rain fell; of January, 48-3/8 inches; of February,
1-3/8 inches--making a fall of 58-3/8 inches of rain in the course of
six weeks. Besides this, snow fell on the 30th and 31st days of
January.--Santa Rosa Democrat. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
Another paper from J. Rowlandson on the subject of protecting the
Sacramento valley from inundation appears in our columns today.
A suit has been commenced by The City and County of Sacramento against
the Sacramento Valley Railroad, and an injunction applied for to prevent
the running of cars west of Sixth street. . . .
Our dispatches show that there was a severe hurricane at Carson City
yesterday, and attended with some damage.
An account of the weather in the interior yesterday will be observed in
our telegraphic column. We do not apprehend a further flood at present. . . .
THE RIGHT TO CONDEMN.--A correspondent suggests that the right to condemn
land for the purpose of straightening the American is granted in a bill
introduced by Senator Heacock, and that to provide money for that purpose
was one of the objects for suggesting a levee poll tax. The State Board
of Swamp Land Commissioners also possess the right to condemn land to
straighten levees, but still we think the right to do so should have been
distinctly and positively conveyed in the levee bill. It may, however,
answer all purposes as it stands. The bill is cautiously worded, and its
provisions were evidently well considered before they were adopted and
reported. We doubt whether a bill can be drawn better calculated to
accomplish the objects in view. A few alterations may be needed, but
as a whole it should prove acceptable to the people of the city. But
if the Legislature seizes on all the money in the Swamp Land Fund, one
of the main objects of the bill will be defeated, as the effort has been
to make it so harmonize as to enable the State and city Boards to move
in concert, though acting independently of each other. Should the State
Board find itself unable to act for want of funds, the city will be
compelled to go forward and provide as best she may for her own protection.
If thrown upon her own resources, she will probably fall back upon the
system of cross levees, by which she will fortify her own position, and
leave those outside to do the same. . . .
VISALIA.--A gentlemen who recently arrived in San Francisco informs
the Alta that no stock of any consequence has been lost. The
waters have subsided wholly, and travel has been resumed. Some little
loss has been sustained by the washing away of fencing. No lives were
lost, and but one house, that of brick and adobes, washed down. The
residents believe that the overflow will add to the wealth of the county. . . .
PERSONAL PROPERTY.--There appears to be some opposition to a tax on
personal property for levee purposes; but is not this opposition founded
more on a selfish than a just and patriotic consideration? Personal
property must be protected as well as real. In the late floods the
loss of personal property has been ten times greater than the loss
of real property, and so it would be were the city to be inundated
next Winter. The great loss in property in such a calamity as a flood
will always fall on personal property. The amount of that kind of property
destroyed in the city would have built several levees. It is deeply
interested in a levee, and can well afford to pay a reasonable tax to
aid in building one. It is certainly matter of surprise to hear so much
said about being taxed to build a levee, upon which the salvation of
themselves and their business depends. We had supposed there was not
a man in Sacramento who was not willing to pay his portion of the tax
necessary to build a levee for the protection of the city; but it seems
we were laboring uuder a mistake. It is conceded that the true policy
of Sacramento is not to burden the business of the city more than is
absolutely necessary, but this levee matter is an exception to the
general rule, and should be so considered by every Sacramentan. The
bill reported may possibly require a few amendments. It will then be
found as near what we need as we can well have framed. It will be pretty
sure to effect what is demanded for our protection, and should be
sustained as adapted to our wants and necessities. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
SAN FRANCISCO. Feb. 25th.
. . .There has been a heavy rain all day. The sewer corner of Montgomery
and Sacramento streets overflows and floods the neighborhood. . . .
Legislative Proceedings.
In the Senate, . . .
Nixon introduced a bill for the relief of Sacramento sufferers by floods.
Referred to the Finance Committee. . . .
Heacock offered a resolution directing the Sergeant-at-Arms to procure
boats or build a bridge across Battery street, at Washington, to enable
members to reach the Capitol, and instructing the Committee to inquire
into the necessity of removing back to Sacramento. Battery street has
been flooded all day. . . .
In the Assembly . . .
The Committee of Ways and Means reported favorably on the bill to
transfer money from the Swamp Land Fund. Placed on file. . . .
Hurricane in Carson City.
Carscn City, February 25th.
A terrific hurricane has prevailed here all day. It commenced storming day
before yesterday, and gradually increased ever since until to-day. It has
snowed and rained alternately and blows with great violence. Buildings
have been unroofed, and one or two brick buildings were so badly cracked
that it is unsafe to remain in them. The gale still continues.
The Weather in the Interior.
PLACERVILLE, Feb. 25th.
It is rainy and showery. The streams are not high. The wind is blowing
hard.
FOLSOM, Feb. 25th.
It is raining hard. The weather is very warm. The river is rising slowly.
NEVADA, Feb. 25th.
It has been snowing for the last three days. A warm rain set in to-night
and the snow is melting fast, both here and at Downieville. The streams
are rising very fast. [These flow eventually into the Sacramento.]
MUD SPRING, Feb. 25th.
It is raining very hard here. The streams are rising fast.
COLOMA, Feb. 25th.
It has been raining quite hard this evening. The river is rising slowly.
It is not as high as yesterday.
AUBURN, Feb. 25th.
It has been raining nearly all day. The river is rising slowly. Weather warm.
MINING PROSPECTS IN SIERRA.--In the course of an article on the manner
in which the late floods have affected the mining streams and gulches,
the Sierra Citizen says:
There has been removed from the gold-bearing streams of Sierra county an
average of ten feet of tailings. Now, for the last six years these
tailings had to be got clear of, and they contained so small an
amount of gold that they were not considered worth washing, yet they
all had gold scattered through them. The freshet has sluiced this gravel
and left the gold in the bottom of the river. The miner has at once got
rid of the tailings and the gold is saved, and now when he commences
work the river will pay from the top down. If we mistake not, there
will be more gold taken from the river and creek beds this season in
our county and in the State than in any season for the last six years.
While the harvest in the valley may be short, we predict the proceeds
from the rivers will be greater than usual.
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
Just published, and for sale in every Bookstore in this State. A CORRECT
LITHOGRAPHIC VIEW of the INUNDATION OF THE STATE CAPITAL--CITY OF
SACRAMENTO, showing J and K streets from the levee. Price, 40 oents,
for those that are printed, on large Drawing Paper, suitable for framing;
those that are printed on thin French paper are sold at 25 cents. They can
be folded up and sent in a letter without additional postage. The trade
will be supplied by addressing A. ROSENFIELD, Publisher, San Francisco.
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
STATE CAPITAL
fe.26-6t4thp*
FOUND.--PICKED UP, FLOATING in the Sacramento River, 13 miles below
this city, a FLAT-BOTTOM BOAT, painted lead color, with the oars, a
spade and other things in it. Ths owner can take it away, by proving
it and paying charges. at the Ranch of ROB. FLINN,
fe26-3t* 13 miles below Sacramento.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
RAILROAD INJUNCTION SUIT.--W. W. Upton and F. Hereford, on behalf of
The City and County of Sacramento, commenced suit yesterday in the
District Court against the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company asking
for an injunction prohibiting the company from running cars upon Front
Street or on R street west of Sixth street. The complaint, which is
quite voluminous, cites the Act of incorporation of the city, and the
various ordinances of the City Council and Board of Supervisors. granting
and regulating the right of way of the Railroad Company. Ordinance
No. 53, passed by the Mayor and Common Council, granted to the company
the right "to construct on the R street levee a temporary railroad
track, from Sixth street along the said levee to a point sufficiently
near the Sacramento river to allow of a.proper connection to come on to
Front street northward of their railroad track," the temporary track to
come along Front street northward to M street. Said track was to be used
only for transporting by horse power the material necessary for constructing
the road. The Council, also, reserved the right to have the track removed
after the expiration of twelve months, on six months notice. Subsequently
ordinances were passed granting the franchise of laying the track along
Front street to a point on Front between K and L streets, upon the same
terms and conditions as accompanied the former grant. It is alleged that
the company has violated nearly all the conditions and requirements of
the franchise, and has had notice to take up the track, but has failed
to do so. It is, therefore, prayed by the plaintiffs that a decree be
made by the Court requiring defendants to remove their tracks and all
buildings and obstructions of every character connected with said road,
and "that an injunction be issued perpetually enjoining and restraining
said defendents, its agents, employes, superintendents, conductors and
trustees and their successors and. assigns," from longer using the streets
and alleys in question for the purposes above named. . . .
STILL CAVING IN.--The embankment at and near the foot of R street,
continues to cave in, from the effects of the eddies in the current at
that point. The encroachments of the water have been such that arrangements
were made yesterday morning on the part of the railroad company to protect
the front from further injury. The large platform scale, especially, was
endangered, and required protection. For this purpose a pile driver was
brought into requisition and set in operation. A line of piles was driven
in front of the scale for the purpose of building a plank bulkhead, behind
which the earth was to be filled in and a solid embankment made. The work
was suspended at noon, and when the men returned it was found that a
portion of the western wall which had been exposed for several weeks, had
fallen in, and the scale could only be saved by removing it. This scale was
over sixty feet long. It was constructed for weighing two cars at a time,
and cost about three thousand dollars. It is the purpose of the company to
pile the entire front of their works so far as the caving of the embankment
has rendered such a course necessary. . . .
SETTLING DOWN.--The two or three frame buildings on the south side of
K street, east of Fifth, occupied as a portion of the Waverley House,
have settled to such an extent within two or three days as to be in a
dangerous condition. The foundation beneath them had been covered with
water, and the uprights on which they stood had become weakened from
decay. The buildings have settled to the depth at some points of a foot
or more. The work of bringing them back to their former position by
blocking up was commencad yesterday . . .
THE RIVERS.--Sacramento river at sunset last evening stood at 16 feet
10 inches above low water mark, having fallen slightly through the day.
The American river, at the tannery, had fallen about a foot within the
past twenty-four hours.
RAIN--We learn from Dr. Logan that the aggregate amount of rain which
had fallen at nine o'clock last evening, since our last report was
0.370 of an inch. Total amount for the season, 29.573 inches. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3406, 27 February 1862, p. 1
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 1862.
The Lieutenant Governor called the Senate to order at 11 o'clock, . . .
BOOKS IN STATE LIBRARY.
Senate Bill No. 68--An Act to authorize the rebinding of books in
the State Library [appointing F. Foster and E. B. Crocker of Sacramento
to rebind and repair the injured volumes, and sell worthless ones at
auction]--was considered in Committee of the Whole.
Mr. Oulton asked why Messrs. Crocker and Foster were named in the bill
instead of the Board of Trustees of the State Library. He thought cheating
or rascality might be hidden in the bill, and moved to insert, instead,
the "Trustees of the State Library," who could be assembled very easily,
as three of them lived in Sacramento.
Mr. Burnell thought he could see a nice little job of $500 to $1,000 in
this thing. The parties were named, and could charge what they liked.
Mr. Crane ridiculed the idea of calling the Governor and Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court and others together to get down on their knees and
smell through a pile of damp and musty books for the purpose of
ascertaining which should be repaired. It would cost more to assemble
them than the repairs would amount to.
The amendment was adopted--ayes 17, noes 12. The bill was read a third
time and passed under suspension of the rules. . . .
ASSSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, February 24, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at 11 o'clock. . . .
The Speaker laid before the House a communication from the Superintendent
of the State Reform School, in response to a resolution of the Assembly
inquiring in regard to the present condition and future management of the
State Reform School. The Superintendent refers to the flooded condition
of the country since the first of December, when the school was opened,
and the fact that nevertheless eight boys had been received at the school,
one of whom was brought thirty-four miles, the journey occupying three days;
another requiring two days to come from Sacramento county, and a third,
requiring five days to come, from Placerville. The constant discussion in
the Legislature of the subject of removal or abolition of the school has
rendered it inexpedient to make much exertion to obtain boys, who would
perhaps only be removed, or escape at their leisure, as a part of the walls
of the institution have been destroyed by recent storms and floods. The
constant agitation of the subject of removal or extinction of the
institution, the reiteration of charges of its being a penal institution,
and a home for criminals, has militated against its prosperity, and he
regretted that the institution should have been condemned before it had
been tried. The location might not be a good one, and he trusted the
motives of those who had thus prematurely condemned the institution
were good.
On motion of Mr. Sears the further reading of the communication was
dispensed with, and the communication was referred to the Committee
on Education. . . .
REPORTS.
Mr. Smith of Sirrra, from the Committee on Counties and County Boundaries,
reported that the petition of citizens of Yolo county for the removal of
the county seat from Washington to Woodland appeared to be signed by
a majority of the legal voters of the county, and the representative from
that county had declared that he considered such petition in the light of
instruction. The Committee think, however, that the subject ought to be
left to a direct vote of the people of the county, especially as persons
living in the flooded districts might complain that an undue advantage
had been taken of their condition. The Committee therefore decide in
favor of submitting the question at a special election to be held in
Yolo county for the purpose, and the representative from that county
would at an early day present a bill for that purpose.
SENATE MESSAGES.
The House took up the order of messages from the Senate. . . .
Senate Bill No. 111--An Act to grant the right to construct a bridge
across the Stanislaus river, at a place known as Burns' Ferry [near or
is O'Byrnes Ferry], to certain persons therein named--was read twice and
referred to the Tuolumne and Calaveras delegations. . . .
RESOLUTIONS.
. . . Mr. Eagar introduced a resolution requiring the Controller to draw
his warrants for the payment out of the Contingent Fund of the Assembly
of certain boatmen employed by the Sergeant-at-Arms at Sacramento.
It would be recollected, he said, that the Senate jumped the House bill
after the House had passed theirs, and his object was to provide for paying
the boatmen in some way. He moved to refer the resolution to the Committee
on Expenditures.
Mr. Hillyer said the House had already passed a resolution of this kind to
pay those boatmen.
Mr. Eagar said he did not so understand.
Mr. Bell said the Committee having the resolution could report all the
facts.
The resolution was referred to the Committee on Expenditures and Accounts. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . . There was a rise of water yesterday in the lower part of the city,
which has been overflowed since the late floods, of about three feet. At
sunset last evening the water ceased to rise. The Sacramento rose yesterday
some eight inches. . . .
OVER THE MOUNTAIN.--A letter was received yesterday in the city,
announcing that the Ogleby road, from the Junction House near Strawberry
Valley, was open for travel for horsemen, footmen and pack trains.
It was written by a man who has been engaged with a party in putting
it in a condition for use. The bridge across the American on that road
was carried away, but one has been built for temporary use, and in a
short time a new bridge for teams will be completed, the timber for one
being on the ground. Men started up Tuesday to frame and put it up. The
proprietors are men of energy, and they assure the public that the road
will be opened for wagons in a short time, unless more storms like those
in January are visited upon the country. The snow on the 22d, the day
the letter was written, was two feet in depth on the road. It has since
been brought down here by a warm rain.
THE COSUMNES.--We are informed by a gentleman who arrived from the
Cosumnes last evening that the river was greatly swollen when he crossed.
All the bottoms of the stream were inundated. He spent an entire day in
getting from Wilson's to the Slough House, some five or six miles. . . .
STATE FINANCES.
. . . The returns of the Assessors make the taxable property of the
State $147,000,000; those returns were made before the terrible floods
to which the State has been subjected had spread desolation over the
land. By the action of floods the taxable property of the State has been
reduced millions of dollars. How many no one can determine definitely,
but the loss must approximate twenty-five millions. The subtraction of
such an amount from the taxable property of the people, will force the
Legislature to fix a higher rate on the millions which remain, to meet
the wants of the State. From sixty the State tax will probably have to
be raised to eighty cents on the hundred dollars, and if the war tax is
to be levied this year on property, the rate will be increased to over
one per cent., without including the interest tax. To this rate county
taxes will add generally a hundred per cent. In this city, when the
United States, State, county, city and levee taxes are added together,
they will run up to just about the interest paid on money in the old
States. But the levee tax must be paid, be it more or less; the existence
of the city depends upon it; and hence the people of the city are
naturally anxious to be relieved of as much direct tax for other
purposes as the nature of the case will admit. Under the most favorable
arrangement possible our taxes this year must range higher than ever
before paid by property in Sacramento. Her people are, therefore,
justified in demanding the most rigid economy in State, county and
city affairs. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
Trouble about Water--Attempted Suicide--Small Pox--Sierra.Nevada--White Flags at Memphis--Arrival of the St. Louis--Passengers.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 26th.
Parties in St. Ann's valley, yesterday attempted to cut a channel
through Market street to draw off the water. The people South of it
resisted. The police interfered and restored quiet.
A woman attempted suicide to-day with a knife, and inflicted serious but
not fatal wounds. Cause, depression of spirits in consequence of severe
losses of husband by the flood in Sacramento and Marysviile.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
RISE IN THE AMERICAN.--On account of the late rains the American river
rose during Tuesday night and yesterday some three or four feet at the
tannery. In consequence of this rise a large quantity of water was
discharged through Burns' slough, through the crevasse at the
tannery--a large share of the volunteer work having been swept
away--and through the several openings in the levee between the two
points. The water in the flooded district of the city, of course,
began to rise, and during the forenoon it advanced so rapidly as to
cause considerable uneasiness among many, lest the business portion
of the city should be again subjected to overflow. For several hours
in the forenoon it rose at the rate of four, five or six inches per
hour. In the afternoon the rise became more moderate. During an hour
or two before night it was equal to but about an inch an hour. At sunset
the water seemed to have attained its hight. A large portion of the
town north of J and east of Eighth street, and south of L street, was
affected by this rise, although no great damage was done, as all who
reside in those portions of the town are, from experience, always ready,
and cannot be taken by surprise. The Sacramento river, during the day,
rose about eight inches. . . .
LISLE'S BRIDGE.--Arrangements are being are being [sic] made for the
reconstruction, as early as possible, of Lisle's bridge, which was
partially carried away by the flood in the early part of the Winter.
Dr. Pearis has returned within a day or two from a tour in the
mountains, where he has been to make arrangements to obtain piles
for building the piers. Abont three hundred in all are needed, and
arrangements have been made to procure them on the Yuba river. They
will be rafted down the Yuba to the Feather, down the Feather to the
Sacramento, down the Sacramento to the American, and up the American
to the bridge. The scarcity of Oregon piles at San Francisco renders
it necessary to procure them as above indicated The new bridge will
be elevated some six feet higher than the old one.
MIRED DOWN.--J street, between Twelfth and the Fort was again rendered
impassable yesterday by the action of the overflow. The small bridges
were washed away and the old cuts were washed out again. At about ten
o'clock in the forenoon a teamster attempted to go out to the Fort with
a six mule team. At Fourteenth street the animals mired down, became
entangled among each other and were saved with great difficulty. Three
sets of harness were cut off and were carried off by the current and
lost. . . .
NEW FOUNDATION.--The railroad pile-driver was set to work yesterday at
driving piles for a foundation for the turn-tables at the foot of R street.
The old foundation consisted of pine timber, which has rotted out.
Redwood piles are now being driven, with the design of rendering the
work more durable. . . .
CARRIED AWAY.--All of the bridges recently constructed by G. W. Colby,
on J street, between Twelfth street and the Fort, except one, were
yesterday carried from their moorings by the freshet. The material
was secured, and will be replaced as soon as practicable. . . .
THE RIVER.--The Sacramento river rose eight inches yesterday between
sunrise and sunset, standing in the evening at 18 feet 5 inches above
low water mark . . .
PROTECTION AGAINST OVERFLOW.
An intelligent correspondent of the Bulletin submits some views
in reference to this subject which are worthy of consideration:
How shall the swamp and overflowed lands of this state be reclaimed is
now one of the prominent questions of the day. I understand that the
Commissioners appointed to answer this qnestion officially say that
they mast be reclaimed by building a levee or embankment on the high
ground on each side of the streams, so as to confine all the water
within the channel. Others, claiming some engineering knowledge, say
that these levees must be built, not on the banks of the streams, but
a considerable distance back from the stream, so as to form a channel
of great capacity. A careful study of the topography of the swamp land
districts, and of the circumstances of the case, must cause serious
doubts as to the feasibility and policy of either of these systems of
reclamation.
By the first plan, not only would a large quantity of valuable land be
taken for the purpose of constructing the embankment, but in order to
make a channel of sufficient capacity, the banks would have to be raised
an immense hight and made enormously strong, for they would have to
confine within a channel but a few rods wide a body of water not less
than twenty miles wide and two feet deep, and that, too, in a crooked
stream, and with nothing but loose alluvial soil, mixed with tule and
other vegetable deposits. Any money expended on a system of reclamation
such as this must be worse than thrown away. We are referred to the
example of the dikes of Holland, the embankments of the Po and the levees
of the Mississippi. Without referring to the enormous expenditures in
the construction of works such as those that protect Holland and the
valley of the Po, and without showing the unreliable character of the
protection afforded by the levees of the Mississippi, or the difference
of the circumstances in favor of that river, it is enough for my present
purpose to direct attention to practical instances along our own streams,
where nature has confined the American and other rivers within their
respective channels by strong rocky embankments which, in some instances,
are scarcely strong enough to resist the action of the madly-rushing
torrents that rise more than one hundred feet above low water mark. When
we consider the character of the American river at Folsom during a freshet,
it seems to be the extreme of folly to propose the confining of its water
within a crooked channel of ordinary width by alluvial embankments.
The second plan--that of building embankments in the tule some distance
back from the river, so as to make a wide stream of larger capacity--is
but little if any better; for, in that case, the foundation will be
imperfect, the material will be very defective, and the embankments must
be built a considerable hight before they reach the level of the surface
of the river. Besides, this system would be destructive to the many
fertile farms of the banks.
Upon what plan, then, it may be asked, can the swamp lands of this state
be reclaimed? To this question I reply: Cut large drains from the upper
portions of the swamp land districts through the lowest parts of the
same to the bay making them as nearly straight as possible, and making
eaoh drain in two parts, with the earth excavated thrown up between
the drains to form a roadway. Willows may then be planted on each side
or this embankment to protect the banks against the action of the current.
Willows should be planted at some distance from the channels along the
lines of these artificial streams, so that any washing of the banks will
only serve to increase the capacity of the stream, with liability to
form other channels. By this plan of reclamation, thorough, general
drainage would be secured. These artificial streams being straight, or
nearly so, would have a much greater fall than the natural streams, which
are very crooked. There would be no obstruction by abrupt curves, and
the rapidity of the current would prevent deposits. Besides furnishing
excellent roads, this plan would embrace an admirable system of canals
for the transportation of the products of the fertile regions through
which they extend. On these canals small steamboats might be used. Small
drains could be cut through the farms for the purpose of more effectually
draining every part of the country; but this, of course, would have to
be done by the farmers themselves. By this system of drainage the swamp
lands would be rendered tillable, and the slight overflow to which they
would be subjected during very high water would benefit rather than
damage them. With proper legislation, fences on such lands may be
dispensed with, or drains can be made a good substitute for fences,
and the houses can be erected on artificial mounds raised a few feet
above the natural surface of the ground. This plan of drainage will
not necessarily involve an elaborate system of surveys, for by marking
the hight of the water about the same time, at different points, the
level of a whole district may be easily ascertained at a small expense,
and with a degree of accuracy fully equal to that of an ordinary survey. . . .
p. 4
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
Their Causes and Suggested Remedlies--No. 6.
BY T. ROWLANDSON, SAN FRANCISCO.
METEOROLOGY OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.
There are two elements in this inquiry that strictly stand in relation
to each other as cause and effect; the amount of rain-fall must always,
in any given water shed, chiefly regulate the outflow. In the present
instance, there being only one outflowing stream, the calculation of
the amount under any given set of circumstances, can be ascertained
with a degree of accuracy quite new enough for all practical purposes.
That branch of the inquiry is consequently very much simplified. No plan
for the prevention of a recurrence of the recent disasters would be at
all worthy of acceptance that had not for one of its elementary bases
accurate tables of the diurnal and average outflow of water through the
Straits of Carquinez at given hights of flood and tide. The data for such
estimates can at any time be had by employing properly qualified persons
to make the gaugings. As the waters at Carquinez are influenced by the
tides, these calculations will be more difficult than that of gauging a
river proper, whose stream maintains a continuous direction of flood,
notwithstanding which, even in tidal rivers, the flow will always be
found to increase or decrease with the ratio of volume and fall. There
being no difficulty in arriving at the volume of the outflow with
sufficient accuracy for practical purposes, this part of the question
may be dismissed with the observation that, in order to obtain safe
data, it would require that the surveys or gaugings at Carquinez should
be continued for some time, not only at the hight of floods, but also
at extreme low water. Having shown how this outflow may be ascertained,
I shall proceed to describe the manner in which the rainfall will have
to be estimated; before, however, doing so, it will be well to allude
to some of the chief laws which influence the direction of the winds
and the amount of rain-fall. In doing so it is possible that I may be
led to explain some of the phenomena connected with the evolution and
absorption of heat, and shown by the effects connected with the deposition
of rain, and the results which follow evaporation. Such amplification
would be tolerably well connected with the subject, and not out of place
if the space usually accorded to such questions in a newspaper would
justify anything like digression. if I find it advisable to adventure
such extra details, they will be found useful both to the mining and
agricultural interests. I have penned the preceding remarks because I
think there are good reasons for believing that, owing to the particular
position which California occupies on the earth's surface, there exists
a reasonable probability that the agencies which promote or retard heat,
cold, moisture or dryness are very critically balanced, some of which
are evidenced by every day occurrences, which I may afterwards notioe.
It is one of the properties of the atmosphere, when heated, to become
susceptible, according as the temperature becomes elevated, of retaining
in a certain ratio a greater or less quantity of water in the form of
vapor (invisible.) We therefore find that within the tropics, the
hottest zone on the earth, the atmosphere retains the largest amount
of water, or, what is commonly known in scientific language, the dew
point is very low. As this dew point is of considerably interest,
especially in the more elevated mining districts, it may be well here
to describe the mode of ascertaining it, as first employed for that
purpose by the illustrious Dalton. This he accomplished by filling a
thin glass tumbler with cold spring water; he then observed if dew was
found upon the outside, and, if so, the temperature was too low. Pouring
this out, and carefully drying the vessel, he replaced it, having allowed
it to regain a little heat from the surrounding atmosphere. This
manipulation was repeated until the dew ceased to be deposited. He then
marked the temperature of the water at the instant that it was sufficiently
cool to cause a faint appearance of dew on the glass. This was the dew
point, and the difference between the temperature of the water which
occasioned the deposition of dew upon the glass and the temperature
of the atmosphere would indicate the relative amount of invisible aqueous
vapor in the atmosphere. When they closely approximate the dew point
is said to be low; when they vary a great number of degrees the dew
point is said to be high. Usually, in California, during the dry season,
the dew point is very high, but not infrequently in the wet season it is
low, and I suspect that in the mountains, during the Winter, excepting
when frost prevails, that the dew point is very low. It would be both
useful and interesting to know the dew points in the chief mining regions,
and to have it compared with the rain gauge and the barometer. Perhaps
this may be the means of drawing attention to the subject. The experiment
is one easily made by any intelligent person. Professor Daniels invented
a very elaborate instrument with the same object, but for all general
purposes the glass, thermometer, and cold water are adequate, and these
can be obtained, if the occupant is so disposed, by the inmate of every
mining cabin.
CHIEF CAUSES OF THE WINDS.
The regions bordering on the equator are the hottest on the earth, as
the sun is near their zenith; setting from these zones the temperatare
diminishes proportionately as the poles are approached. There is
consequently found an upper current from the equator towards the two
poles, and a lower one from the poles to the equator. The air from the
poles becomes heated in the neighborhood ef the equator--it ascends and
returns again towards the extremities of the terrestrial axis. From this
cause we ought to find a north wind in the northern hemisphere, and a
south wind in the southern; these combine with the motion of the earth
from west to east, from which there resulls a northeast wind in one
hemisphere, and a southeast in the other. The diameter of the parallel
circles diminish proportionately as they recede from the equator, and
as all the points situated in the same meridian turn round the axis of
the earth in twenty-four hours, it follows that they move with a
velocity much greater as they are nearer the equatorial line. But as
the masses of air which flow from the north towards the equator have
an acquired velocity less than that of the region towards which they
are directed, they therefore turn more slowly than do the points situated
near the equator, and they oppose to the elevated parts of the surface
of the globe a resistance analogous to that of a well defined northeast
wind. For a similar reason, the trade wind of the Southern hemisphere
blows from the southeast. At the equator the trade winds from both
hemispheres meet, one coming from the northeast and the other from the
southeast, resulting in the formation of an east wind, for the same
cause as that of one billiard ball being struck with another, the
direction afterwards taken being intermediate between that of the two
balls. In the Northern hemisphere, in the upper region of the atmosphere,
as the heated air advances towards the north and as it proceeds towards
the pole, it gets more and more in advance of the earth's rotatory
motion. The combination at this motion from the west towards the east,
with the original direction from south to north, occasions a southwest
wind.
Within the torrid zone a large portion of the heat transmitted by the
rays of the sun is absorbed by the waters of the ocean, giving rise to
an immense evaporation, and consequently lowering the temperature of that
part of the earth. The rarefied air of the torrid zone, together with its
combined aqueous vapor, becomes gradually cooled, and consequently
condensed, in passing into an other latitude, thus giving rise to clouds
and eventually to rain, cotemporaneouely [sic] with this condensation, whether
exhibited in the form of cloud or mist, or still more palpably in the
shape of rain, and is being contiguously evolved. A more equable
temperature is thus formed in the various parts of the earth, the fierce
rays of a torrid sun being mollified by the vaporization of water and
consequent absorption of heat; on the other hand the colder atmosphere
of northern climes is rendered more genial by the heat evolved owing to
the condensation of the vapors so produced. Such is a brief account of
the general laws which influence winds and rains. They are drawn up,
however, simply as general principles, and may be regarded as holding
true chiefly on what may be termed as oceanic climates. Considerable
variations are found to prevail where high mountain ranges or extended
plains between such ranges occur to change the general characteristics.
With respect to California, both these circumstances are found operating
on its climate.
Although the above are correct general views, it would be unsafe to
apply them strictly to the particular condition of California, for
though it is quite correct to say that the atmosphere at the equator
becomes heated and rarefied, and consequently, is forced in ascending
currents into the upper regions and afterward into northerthly and
southerly courses, thus supplying the vacancy occasioned by the lower
currents of heavier and colder atmosphere which flow toward it from
the poles; but as the lower and colder current advances from the colder
regions of the earth, it becomes gradually warmer every step that it
advances, whilst on the other hand the upper current becomes cooler and
less capable of retaining in the form of vapor the water which it had
absorbed under the torrid zone; it will become evident that a point must
exist somewhere in which the specific gravity of the two currents of the
atmosphere must become balanced. As however the lower current would
gradually, as it proceeded towards the equator, become capable of
retaining a larger amount of aqueous vapor, while the upper current
becomes less retentive, it occurs in some favored parts of the earth
where such an equilibrium exists, that the seasons only alternate from
Spring to Summer and from Summer to Spring. Geographically, California
is not far from such a position, but its being such a terrestrial
paradise is prevented by another circumstance: the atmosphere of the
valleys of California becomes intensely heated, and in some measure
gives rise to the almost constant winds which blow from the Pacific
into the interior, giving rise to a west wind. This tendency is further
increased owing to the stream of hot and lighter atmosphere, which
ascends into the upper regions, from the Gulf of California through
the entire length of the great basin east of the Sierra Nevada. The
very evenly balanced position of the condensing and absorbing powers
of the atmosphere may be almost daily witnessed near San Francisco, the
residents of which city, as well as its visitors, must have been
frequently struck with the splendid appearance of the outer line of the
Coast Range, covered, as they frequently are, with huge fog banks,
looking like mountains capped with snow or an immense mass of cotton.
A careful examination will, however, disclose the fact that in place of
being steady, as would be presumed by a superficial observer, heavy
clouds of mist are constantly rolling over; yet, notwithstanding such
constantly and largely accumulating additions from the Pacific,
the eastern outline, usually about one-third way down the mountains'
brow, becomes changed, or if perceived it requires almost a microscopic
inspection to observe it. Nothing could more clearly indicate the evenly
balanced condition of the atmosphere as regards absorption and
condensation. If the atmosphere was dryer than it is usually seen to be,
the fog as it rolled over, would be absorbed in larger quantities, and
its lower outline would be seen to gradually advance up the hill, possibly
clear it to the summit or altogether. If it possessed a less power of
absorption, the fog would increase and descend into the valleys. Almost
similarly placed is California between points of extreme dryness and
humidity. Lower and part of the Gulf of California is almost rainless.
This lies to the south of us. In the opposite--in Orgon [sic] and
Washington Territory--we witness the other extreme, namely, a country
where great humidity prevails. Between these extremes stretches a
country embracing probably ten degrees of latitude, an extent which,
when it is taken into view the variable influences which act upon the
causes of the winds, is too limited to render it at all surprising to
witness in central California spasmodic or cyclical changes in the
seasons of different years from wet to dry and from dryness to excess
of humidity.
Respecting the influence of mountains in inducing excessive rains, which
will be alluded to the succeeding division of this series, I may mention
that a considerable part of, and the happiest period of my life, was
passed in the mountain and lake district of England, and it is there
that I gathered and garnered so much information in reference to the
influence of mountains in producing rain. Owing to this fact, and the
generally acknowledged possession of special acquisitions of importance
in connection with hydraulic investigations, I was called upon to take
a prominent part in the important inquiries respecting the supply of
London and Liverpool with water, in the course of which the laws which
regulate the deposition of rain underwent the most searching investigation.
I do not, therefore, approach the subject as a new one, though my
reputation on these matters is quite new to California or only known
to a few acquaintances.
EFFECTS OF MOUNTAINS IN LOWERING THE TEMPERATURE AND PRODUCING RAIN.
The same effect is produced in occasioning cold by ascending above the
level of the sea as in passing from the equator to the poles, an
elevation of a trifle less than three hundred feet, being equivalent
to passing one degree of latitude to the northward for the precipitation
of rain. Owing to causes which it would require too much space here to
explain, within a limitted [sic] range of elevation, mountains are far
more effective in occasioning the sensible condensation of moisture than
would be produced by the passage of an atmosphere similarly laden with
aqueous vapor into what might be deemed a corresponding colder latitude.
Many persons have expressed their incredulity as to the heavy amount of
rain said to have fallen in some of the mining districts. For my own
part I not only believe in their accuracy, but I venture to affirm that
if rain gauges had been placed in positions not far removed from some
of those of which reports have been given, it would have been seen that
far greater quantities have fallen than any thing that has yet been made
public. It will perhaps astonish many of the readers of the Union to
learn that nothing has yet been stated as equalling the rainfall of many
places in England with the localities of which I am well acquainted.
Respecting the accuracy of what I am about to relate, I pledge my
veracity for their correctness. The wet character of mountainous
districts may be attributable to several causes, partly to radiation,
which by lowering the temperature precipitates the aqueous vapor in
the form of rain--the diminished pressure of the atmosphere and
consequent lessened capacity for retaining the vapor of water is another
assisting cause. One of the chief reasons in central California, probably
arises from the fact that owing to their elevation the mountains on the
eastern side of the State are better situated for catching the upper,
or that current of the atmosphere which flows from the equator towards
the north pole. The greater evaporation in mountain districts from
exposure to winds, but especially from the effects of diminished pressure,
may jointly sometimes produce an amount of cold sufficient to precipitate
rain from a current arriving from the south filled with vapor of water
to the point of precipitation.
The driest portion of England averages not more than 22-1/2 inches,
but the best of the sea places, like Lancashire, situated near hilly
districts, average from 36 to 40 inches of rainfall per annum, but
the hilly districts themselves greatly exceed the latter. Respecting
the mountains in Wales, I have no accurate record of the rainfall,
but of the lake district of England I can refer to more than I shall
deem it necessary to quote extracts from.
FALL OF RAIN IN THE LAKE DISTRICT OF ENGLAND IN THE YEAR 1848.
Inches.
Bassenthwalte Hales 66 40
Gillerthwaite, Ennerdale 97 73
Lowswater Lake 76 66
Foot of Crummoch Lake 98 07
Gatesgarth, Battermere 133.58
Wastdale Head 115 32
Langdale Head 130 35
Seathwaite, six inches above the surface 160 89
Seathwaite, eight inches above the surface 157 22
Stonethwaite 180 24
The maximum rain-fall was obtained with a mountain rain gauge placed
on Seathwaite common, 1334 feet above the level of the sea. This gauge
indicated an amount of fall of 177.55 inches.
In Ireland, it was accurately ascertained that on the Mourne mountains,
county Down, the fall at Lough Island Ruvy [Reavy?] was 72-3/4 inches;
Spelga, 74 inches, and this amount, I feel convinced, must have been
exceeded at Killarney, the west of Cork, the Nine Pins in Galway, and
part of Mayo.
Reasoning only a priori, I should have inferred that any of
the districts just noticed would be less likely to be inflicted with
a heavy annual rain fall than many parts of the Sierra Nevada.
Unless it has been equaled or exceeded during the wet year (in England)
of 1860, the greatest flood I ever was acquainted with in the lake
district was one in consequence of nine inches of rain having fallen
in forty-eight hours. Windermere, the largest lake in England, rose
seven feet perpendicular in one night, notwithstanding a considerable
part of the flood had to drain through three other lakes of considerable
size, besides many smaller sheets of water locally denominated tarns.
Yet this immense rise in a large lake took place from the drainage of
an area not exceeding one hundred and sixty square miles. There are some
circumstances of an aberrational character respecting the deposition of
rain on mountains, as compared with neighboring plains, the only one of
which I shall at present allude to is, that, starting from any standard
level of low ground, or the sea, it will be found that rain gauges placed
in different positions, say 500 or 1,000 feet, or any other intermediate
distance elevated above each other, the lowest will be found to have
collected the least amount of rain, the quantity increasing as we ascend
to a certain point, which in the lake district of England was found, as
far as my memory serves me that the maximum quantity was obtained, at
somewhere under 3,000 feet of elevation.
There are several causes for this which can easily be accounted for
on the principles previously set forth, which regulate the direction
of the wind and the precipitation of rain, but would be too lengthy
to now particularize. Perhaps no better elucidation of the fact could
be given than that afforded by the graphic description of the ascent
of the Peak of Teneriffe by the late Captain Basil Hall. About
two-thirds of the way up the mountain, the Captain relates that for
a considerable distance they passed through a body of that almost
imperceptible form of rain known by the vulgar denomination of a
scotch mist, but which nearly saturated their clothes with moisture.
Whilst in this position he pulled off one of his gloves. Soon after,
on emerging into the clear upper atmosphere, evaporation became so
rapid that the voyageurs fonnd themselves uncomfortably cold, and the
Captain was about to have recourse to his remaining glove; on endeavoring
to put it on his hand, he found that, owing to the extraordinary dryness
and rapid eveporation of the clear upper atmosphere, the glove had become
as shrivelled as though it had been p!aced to dry in an over-heated oven.
It is probable, therefore, that the diminished amount of rain fonnd in
the rain gauges placed at great elevations is owing partly to the
diminished capaoity of the atmosphere for retaining vapor of water
produced by the joint effects of lower temperature and lessened
specific gravity in consequence of diminished pressure. I do not
suspect that any of these causes will affect the calculation much,
on account of California being placed in a latitude fifteen degrees
nearer the equator than the lake district of England, in consequence
of which the point of maximum rain fall will be much more elevated on
the Sierra Nevada. This and the inferior quantity of rain which falls
on the plains and other low places are the only deductions which would
have to be made from the data which I have assumed to be a maximum
average for the entire district, namely four inches in the course of
twenty-four hours. In some places I am satisfied that, on the Sierra
Nevada, five, six and even more inches have fallen during that time.
I shall, however, have other opportunities of showing that the amount
which I have taken for the basis of calculation is by no means excessive. . . .
GOLDEN STREAMS.--Miners are thinking, many of them, that the late
freshets brought into the creeks and rivers fresh deposits of gold, and
that the beds of streams will yield as well next Summer as they did
in '52. It is true to some extent that the streams are richer than
last Summer because of this high water, but not to the extent
anticipated. The deposits in these streams have been slowly
accumulatirg for thousands and thousands of years. The slowly
decaying quartz vein yields a portion; slides from, and washing of,
the hillsides another portion; but very slow is the concentration of
as heavy a metal. as gold, scattering over the whole country in more
or less quantities. Mariposa creek will probably pay better the coming
season than last, because immense amounts of old tailings, many of
which have not been disturbed since 1852, have been washed down and
away, distributing the gold contained in them in the channel of the
streams--Mariposa Gazette. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3407, 28 February 1862
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 25, 1862.
The Senate was called to order at 11 o'clock by the Lieutenant Governor; . . .
REPORTS. . . .
Mr. Heacock, from the Committee on Public Buildings, reported back
amendments to Senate Bill No. 53--An Act to extend the time for completing
the basement walla of the Capitol at Sacramento. . . .
Mr. Oulton, from the Committee on Claims, reported back Senate bill in
relation to paying Porters engaged in the removal of the property of the
Legislature from the Capital at Sacramento, without reconsideration.
The President said these claims should not be paid by bill, but no
objection being made, the bill was placed on file. . . .
BILLS INTRODUCED.
Bills of the following titles were introduced, read twice and referred
as indicated: . . .
By Mr. Nixon--An Act to appropriate money out of the General Fund for
the relief of sufferers by the flood. To the Committee on Finance.
By Mr. Porter--An Act making an appropriation for the payment of the claim
of James Whitney and others for the transportation of property and
appurtenances of the Legislature to San Francisco, and fitting up
rooms for the same. [Appropriating $1,330 for the California Steam
Navigation Company; $[garbled] for Kennedy & Bell; $28 for D. W.
Van Cour[?]; $28 for John Crevis; $28 for Wm. J. Horton; $[?] for
J. Dogherty, and $16 for J. Bolan ]
On motion the rules were suspended to consider the bill immediately. It was
ordered to a third reading. . . .
RESOLUTIONS.
Mr. Heacock offered the following:
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, that the
Sergeant-at-Arms be directed to procure boats to build a bridge at
the intersection of Washington and Battery streets from the State
House, to enable the members of the Legislature to reach the Capitol
and that the Committee on Water Courses be instructed to inquire into
the necessity of removing the said Capital from San Francisco, and
adjourning to some other place, in search of dry land.
Mr. Chamberlain moved to refer the resolution to the Committee on
Agriculture, which was lost.
Mr. Irwin moved to refer it to the Sacramento delegation, which was
carried, amidst laughter. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, February 25, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at 11 o'clock. . . .
BILLS APPROVED.
A message was received from the Governor announcing his approval of
the following Assembly bills:
. . . No. 66--an Act to grant the right to construct a bridge or bridges
across the Stanislaus river to the Stanislaus Bridge snd Ferry Company: . . .
THE WAR TAX.
The special order for one o'clock was takn up, being the substitute
for Senate Bill No. 99, and Assembly Bill No. 118--both providing for
the payment of the direct tax apportioned to the State by Congress,
and both reported to day from the Committee of Ways and Means--with
amendments. The bills were read by the Clerk. . . .
Mr. Barton, of Sacramento, said he was opposed to the creation of a public
debt, but when great misfortunes befel a community it was necessary to
pledge the public credit, and it was the exact condition of California
to-day. A great public calamity had swept over the State destroying, in
his opinion, $100,000,000 of property. The farmer, the stock grower, the
merchant, the mechanic, and the banker, were all involved in this calamity.
It was true that gentlemen estimated the loss at much less, but he did not
credit their estimates. He believed this State had suffered more than any
State in the Union, not excepting those which had been devastated by civil
strife. To impose an additional tax at this time, would therefore be an
intolerable burden. Let them at least have one year to recuperate by
adopting the bond system. People had no idea of what the basis of taxation
now was, and there was very little reliance to be placed in this capitation
tax.
Mr. Porter said if they issued bonds they would have them to pay at a
future time, with all their accumulations of interest. He believed the
losses were much greater by flood than had been suggested, and that under
the more effective operation of the revenue law, the assessment this year
would nearly, if not quite, equal those of last. . . .
Mr. Wright said . . . It was said that a great amount of property had
been destroyed, but those who had lost their property would have no tax
to pay upon it. . . .
Mr. Shannon said he believed the resorting to bonds would do much to
destroy the credit of the State by convincing people abroad that the
floods had destroyed everything in California. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .Among matters of interest in our pages today, there are several
communications on the subject of overflows and their preventives; also
correspondence from Washington. The articles on the flood and the means
of guarding against their consequences, are fuil of valuable suggestions,
which we trust will attract the attention of our citizens and the members
of the Legislature.
On Wednesday night the Sacramento rose about a foot, causing the river
to stand nineteen feet above low water mark, It remained at about that
hight last evening. The American was falling yesterday. The water in the
lower part of the city receded, but very slowly. We had more rain last
evening. . . .
THE FLOOD IN MONTEREY.--A private letter received in San Francisco from
Monterey speaks of the effects of the storm there. The letter bears date
Feb 13th. The writer says that the beautiful residence of Eugene Sherwood,
on the Salinas river, near the Mission of La Solidad, was completely
washed away, together with the out-houses and nearly everything they
contained. The Salinas, which is usually about one hundred and fifty
yards wide, is now over a mile wide; and where the banks of the river
used to gradually descend to the river's edge, they have caved away,
leaving the banks ten feet high on each side. At Indian Valley, only
forty miles from Monterey, the snow had been knee-deep, and at Monterey
it had fallen to the depth of six inches . . .
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
. . . There is another amendment to the Constitution which we should
like to see Mr. Barton or some other member introduce, and that is,
a section to change the time of holding elections in California, and
the day for the convening of the Legislature. These propositions were
argued in this paper years ago; the idea is not new; it is one which
has been forced upon our mind by an experience which extends through
most of the sessions held in the State. The conviction that the
Winter, in this climate, is an inappropriate time for holding the
sessions of the Legislature, is strengthened from year to year. The
arguments against Winter sessions have been intensified by the
extraordinary events of the present Winter. The floods have destroyed
communication in nearly every portion of the State; members have for
weeks been unable to correspond in any way with their constituents;
those constituents are as ignorant of what their representatives are
doing as if they lived in the South Sea Islands. Such a condition of
things ought to be provided against, and can be by simply so amending
the Constitution that our elections shall take place in the month of
July, and the session commence on the first Monday in September. At
that season of the year communication with all parts of the State is
perfect. From Sacramento three-fourths of the people of the State can
be reached through the mails and the express within twenty-four hours.
No Winter has passed in ten years during which communication with some
sections of California have not been interrupted. Let the session of
the Legislature be held in the Fall, and the intercourse between
representatives and their constituents would be undisturbed by storms
and floods.
MORRISON'S SWAMP LAND BILL.
In this bill a new system is proposed for the reclamation of swamp and
overflowed land. It proposes to employ the convict labor of the State
for that purpose in building levees, canals, straightening rivers, etc.
The first reason assigned for employing convict labor is to prevent the
competition of that kind of labor with the "law abiding classes of both
sexes, who live by the labor of their own hands." The present contract
system is condemned, because it creates an unjust and undue competition
with honest labor in mechanical and manufacturing pursuits; but the
author of the bill seems to lose sight of the fact that his proposition
to employ convicts to build levees, dig canals, etc., brings convict
labor into competition with a class of day laborers who find it more
difficult than any other class to find steady and remunerative employment.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to employ convict labor in any branch
of human industry without bringing it into direct competition with the
honest laborer. There are some branches of manufactures not followed in
the State which might be for a time introduced into the State Prison
without encroaching upon upon labor in the State. But to build levees,
canals, etc., by convict labor, would necessarily bring that kind of
labor into direct competition with the day laborer, who, in truth, earns
his bread and that of his wife and children by the sweat of his brow.
The labor competition question may, therefore, be left out of the argument
for Morrison's bill. It is, though, none the less true that convict
labor may be advantageously applied to the building of levees, digging
canals, etc. The idea of applying convict labor for such purposes was
suggested in a pamphlet on our State Prison system, published by P. A.
Roach, in 1857, and it has since been a favorite theory of his.
Immediately after the flood of December 9th he called our attention
to the pamphlet, and we published some extracts from it The following
is a portion of one of them:
If the labor of the prisoners were under the control of the State,
aa it ought to be, various works of great importance might be undertaken.
For instance, the improvement of the navigation of the rivers leading
to the Capital of the State might be at once commenced. Sacramento and
Marysville, each in just proportion for such an object, would probably
furnish their quota of provisions and guards for the maintenance and
safety of the convict, with hulks for their lodgment; and it is doubtful
whether more would escape at any time from its wooden walls, than do
now from San Quentin, with its brick ones. Then let the people of
Stockton, who desire to improve the navigation to their town, enjoy
the same privilege--its people guaranteeing to take charge of the
prisoners, and in the event of their escape, to offer, as the people
of Sacramento would, a reward for their apprehension, even twofold
greater than is now required by the lease under which their services
are held. And the people of San Jose, and perhaps of San Francisco,
might profit by the same labor. As there are many hundreds in the
institution, the Legislature might appoint a Committee, consisting
of the Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer and Surveyor
General, to apportion the number that each locality ought to have;
and the Sheriffs of the different counties, where the labors were to
be performed, might be authorised by the Board of Supervisors of their
respective counties to appoint proper deputies to assist the State
authorities to safely guard the prisoners.
After the improvement of the rivers shall have been accomplished, or
the public roads opened, let the Surveyor General set apart, of the
swamp and overflowed lands, so many acres for the support of the Insane
Asylum, so many for the State Hospital, so many for Orphan Asylums in
the State, to be divided among the different denominations; so much for
the Public Schools, and then, under proper officers of the State, let
the prisoners work to reclaim them. While their labor thus employed
would not come in competition with that of the mechanic. It would
add immensely to the wealth of the State. If each convict reclaimed
per day but sufficient to pay for his maintenance, the State would
be a gainer; but with the engineering talent we have among us, the
construction of large canals would drain millions of acres, and then
would be serviceable for the purposes of navigation. Millions of the
most productive lands coald then be offered at low prices and in
reasonable quantities to the actual settler, and their value applied
to reduce the indebtedness of the State, the interest of which is
gnawing at our vitals.
The leading idea of Roach was to employ convict labor in improving
the navigation of the rivers and in reclaiming swamp and overflowed
land. These appear to be the leading ideas in the bill of Morrison.
It appoints the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Surveyor General's
Board of Gontrol [sic] of the swamp and overflowed lands in the State,
and authorizes this Board to lease convicts to the Boards of Supervisors
of certain counties. The bill does not seem designed to disturb the
Swamp Land Law of last year, and still, if passed, it would interfere
with it materially, and therefore ought not to become a law. There
are, however, provisions in it which would operate well if added to
the law of last session. It is doubtless true, as the author of the
bill assumes, that levees may be built and canals dug by convict labor,
at a cost much below the figures where other labor is used. Hence it
might bcome a matter of decided public interest to employ convict labor
upon certain improvements. A swamp land district might be able to reclaim
the district with convict labor, but could not for want of sufficient
funds to accomplish the work, if compelled to employ other labor.
The employment of convict labor to build a portion of the levee, it
may be found, would save the city some thousands of dollars. It is
probable, too, that convict labor could be advantageously employed in
digging a canal to straighten the American river; also in digging a
canal from Knight's Landing, through the tules to Suisun Bay.
The idea of building reservoirs to hold back the water which falls in
the mountains might also be carried out to some extent by the aid of
convict labor. But in order to take the advantage of this labor for
levee and other purposes, it seems to us that power to make contracts
to be completed by convict labor should be given to the State Board of
Swamp Land Commissioners, and to the Board of City Levee Commissioners.
They might be authorized to ascertain definitely the upon [sic, syntax]
what terms convicts could be obtained from the State, and then to
advertise for proposals to do the work, taking the convicts upon the
conditions specified. The Board might call for bids to do the work upon
certain terms with convicts, or at a given price to employ other labor.
The bids would show the difference, if any, between the cost of the work
to be done with regularly employed labor or with convicts. If the
difference should be found as great as twenty-five or thirty per cent.,
it would be something of an object to the city to build its levees with
that kind of labor. . . .
A CANAL ADVOCATED.
In this paper we give an interesting communication reviewing and
correcting some of the figures of Mr. Rowlandson, and advocating a
canal from Brighton to a point below Sutterville, with a capacity equal
to carrying one-fifth of the water of the American during a flood. Such
a canal would, undoubtedly, greatly relieve the levees of this city from
the pressure of the American; but, is it practicable to build it, with
our means? And, if built, would not the whole river be discharged through
it in a very few years? Our correspondent would have added to the favor
conferred upon our readers, by giving an estimate of the probable cost
of such an improvement. It would be very large, even if the work were
done by convict labor.
In the high floods of this Winter a large body of water was discharged
from the American at Brighton, which made its way across the country
and into the Sacramento above and below Sutterville. The largest portion
made its way into the tules below the city, by crossing the upper Stockton
road at or near Harrigan's, and the lower Stockton road through a depression
this side the Louisiana Race Course, and over a portion of the land owned
by Senator Latham. A body of water several feet in depth and fully an
eighth of a mile in width was discharged at that point; it ran with a
strong current and presented the appearance of a large river. Portions
of the water which left the river at Brighton, spread over the plains
further south, crossing the upper Stockton road at and this side of the
Lake House, and making its way towards the Sacramento, through sloughs
crossing the lower Stockton road below the Six Mile House; but the main
portion ran between Latham's house and the Louisiana Race Course; and
hence we conclude that to be the natural channel for discharging the
water from that source. That point is about three miles from the city,
and the water coming through that depression enters the tule between
this city and Sutterville. It would have to be emptied into the Sacramento
above that point, or it would overflow the country from here to the
Mokelumne river. To go below Sutterville for a discharge point would
make the line more than eight and a half miles in length, and nearly
half of it on the Sacramento bottom, where the embankments of a canal
would have to be made high and strong.
Subsequent to the first flood, which damaged the railroad between the
city and Brighton, the Superintendent sent out a party and had a survey
made for the purpose of determining where the water came from, where
it went to, the directions it took and the probable quantity precipitated
against the railroad. That survey, we understand, showed that a portion
of the five highest feet of the flood was forced over the natural bank
of the river at Brighton--that it spread over the plains in different
directions, attacked and destroyed the railroad at sundry points, and
then flowed off southwest, following the sloughs and depressions, to
the bottom lands of the Sacramento. A canal of the size named by "A. F. G."
would discharge a large quantity of water, but we very much doubt whether
it could have carried the five feet water which was precipitated upon
Brighton township, and which caused so much destruction to the railroad.
The survey by the railroad company establishes the fact that a levee
of at least six feet will be required at points along the south bank of
the river from Burns' slough to Patterson's, unless a canal is determined
upon. As the water has never before, since Americans settled in the
country, been known to run over the bank of the river opposite Brighton,
we may reasonably conclude that the water was this year at least five feet
higher than it has risen since California was taken from the Mexicans.
It is gratifying to see so much interest manifested in levees, "reservoirs
and canals," for amid all the suggestions and plans discussed the people
of Sacramento may be able to select the one best calculated to insure
future safety.
[For the Union.]
OVERFLOWS AND LEVEE DEFENSES.
MESSRS. EDITORS: The meteorological phenomena of the Pacific slope
of the continent is a subject of vast importance to California, and
the study of its varying phases should receive the attention of all
classes of our people, as the happening of seasons of unusual drouth,
or an excess of humidity like the present, affect the business and
social relations of every person in the State. Having been an observer
of the peculiarities of the different rainy seasons for twelve years,
I may possibly be able to state some facts which account for the greater
rapidity with which the floods precipitate upon the valleys than they
did during the first years of the gold discovery---for it is a well
authenticated fact that the rain storms now send down the inundation
from the mountains in a much shorter period than formerly. Throughout
the mining districts the earth has been washed entirely from the bed
rock, from an area of land which may be computed by the million of
acres; hence, what rain falls on this impervious shed is at once passed
into the rivers and sent as rapidly into the valleys, whereas formerly
it soaked into the alluvial surface and penetrated to the gravel strata
overlying the bed rock, and following the dip, became lost in subterranean
caverns, rivers and lakes, or rose in after time and on lower elevations
in springs and gushing fountains. The region above described is mostly
below the snow range, and will in all coming time be subject to the same
rapid discharge of the rain deposited upon it; yet this cannot be
considered as the cause of the sudden swollen condition which our mountain
streams assume on the falling of a warm and copious rain.
In the Winter of 1849-'50, when the storms were more nearly like those
of this season than any other season in the interim, I noticed that the
rains came mostly from the southeast having taken their rise from the
Gulf of California and passing up the great basin of the Mohave desert,
penetrated to the Tulare valley, and reached every locality of the State.
A similarity attends the rains of this season, most of our storms having
come from the southeast, and have alike copiously watered every district
and locality on the Pacific slope. If my memory is not at fault, the
early rains of 1849 were quite as heavy as those of 1862, and the season
was much warmer. Indeed, the evidence of this fact was that the grass on
the stock ranges was well advanced on the first of February of the former
year, while the first of March of this season will find the herds over a
great portion of the State in a starving condition. It is true there was
an overflow in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys in January of 1850,
yet, although there had been and there were warm rains, the flood was
nothing in magnitude to the inundation of January, 1862. In 1849, the
earth had not been sluiced from the bed rock, and at that time the mining
regions, and far above, to the very passes of the Sierra, the country was
timbered with a dense forest. Warm, long continued and copious as were the
rains of 1849, they failed to melt the snows buried amid the giant coniferous
tribes of the Nevada range. Fiercly [sic] as the storm might beat against
those tall and reeling pines, they sheltered their frigid guest from the
massing columns of old Neptune, and turned his humid breath into ice drops
ere it reached far down within its cold, drear canopy. The snows of '49
did not melt until the Summer solstice rose high in the meridian. Not so
with the snows of '62, and why? Because there are no longer deep, dense,
dark forests covering the great snow-belt, within which the Winter rains
penetrate. Worse than Goth and Vandal, has swept with the besom of
destruction through the timber-lands of California, and she is shorn of
much of her magnificent forests, which have long rendered efficient servioe
in modifying the extremes of meteorological change. It is no new theory,
that the destruction of mountain forests has the effect to produce floods
in the Winter and drouth in the Summer. This fact has often been alluded
to in the basin of the Mississippi.
Having thus briefly alluded to causes which render it probable that we
shall be no more exempt from floods in the future than we have been in
the past, I propose in a future communication to make some suggestions as
to modes by which we may defend ourselves from such calamitous visitations.
WILSON FLINT.
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
Sad Accident---Memorial from San Francisco Board of Supervisors--Case of
Small Pox--Chinese Address--Arrivals--Rain--Professor Whitney's Address
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27th. . . .
The paving of streets here is delayed because contractors cannot get
cobble stones from Folsom, and serious inconvenience results. . . .
It is raining steadily. Weather warm. . . .
Legislative Proceedings. . . .
Chamberlain, De Long and Warmcastle were appointed a Committee on the
bill for the relief of the State Capitol contractors.
The Committee on Public Buildings reported against the bill to suspend
work on the Capitol until next year.
The Senate almost unanimously refused to concur in the Assembly's
amendment to the bill transferring the funds from the Swamp Land Fund.
The bill is considered dead. . . .
Ferguson, on a privileged question, accused the majority of tyranny
in refusing to grant him an opportunity to give notice of a motion
to reconsider the vote on the swamp land transfer bill. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
THE RAILROAD.--The present condition of the railroad on R street is not
such as to give assurance of uninterrupted communication with the country
if the heavy rains continue. A large number of workmen were employed in
repairing it as soon as practicable after the water of January 10th and
11th had subsided. A pile driver was brought into requisition to dri»e
piles for open work across the channels worn through by the flood, at
which points the track was kept at its former higbt. But on a portion
of the route between Twelfth and Seventeenth streets, the track was
lowered some four feet from its original point of elevation. A considerable
portion of the embankment at this point had been washed away, and as
earth could not be procured until after the rails were laid it became
necessary to level off that which was available and construct the track
upon it. The result of this arrangement is that the water of yesterday
and the day before was within from a foot to a foot and a half of the
top of the track, and in some places the action of the water tends to
soften the embankment. No serious difficulty will probably be experienced
if the water shall rise no higher, but a rise of two feet would overflow
the road for four or five miles, and in all probability wear large
portions of it away. The road was completed on Sunday night last, and
on Monday morning several trains ran through in each direction. Before
night, however, a portion of the embankment near Fourteenfh street became
weakened by the action of the water to such an extent that it was deemed
unsafe to cross it with a train of cars. Since that time passengers have
been taken from Front and K streets to the break in one set of cars and
then transferred to another. The late freshet from the American river
tended to still further impair the breach. For a distance of about a
hundred feet the embankment was washed away, but the frame work and rails
clung to their place tenaciously, although forced in a curve of several
feet from a straight line. Several of the rails are bent by the force of
the water into the segment of a circle. Workmen have been engaged in
depositing in the crevasse cobbles from Folsom, of large size, which are
brought down by the car load. It was thought yesterday that the break
would be so far repaired by night as to admit of the transit of cars
and the re-establishment of through travel. . . .
CURRENT.--During yesterday, the water from the city ran in strong
currents through each of the openings in the R street railroad
embankment. At the Tenth street opening, especially, there appeared
to be a fall of sixteen or eighteen inches, and the current was
correspondingly strong and rapid. Through this opening it was almost
impossible for boats to pass in coming into the city. A large amount
of water must be contributed hourly by the American to keep up the
supply.
K STREET MARKET.--The work of raising the floor of the K Street Market,
which was commenced several days ago, was completed last evening. It has
been raised four feet above its former position, but is still not up to
high water mark by about three inches. The story is still sixteen feet
high in the clear, and though not so commodious in appearance as
heretofore, it is convenient and well adapted to the business to which
it is devoted.
THE RIVER.--The Sacramento river had risen yesterday morning five
inches during the night, and remained through the day at nineteen feet
above low water mark. The water in the inundated portion of the city,
at sunset last evening, had fallen but three or four inches since the
evening before. . . .
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS
Levees, Reservoirs or Canal.
MESSRS. EDITORS: Your readers are much indebted to Mr. Rowlandson for
his elaborate articles upon the all absorbing topic of the California
floods--a monster which every man in the State seems bound to grapple
with, if he will keep his homestead or his business secure, and with
God's help "may we lay the tyrant low! " Nevertheless success in any
great undertaking, so far from depending upon every man rushing to the
same individual work, depends much rather upon a consistent subdivision
of the labor, ample care being also taken, as a matter of course, for
providing all necessary cost. Just then as an army requires its Generals
and other officers, its fighting men, its.commissariat and its
Legisture [sic]; so this California flood question (a rather too homely
truth,) demands a prompt Legislature, with ample funds at command,
skllfull engineers and troops of good hands to complete the work; and
may the work be done well and as it ought to be done. If every citizen
and every ranchman will readily contribute to the great work they will
assuredly reap ten fold advantages in having their property improved at
once and forever. And in so doing they will render even more effectual
assistance to the work than if in their zeal they had taken shovel in
hand and commenced to raise, without forethought, something in the shape
of a levee, perhaps quite inadequate to the real necessities of the case.
It is natural that we should all be rather impatient when the devastating
tyrant is rushing in upon us every few weeks throughout the season, but
as Mr. Rowlandsen justly remarks, "Before grappling with the monster it
is well to form an estimate of the enormously gigantic character of the
power we propose to subdue?" It is at once clear, then, that the question
is primarily an engineering one, and is of such vast importance that, as
Mr. Rowlandson further remarks, in another article, "to devise means,
etc., that are required is an object worthy of the earnest attention of
the greatest engineer that ever existed." We may all of us be very
thankful, therefore, if the requisite talent and skill is brought to bear
upon the subject. Still, Mr. Rowlandson's observations are intended for
general perusal, whether by scientific or unscientific readers; and as
the question concerns nearly all alike we are anxious to digest carefully
what we read, and obtain as much information as possible upon the knotty
point; but Mr. Rowlandson will, I hope, pardon me for saying that it is
somewhat difficult to analyze the contents of such voluminous articles.
To obtain clear ideas of Mr. Rowlandson's views it is necessary to compare
one article with another, and there appears to be some discrepancy which
wants correction. I find, for instance, on referring to your paper of
February 17th containing Mr. Rowiandson's introductory article, under
the heading "Rain Fall," he appears to regard the American and Sacramento
basins as including an area of above 100 square miles--considerably above
100, he says; but still he bases his calculation upon 100, giving
278,784,000,000 square feet, and estimating the rain fall at four inches
in twenty-four hours gives a quotient of 92,928,000,000 cubic feet, or
1,075,000 cubic feet per second. In last Wednesday's paper, however, I
find he takes the three forks of the American river as draining an area
of 1,200 square miles, which gives us, he says, a rain fall at four inches
in twenty-four hours of 11,151,026,666 cubic feet. Now, having already
seen that 100 square miles gives us 92,938,000,000, one reads at first
with some surprise that 1,200 square miles give us only about one-ninth
the previous product. A moment's consideration makes it obvious, however,
that 100 square miles really signified 10,000 and no more than 1,200 is
intended by the statement of 1,200 in Wednesday's paper. This 1,200 square
miles, however, should give us 11,351,360,000 cubic feet rainfall in
tweaty-four hours, and not 11,151,026,666 cubic feet; and it
should also give us 129,067 cubic feet per second instead of 137,141
cubic feet. These errors, whether of type or not, have crept in
inadvertently, no doubt, but as conclusions are based upon them accuracy
is the more requisite. It follows, therefore, that the trough 450 feet
wide and 30 feet deep, which Rowlandson mentions by way of illustration,
will more than contain the discharge of water of 129,067 cubic feet per
second, as it will discharge, according to Rowlandson's showing, 135,000
cubic feet. Instead, therefore, of there being an accumulation of
184,982,400 cubic feet in twenty-four hours yet to be discharged, our
trough could have discharged 512,611,200 cubic feet more in twenty-four
hours than required.
I have done now with corrections, as I need not allude to what Mr. Roach
has already answered respecting the Straits of Carquinez, that is another
branch of the subject I do not care to go into. I come now, however,
to the principle or method proposed for securing Sacramento against floods
from the American, and here I find Mr. Rowlandson starts with a very
satisfactory statement, "That perhaps absolute security against the
American might be attained if one-fifth of its present inflow of waters
during heavy floods could be impounded," etc. Now without at present
discussing the merits or demerits of impounding such a body of water,
I may be allowed to adopt the standard of one-fifth as a basis for
another proposal to discharge the water--and I will take for illustration
the idea of a trough. We have already seen that the trough Mr. Rowlandson
alluded to, 450 feet wide by 30 feet deep, would discharge 135,000 cubic
feet per second, while we have not in flood time perhaps much more than
129,067 cubic feet per second to discharge. Now then if one-fifth the
size trough will suffice, it would appear that a trough 180 feet wide
by 15 feet deep would answer the purpose amply. This, then, might be
the average for a canal, properly leveed and cut as required between
Brighton and some favorable bend in the Sacraramento beyond Sutterville,
in all about eight and one-half miles long, in place of, I believe, about
twenty-five miles round by the rivers. Now such a canal would at least
help to do what nature points out as requisite, that the present
circuitous and dangerous route of the American should be straightened
and relieved at a safe distance from Sacramento, and sent by a short
route to the Sacramento river. A large tract of country besides the
city of Sacramento would be rendered safe by a plan of this kind, while
it would also relieve a large district beyond the opposite, or
northwestern bank of the American. The existing levees must of course
be repaired to seme extent, but to make them at all adequate to keep
out high floods would be a very expensive operation, take up a great
deal of valuable ground, or side lots, to widen the levees, and from
their proximity to Sacramento would be constantly wearisg away by the
increasing amount of traffic, besides their tortuous course would be
exposed to the full force of the river, tending, as again and again
it does, to form breaks. Nor would such levees do anything for the
plains between Sutterville and Brighton, or the opposite banks of
the American, alluded to.
Where circumstances are favorable, impounding the water as Mr. Rowlandson
proposes, may be a very happy suggestion, but what locality could be
advantageously chosen? Are not the best mining districts near the borders
of the rivers, and could they be obtained at a price that it would be
worth paying for using as a reservoir? Would there not also be another
source of danger and terror to the miners lest the pent up flood should
overwhelm them in a few short hours? I am inclined to think that
impounding would meet with very great opposition amongst the mining
population. A canal between Brighton and beyond Sutterville would carry
the water safely away, and preserve the American banks from the excessive
pressure to which they are subject; and we need never again have misgivings
about a few days rain or snow. The husbandman and tradesman could throughout
the year perform the regular business of each with undeviating regularity,
and may we hope that the grand work will be started soon. Apologizing for
trespassing at such length upon your valuable columns, I am yours,
SACRAMENTO, Feb. 27, 1862. A. F. G. . . .
OPENING OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
EDITORS UNION: The Board of Education on the 17th inst. resolved that
certain schools should be opened on the 3d of March, and the balance
on the 17th. At the regular meeting, last Monday evening, fearing and
indeed anticipating the present partial overflow of the city, the
President was authorized, in his discretion, to postpone the opening
of any or all of the schools until the 17th. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3408, 1 March 1862, p. 1
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 26, 1862.
The President pro tem. called the Senate to order at the usual hour, . . .
STATE CAPITAL.
By Mr. Shurtliff (on request)--an Act for the relief of contractors upon
the foundation and basement walls of the State Capitol building at Sacramento.
Mr. Chamberlain moved to refer it to a special Committee of three.
Mr. Heacock thought it should be referred to the Committee on Public Morals.
He did not see why it should be taken out of the hands of that Committee and
referred to another.
Mr. Gallagher disliked very much to differ with his friend from
Sacramento, but would certainly oppose that reference. Some weeks ago
a bill of the same nature was referred to that Committee, and no report
has yet been made. The Commissioners had authorized the contractors to
go on, while there was five feet of mud and water on the premises, and
no stone or lime in reach, or money at command. This is wrong. As a friend
of Sacramento, and to these gentlemen (Messrs. Blake and Conner), he said
it was high time something should be done. There seemed to be a
disposition on the part of some to try to crush these parties. He wanted
the matter met fairly and squarely. There was no railroad communication
to Folsom connecting with the quarries. Since the adoption of a resolution
several weeks ago, the contractors had put on four or five men, merely
to gratify the whim of these Commissioners.
Mr. Porter favored the reference to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. Heacock replied to Mr. Gallagher that the bill introduced some
two weeks ago had been reported back several days since, and was in
the hands of the Clerk. It had not been detained in their pockets, but
was reported back as soon as possible under the circumstances. There was
no intention to keep Blake and Conner out of their just right. They
desired to meet the question of permanent location of the Capitol upon
fair and square terms. Those who were opposed to Sacramento would be met
in a fair and manly way. If the Legislature was opposed to Sacramento,
let it be known, and let them take the Capital wheresoever they pleased
Mr. Gallagher inquired what he proposed to do with the question if
referred to the Committee.
Mr. Heacock said when that came up in its official capacity he would
do as he thought best. He did not think Blake and Conner could get
along in a proper manner with their contracts. The flood had stopped
their operations, and he was willing to give them all of the time
allotted in the bill drawn up by themselves. All he asked was that the
interests of the State should be taken care of. He moved the bill be
referred to the Committee on Public Buildings.
Mr. Burnell said there had been two bills referred to that Committee,
and reported back. This bill brought up the whole Capitol question,
whether the Commissioners should go on with their contract in the water
and mud, or whether the whole matter should be clotted up. He did not
believe that either the State, as a general thing, or the Commissioners,
were anxious that these men should work at present. He did not believe
that the matter would be expedited very much by the bill introduced this
morning. He thought the Committee on Public Buildings quite as capable
of disposing of this matter promptly as any other Committee. He urged
the necessity of knowing immediately what was to be done.
Mr. Soule said he introduced, more than a month ago, a bill to suspend
work for the present on the Capitol, and to have a Committee appointed
to investigate the condition of things. He wished to inquire what had
become of that bill.
Mr. Heacock said it was in the hands of the Committee on Public Buildings.
The motion to refer to the Committee on Public Buildings was lost--ayes,
14; noes, 14; the President pro tem. voting in the negative.
The bill was then referred to a Special Committee of three, hereafter to
be appointed by the Chair. . . .
THE GENERAL FILE.
. . . Senate Bill No. 53--an Act to extend the time for building the
foundations and basement walls of the Capitol building at Sacramento
[until the 12th of November, 1862]--was placed at the head of the file
for to-morrow, the Senate having refused to lay it on the table by a
vote of--ayes, 6 ; noes, 24. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, February 26, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at ten minutes before eleven o'clock,
the clock in the Assembly Chamber being ten minutes too fast. . . .
THE SWAMP LAND FUND.
Mr. Jackson moved a suspension of the rules in order to take from the
files and put upon its passage Senate Bill No. 152--an Act in relation to
the transfer of certain funds.
The rules were suspended and the bill was read. It transfers $100,000
from the Swamp and Overflowed Land Fund to the General Fund, to be
used solely for the pay and mileage of members and attaches of the
Legislature, except that $3,000 is appropriated to the Contingent Fund
of the Assembly, $2,000 to that of the Senate, and $3,125 for postage
for the Legislature.
An amendment reported by the Committee of Ways and Means providing for
the repayment to the Swamp Land Fund from the first receipts on and after
the second Monday in August instead of September, was adopted.
Mr. Fay moved to amend so as to allow the State Printer to receive
payment from this appropriation, as the Printer had not yet received any pay.
The amendment was adopted.
The Speaker pro tem, said the question was on the passage of the bill.
Mr. Saul said this Legislature had now been in session nearly fifty days,
and had yet accomplished nothing of very great importance to benefit the
State. It had removed the Legislature away from the State Capital, had
taken $100,000 out of the Swamp Land Fund to pay its members and officers,
and had turned out two members of unsatisfactory politics.
Mr. Van Zandt said $60,000 of the first appropriation from the Swamp
Land Fund had gone to pay the State officers.
Mr. Saul said the State officers had as much right to it as they had.
This was emphatically a Legislature of great expectations, but he was
mortified to see it rapidly dwindling down into very small potatoes.
They had no right to touch a dollar of this Swamp Land Fund. The Act
of Congress granting to the State the lands from which it was derived
expressly stipulated that it should be used for the reclamation of the
lands and nothing else, yet they were taking this money which belonged
to drowned out families and ruined farmers, to put it into their own
pockets. They had done nothing but make Buncombe speeches, appoint
retrenchment Committees and pass Union resolutions, belying the promises
made to their constituents, and this robbery would not be among the
least of the sins they would have to answer for. Did they comprehend
what this money would be worth if applied to its legitimate object? By
the removal from the Capital they had proclaimed to the world that the
great interior valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin were fit only
for deserts, and now they were taking away the means by which alone these
lands might be reclaimed. If it could be shown that there was no immediate
use for this money, he would not object to borrowing it, but the money
was wanted now, and to take it was downright robbery.
Mr. Hillyer inquired if the gentleman had not drawn his portion of
the money previously transferred from this fund.
Mr. Saul said he never was in a position like this before. He came
to the Legislature not on his own seeking, but rather by accident,
and he would take care to guard against such accidents in the future.
The Legislature was the servant of the people, but by passing this
bill they would prove unfaithful servants, and he was determined
that they should go upon the record. Let some of those patriotic
reform and retrenchment disinterested gentlemen bring in a bill
levying a direct tax in order to place the General Fund on a cash
basis rather than take the money for their per diem out of this fund
and thus turn poor women and children and ruined men out of their homes.
Mr. Fay said he wanted the gentleman to name one single instance in
which this bill would put any one out of his home.
Mr. Saul said he could furnish the gentleman with scores of names if
he would come to his desk, but he would not publish the names of his
neighbors to the world.
Mr. Avery repeated the question of Mr. Hillyer, whether Mr. Saul had
drawn his pay out of that portion of this fund previously transferred.
If so he wanted to know the difference between receiving the money and
transferring it.
Mr. Saul said he had drawn his money according to law, and since the
treasury became bankrupt he had used his warrants in another way and
got his money by paying for it. He was willing to go on in that way
to the end of the session.
Mr. Eagar asked if Mr. Saul voted against the former transfer.
Mr. Saul.--You bet, he did.
Mr. Maclay said the gentleman acknowledged that he received his
share as long as the money lasted, but was not the receiver accounted
as bad the thief?
Mr. Saul said it was pretty much the same thing, and there were many
thieves about. It was never too late to reform, however, and he hoped
in this respect the reverend gentleman from Santa Clara (Mr. Maclay)
would set a good example of piety, morality, honesty, and the rest of
the T's, They might as well give up all idea of ever reclaiming the
swamp lands and repeal the excellent law of last Winter as to prostrate
that law by continually transferring the fund. Men would not settle on
those lands if the State deprived them of the money they paid in to be
set apart for their reclamation. They wanted the Commissioners to go
forward with their improvements.
Mr. Teegarden asked if Mr. Saul understood that this money was to be
paid back next August, and if he thought Sacramento would be dry enough
to levee by that time.
Mr. Saul said the money could not be paid back in August. The bulk of
the taxes would not come in till along in December. That was only a sugar
plum for the people, but the people would not be deceived by it. They
wanted the money spent, and more with it, that they would raise by taxing
themselves, to protect themselves against scenes like those of this
Winter. He had no doubt those lands would be dry in August, and the
gentleman would be high and dry, too. The Spring and the Summer was
the time to use this money in building levees, so that they could
settle and become firm to resist the floods of Winter. They were ready
to put up levees last Fall, but concluded to trust their old levees one
Winter more, so as to build at the proper season. Now there would be no
money to go on with but their own. Thank God, the people could get on
independent of the Legislature; if they could not they would be in a
pitiable condition; and whether the State helped them or not those
levees would surely be built. But the Legislature had no more right
to take that money than to take the coin out of the vaults of any
banker in San Francisco. This fund had been, made a cat's paw of long
enough. There had been received into the fund $253,446 19, of which
the Swamp Land Commissioners had expended $28,000, and if this bill
passed making $200,000 drawn by the Legislature, only about $20,000
would remain to commence operations with next Spring. Besides there
were $47,923 34 paid into the General Fund previous to the creation
of the Swamp Land Fund in 1858, which should have been passed over to
the Swamp Land Fund, but for some reason that had never been done. He
protested against such treatment of that fund. Let these reformers in
want of money get it upon their warrants, for the credit of the State
was good, and they could get enough to live upon. He imagined very few
members came to the Legislature to make money by it.
Mr. Reed asked if the gentleman had hypothecated his scrip, and if so,
whether that was the reason he was in swampum-- [The rest of the question
was not understood.]
Mr. Saul said that was a very singular question, coming from the member
who set himself up as a model; who lectured the House last night upon
its dignity, and said members acted like drunken men at a corn husking
in Indiana, and who, just before, had been sitting with his heels higher
than his head.
Mr. Worthington called the gentleman to order for wandering from the
question.
Mr. Saul said he was trying to speak to the question, and if he was not
as eloquent as the gentleman from San Francisco, he hoped to be excused,
sinoe he was neither lawyer, preacher nor doctor.
Mr. Worthington--What is the gentleman?
Mr. Saul said he would tell the gentleman, as he was rather a new comer
into the House. He was an unsophisticated young gentleman from the swamp
land and submerged districts of the country. He knew it was up-hill
business to oppose this bill, but he was determined to give those who
passed it all the odium of the measure, and when they returned to the
people he wanted their record on this bill so plain that he who runs
may read.
Mr. Fay said he thought Mr. Saul had made as many buncombe speeches as
any other man. He could not remember a word that he had uttered that was
really practical. He had been talking with his friend Mr. Pemberton, one
of the Swamp Land Commissioners, and not at all given to buncombe, and
from him he learned that there was no probability that the swamp land
interest would be injured by this transfer.
Mr. Pemberton said Mr. Fay must have misunderstood him. He had said he
feared that interest might suffer, but to what extent he was not prepared
to say.
Mr. Fay said he had remarked that the objections to taking this money
was like a man refusing to allow one pocket to trust the other, and
simply throwing discredit on the State's credit, and it was in reply
to that, that he understood Mr. Pemberton to say that probably if the
money was repaid the 1st of August, there could be no serious objection.
Mr. Saul asked if the gentleman believed that $200,000 could be repaid
by the 1st of August.
Mr. Fay said he believed the State was able to fulfill its obligations:
and if the Commissioners wanted the money, there would no difficulty in
getting it, if the State agreed to pay it the 1st of August. That was
what he understood from Mr. Pemberton--that the Commissioners would not
suffer because the State credit was good, and the money would be replaced
in time to meet any exigency.
Mr. Pemberton said he had observed in this private conversation which
had been brought into the discussion, that while he could not tell how
rapidly or how soon the work of reclamation might proceed, it was his
opinion that $100,000, at least would be needed before next Fall.
Mr. Fay said he could not see how the swamp land interest was to be
affected by this transfer in the slightest degree, even if $100,000 were
wanted by next August.
Mr. Saul asked if the Legislature could not get along by hypothecating
its own scrip, as well as the Swamp Land Commission. If not they might
better have staid in Sacramento, for there they could have got credit.
Mr. Hoag asked if an amendment would now be in order.
The Speaker pro tem. said it would not, for the bill had had its third
reading and was now on its passage.
Mr. Watson demanded the previous question.
Mr. Porter said he hoped the House would not apply the gag on this
important question.
On a division the House proposed to sustain the previous question--ayes
29, noes 30.
Mr. Hoag moved to recommit the bill, with instructions to the Committee
on Ways and Means to report the following as an amendment:
The Treasurer of State is hereby directed to pay over to the Assistant
Treasurer of the United States at San Francisco, the sum hereby
transferred, as a payment in part of the direct tax apportioned to
this State by Act of Congress, enti- [sic] "An Act to provide increased
revenue from imports, to pay the interest on public debt, and for other
purposes," passed the 6th day of August, 1861, and the Controller of
State is hereby directed to draw his warrant in favor of said Assistant
Treasurer of the United States for the sum of money in this section
directed to be paid to him, in the same manner as in the disbursement
of revenue, provided for State purposes.
The Speaker pro tem. ruled the amendment out of order, for being foreign
to the subject matter of the bill.
Mr. Worthington read from the statutes to show that the Swamp Land Fund
was paid into the Treasury as a part of the revenue of the State, and
was liable to be used for any purposes which the Legislature might
direct. He contended that it was an idle fallacy to suppose that
they were obliged to let that money lie idle in the Treasury when it
was wanted for other purposes. Where then was this robbery referred to
by the accidental gentleman from the swamp lands? Transfers had been made
heretofore from time to time, but he had not heard of any indictment
of the Legislature, or judicial investigation on account of the alleged
crime. He did not believe the bill would turn any widows or destitute
people out of house and home.
Mr. Saul replied that this was special pleading, and read from the Act
of Congress providing that the money received from the sale of such lands
shall be used solely for purposes of reclamation. The Legislature, he
said, had already directed how this money should be used, and it would
be a breach of faith to divert the money into any other channel.
Mr. Worthington said a similar transfer was made last Winter, and a part
of this very fund was that which had been repaid from the General Fund.
Mr. Saul replied that that transfer was made before the Swamp Land
Commission was created. He would not have hesitated to vote for the
transfer last Winter, because then the money was not needed, but was
lying idle.
Mr. Avery said if it was robbery now it must have been robbery then.
Mr. Saul said this wise Legislature--this Legislature of retrenchment
and reform--proposed now to make this transfer, and to repeal all
conflicting Acts. He submitted that that was robbery.
Mr. Fay inquired if the Legislature last Winter had not power to pass
a law appropriating that money.
Mr. Saul replied that if it was a question of power, they undoubtedly
had. The Speaker had decided that this House could do anything.
Mr. Fay inquired if this Legislature then had not power to repeal the
Act of last Winter, and abolish this Commission, putting the funds back
into the Treasury as they were before.
Mr. Saul said he understood the force of that argument; it was a threat
that for fighting this appropriation they would repeal the Swamp Land
Bill. He said they might as well defeat it at once as to defeat its
provisions.
Mr. Fay said he would ask one more question. If they had power to do all
this had they not power also to pass this bill, and was it robbery to do it?
Mr. Saul said he would answer as plainly as an unsophisticated young
gentleman from a swamp land district could. The Legislature used its
power wisely last Winter by creating the Commission and providing ways
and means for reclaiming those lands. The same power that created could
abolish it was true, but that would be as abuse of power.
Mr. Shannon said he desired to offer aa amendment to insert the words
"State officers," so as to allow all State officers to receive pay from
the fund as well as the Legislature.
The Speaker pro tem. decided that no amendment was in order as the bill
had received its third reading and was on its passage. Mr. Shannon
appealed from the decision of the Chair, and after a long debate the
decision was sustained.
Mr. Shannon moved to reconsider the third reading of the bill. Lost on
a division--ayes, 27 ; noes, 27.
Mr. Shannon moved to recommit the bill, with special instructions to
the Committee on Ways and Means to insert his amendment and report
immediately. His object was, he said, to give the State officers and
their attaches an equal chance with members of the Legislature. He
denied the right of the Legislature to transfer a fund and make
themselves preferred creditors to the detriment of other legitimate
creditors of the State. He held that to be unconstitutional, and if
the Governor did his duty he would veto it; and even if it were not
unconstitutional, it was a narrow and selfish policy.
Mr. Love said he should vote for the amendment.
Mr. Hoag moved to add to the instructions an amendment providing that
none of the Swamp Land Fund received from the Eighteenth Swamp Land
District snail be transferred, and none of the members of the Legislature
coming from that District shall be paid out of such fund. The amendment
was ruled out of order as not pertinent to the bill.
Mr. Fay said he hoped Mr. Shannon's amendment would prevail, for he saw
no reason for excluding State officers.
Mr. Shannon's motion to recommit with instructions was carried.
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
By Overland Telegraph . . . .
Verily, this has been a Winter of inundations. We have suffered heavily
on the Pacific coast from the superabundance of the aqueous element.
The valley of the Ohio has also experienced the disastrous effects of
an overflow. And next, we hear from the distant Danube--the greatest of
European rivers--of a most destructive flood, consequent upon a rain of
four days duration. In one district alone it is reported that 80,000
persons need relief. Pesth and Presburg, in Hungary, had been inundated,
and bridges, viaducts and other valuable property destroyed. The railroad
property reported to be damaged is probably that of the line running
from Pesth to Vienna via Presburg--which is within the reach of an
inundation. . . .
The weather was clear and Spring-like yesterday. The Sacramento rose about
nine inches, reaching nineteen feet nine inches above low water mark.
The water in the lower part of the city rose several inches; but no
apprehensions of another general inundation seem to be entertained. . . .
ABOUT RIGHT.--The bill to take another $100,000 from the Swamp Land Fund
and transfer it to the General Fund, for the benefit of members, was, at
last accounts, hanging between the two Houses. It ought to hang there
until it is dead, though we take it for granted the members of each
branch consider themselves so much in need of money that they will
finally agree to pass it, even if they have to give the State officers
a chance to get a portion of it. There is likely to be some delay about
obtaining the money if the bill passes, as it is rumored that the question
of the legal and constitutional right of the Legislature to make a transfer
of money once appropriated for a special purpose is about to be tested.
Two hundred thousand dollars of the Swamp and Overflowed Land Fund was
appropriated last Winter to reclaim swamp land, and it is contended that
the Act conferred a vested right upon the purchasers of that land, which
cannot be taken from them by a subsequent Act of the Legislature. Those
who take this view of the case, will probably take steps to have the
matter judicially settled, provided a bill to seize another $100,000
passes. . . .
The Citizens' Committee may with propriety give thsir attention to the
weak point in the levee at R street. If taken before the water breaks
through it can be easily strengthened so as to prevent the water from
forcing an entrance at that particular locality. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 28th. . . .
Legislative Proceedings.
In the Senate, . . .
The bill to suspend further work on the State Capitol until next session
came up.
Soule, its author, said he had been charged with aiming at permanent
removal. He denied it, and said he did not care a continental d---n
where the Capital was located.
Nixon said he was satisfied permanent removal was the object poorly disguised.
Soule said he had denied improper motives and Nixon could believe what he
pleased.
Porter, De Long and Gaskell favored the bill.
Heacock and Nixon insisted on an indefinite postponement.
It was referred to the Committee on Public buildings. . . .
THE MINERS.--Accounts from the interior, where miners are engaged in
working old diggings, represent that they find new gold in places where
they supposed it was entirely worked out. The presumption is that the
heavy rains have made sluices of the gulches, washad new earth into
and out of them, and leaving behind fresh deposits of gold. If the late
floods have done a good deal of harm in the State they will not have
been without some compensating advantage. Many an old 1849 miner will
retnrn to his former and favorite grounds and try them over again. While
he has been absent the floods have been doing some tolerably heavy
prospecting. . . .
REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY.
The Grand Jury of the Court of Sessions having disposed of the business
of the term, presented last evening the following final report:
To the Honorable the Court of Sessions of the County of Sacramento:
We, the Grand Jury for the January term, A. D. 1862, would most respectfully
report that we have been in session eighteen days, . . .
In regard to roads and highways, we would report that on account of
the unprecedented state of our county on account of the late rains
and floods, we have not been able to make as thorough an examination
of them as we could have wished, but we have ascertained enough to
satisfy us that they are not in as good condition as the necessities
of the county require, and would recommend to the Board of Supervisors
to require of the several Road Overseers a prompt performance of their
duties, and also reports to them of the condition of the roads in their
several districts, that efficient measures may be adopted for their
repair. . . .
And in consideration of the necessary expenses that must be incurred
to repair damages caused by the late flood, we recommend that our
Senators and Assemblymen endeavor to procure from the State a release
or donation of the State's interest in said taxes to the city and county. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .A POPULAR IDEA.--The Grand Jury report rendered yesterday, contains
a recommendation that application be made to the Legislature for the
passage of such laws as will insure the collection of all the delinquent
taxes due the county from 1850 to 1857 inclusive. It is also suggested
that the State relinquish its right to said taxes in consideration of
the damage done the county by the flood. The proposition to collect the
back taxes, if submitted to a popular vote, would be carried by an
overwhelming majority. Many malicious persons urge that those of our
heavy property holders who are behind hand in this respect, could hit
upon an easy and effectual plan to build the levees, viz: by paying their
back taxes for that purpose.
FREIGHT FOR FOLSOM.--Freight cars for Folsom were taken successfully
across the weak spot in the railroad at Fourteenth street on Thursday
evening, and yesterday a large amount of freight was sent out. So
great was the rush of business in this line that the teamsters and
draymen, engaged in delivering goods at the depot, were compelled to
form in a long line and wait, many of them, several hours before they
could discharge their loads. At one time there were forty seven vehicles
in the line at one time. The prospect is that our merchants will do a
lively business during the present month. . . .
REQUIRES ATTENTION.--The Sacramento levee, above R street, continues to
wash away steadily, and as the river is rising constantly the point
becomes more and more dangerous. If a crevasse is formed at that point,
the result to property will be more disastrous than that of any similar
opening, at any other point. The Committee of Safety should give the
subject prompt attention. . . .
FLOOD VIEWS.--We have received copies of two lithograph views, published
by A. Rosenfield, San Francisco--one representing J street from the levee,
and the other, K street from the same point. They are very correct.
Hossack & Crawford, corner of Fourth and K streets, have them for sale. . . .
ONLY BLOCKS.--In speaking yesterday of the railroad between Twelfth
and Seventeenth streets, we designed to say that "four or five blocks"
would be submerged if the water should rise a foot and a half higher.
The item read, erroneously, "four or five miles." We have no desire to
crowd so large a section of the road into so small a compass for the
malicious pnrpose of having it submerged and washed away. . . .
STILL RISING.--The water in the inundated portions of the city, contrary
to all reasonable expectation, rose yesterday some six or eight
inches--on what pretense or excuse, we are unable to determine.
THE RIVER.--The Sacramento river last evening had risen nine inches
within the past twenty-four hours, and stood at nineteen feet nine
inches above low water mark. . . .
A RELIEF PLAN.
EDITORS UNION: In these times of floods and general destruction of
property, and the misfortunes which Sacramento labors under for want
of means, I will suggest an idea which, if adopted, will assist some
little. The people of Sacramento and El Dorado counties, by a direct
tax, built a bridge and road to the summit of the mountain, which has
proved of vast benefit to both counties. The immense rains of the present
Winter have made that road impassable for teams without a large outlay
of money. That will have to be raised by tax, lease, or sale of the
road. I would propose that the Legislature pass an Act giving the
Supervisors of the two counties power to sell the road, and donate
the amount to Sacramento to assist her, in a measure, in her
misfortunes. It would be nothing more than returning to them their
own, and at the same time place the road in competition with private
enterprise.
MANY CITIZENS.
FROM VICTORIA.--Our dates from Victoria are to February 11th. We find
the following in the Colonist:
We conversed yesterday with F. Fulford, who left Lillooet Flat on the
13th, for this place, and has been twenty days in making the trip. He
says that only about thirty animals belonging to packers have died; but
nearly every Cayuse pony belonging to Indians is dead. The oldest Indians
say they never saw so severe a Winter. When Fulford left the Flat there
was very little snow; but three days after, when he reached Port Anderson,
on Anderson Lake, snow fell to the depth of three feet on a level, and
the storm, in all probability, reached Fraser river valley--although it
frequently happens that snow falls at Port Anderson and does not reach
Fraser river. Packing over the Harrison-Lillooet road is suspended.
Snow on the Douglas portage is five and six feet deep; on Pemberton
portage it is nearly as bad. Anderson Lake is frozen for a distance of
two miles, and the lake steamer is frozen in. It is the opinion of
packers that if the last snow storm reached the valley of the Fraser,
half of the animals are dead by this time. Animals on the Bonaparte,
at last reports, were looking well. An inconsiderable amount of snow
had fallen.
From passengers by the Emily Harris we learn that snow on the trail
between Alkali and Williams' Lakes covered the ground to the depth
of eight feet.
A letter had been received at Lillooet Flat which stated that a new
auriferous creek had been struck at Cariboo. It is situated some
seventy miles from Antler, and the prospects obtained indicate that
it contains far richer deposits of the precious metal than any stream
yet struck there. The creek is believed to be the one which was
discovered late in the season by John Rose & Co.
The men wintering at Cariboo are said to be comfortable and the
weather at the diggings is represented as mild.
Ice at New Westminister is sixteen inches thick.
At Yale stocks of provisions are short and high. Flour is selling
at $6 a sack. China rice is held at twenty cents per pound, and one
of the heaviest merchants of that town writes, under date of January
31st, that he has only two sacks left, for which he is asking $10
per sack. The weather at the date he writes was "very cold."
At Lillooet there is a little barley and no hay, and flour is fed
to the pack animals. Flour is selling at $28 per barrel.
Flour at Hope is $3 a sack. Plenty of everything save ground coffee.
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
MESSRS. EDITORS: It is rather a thankless task to correct discrepancies.
In spite of every care they will sometimes occur, and perhaps, too, where
they look very ugly. For instance, in my letter of yesterday I undertook
!to correct some discrepancies in figures which Mr. Rowlandson, I suppose,
overlooked in his letter No. 6, published in Wednesday's UNION, and
I believe I was especially careful therefore, as in duty bound, to
see that my own figures were correct. Nevertheless, between yon and me,
my attempt at correction has partially failed, fortunately not so as to
affect my ultimate canal proposition, but in two earlier references to
Mr. Rowlandson's figures. The first mistake occurs in cubic feet, about
six inches down my yesterday's letter, which reads, "now having already
seen seen [sic] that 100 square miles gives us 92,938,000." Instead of
"38,"we should read "28," as before stated in the paragraph. The second
mistake occurs about seven lines further on, where my letter reads,
"this 1,200 square miles, however, should give us 11,351,360,000 cubic
feet. Instead of "351," we should read "151." I hope these necessary
corrections will be acceptable to your readers, and I will only add my
best thanks for your publication of the letter and the kind attention
yon have drawn to my remarks in your leading columns. With respect to
the precisely best course for a canal to carry off the flood waters of
the American river, it is perhaps, with due deference to you, still
rather premature to be too definite.
I am glad that you do in effect approve a canal proposition. The details
for that canal must be a matter for still maturer consideratlon. But if
it is practicable to benefit a considerably larger agricultural area,
in addition to the city, than you propose, and for comparatively little
greater cost than our city alone might require, we can hardly take too
comprehensive a view of the subject. When this is properly understood
will there be any property owner who may be interested who would not
gladly, if necessary, offer his quota towards it? l am sure there are
some who would declare in plain phraseology--I hope wlthout offense to
you readers--" By gum, I'll double it if you like. [sic, no close "]
But has it never appeared to capitalists that it might be made to pay
for itself and return a handsome income to the projectors? There is
perhaps nothing like individual enterprise--at least in the old
countries--and we have got the same blood in us, only let us do the
right thing the moment weather permits. Let us at least give our
legislators some inducement to return to us, and then by and by we
shall have some hopes of seeing our beautiful Capitol completed and
form the crowning adornment of our city. Nor should we, also, then
forget to raise a temple to our Maker really worthy of praise, and
consistent with our prosperity and grateful acknowledgments. How many
blessings indeed does not the mind's eye see looming in the future
dependent upon this canal question! But we must be doing not dreaming!
So, once more yours, A. F. G.
SACRAMENTO, Feb. 28, 1862.
FROM THE NORTH.--Advices from Portland are to February 21st. We find
in our files the annexed items:
C. H. Miller, of Mossman & Miller's Express, gives us a few items from
the mines. He states that the snow is from ten to fifteen feet deep on
the mountain from Slate creek to Florence, bnt that travel in and out
has been constant enough to keep the trail in a passable condition for
animals. Provisions seem to be plenty in the mines. No mining is being
done, except an occasional attempt by some, with the use of fires and
the constant application of hot water to keep the rocker free from ice.
At Slate creek mouth, Mr. Miller met a party just in from a point above
that place on Salmon river, who reported the discovery of better mines
than those in the neighborhood of Florence. They had quite a large
quantity of gold, a specimen of which, worth $4, the expressman brought
down. They came down from the mouth of Slate creek for provisions, and
immediately returned. The precise situation of these diggings could not
be learned from the discoverers.--Walla Walla Statesman.
A correspondent of the Times, W. B. Park, a butcher, tells in
a letter dated February 16th, a large story, as follows:
I have just arrived here from the Salmon mines, having left the diggings
December 26th, and visited Oro Fino, en route down, which place I left on
January 2d. When I left Salmon there was about two feet of snow, and the
weather was beauti(ul and warm, and the miners were generally at work upon
their claims, and doiag as well as formerly. Some of them were making a
big thing. Bridge's claim was paying largely a day or two before I left
I offered him $7,000 cash for his claim and he laughed at me; I think he
will be able to take out of it $50,000. The Wiser claim is still paying
very largely. They were not workirg Jack Munro's claim when I left.
McKivet & Co.'s claim, on Nason's gulch, is paying largely; Charles
Wilson's claim, on one of the tributaries of Summit flat, is also
paying largely, and many others I might mention. Wages are $10 and $12
per day, and hands to work at these prices are scarce. The mines are all
they have been represented, and I think the country already prospected
is capable of liberally rewarding a population of 15,000 miners, and
I can see no reason why a much larger portion adjacent, should not be
equally as rich in gold. I found the snow about three feet deep on the
east side of the mountain as I came out. From the summit most had blown
off, and the wind was strong and severe. No snow on the mountain four
miles beyond Slate creek, and none on the Salmon river. We had a good
journey to Oro Fino and out to Lewiston and Walla Walla. Remained at
Walla Walla till January 18th. On that day, at ten o'clock, the thermometer
stood at 23° below zero. It had stood as low as 31° below. Came as far
as Wilson's creek in Blackamoor's stage. Here we became impeded in snow
and the stage turned back. I came on foot the remainder of the way to
the Deschutes. I was with Brown, whom we had to leave on the way. We had
a severe trip. Arrived nt the Dalles safely, and found that many persons
who had preceded us had suffered greatly, and some had died.
It was ascertained that six persons had perished from exposure to the
cold. The names of five of them are as follows: Jagger, Allphin, Davis,
Mulkey and Riddle. The name of the Sixth man was unknown.
THE SALMON RIVER MINES,.--There is much good sense in the following extract
from a communication, written by a Salmon river miner, to the Portland
Times:
As to the farmers of Oregon, who are preparing to abandon their farms
by thousands, I think they are simply crazy! If these mines prove as rich
as they are generally supposed to be, a good farm will be more valuable
to the farmer, and yield him more gold in the next two years, than the
best set of mining claims in the Nez Perces country. Stay where yon are,
and if it prove a failure, as most of the great gold discoveries of late
years have, you will be no worse off; if it proves a success, wait--let
the gold come to you.
A gentleman near Portland states that he knew several farmers who some
time ago had determined to go to the mines, had now changed their views,
and will remain at home, attending to the gold diggings which can be found
in every man's farm.
RAIN GAUGE.--The San Francisco Bulletin gives the following rain
gauge for February:
February 2 in. 0.79
February 5 in. 0.04
February 19 in. 0.44
February 21 in. 2.09
February 22 in. 0.80
February 23 in. 0.84
February 24 in. 0.33
February 25 in. 1.49
February 26 in. 0.38
_____
Total inches 7.20
For season prior to February inches 38.02
______
Total....... inches 45.22
Total for the season of 1853 and 1854 . .. .inches 23.81
Total for the season of 1854 and 1855 inches 23.68
Total for the seassn of 1855 and 1856...... inches 21 66
Total for the season ef 1856 and 1857 inches 19.91
Total for the season of 1857 and 1858 inches 21.81
Total for the sesson of 1858 and 1859 inches 22.22
Total for the season of 1859 and 1860 inches 22.27
Total for the season of 1860 and 1861 . . inches 19.72
Total for the season of 1861 and 1862 inches 45.22
. . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3409, 3 March 1862, p. 1
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
SAN FRANCISCO, March 1,1862.
To-day closes the eighth week of the session, and the condition of the
business before the two houses points clearly to the rescinding of the
joint resolution to adjourn sine die on the 31st inst., or to the
ignoring of about two-thirds of the bills already introduced, and a speedy
check to the flood (of other bills) still pouring in. No important measure,
originated this Winter, has yet become a law. . . . to suspend further
work on the State Capitol until next session (understood to be the entering
wedge for a permanent removal); . . . Forty other bills are miscellaneously
special, such as appropriations to benevolent societies, large and small,
relief of flood sufferers and the like. . . .
At last we have a pleasant day, though a cold one; and the streets are
getting to be passable, as the wind and sun, and tramp of pedestrians,
harden the freedom's soil beneath our feet. . . .
[For the Union.]
OVERFLOWS AND LEVEE DEFENSES.
MESSRS. EDITORS: In a former communication I stated the proposition
that our State was more subject to sudden inundations than at the
period of its first settlement by its American population, and adduced
as reason for this theory the fact that the timber had been cut off
and destroyed by fire, to such an extent that the snows, exposed to
rain and the warm southwest winds, melted rapidly and poured down the
precipitous channels of the rivers simultaneously with the small streams
of the foot hills, which have their sources below the snow belt. Keeping
this assumption in view, let us look in the face the full magnitude of
the work required to protect Sacramento city from overflow.
In the first place, the myriads of tons of earth, gravel and bowlders
washed from the bed rock, leaving the hills the impervious roofs to shed
the water into the rivers, which act as gutters, have filled up the beds
of the streams below the foot hills, so that those former gutters no
longer conduct the waters through deep and serpentine channels to the
ocean. In fact, we need close our eyes no longer to the reality that in
times of freshets our rivers have no channels, or in other words, we have
no rivers. The inland "sea speaks to the mountain" as "Alp to Alp," and
the wild desolating water "goes where it listeth."
During the flood of January, 1850, I followed up the bank of the American
river, and observed that the stream was deep and turbid from the Sacramento
to Patterson's, and that its precipitous walls of sandy alluvial were but
little disturbed by any current then setting against them. This was before
mining had sent down the rivers any considerable amount of tailings. Mark
the change of twelve years. From a little way below the narrow and rocky
gorge of the river at Folsom, its bed has become an inclined plane, filled
up almost to a level with its banks, even to where it debouches into the
Sacramento. Down this inclined plane the river torrent, lashed into madness
as it dashes through the granite walls at Folsom, foams onward resistless
in its fury. At Brighton, low down on the plain, giant oaks, which overhang
either bank, with hundreds of feet of solid land in their rear, were swept
away in a night of the floods of this Winter. Indeed, as the inundation
approached Sacramento, it came rolling onward a wall of water, like the
perpendicular front of a continuous avalanche. It is said that water finds
its level, but hydrostatics, when applied to California floods, are at
fault. The momentum gained by the water in its rapid mountain career forces
it into eccentric movement, so that it may be said to absolutely pile up
wherever a real or seeming obstacle happens in its path. Now it is against
this avalanche of water from the Sierra that we have to defend ourselves,
and in doing so we must not base our calculations upon what has been the
condition of the country as regards the former water channels, but upon
the changes which have taken place and those likely to occur in the future.
I venture the prediction that before ten years shall have passed the
American river will have filled its bed to a level with its banks and
formed a dam entirely across the Sacramento, so that the latter stream
will discharge its waters through the tule in Yolo county into the main
channel again at Rio Vista. I suppose such a prediction will create a
derisive smile; but look a moment at the facts. Before the 9th of December
flood, the American river was all along its course, where there was any
mining ground, a vast deposit of cobble stones, run out from tunnels and
sluices, forming embankments, which, in many places, entirely walled across
its channel. Where are those millions of tons of gravel and paving stones?
The river bed and its banks have been swept clean of all obstructions below
Folsom for a long distance, and it is quite likely bowlders, suitable for
paving the streets of Sacramento, may be obtained this season in the
American below Smith's garden. Every freshet rolls the drift of gravel
and cobble stones nearer and nearer the Sacramento--its advance
guard--quicksand, having already formed an immense bar below the mouth
of the American, reaching nearly to the Yolo bank, and bare at low water
more than two-thirds of the way. If the debris coming down from mining
claims was quicksand, the moving currents of water would keep it drifting
onward to the ocean so that the channels of the rivers would deepen as
the banks narrowed, but the bulk of the washings from the mountains is
clay or gravel, the first forming what is termed slum, a substance which
solidifies after precipitation, so that the water passes over it. This
is what is filling up Suisun bay and the lower Sacramento. At my place,
two miles below Sacramento, where the river has more than an average
width, and runs in a straight line, the bed of the river has been raised
about ten feet, entirely across, during the four years that I have been
making examinations. It would be a matter of great interest to the public
if Dr. Logan would make a series of experiments, showing the amount of
earth carried past Sacramento city by the river in a year. By
precipitating the earth held in solution during the time of greatest
rise and at low water in the Summer he could approximate very nearly
to a correct estimate. As a matter connected with the fertilization of
our barren plains, the subject would be full of interest.
Having made this communication already too long, I must defer the subject
of levees to another time. Wilson Flint. . . .
FLOUR AND WHEAT.--In its notice of domestic produce, the San Francisco
Mercantile Gazette says:
There is probably less animation in the market and fewer sales of flour
and wheat in progress, than for any like period in many months; even
the local demand for flour has in a great measure ceased, so far as
regards sales from first hands. Our quotations must be looked upon as
quite nominal, while receipts of all kinds of grain, etc., from the
interior are light. Bad roads and low prices are very effective barriers
to the marketing of surplus stocks held by farmers. The weather for a
week past has been again stormy, and the rains so severe as to stop all
plowing and seeding, and otherwise greatly retard the usual seasonable
duties of the agriculturist. The late rain has been accompanied with
much warmth of atmosphere, so that the snow upon the mountains is melting
freely, and the premature opening of fruit blooms is apprehended. As
we write, our prospects are not so brilliant as at the date of our last
issue, a week since. We do not now believe that business generally can
resume its wonted channels much before the first of April. The plowing
and sowing season will be proportionately retarded. . . .
REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL.--Senator Perkins, in the course of his remarks
on yesterday, in the Senate, on the bill suspending the work on the State
Capitol building at Sacramento, stated that the people of San Francisco
desired the Capital located here, and that his constituents were in favor
of it. We deny the statement as being utterty without foundation, and
challege [sic] the Senator to the proof. We have as good means of knowing
the news and sentiments of the people of this city and county, on that
matter, as Senator Perkins, and we utterly deny that they are in favor of
any such change in the location of the capital as that announced by the
Senator. There never has been the slightest indication given that the
people here desire it, unless Perkins considers the Taxpayers' Union the
people; and that association, consisting of a. few members, may be in
favor of the proposed change, but that the masses of the people are is
a gross perversion of the truth.--Sam Franciso Spirit of the Times. . . .
p. 2
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, Feb. 27, 1862.
The Senate met at eleven o'clock--the Lieutenant Governor in the chair,
and Messrs. Irwin and Pacheco absent. The Journal was read by the new
Assistant Secretary and approved. . . .
REPORTS.
Mr. WARMCASTLE, from the Committee on Public Buildings, reported in
favor of indefinitely postponing Senate Bill No. 61--An Act to suspend
the operations on the State Capitol building until the session of the
ensuing Legislature. . . .
THE GENERAL FILE.
Senate Bill No. 53--An Act to extend the time for completing the
foundation and basement walls of the Capitol building in the city
of Sacramento--was made the special order for 11-1/2 o'clock on the
same day, by request of Mr. De Long. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, Feb. 27, 1862.
The House met at eleven o'clock. . . .
THE FEDERAL WAR TAX.
. . .
Mr. TILTON of San Francisco . . . The valuation of Sacramento last year
was $12,000,000, and it was a liberal allowance to say that $2,000,000 of
that had been destroyed, and perhaps as much more in San Joaquin.
Mr. MYERS said the loss in San Joaquin had been overestimated; it would
not amount to half so much. . . .
Mr. lRWIN said it had been stated that the loss of property in the valleys
of San Joaquin and Sacramento was greater than elsewhere, but he believed
it was an error. Other portions of the State had suffered very heavily.
He had a letter from Siskiyou county stating that the losses would reduce
the assessments this year more than one half. That was the general opinion,
and Trinity and other counties in the mountains were in the same position.
He did not believe the actual destruction of property amounted to more
than $27,000,000, as stated by Mr. Tilton of San Francisco, but the
property remaining would be found to have greatly depreciated. . . .
Mr. WRIGHT said, in the counties of Del Norte and Klamath the valuation
would not be one-third of last year, . . .
Mr. MEYERS said he believed the losses by the flood had been greatly
over estimated. . . .
Mr. TILTON of San Francisco said the gentleman from Nevada had, in his
opinion, rather over estimated the poll tax and under estimated the taxable
property in the State. He was still of opinion that the valuation of the
State would reach $120,000,000, . . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, Feb. 28th.
The Senate was called to order at eleven o'clock by the Lieutenant Governor, . . .
REPORTS.
. . . Mr. PERKINS, from the Finance Committee, reported back Senate Bill
No. 208--An Act to appropriate money out of the General Fund for the relief
of sufferers by the flood--having filled the blank in the bill with the
sum of $1,500; . . .
THE CAPITAL QUESTION REVIVED
Senate Bill No. 61--An Act to suspend until the ensuing session of the
Legislature the construction of the State Capitol now in process of
construction in the city of Sacramento--was taken up, with a recommendation
of the Committee on Public Buildings that the same be indefinitely
postponed. It reads as follows:
Section 1. That so much of an Act entitled an Act to provide for the
construction of a State Capitol in the city of Sacramento, approved
March 20, 1860, and so much of the authority of an Act entitled an
Act amendatory of and supplemental to an Act entitled an Act to provide
for the construction in the city of Sacramento, approved May 29, 1860,
approved March 29, 1861, as authorizes the construction of a State Capitol
in the city of Sacramento, is hereby suspended until the meeting of the
ensuing Legislature of this State.
Section 2. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Treasurer and Attorney
General, together with one member of each branch of the Legislature, to
be appointed by the respective presiding officers thereof, are hereby
constituted a Committee of Examination, who shall, during the ensuing
Summer and Fall months, examine into the safety and practicability of
completing the construction of the said State Capitol, and report their
conclusions, and the reasons upon which they found such conclusions, to
the ensuing Legislature. If, after making a thorough examination, they
conclude that the present location of the State Capitol is an unsafe or
unsuitable, and cannot be made a safe and suitable one without a large
outlay of money on the part of the State, they may examine other
localities, and report to the ensuing Legislature where, in their
opinion, is the most suitable site for a State Capitol, stating the
reasons which induce them to select such site.
Sec. 3. The authority of the Board of Commissioners and architect created
by any of the Acts named in this Act, are hereby suspended, and their
salaries stopped.
Sec. 4. The Governor and Attorney General are hereby created a
Committee to confer with George W. Blake and P. Edward Connor, the
contractors for building said State Capitol, and ascertain on what
terms the said contractors will suspend the construction of said
Capitol until the action of the ensuing Legislature, and report the
result of their conference to the Legislature as soon as practicable.
Mr. SOULE said he hoped the bill would not be indefinitely postponed.
Since introducing it he had been accused frequently of doing so as an
entering wedge for the removal of the Capital to this place. He denied
it emphatically. He was willing to have the Capital put anywhere, on
the top of Mount Diablo if they liked, anywhere it would not wash away
or tumble down. The foundation walls of the new building had been submerged
four times this Winter. He had been informed that the Capitol building
would cost $2,000,000 if carried on as commenced, and if so some steps
should be taken to ascertain with a reasonable degree of certainty that
it could be protected, after once completed, without another outlay of
$2,000,000.
Mr. PORTER also hoped the bill would not be indefinitely postponed. He
considered it one of vital importance. There was now upon the ground a
vast amornt of material that could be saved, amounting to a value of
$19,760, the State having paid seventy-five per cent. upon it. The
perishable material on the ground was about $5,000. There were two
million brick in the walls, worth $8,000, and which could be taken out
if the place were deemed an improper one for building the Capitol. If
the Legislature should deem Sacramento an improper location, over
$40,000 worth of material could be saved. The State, at the present
time, was unable to go on and build the Capitol upon the plan proposed.
He wanted to know where the money was to come from to do it. Last year
the disbursements exceeded the revenue of the State, and this year
matters would be worse. He hoped some of the gentlemen in favor of the
indefinite postponement of this bill would suggest some plan by which they
could pay for it without issuing bonds. There was no doubt to his mind
that it was an improper and unsafe place to locate the Capitol.
Mr. GASKELL said, in order that no Senators might be misled by what
purported to be a report from the Committee on Public Buildings, he
would state that at the time that conclusion was arrived at, there were
four members of the Committee present. He was opposed to the report, and
thought the bill ought to pass with amendments. He thought the majority
of the Committee were in favor of it, and if they had all been present
the Committee would have reported favorably. In favoring the passage of
the bill he did not intend or desire to hurt the interests of the city of
Sacramento. He did desire to look after the interests of the county that
sent him here. If two or three millions were to be spent in the
construction of the capitol, it should be demonstrated to the people
of the State that Sacramento was a safe place for it. Gentlemen stated
that only thirty or forty thousand dollars would be expended this Summer,
and without any further appropriation; but he was opposed to expending
another dollar at present. The Legislature had been compelled to leave
Sacramento, and that city was again inundated. The people of California
wanted to know to a certainty abont it. The passage of the bill would not
injure the prospects of Sacramento, but would induce her people to renewed
energy in trying, if possible to protect their city.
Mr. OULTON inquired how much of the $50,000 appropriated last year for
the Capital was still unexpended. Mr. SOULE replied about half of it.
Mr. PORTER said he had been trying to get at the facts of the case for
thirty or forty days, and had finally to get at it by rumor.
Mr. OULTON said if $16,000 was all that could be saved to the State by
passing this bill, he certainly hoped the recommendation of the Committee
would be acted on by the Senate. He had voted for temporary adjournment,
and was held, along with others who voted for that measure, as an enemy of
Sacramento, besides being submitted to many frivolous little charges about
personal comfort, etc. These charges were made by the press and
representatives and people of Sacramento. Still, he would endeavor to
live above such trivial charges, and vote impartially on the bill. The
people of California, through their representatives, had located the
Capital at Sacramento, as they supposed permanently. Whether wisely or
not mattered not, it had been done. He still believed it was a fit place
for the Capital, and that the city would be protected against all floods
that would in any way injure public buildings and property of the State
that might be located there. If only $16,000 was left unexpended, he
did not know that the State could save much by the passage of this bill,
which provided for the appointment of a Commission to travel all over the
State. If there was anything that had proven itself completely and
decidedly a humbug, it vvas these Committees traveling around to examine
into matters of this nature. He hoped the bill would be indefinitely
postponed.
Mr. DE LONG said he was one of the Committee on Public Buildings,
and had consulted with three or four of that Committee who were not
present when the bill was considered. He certainly was not present,
and did not concur in the report.
Mr. GASKELL said it was not the Chairman's fault, who had notified all
and requested them to be there.
Mr. DE LONG classed himself under the same category as the gentleman
from Siskiyou (Mr. Oulton), having likewise fallen under the displeasure
of the citizens of Sacramento. They were considered their enemies
because they had voted for adjournment to this city. The statements of
the public press should in no way influence him on this measure, nor
would he be intimidated thereby. It was true a former Legislature had
determined for the people of this State that the Capital should be
permanently located at the city of Sacramento; and it was true, also,
that the people of the State had acquiesced in that decision. But it
was also true that when that decision was made, the facts now existing,
so appalling in their nature had not occurred. The perpetuity of the
Union, in which the State was to assist, and the expense of the war,
now falling upon every man,was not considered. Protected, as Sacramento
was deemed to be, substantially, no dangers from floods were feared.
Now it was an open question upon which men differed honestly, whether
the present location of that city could be protected at all by such
an outlay of money as would be made there. It was also true that our
people, with an empty treasury, were called upon to pay taxes of such
a nature that it almost seemed a misfortune at the present time to be
an owner of property. With the safety of its location undetermined and
with a tax to be paid for other purposes, he did not believe among his
constituents there was a single man who desired him to entail upon them
the additional tax of proceeding with that building. He visited the
location several times last Winter, and so did the gentleman from
Siskiyou. The whole vast valley of the Sacramento was submerged. A
combined war of the elements seemed to threaten the valley with
destruction. But it made no difference whether it was a misfortune
or not, the result was here, and it spoke for itself. Did the Senator
wish, by his vote, to continue the construction of that building upon
that soil--a building that, in his humble judgment, it would require
ten or fifteen years to complete, at the rate they had been proceeding
with it--and necessitate the expenditure of millions of dollars? Could
he say that was consistent with the vote he cast on the removal of the
Legislature to this city? Could he say to his constituents he considered
that city safe from overflow, and fit to accommodate the Legislature,
when he did right to come to San Francisco on the ground that it was
unsafe and in an improper condition? The two systems could not be
harmonized except by one method, and that was the Senator's confidence
in the ability and energy of the people in protecting themselves from
a second inundation of the nature they had received this year. The Senator
could not go beyond him in his admiration of the people of Sacramento
for their energy. In every place where that had been called in question,
he had ever yielded the palm to the citizens of Sacramento for the most
untiring energy and perseverance that he ever saw displayed in any
community. They had built that city in a place where God and nature
never intended a city should be erected. They had seen it devastated,
had rallied to its rescue, had protected it time after time, had
apologized for its misfortunes, had expended that degree of zeal, energy
and industry which were well calculated to lead to the belief that they
would protect themselves from any exigency. But he said there was a doubt,
and he was unwilling to plunge the State farther and further into an
outlay of money where there was an uncestainty [sic]. It was no spirit
of pride, or enmity, or rivalry, that caused him to make these remarks.
Let them first determine--could they and would they protect their city
from any future danger of this nature, and thereby render it a proper
place for the Capital. First determine that, and he was amongst the
last that would ever vote for its removal. Any effort that might be
made here, this Winter, to remove the Capital from Sacramento, he would
oppose by his vote and voice. That was what he promised at Sacramento,
when it was urged that their temporary removal was merely an initiatory
step to first get the Legislature here and then effect their permanent
removal from the city of Sacramento. He would take no advantage of
misfortune, and would wait with that question until, equal handed in
the contest, the figbt would come up in their midst and upon their own
floor. If this bill did not pass, how was it proposed to expend that
amount? By issuing bills for the relief of contractors, upon the ground
that the flood had interrupted the railroad and cut off their material?
He asked whether the people believed that a building upon that magnificent
plan, if an overflow of this kind occurred again, would escape the
probability of a fall? He asked whether any such thing as danger of its
falling had been anticipated in laying the foundation. He protested in
the name of those he represented, against the further expenditure of
money, and levying and assessment of taxes to continue the building,
until the question was solved by the people of Sacramento themselves,
who were most interested "Can you, will you, during the intervening
session of the Legislature protect your city so as to lead, on calm,
cool judgment, to the conclusion that there is no future danger of an
overflow?" If the contrary were the case, it would be wise to save this
expenditure. He wished to see the bill amended in one particular, namely:
to strike out that portion providing for the appointment of a Commission
to travel around the State to select some place for a Capital. From the
experience of this Winter, they, the members of the Legislature, he said,
were led to believe that there was a great deal of useless expense being
incurred in continuing that contract, and until the foregoing question
had been determined they were unwilling that their constituents should
have to pay taxes for the construction of the Capitol.
Mr. SOULE inquired whether it was possible to build a levee high enough
to protect the city.
Mr. DE LONG replied, and said that question could not be determined.
He deemed it a doubtful case. If the levees were to be built a foot
higher it would still be impossible to determine whether it was safe.
But, in all human probability, it would be considered so, and that
hypothesis would be acted upon. He knew that even in that case it
would not be safe, because twenty-four hours continuance of any of
those great storms, which migh tas [sic] easily happen as not, would,
in his opinion, have destroyed and blotted out from the face of the
earth every city and hamlet and habitation in the Sacramento Valley.
But, hoping against anything of that kind, if Sacramento should, this
Summer, show sufficient energy to complete a new and higher levee, the
next Legislature would undoubtedly permit the construction of the
Capitol to go on. We were building a Capitol more gorgeous and
magnificent than any State in thr Union, and yet had not a dollar.
The State of California, in constructing it, would be like a little bit
of a boy with a great big man's hat on. A magnificent Capitol, and not
a cent in the treasury, but in debt for the whole amount.
Mr. PARKS said he would favor the indefinite postponement of the bill,
for the very reason that he believed it would cost the State double the
present contract if the bill were passed. For the State to undertake to
annul the contract without first having ascertained on what terms they
could annul it, was a very dangerous thing in his opinion; $16,000 would
not justify it on the part of the Legislature. It was true the bill
provided for a certain Board of Commissioners to ascertain the terms.
But the same bill tha! annulled the contract appointed a Commission to
ascertain the terms after it had annulled it. It should not require a
second thought of any Senator to see how dangerous it would be for the
State to annul the contract made with an individual for building that
Capitol without first ascertaining the terms. The contractor would
apply for damages against the State which would be double the amount
of $16,000. If that were the case, the Act would be perfectly worthless.
Mr. DE LONG (interrupting,) moved that the bill be referred to the
Committee on Public Buildings, and stated that if it were so referred
they could amend it so as to do away with these objections.
Mr. PARKS said if these objections were removed, the bill would still
be worthless.
Mr. DE LONG--Aha!
Mr. PARKS said he was coming to it. This bill not only
anticipated stopping the contract, but removing the Capita! permanently.
It selected Commissioners to ascertain whether, in their judgment, the
city of Sacramento was an eligible place or not. He was opposed for one
to creating such Commissioners. The Legislature had once decided that it
was a fit place, that Sacramento should be the Capital, and contracted
in addition for a capitol building. The Commissioners could not exceed
in their expenditure the present appropriation. He believed himself that
the State was not prepared to proceed further this year. But let them go
on and expend what had already been appropriated. If the gentleman from
Yuba wished to know whether there was sufficient money in Sacramento to
levee the river, it would be known by the time the next Legislature
assembled.
Mr. PORTER inquired when the present contract expired.
Mr. PARKS could not answer the question, but anticipated the Senator's
argument by stating that whilst individuals had been greatly damaged by
the floods in this State it would not be at all out of the way to suppose
that the State must be somewhat a sufferer too. In all probability the
State would be called upon to relieve the individuals who took that
contract, for the reason that they did not anticipate at the time they
took it the losses to be endured by the flood. If the State escaped with
a small loss in that way, she would only be bearing her burden with the
people at large. It was true the contractor had not performed his work
in accordance with the contract; but he had been prevented by the flood.
All that was wanted, in his opinion, was to determine whether the State
was able to make another appropriation or not. If they decided not, as
a matter of course no further appropriation would be made, and the
contractor allowed to expend what was already appropriated. At the
same time he believed it was necessary to introduce some bill diminishing
the expense of the Commissioners now in charge of the building. He
would favor such a bill. But as for annulling the contract without
matters being first investigated, or appointing Commismissioners or
Committees looking forward to the removal of the Capital, he should
oppose it in every instance. The Capital had been chosen by a former
Legislature, approved throughout the State as the Capital, and he had
not the slightest doubt there was enough property at stake in Sacramento
to protect the city without holding this rod of terror over its citizens
of removing the Capital unless they built great levees. He thought
$16,000 would be only one-fourth what it would cost if the bill were
passed. But it was in no way probable that they could agree with the
contractor so as to save the $16,000. It would require $16,000 to put
the building in a shape that it would do to stand over until next year.
The material on the ground had better be put into the building. It
appeared to him that Senators advocating this bill looked more to the
removal of the Capital than saving $16,000.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN would oppose anything that looked to a removal from
Sacramento, but favored the provision of putting a stop to all expenditures
upon this or any other Capitol. California was not in a position to
build a Capitol. It was like a man in debt over head and heels trying
to build himself a fine house. The matter needed reference to some
Committee, in order to understand upon what terms the contract could
be rescinded. He believed the contractors were willing and anxious to
give up their contract.
Mr. SOULE said he knew they were.
Mr. DE LONG said they had sent in a petition, which amounted to that.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN said he had a petition in his possession, asking for an
extension of time.
Mr. PARKS said he would admit all that.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN expressed a desire to examine the bill further.
Mr. SOULE said they had already had five weeks time.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN said he thought the present Capitol building in
Sacramento in all respects adequate to the wants of the Legislature.
Mr. OULTON said the Senator from Yuba misconstrued his remarks,
representing that he was in favor of going on and making additional
appropriations. He was entirely opposed to that, and believed
Sacramento did not ask it any more than the contractors did The
cry of economy and retrenchment was raised here. They were going to
save $16,000 to the State. If the contractors asked to be relieved why
not grant their prayer and discharge them from their contract. That
would save the $16,000 without doing anything looking toward a permanent
removal of the Capital. Gentlemen said they were opposed to permanent
removal. They said so and advocated such bills as this; but he had
great reason to doubt the sincerity of the statement. He believed they
did it for the purpose of "keeping it. to the ear, but breaking it to
the hope." He had voted for temporary adjournment in good faith, and he
had no fears that his constituents were not intelligent enough to
understand the matter. They knew it was impossible to transact business
in Sacramento. They knew also that that was a temporary state of things,
which could be remedied in future. He believed the people of Sacramento
had the means and the will to protect their city. A great deal had been
said about the walls of the present Capitol building, that the foundations
were in danger, etc. He had been on the ground and seen these walls.
He could not tell whether the foundations were secure or insecure, but
believed they were perfectly secure, and that the condition of things
exisitng there this year never would exist again. If the rain continued
twenty-four hours and washed away every village, it was equally true
that if it continued forty-eight or one hundred and sixty hours it would
wash away a great deal more. The argument was not a fair one. The State
of California had annulled one contract--the State Prison contract--and
how many thousand dollars had it cost her? The same result would occur
in this case if the contract were annulled. If the contractors desired
relief there were other ways of having it done.
[Cries of "Question."]
Mr. PORTER said the contract expired in April. He moved that the bill
be recommitted to the Committee on Public Buildings, with instructions
to make inquiries as to terms, etc.
Mr. NIXON said it became him to say a few words in this connection.
Nothing had astonished him so much during the time he had held his
seat in this Senate as the introduction of this bill by the Senator
from San Francisco (Mr. Soule). He wished to make no personal charges
against the Senator, but at the time the removal question was under
discussion at Sacramento the Senator assured him that neither he nor
the San Francisco delegation would do anything after the removal that
would look toward a permanent removal of the Capitol. This bill looked
very much to him like a move of that sort. He looked upon it as the
most mischievous course for that purpose that could have been concocted.
It brought against Sacramento all other portions of the State that had
ever taken part with that city for the Capital. It threw open the question
until next year, and dragged it into political issue before every
political clique in the State. For that reason the intent appeared to
him to have been mischievously con-
p. 3
ceived. The bill was calculated to
bring in delegations from every county aspiring to be the Capital in
opposition to Sacramento city. More than that, so far as economy or
stopping the work was concerned, it was no economy. He did not know until
this morning that there was so small a portion of the appropriation
unexpended, but a large quantity of the material on the ground had been
paid for, within twenty-five percent, of its real cost, and could be
worked up during the Summer without any loss to the State. A small
quantity could be worked into the building without any loss, and it
was for that reason that the Board of Commissioners had ordered the
contractors to work the lime into mortar. The concrete basement walls
having been laid, there was nothing to do but to mix the lime and sand,
and to put a few hands on the ground to lay the bricks upon the mortar.
That was the reason the contractors had been ordered to go on, and not
because the Commissioners desired to put them to inconvenience. It was
to save the property of the State. He felt friendly toward the contractors,
and thought the State ought to allow them adequate relief for their
losses by the flood. The friends of Sacramento did not ask any
appropriation, but simply requested that the work might go on; that
its interruption might not cast an additional gloom over the desponding
spirits of that people. It would be better for the taxpayers of
Sacramento to pay this paltry sum of $16,000 to the State, and let the
work go on; it would be paid back in the way of revenue during the
coming year. Operations on the levees were going on that would amply
protect the city, some of the best talent in the State being now
employed in preparing estimates, and, in conjunction with the Swamp
Land Commissioners, commencing the work. It was a fair and plausible
conclusion that they would keep the water out for all time to come,
at least in any such flood as had been seen yet. He was satisfied they
would build a levee to keep out a flood even greater than this, which had
probably not been equalled for hundreds of years, and would not be again
in that time. If these gentlemen were favorable to Sacramento they should
not be so stringent about the expenditure of the paltry sum of $16,000.
The object of this bill, he believed, was to bring other parts of the
State in competition with Sacramento for the State Capital, and next
year delegations would come up pledged against Sacramento. It was an
excellent beginning to log-rolling through any measure whatever. It
was not proper for him to impugn the motives of the Senator (Mr. Soule).
It was with painful utterance that he alluded to it at all, but,
believing as he did, he must express an opinion.
Mr. SOULE denied any such motive in introducing the bill, and replied
that the Senator might believe just what he d--n pleased.
Mr. HEACOCK said as representatives of Sacramento they naturally felt
very ticklish when these matters came up, whether in wolf's or sheep's
clothing, whether the ass' ears protruded or not.
Mr. PERKINS (interrupting) asked whether the gentleman referred to him.
Mr. HEACOCK begged the gentleman's pardon, and said his ears were not
long enough. It was not only the valley of Sacramento but every other
valley that had been devastated.
Mr. PERKINS made some remark to the Speaker in an under tone.
Mr. HEACOCK said be hoped the Senator from San Francisco would allow
him to continue with his remarks, as he never interrupted Senators.
Mr. MERRITT asked whether the question was on the reference or indefinite
postponement.
The PRESIDENT replied the reference.
Mr. HEACOCK expressed contempt at the pretext of saving $16,000, and
said these gentlemen would vote the utmost figure in paying Messrs.
Blake & Connor, and would relieve them in even more than $16,000. That
amount was arrived at by their own figuring. He concurred in the remarks
of Mr. Parks, and said the Senator from Sutter had ascribed to the
citizens of Sacramento that degree of enterprise and zeal which they
truly possessed; time and time again had they met misfortune and
conquered adversity. The city had fallen and risen again like the
Phoenix from her ashes, and her energy remained. She would rebuild
her levees one, two or eight feet if necessary. Their own interests
were sufficient at stake to call forth that protection. In order to
explain himself to his people he took occasion to say that when the
question of temporary adjournment came up in Sacramento, he was obliged
to abandon his house for three days and nights, and prevented him from
aiding in the endeavor to defeat that measure in the Senate. His family
were sick, and leave of absence had been granted him by request of the
Senator from Humboldt (Mr. Van Dyke), the UNION omitting to state the
reason of his absence, and subsequently holding him to account.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN moved that the bill be recommitted with the following
instructions:
Ordered that the bill be recommitted to the Committee with instructions
to confer with the contractors, and receive their proposition for
rescinding the contract, and report a substitute bill for the
discontinuance of work on the Capitol that shall not in any feature
look to the future removal of the capital.
Mr. MERRITT hoped the instructions would not be adopted, but had no
objection to a simple recommitment. Anything looking to interfering
with the contractors he would oppose, and he would vote against paying
them a single dollar. As certain as the contracts were repealed they
would have to pay five times or ten times as much as would be saved.
The State had never attempted to interfere with contracts, but she had
been mulcted in a large amount. In taking the contract, Blake & Connor
had also taken the chances. If they had $50,000 over, they would be
sure not to give it to the State; so he hoped the State would hold them
to their contract. He had no objection to stopping the work until it
was ascertained that Sacramento was a safe place. He wanted the State
to carry out fully her part of the contract, and give the contractors
no excuse for neglecting theirs.
Mr. SOULE inquired whether men could not be relieved from a contract by
the interposition of God or an enemy.
Mr. MERRITT thought not.
Mr. PERKINS asked who he attributed the flood to.
Mr. WILLIAMSON said the Republican party.
Mr. MERRITT said he would not try to answer that question. The
contractors had not been damaged so much as they made out. He wished
the bill so perfected as to stop the salaries of the Commissioners until
the safety of the foundations could be determined on. If one week's
interference were had with the contractors, they would be sure to knock
at the next Legislature for a relief bill. What had the State done to
entitle the contractors to relief? If there was a breach of contract let
the matter come before the Courts.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN said the contractors and the State were about equally
desirous to get out of this contract. He was willing to give them a
chance to be divorced.
Mr. SHAFTER said they had voted under precisely similar circumstances
to relieve contractors heretofore, with the exception that the occasion
for it was not the act of God. If it was fair last year it was fair
this, but he would not say that it was fair either year. He was opposed
to having the State come forward declaring that they were unwilling to
fulfill the contract. The bill provided that the Commissioners' salaries
should be stopped. He was in favor of that. A Committee had better be
sent up to see those gentlemen. The misfortune in not being able to
execute the contract was theirs, but they had no claim in consequence
upon the State. If $16,000 or $40,000, including materials, could be
saved, he thought it should be done, and regretted that the gentleman
(Mr. Nixon) had assailed his colleague; it would do him no good; it
would do nobody any good, and it would not help the question. He was
for picking up the odds and ends and saving them. The question was narrowed
down to whether they should or should not confer with these contractors.
He thought they had better confer with them, as any business man would do.
Mr. HARVEY desired that the motion to refer should be put and voted down,
and wanted the bill indefinitely postponed.
Mr. OULTON said be could not see what would be gained by recommitting
this bill. If the contractors were anxious to be relieved, they were
the parties to come to the Legislature, and not the Legislature to go
to them. They had friends enough here in both branches to attend to
their case; let them introduce a bill for their relief. He was of opinion
that if a Committee were appointed to ask the contractors, they would
be found pretty still. He was in favor of meeting the question now--should
we do anything that looked toward the removal of the Capital from Sacramento.
Mr. VAN DYKE said inasmuch as three of the members of this Committee,
which was composed of seven members, had not concurred, and asked to have
the bill recommitted, he thought that the proper course for the Senate
to pursue. He, for one, was not in favor of taking any step looking
to the removal of the Capital from Sacramento, and was also opposed
to incurring further expenses until it was demonstrated that that was
the place for the Capital.
Mr. DE LONG said there were four members of the Committee who were
opposed to the report.
Mr. HEACOCK said each and every one of the members had been invited
to the meeting, and that he himself proposed to lay the matter over
until they could be heard on the subject, but since the entire Committee
had been invited it was decided proper to act upon the bill. .
Mr. DE LONG said he was not casting any reflection upon the gentleman's
course, he had always acted uprightly; but there were four against the
report and they asked far a reconsideration, when there came up argument
after argument to oppose it. They did not propose to rescind the contract
until they received the assent of the contracting parties. If the
contractors were unreasonable in their demands the Committee would not
report favorably upon the bill. When the Committee merely asked that the
bill should have consideration they asked to have instructions committed
with the bill, prohibiting the Committee from doing anything looking to
a permanent removal of the Capital. Why this nervous fear on the part of
the Senator from Sacramento? Was he afraid that evidence would come
before that Committee that would militate against his pet plan? If hasty
legislation was painful in its effects why did he ask to have indefinitely
postponed a bill that had not received consideration except from three
members of the Committee.
Mr. SOULE said it had received thirty days consideration.
Mr. DE LONG said until to-day he never knew the merits of the bill.
The framer was undoubtedly familiar with it, and the three gentlemen
who considered it also, but the rest of the Senate were not. He repeated
that he would carry out fully every pledge he made when he voted for
the removal of the Legislature to this city. But in this day of our
calamity and heavy taxes, on behalf of those he represented he did not
want any farther expenditure until it was decided that Sacramento could
be protected from the flood. He thought it the most imprudent and
improper action, in view of what had passed within the last few weeks,
and what was passing now at Sacramento, to continue the building of the
Capitol. Let the contractors execute their release, and then the State
would be safe against any contingent liability. If they could save
$16,000 was that not an item for consideration, or was the State so
wealthy that $16,000 need not receive consideration? Why did these
gentlemen vote to pay an assistant clerk five dollars per day, and
spend $700 in discussing the matter? He liked consistency.
Mr. MERRITT called for the reading of the instructions, and the
Secretary read; whereupon he asked for a division of the instructions,
and then upon the reference. He desired to vote for the reference and
against the instructions.
The question was taken on the adoption of the instructions and lost.
Upon the recommitment of the bill,
Mr. PERKINS said as the whole subject had been gone into, of the
temporary and the permanent removal of the Capital, of the pledges given
by A, B and C, in regard to matters in the future, he had a word to say
to this, and a vote to give.
Mr. MERRITT said the gentleman was not in order.
Mr. PERKINS replied that he would follow the course of debate and
keep in order. [Laughter.] He voted for the removal, and without
pledging himself to anybody, white, black, ring-streaked or speckled.
A MEMBER--What has that got to do with the reference?
Mr. PERKINS--Well, that has as much as your argument had. [Laughter.]
He continued that he was in favor of the reference, and wanted to say
here that he repudiated this idea that was constantly harped upon by
the honorable Senators from Sacramento, that no Senator here could say
one word to that Capitol at Sacramento, unless he was willing to open
the doors of the Treasury wide and broad, and he was charged with
desiring to put in an entering wedge for the removal of the Capital.
Whenever the most distant allusions to this question came up, up jumped
twenty persons and cried out, "Entering wedge," and removal of the
Capital from that poor, flooded, and he had almost said God-forsaken
city. [Laughter.] Twelve years ago he was at Sacramento city, where
it was located now, and he felt then, as he felt to-day, that it was
no place for a city, or town, or habitation for any living thing--flooded
out then, with water twelve, fifteen and twenty feet deep. He had felt
so ever since upon that subject.
Mr. NIXON inquired whether the gentleman, when the water was so deep,
immediately went down to Sutterville.
Mr. PERKINS replied no; he knew nothing about Sutterville. It was a
pity some gentlemen did not know more about Sutterville before they
invested their property in that mud-hole, Sacramento city. If they
could only get their property out of it, we should see such an exodus
as never had been seen in this or any other State. But they could not
get out. At the very time the citizens of Sacramento were abusing
members of the Legislature for going away, the steamboats were filled
with families fleeing from that city, which was uninhabitable for any
living thing, and yet they were all abusing them for trying to get away
too. There was a good deal of talk about a few thousand dollars more or
less. It was stated that the building would never be completed short of
a cost of $2,000,000, if built accord-to the plans and specifications.
If the State wanted a place to sink money--a great big, large, broad hole
to sink money for the next five years--they had it there. There was not
a better place in the State. There was not an inch of solid ground within
fifty feet of the spot where the Capitol was to be erected, and the
waters always stood on a level from the river to the foot hills. Dig
down, and the moment you come to the level of the Sacramento, there you
would strike water for one, two or three miles. There was no foundation
for a single building in the whole city. As they progressed with the
work the opportunity would increase, and they could go on spending
money for the next five or ten years. The State of California did not
want such a Capitol. It is like a little boy, as the gentleman from Yuba
had said, with a big hat; it was all hat, and very little boy. [Laughter]
It was a good chance to keep on, in order to give those people a show.
There was only one chance of making that city entirely safe, and that
was to commence at the foot-hills, and levee the entire State. [Laughter.]
Who that had been up there could say that Sacramento was even an
island? It was all one sea. Poverty Ridge, the burying ground, he
believed, was out of water. There was another thing gentlemen harped
upon whenever this subject came up, and that was that they wanted to
injure the people of Sacramento. Who wanted to injure the people of
Sacramento? It was not him. He had friends there of twenty years standing
and he did not wish to injure them. They had property there; he was sorry
they had it there, and wished they owned it in a better place. But they
owned it there, and they were his friends, while legislators were here
not to watch the interests of Sacramento, but the finances of the State,
and ought to be allowed to do it without having their motives impugned
upon every occasion. Gentlemen ought to be allowed to express honest
opinions, without being charged with personal hostility to Sacramento
or the people of Sacramento.
Mr. HEACOCK inquired whether the Senator, in his remarks about
impugning motives, alluded to him.
Mr. PERKINS said he thought he had heard something from him that
sounded like intimating, whenever anything had been said, that they
were hostile to Sacramento, and were anxious to take the Capital away,
and that there was a double purpose on the part of the San Francisco
delegation when they voted for the temporary removal. Had he heard no
such thing from any person here?
Mr. NIXON asked whether he thought Sacramento was a fit place for the
Capital.
Mr. PERKINS said he would answer that question, as he happened to be
a friend of his. He did not think Sacramento was a fit place for the
Capital of the State. He had no fear in saying he was in favor of this
place (San Francisco) for the Capital. His constituents were in favor
of it. Nine out of every ten of the residents of this good city and
county of San Francisco would vote for having the Capital here. Perhaps
the gentleman thought their hotel keepers and shopkeepers had no interest
in this matter. But they had; and they wanted it here as a matter of
dollars and cents. What did they want it for up there? It was a matter
of dollars and cents. They did want it here; and if they could get it
here fairly they meant to have it here. But they were not going to
log-roll, and offer lots here, and lots there, in order to induce them
to come here. They had not done anything of the sort, and did not intend
to. One thing they did say, and that was, wherever this Capitol might
be built, in the name of heaven let it be built upon dry ground--somewhere
where it would not be in danger of being washed away, and where no more
boat bills would come in for from $1,500 to $2,000, for enabling members
to get around. He had to touch upon that matter delicately, as the people
of Sacramento were delicate about it. One thing he would say, the city
and county of Sacramento had never paid anything for his boat hire. He
had paid his own boat hire.
Cries of " Question," "Question."
Mr. PERKINS said he hoped this matter would be referred. He exonerated
the Senator from Sacramento from all blame in regard to the Committee.
He (Mr. Perkins) had frequently been invited to be present at the
Committee, but never could make it convenient. He would be present at
the next meeting. When this question came again he had a great many
things to say about it, and he intended to have his say about it fairly
and squarely. He did not believe in saying they were opposed to getting
the Capital away from Sacramento, and then trying to get it away. It
was a fair warfare. The Capital had never been located yet. They undertook
to locate it, but the only way in which the location could be found was
by the lead and line. [Laughter.] It was an object, financially, to
Sacramento and San Francisco, Benicia, Marysville, Stockton, San Jose,
and various other places near where his friend from Sutter (Mr. Parks)
resided. He thought it not improbable that Marysviile would come down by
and by and ask for the Capital. She was modest as well as her Senators.
Mr. DE LONG said it was a capital city.
Mr. PARKS thought the Senator from San Francisco very ungrateful indeed,
and ought to be the last Senator upon this floor to commence such a
tirade upon Sacramento. He was the only Senator who had received any
consideration there at all. He was the only Senator to whom any relief
was extended whatever. [Laughter.] And to see such ingratitude was
certainly--well, he should blush at any rate whether he did or not.
Particular attention had been paid to his wants while there, and now
he repaid it in this ungrateful manner by abusing the city of Sacramento.
[Laughter.] He would not chastise him, for he had no doubt his own
conscience would chastise him sufficiently hereafter. But he should
correct one thing, which he had positively misstated, and that was about
the foundations in Sacramento. Walls and buildings had fallen in
Marysville, San Francisco, and other places, at a loss of millions,
but there never had such an event occurred in Sacramento, he corrected
himself by excepting the old theater, which did not fall on account
of its foundation.
Mr. PERKINS asked whether the Senator was certain about this statement
as about other statements.
Mr. PARKS said he thought he was.
Mr. PERKINS inquired what made the walls of the new Capitol building fall.
Mr. PARKS replied by asking whether the Senator supposed it was the
foundation giving way of a wall eight feet in base and three feet high?
Mr. PERKINS intimated that they were seventeen feet high anywhere.
Mr. DE LONG said fourteen.
Mr. PARKS asked Mr. Nixon what was the actual hight of the present walls?
Mr. PERKINS said when the water got down they could find out.
Mr. NIXON said, about nine feet to the top of the stone.
Mr. PARKS said the walls were laid in concrete and perfectly solid.
The foundation, in his opinion, was good and substantial.
Mr. HEACOCK replied to Mr. Perkins' statement that there was no solid
earth anywhere within fifty feet of the Capitol building. As proved by
the borings of the Superintendent before the work was commenced, there
was twenty-five feet of solid clay within three feet of the top of the
soil.
The question was taken on recommitment to the Committe [sic] on Public
Buildings, and lost by the following vote:
Ayes--Bogart, Chamberlain, De Long, Harriman, Hathaway, Holden,
Merritt, Perkins, Porter, Powers, Rhodes, Shafter, Van Dyke,
Warmcastle, Watt--15.
Noes--Banks, Burnell, Crane, Denver, Harvey. Heacock, Irwin, Kimball,
Kutz, Lewis, Nixon, Oulton, Parks, Quint, Soule, Vineyard, Williamson--17.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN said that, after a closer examination of the bill,
he was unwilling to vote on it otherwise than to postpone it indefinitely.
Mr. DE LONG moved its reference to the Judiciary Committee.
SEVERAL MEMBERS--"No!" "No!"
Mr. DE LONG asked why not? Gentlemen said they were for fair play.
There were certain objectionable features in the bill which could be
amended. If there was a legal question involved relative to releasing
the contractors, it was proper that the Judiciary Committee should pass
upon it. Were gentlemen determined that these expenditures should be made
under any circumstances? He trusted not. All he asked was time, and if
they could not show that the State would save sixteen thousand dollars
by it, they would report against the bill. Senators should not object
to giving them at least an opportunity to try. He believed they were doing
it for the sole purpose of forcing the expenditure of the money anyhow,
properly or improperly. Whether it was feasible or not to build the capitol,
he made this motion for the purpose of determining whether there was any
honesty in the opposition to this bill.
Mr. SOULE said he voted against reference to the Public Building Committee,
because they had already considered it for thirty days, but he was willing
it should go before some other Committee for a reasonable time.
The motion to refer was carried by the following vote:
Ayes--Messrs. Bogrart, Chamberlain, Crane, De Long, Gaskell, Harriman,
Hathaway, Holden, Kutz, Perkins, Porter, Powers, Rhodes, Shafter, Soule,
Vandyke, Vineyard, Warmcastle, Watt--19.
Noes--Messrs. Burnell, Denver, Doll, Harvey, Irwin, Kimball, Lewis,
Merritt, Nixon, Oulton, Parks, Quint, Williamson--13. . . .
CALIFORNIA DRIFT.--Capt. E. G. Howes of the schooner Wild Pigeon, just
arrived from Mazatlan, reports having seen large quantities of drift
of every conceivable character, two hundred and fifty miles off this
port. The sight was so unusual even to his accustomed and observant
eye, that he noticed the phenomena most particularly. He reports that
it looked like the debris from some sunken city, and he thought San
Francisco had gone under. The fact that drift that far seaward is seldom
seen in this latitude, is a singular confirmation of the intensity of
the great flood which lately devastated California.--S. F. Herald.. . .
THE FLOOD IN PALESTINE.--Late advices state that immense quantities
of rain have recently fallen in the Holy Land. The cisterns at
Jerusalem have been filled as they have not been for the last two
hundred years. The flood appears to have visited the entire world,
with the exception of Eastern Asia, and further advices may take away
this exception. . . .
p. 4
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
In the line of communications we have two, Thomas Rowlandson and Wilson
Flint, on the subject of floods, . . .
The Sacramento continues to rise, and last evening stood at about
twenty-one feet above low water mark. As a consequence, the water in
the lower, inundated portion of the city is backed up and increased in
depth. Workmen were employed yesterday in strengthening the weak place
in the levee above R street. The Committee of Safety and the Sacramento
Valley Railroad Company co-operated in this work. No change is noticeable
in the American. . . .
THE CAPITOL CONTRACT.
The debate on the bill introduced by Senator Soule of San Francisco to
suspend the work on the State Capitol, rescind the contract, and appoint
a Committee to examine the foundation and future prospects of Sacramento,
and report to the next Legislature whether this city was a suitable place
for the Capitol, exhibited a disposition on the part of several Senators
to pave the way for permanent removal. The pretended object was economy,
though the argument in favor of said economy was formed upon the belief of
the speaker that Sacramento was not exactly the place for the Capitol. Now
if those Senators honestly desire to economize for the State, they will
permit the present contractors to go forward with their contract, allowing
them in settlement a reasonable compensation for any real loss they may
have suffered by the water. But the fact is they have been prevented from
going on with the work, but otherwise have not been very seriously injured.
Their heaviest loss was in lime and cement, a large portion of which the
State had paid for. The loss by flood to the State the Architect estimated
at about $3,500 while the sand that was filled in around the foundation by
the water it would have cost the State fully seven thousand dollars to have
put there. It was filling, too, which had to be done in the progress of
the work. The foundation, so far from being injured by water, has really
been benefitted in the judgment of those who ought to know. All statements
about the bad foundation in Sacramento are made by men who are ignorant
of what they say, or they wilfully misrepresent. The Architect of the
Capitol--now Superintendent--after boring and testing the ground thoroughly,
pronounced the foundation, for a large building, the best he ever laid a
wall upon. This fact has been demonstrated by experience: the foundations
of the heavy brick buildings in the city have not, in a single instance,
been affected by the water around the buildings or in the cellars. Indeed,
the firmness of brick buildings under the circumstance s is wonderful. A
San Francisco Senator--Perkins--(you know Perkins!) had considerable to
say about foundations in Sacramento. We judge that he has never read the
testimony taken in favor of the bulkhead. San Francisco citizens then
testified that whole blocks of buildings were gradually settling towards
the bay, and if the bulkhead were not built, there was danger of their
sliding in out of sight, Some swore that the mud was at least ninety
feet deep under certain improvements along the city front. That same San
Francisco Senator had something to say about the safety of the Capitol if
it remained here. He would move it to the Bay City for safety. Well after
it were placed there who would insure a large brick building in that city
against the effect of earthquakes? Within the past ten years we have read
of frequent shocks in San Francisco, which caused people to run out of
their houses, without being particular as to the dress they appeared in.
Before twenty-five years pass who can say positively that every brick
building of any size will not be prostrated by an earthquake? No mortal
man will declare that there is no danger of such a catastrophe overtaking
that. city. It is therefore a piece of barefaced impudence for the
Senators of a city liable to such a terrible visitation to be talking
about other cities being unsafe. . . .
SNOW IN SIERRA.--A few days since, about four feet of snow fell near
La Porte. There has been large quantities of it in other portions of
the northern and eastern sections, and they have undoubtedly caused
the present high condition of the Sacramento. . . .
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
MESSRS. EDITORS: The glimpse at a copy of your publication recently
afforded me the opportunity of glancing at the letter of A. F. G., to
whom I am obliged for pointing out the glaring mistake of 100 being given
in place of 10,000 square miles. Whether the other errors mentioned by
A. F. G. are mine or typical ones, they are not of very great importance
where such relative quantities are only alluded to by way of illustration,
and not as advising practical operations to be based upon them.
A subsequent letter of mine respecting the Straits of Carquinez will,
I trust, satisfy A. F. G. that my reference thereto and inference as to
their capacity was not an unjust one. At the present moment I cannot enter
into detailed calculations, but I cannot help expressing my surprise as
to how A. F. G. arrives at the conclusion that the difference between
129,067 cubic feet per second and 137,141 cubic feet, or in round numbers
a less amount by 8,000 cubic feet per second than my rough and perhaps
erroneous estimation, would require a trough of only one-fifth the capacity
which I alluded to by way of exemplification. The remarks respecting
turning the American river and conveying it by the shortest route meet my
approval and correspond with opinions which I presume by this time are
already published.
With respect to mining districts being on river bunks, I am quite aware
of the fact, but the canons best adapted for impounding the waters of
the American are those which have been and ever will be the poorest for
river mining, whilst, on the contrary, such reservoirs would be of
priceless value if utilized for the extraction of gold from what are
usually denominated dry diggings, and capable of being made of great
collateral advantage to agriculture. In any works to be proposed I
anticipate that all parties are to be not only fairly but fully
compensated for any interference with their equitable interests, but
not too outrageously paid for any loss which they may be at. for
condemning their claims for public purposes. It is quite probable,
however, that anything which the public would have to pay on that
account would be more than recompensed hereafter by the yield of gold
from such reservoirs by the application of proper appliances.
The remarks of Wilson Flint corroborate part of my views, and those
the main ones, respecting the influence on the rain falls of California
derived from the warm current which sets in from the tropics up the Gulf
of California through the Mojave county.
T. ROWLANDSON.
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE
THE LEVEE AT R STREET.--During the past four weeks the Sacramento levee
above R street, in front of the house of W. Crump, has been steadily
washing away. Up to Saturday morning, a space of about two hundred feet
in length and perhaps forty in width in the center, had washed out. The
eddies which form at that point have acted upon the base of the embankment,
and undermined it so as to cause it to cave constantly from the top. By
this means the levee proper had been entirely cut through, and the steady
rise in the Sacramento had brought the water almost to the top of the
natural ground behind the levee. The steady advance of the Sacramento
rendered it certain that longer neglect might be attended with serious
consequences, and on Saturday, at noon, the Committee of Safety and the
agents of the Railroad Company, commenced the work of repairing the levee.
Superintendent Robinson brought a piledriver to bear, and commenced to
drive two tier of piles along the front and nearly in line with the
original bank of the river. It is designed to lay a railroad track along
this line after filling in the space with gravel. Under the management
of the Committee of Safety some forty men were employed to construct a
temporary levee in front of the opening. The material used was Folsom
gravel, delivered on the ground by the railroad company. In addition to
the above precautionary measures a large number of the cottonwood trees
along the levee were cut down, and placed in the crevasse to counteract
the effect of the current. This work commenced on Saturday, was resumed
yesterday morning, and continued through the day. By last evening the
levee, some eight feet wide, four feet high, and about one hundred and
fifty feet long, had been constructed, and the point was comparatively
safe. The river had risen until the water was within six inches of the
top of the bank, so that had not the new levee been constructed, a slight
additional rise would have started the water into the city. The place
was visited during the entire day by large numbers of men, women and
children.
BOAT RACE.--Several hundred persons visited the vicinity of Sixth and
R streets at three o'clock yesterday afternoon--some in boats and others
on foot--for the purpose of witnessing the boat race announced to come
off at that time and locality. The boats were to start from the knoll
near the Cemetery, at which point the Judges and a band of music were
stationed. They were to come up to within a few yards of the railroad,
and turning a post, make a circuit to the south and return to the judges'
stand. The boat owned by Mooney was rowed by Mooney and Pierce, and
Parker's boat was rowed by Peeler and "Scotty." Mooney's boat won the
race, coming in a boat's length ahead, and Mooney and Pierce were awarded
the wager of $100, made between the parties. A second race took place
between Henright and "Chris," on the one hand, and "Dutchy " and Quinn
on the other, resulting in the success of the first named party. The
water below the railroad, near the locality of the race, was unusually
calm and smooth, and a large number of Sacramentans were out in boats,
enjoying the day. . . .
NEW PORT OF ENTRY.--We learn from W. Webster that while at Georgetown,
four miles east of the river, and fifteen miles south of the city, a few
days since, a little sloop, the Mallard, of about three tons burthen,
arrived from Sacramento with merchandize to Kork & Co. She landed at what
is now called Smith's landing, but what is probably, in ordinary seasons.
Smith's pasture field. The Mallard was built in a blacksmith's shop in
Georgetown, by two young men of the village, and has kept the place
regularly supplied with provisions, etc., from Sacramento. The ground
on which Georgetown is located was not inundated during the flood, but
the place was a city of refuge, All its buildings were thrown open for
the benefit of those who lived nearer the river and were more unfortunate.
TO BE REGRETTED.--The parties who have charge of the improvement of the
levee at the foot of R street have had the cottonwood trees along the
levee cut off some six or eight feet from the ground, leaving only the
stump of that hight remaining. It is greatly to be regretted that the
limbs of the trees were not taken off some three or four feet from where
they fork. By so doing all of the tree which could be used to advantage
at the levee would be obtained, and from the remainder we should soon
again have had ample shade on the levee, The practice of smothering
bees to procure the honey has become obsolete. That of destroying trees
to obtain the branches ought to be. . . .
THE SCHOOLS.--Notice has been given by the President of the Board of
Education that the High School and First Grammar School and Primary
School No. 3 will open this morning, the first two at Franklin School
House, and the last named on the alley between I and J and Fourth and
Fifth streets. The Franklin School House, last evening, was surrounded
by water. Whether that circumstance will affect the case or not we are
not advised.
A PLEASANT DAY.--We were favored yesterday with pleasant weather, which
was generally appreciated and enjoyed by our citizens. Most of the
churches of the city were opened for religious service and were well
attended. All available streets and levees were appropriated, in the
afternoon into promenade purposes, and the placid waters south of the
city were made to contribute to the general enjoyment by the boating
portion of our population. . . .
THE RIVER.--The Sacramento, from contributions from its northern
tributaries, continues to rise without intermission. It stood
twenty-one feet above low water mark last evening, having risen since
Friday night fifteen inches. The water in the flooded district of the
city rises also, though not so rapidly as that of the river. . . .
[For the Union.]
THE SUBJECT OF LEVEES.
MESSRS. EDITORS: A great deal has been written by numerous
correspondents--some anonymous, and some writing over their proper
signatures--on the subject of protecting the city with levees, and
various opinions have been expressed and plans suggested in reference
to the all-absorbing question. In view of the conflict of opinions, as
exhibited in the articles of these correspondents, and the difficulty
of arriving at any very satisfactory conclusion in consequence of this
contrariety, I suggest that a corps of at least three of the most able,
learned and experienced civil engineers in the State be employed to make
a thorough survey of the country and and [sic] rivers round about the city,
followed by a full and detailed report on the subject, in which they
shall propose plans for the complete protection of the city, and for a
system of grades and drainage that shall insure us immunity in the
future from the overflows, stagnant water, mud and every other nuisance,
such as have offended our senses and created disgust with every one who
favors the spirit and energy in a people at this enlightened day, that
will urge them, at every hazard and without regard to expense, to protect
themselves from all such injuries and annoyances. They have sorely
afflicted us, as a community, for the last ten or twelve years, and
we should surely endure them no longer. I doubt not the entire
practicability of protecting the site of this city, and of maintaining
uninterrupted intercourse between it and the country during all seasons
of the year, whilst the entire arrangement shall be such as to insure
us firm, clean streets, and every other surrounding to give the place
an aspect of neatness, pleasantness and healthfulness.
But the first step to be taken towards accomplishing these desirable
and very practicable results is a through [sic] scientific survey--the object
being to found and erect the beautiful and prosperous city upon a firm
and enduring foundation. Heretofore we have been without the guidance
of science and skill, and have expended hundreds of thousands of dollars
under the direction of ignorant pretenders, where we have been betrayed
into a false sense of security only that the ruin that awaited us
might be all the more wholesale and overwhelming. The late terrible
disasters that have overtaken us, and our present deplorable and helpless
condition, at the very mercy of the floods, should surely arouse us from
our fatal lethargy, and urge to such decided and persevering action as
will insure uninterrupted progress and prosperity in the future.
A survey by such a corps of engineers as proposed, and a favorable
report from them as to the practicability of protecting our city and
making it safe from submersion or interruption of communication with
the interior, would go very far to restore public confidence, to enhance
the value of real estate, to quiet the agitation of the Capital question,
and to hasten the general improvement and advance of the entire city.
I feel that I am by no means over-confidant in respect to the effect of
proper action on our part according to these suggestions, and I hope they
may not be unheeded by those invested with the power to carry them out if
they be disposed so to do.
I have all along doubted the policy of repudiating the legally constituted
authorities of the city, because I regard them as competent and faithful,
and fully disposed to carry out honestly the wishes of the people, with
the view to the best interests of the city. But whether the Committee of
Safety or the Board of Supervisors shall take action, I earnestly urge that
no time shall be lost in employing such a Board of Engineers and putting
them to work without a moment's needless delay, as this will be but laying
the foundation upon which we must base our hopes for security and prosperity
as a people. It strikes me that the better plan would be to place such an
amount of the funds now in the hands of the Committee at the disposal of
the Board as may be deemed necessary for the special purpose of defraying
the expenses of the proposed survey and for nothing else, and at the
approaching session they may take immediate steps to put the good work
under way without a day's delay. This step, it seems to me, would at
once revive the hopes of the doubting and dejected, and infuse new life
and energy into every one. And I would say set apart at least $5,000 for
the object, to show our earnestness, and to command at once the best
engineering talent in the State; but without the purpose of recklessly
wasting or extravagantly expending any amount of it. If the cost of the
survey, the preparation of the plans and the superintending the
construction of a work of such magnitude and vital importance should
amount to $10,000 or $20,000, it would be far better to expend such an
amount in that way than to waste again large sums as heretofore under
the direction of the ignorant, without attaining the end aimed at. It
is the custom everywhere of governments and associated capitalists, to
avail themselves of the advantages of science in the planning and
construction of all important works, and we should not be so short
sighted and contracted in our views as to dispense with its indispensable
aids from a narrow and false notion tion [sic] of economy.
To refund all the money that has already been expended by the Committee
as well as what may be still in their hands, and to provide an ample
fund to construct works of complete defense against floods, a law
should at once be passed, authorizing the Supervisors to levy a special
tax as large as may be deemed necessary. Whether the special tax shall
be imposed on real estate only, or partly, to a certain extent, on
personal property also, I will leave to others to determine; but I
believe that every bona fide citizen, who has an attachment to
the city and feels in consequence a deep interest in its welfare, would
cheerfully pay a reasonable or equitable portion of the tax upon his
personal property, even although he might not be the holder of real
estate. But the bulk of the expenditures should, clearly to my mind,
be paid by the realty. NIL DESPERANDUM.
METEOROLOGY OF SACRAMENTO.
[PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR THE SACRAMENTO DAILY UNION.]
Abstract of Meteorology of Sacramento, with remarks. BY THOMAS M. LOGAN, M. D.
METEOROLOGY.
[February,
14 - Number of clear days
14 - Number of cloudy and foggy days
11 - number of rainy days
. 4.2 - inches of rain? unclear in table.]
REMARKS.--Notwithstanding the rain of the month has been so much in excess,
as shown by the table, in keeping with this extraordinary season, February
has proved, according to our expressed anticipations, the pleasantest month
of the Winter. It generally constitutes a period of interregnum between the
early and the latter rains, during which the increasing warmth of the sun
begins to make its influence felt on vegetation. In fact, it is our first
vernal month; the leafing process, for the most part commencing during
the second week and proceeding to completion at a temperature not much
exceeding that of the latter part of the month. Owing, however, to the
earth remaining cold and ungenial in consequence of its thorough
saturation and the large proportion of relative humidity, Spring has
been much retarded, as we had reason to predict it would be in our last
month's remarks. Nevertheless the willow has been in flower for some ten
days past, and in favorable situations the peach was seen in blossom
towards the last of the month. A further prolongation of wet weather will
have a tendency to keep back vegetation for many weeks yet, and we would
not be surprised if, as sometimes happens, the temperature of March will
not much exceed that of February. Our farmers thus may have still time
to sow their grain with a reasonable prospect of a fair return.
Up to the present period a little over ten inches more than our annual
average of rain (which is twenty inches) has fallen; and if the season
continues to bear the same relation it has thus far sustained to that
of 1849-'50 and 1852-'53, we will receive between forty and fifty inches
this year, or much more than double the average. In the former season,
14.500 inches fell during March, April and May; and in the latter,
11.950 inches during the same months.
Although the lower parts of the city were again inundated by the rise of
the American after the late rains towards the close of the month, the
Sacramento has been, comparatively, but slowly affected. From the level of
twenty feet, six inches, on the 1st, it steadily declined to its minimum
for the month, viz: fourteen feet, six inches above low water mark, until
the 22d. After this it responded in a measure to the rains and on the 28th,
when its temperature reached fifty degrees, indicative of the influence of
melted snow, reached an elevation of nineteen feet nine inches above zero.
It seems at the present writing (1st March), to be rising slowly, as shown
by the new gauge, which was set up on the 7th by the proprietors of the
UNION, conformably with annotated marks corresponding with the scale of
the late city gauge, which was carried away during the freshet. The great
hight attained by the Sacramento river this year, and the crevasses
resulting therefrom, have tended to produce loss of confidence in the levee
system heretofore adopted for the protection of the city. We are therefore
pleased to perceive that the subject is receiving the attention of
engineers and capable writers. Without attempting to engage in the
interesting discussion, with which the public mind is now being properly
exercised, we take occasion in this connection to add to our remarks,
that having paid some little attention to the general physics of the
river, we do not believe sufficient data have yet been carefully obtained
from observation and experiment for the final adoption of any new system
of treatment of the Sacramento. Reasoning a priori, however, from
the principles deduced from a study of the regimen of the Mississippi,
by Mr. Forshay, an eminent engineer of Louisiana, viz: that the channel
of the river is made by the abrasive force of its waters, and that a
less force would produce a smaller channel, and a greater force a larger
channel--hence a concentration of its waters would increase the capacity
of the channel, and conversely, diffusion of its waters permit it to
fill (partially) by its own sediment--and hence levees do not raise but
lower the lerel of the waters: we inductively arrive at the conclusion
that any distrust in the levee system as at present applied to the
Sacramento, so long as the embankments are kept in repair, would be
altogether illogical and irrational. Such inference, however, would not
hold good with regard to the American, for reasons which are obvious.
The latter is merely an affluent of the former, into into which it
discharges the water derived from its three sources on the western
slope of the Sierra Nevada, and which converge and unite about some
twenty odd miles to the eastward of the city. It drains a region mostly
below the snow range, and subject to rapid discharge of the rain
deposited on it, which, we apprehend, amounts not infrequently to more
than four inches in twenty-four hours. From its mouth to its source it
is but little over one hundred miles in length, and is very sudden in
its descent until it approaches near the city at Brighton, when it
becomes deflected from its southwestern to a northwestern course. It has
been said of such torrents that "they lay down what they will remove, and
remove what they lay down," and there seems to be little reason to doubt
the general truth of the postulate, testing it by the present example.
For like all mountain streams, only in a much greater relative proportion,
it brings down in its rapid descent a vast quantity of detritus and
washings from the hills and mines, which are transferred by it from
one location to another, while immense quantities are deposited near
the mouth; especially when its recipient is full, and where natural
causes retard the rapid flow of its waters. That this is so can readily
be ascertained by questioning the topography of the vicinage of the site
of this city, which will be found to be nothing more nor less than a
fluviatile delta, intersected with sloughs, through which the American
was formerly relieved at stages of high water of the Sacramento. Now,
while for the last twelve years the freshets of the American have been
confined by levees, parallel with its deflected course in this immediate
locality, the quantity of washing from mining causes has increased to
such a degree, that the bed of the stream, especially as it approaches
its recipient, where the force of the current decreases, has been actually
raised so high that the levees no longer serve as a protection against
the accumulated mass of waters to the north of the city--the less so as
they are founded on the quicksands which underlie the country in the
neighborhood of the mouth of the river. Under these circumstances we
must go back to nature and follow her indications, by reopening one or
more of those outlets, which have been injudiciously closed. The point
or points where this shall be done, must be decided by engineers and
experts, after having thoroughly examined the subject in all its bearings. . . .
p. 6
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
Their Causes and Suggested Remedies--No. 7.
ERRONEOUS IMPRESSIONS AND FALLACIOUS STATEMENTS.
Over the signature of John Roach, there appeared in the number of the
UNION for Monday last a letter, in which, without in any way unfavorably
criticizing the statements which I have made, would lead parties who had
not perused the whole of my opinions, as published through the columns of
the UNION, to very erroneous conclusions as to the tendency of my published
remarks. Mr. Roach states that I have not examined "fully the means by
which Morrison seeks to prevent future overflows of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin rivers." I believe I understand this much, namely, that he
proposes to employ convict labor, respecting which I am at war with him.
I differ with Morrison as to the proposed Boards of Supervisors, on grounds
adduced by me, and by inference I may have led those who have favored
my papers with a perusal, to conceive, what I feel is a fact, viz: that
we are not sufficiently informed on the chief points of the inquiry to
be at all capacitated to recommend any particular line of legislation,
or the construction of any; special species of works. So far as the
prevention of danger from future overflows of the Sacramento and the
San Joaquin rivers, by means of Morrison's bill, is concerned, I strongly
opine that, on the contrary, if any change took place at all, should
such a bill ever be permitted to pass, it would be for the worse; that
not only would the convict labor presumed to be saved be thrown away,
but the probability is that obstacles and interests would be raised
calculated to retard any judicious improvements that could be proposed
hereafter. I enter my my [sic] strongest protest against coupling the
question of preventing, if possible, any damage arising from future
floods, and that of using prison labor. The latter, if it is deemed
fitting to do so, might be adopted at time. As regards myself, I freely
agree to the proposition; the only difference between me and Roach
being that I would wait for the same to be efficiently used after a
well digested, practical plan has been matured, or previously carefully
prepared and accurate data; the latter at the present time being
entirely wanting--to urge the attainment of which is one of the
objects of these papers, respecting which I think I may without
egotism say that they have in no inconsiderable degree awakened the
public mind to a knowledge of the fact that an efficient solution of
this difficult problem is not so very easy as is commonly imagined.
Roach states very plausibly, The State should lease its convict labor
in the manner suggested by Morrison's bill, and in the course of a few
years the increased taxable value of reclaimed land would repay the
State many fold the cost of its maintenance." This is begging the
question with a vengeance, for Roach has not produced one tittle of
evidence to show that the State would be benefitted the value of the
reclamation of one single acre; it is all hypothetical in the highest
degree. He further says: The means proposed by the Assembly bill are
"that the river shall be straightened in certain places, when engineering
science shall show its practicability, by making proper cut-offs that
the rivers shall be dredged to some praticable [sic] average depth, and that
levees of proper solidity and hight shall be erected on their banks;
such works planned by intelligent engineers, etc." The questions which
naturally arise on perusing this paragraph, are: In what places
straightened? What engineers? etc., etc., All indefinite! The most
singular part of Roach's letter is that concerning dredging and canals.
Roach observes: "The rapid discharge of the waters of the Sacramento
(quite ignoring the still greater body of water which, for convenience,
may be styled the San Joaquin flood) has been prevented, it is true, by
an impediment, but not one existing at the Staits of Carquinez. The real
cause will be found at what may be called 'dams,' namely, the Hog's Back,
at which point the depth is but six feet, and at various other points of
the river there are obstructions of but little greater depth. These dams
have prevented the flowing of the water, and it will be found that the
damage has occurred above these points."
"The removal of these obstacles will not require great labor nor expense.
Proper dredging machines would soon form a channel of sufficient depth,
and the material raised could be discharged on either bank as required.
"The effect of this would be to make the swamp and overflowed land back
of these levees immense reservoirs or lakes; and the rivers would thus
be freed, at a critical period, from the rain-shed of that immense
area--the waters of which would be gradually drained as the rivers fell.
"Morrison's bill also contemplates a system of drainage of the overflowed
lands by canals, which may be of sufficient width and depth to answer
for purposes of transportation."
The above are pretty fair specimens, to which I shall add a few others
of the fallacies which. more or less pervade the public mind. Before
controverting such, I wish, however, to point out the incompatibility
of Morrison's plan with the reclamation of the swamp lands, as admitted
in one of the above quoted paragraphs, where it is proposed to convert
them into immense reservoirs or lakes, whilst in the very next paragraph
it is proposed to drain the same by navigable canals. If it is intended
that the swamp and overflowed land is always to be allowed to be swamp
and overflowed, where is the use of making canals to drain them, for
even if such overflowed lands are only to be inundated during a part
of the year, it is doubtful whether the time during which they would
be dry enough for the purposes of cultivation would be sufficiently
long to remunerate the farmer, if floods are permitted to unrestrictedly
inundate them whenever of sufficient volume to do so.
Pausing for a moment in the controversy with Roach, I wish to put this
question very emphatically to all who feel an interest in this important
subject. Is the question of the reclamation of the swamp lands to be
entirely dismissed in reference to this question? If so all engineering
difficulties vanish, so far as the preservation of Sacramento is
concerned, and possibly also with much marginal swamp land that might
in such case be leveed. The course of the Sacramento river can be
deepened and its navigation improved so as to be of great service to
Sacramento during the dry season, by the means proposed in Morrison's
bill; but as to its in any other way contributing towards the wealth of
the State, I deny, unless it contains some propositions other than those
detailed by Roach, of which I am not aware. Roach lays great stress on
dredging, and appears to conceive that if the "dams" were only dredged
out a clear water way would be made for the upper waters. Roach might
be permitted a plan of dredging to fill up the Hog's Back to the surface
of the water, by any means be chose, and he would not lessen the quantity
of water that would pass out through the Straits of Carquinez, to the
extent of one tea cup full in twenty-four hours; or he might dredge to
any depth he might desire, yet he might swallow with the utmost impunity
and without the slightest danger of injuring his constitution, all the
additional water that would, in consequence of such dredging, pass through
the straits of Carquinez every hour. Above the narrowest part of the
Straits of Carquinez they gradually but regularly expand, within a short
distance, to be more than four times the breadth that they are at their
narrowest part, thus furnishing an ample volume of supply, notwithstanding
the existence of the Hog's Back--the sectional area being more than
relatively increased in breadth as it diminishes in depth.
As far as I am informed, the criticisms of an adverse--or perhaps it
would be better to denominate them as doubtingly suggestive
observations--which have appeared in the public prints, relative to
what I have published on the subject, have referred to some remarks
which I have made in respect to the Straits of Carquinez. Respecting
such critical remarks, in the first place, I wish to state that I did
not attach that importance to this subject which appears to have been
done by others, who can only--judging from the remarks made--have very
casually or carelessly perused what I have stated on the subject. It
is quite possible that I may have been less explicit than was desirable
on this, and I dare say many other matters are obnoxious to the same
criticism. It should be remembered in extenuation that I am not writing
an elementary treatise on hydraulics different sections of which have
filled volumes; still less could it be expected of me to enter into
minute details in regard to the cognate sciences of meteorology,
geology, etc., the former being essential to the elucidation of the
amount of water with which we might reasonably anticipate to have to
deal the other as an aid in the absence of long continued, attentive
observations made with meteorological instruments adapted for various
purposes of inquiry, as the only source for indicating under our present
limited means of information whether prior floods have equalled the
present one. I found. the country suffering under a great disaster,
which had fallen upon the State so unexpectedly, and, as a consequence,
so unprepared were the sufferers that their minds are more than usually
plastic for the favorable reception of any plans which hold out plausible
grounds for relief, especially if of a seemingly immediate and uncostly
character. The evil is of too great a magnitude to be mitigated in the
smallest degree by any tinkering operations. If good is to be obtained,
it must be by entering upon the inquiry in the most comprehensive spirit,
and the remedies to be carried out consequent on such inquiry ought to be
of the most permanent character and maintain themselves when constructed,
unaided by artificial assistance, and capable of lasting to the crack of
doom. Such are not only practicable, but would be the easiest and speediest
of realization. Knowing by long experience how very little the subject
is understood by even professional men whose occupation was most likely
to make them acquainted with its various phases, and fully anticipating
that a plentiful crop of suggestions, having plausibility for their
only recommendation, were likely to spring up, I thought I would help
to assist the sufferers and do something towards putting the matter into
its full and proper light before the public if I attempted a synoptical
review of the causes and suggested remedies for the present disaster.
Prior engagements of a similar character, combined with an early acquired
taste for studying the means of improving and the causes which influenced
the formation of shoals, etc., in tidal rivers and harbors, perhaps in
some measure extenuates, if it does not justify me in adopting the
didactic style of address which pervades this series. The figure alone
of the outlet of any mass of waters, be they tidal or otherwise, must
always be a very important element in any hydraulic inquiry of this
character, even where the capacity is adequate to permit the in or
outflow desiderated. According to the figure of the section and velocity
of a current above or below its least sectional area, impediments may
arise or be permanently removed. The study of the proper figure to be
adopted in an ordinary stream is generally a difficult one, and is
rendered much more complex when, as at the Straits of Carquinez, tidal
influences are also brought into action, the improper appreciation of
which in any calculations like those now under consideration, would be
productive of disastrous, though probably very unexpected results. Errors
of this character are numerous. and have occurred to parties who otherwise
have been highly eminent engineers. From some, but to me very unaccountable
cause, parties have inferred and reasoned on the assumption that I ignored
all tidal influence at Carquinez. If what I had stated had been carefully
attended to, the converse of that opinion might have been fairly drawn,
for in the concluding sentence I observed "that even if the Straits of
Carquinez were widened, it would not prove an unmixed good," for this
very obvious reason, namely, that the same artificially increased
sectional area which would admit an increased out flow of flood water,
would also permit the ingress of an increased portion of tidal water.
The character of the outlet of any stream must always be an important
subject in inquiries like the present, but on the capacity must chiefly
depend the kind of artificial assistance which may be best adapted to
attain the end had in view. When I first commenced this series, I was
in the most perfect ignorance as to nearly all the data connected with
the sectional area of the Straits of Carquinez, but my attention was
more particularly directed to them owing to seeing, whilst composing
my earlier papers, a paragraph in an up-country paper (a Stockton one,
if I recollect right) in which it was stated that nothing could be done
to lower this and future floods, unless the Straits of Carquinez were
widened; this induced me to review their effects previously to what I
intended to have done, otherwise I should not have referred to them
untill [sic] the very last section. Some future calculations respecting
the mass of water which had to be dealt with, induced me to pay more
special attention to this division of the inquiry. Having only the
coast survey map to refer to, I found that measuring from the small map
included in that survey, that the width of the narrowest part of those
Straits might be estimated at half a mile, or 880 yards, only twenty
yards less than Mr. Roach states it to be. As to depth I could only
form an approximative estimate by inductive reasoning. In this way,
after satisfying myself of the amount of water which must inevitably
seek a passage through these Straits, proportioning these to different
rain-falls and making due allowance for the effects of tide, I
conceived that it would not be very incorrect to assume that a depth
of one hundred feet might be depended upon, even though it should be
requisite to artificially increase the width to one thousand yards,
or 3,000 feet, if this was calculated as a quadrangular trough, which,
however, is not the case, as the actual trough would be the segment of
a circle, or an ellipse. Such an estimate would afford a sectional
area of 300,000 square feet, and if the whole passed through it at the
rate of ten feet per second, would discharge three millions cubic feet
of water per second, or forty millions more water than was ever known
to pass through the two chief openings of the Mississippi. Mr. Roach
states, and I thank him for the information, that the narrowest section
of the Straits of Carquinez is 900 yards, or 2,700 feet wide, and 120 feet
deep. If, as in the former comparison, this was calculated as a
quadrangule [sic], it would afford a sectional area of 328,000 square
feet, through which, if the current flowed at the rate of ten feet
per second, would discharge a volume equal to 3,280,000 cubic feet
per second, or 280,000 cubic feet beyond what I had made my estimate,
based on simple induction. I am excedingly glad that the case is as
stated by Mr. Roach, as it at once removes all difficulty as to the
sufficiency of other modes being practicable for producing the following
advantages:
1. The removal of danger from Sacramento and the low country being liable
to future overflow;
2. The construction of a river sufficiently capacious to admit
ocean-going steamers of the largest size up to Sacramento at the
periods of greatest drouth;
3. The perfect reclamation and cultivation of from four to five
million acres of swamp lands, and probably one million more susceptible
of rice culture;
4. The navigation to be kept open without the aid of expensive dredging;
With some other advantages, which, if a fair estimate were made, would
be quite equal in value to the whole of the above, further reference
to which must for the present be deferred.
In the preceding calculation I have preferred exhibiting their relative
values in formula adapted to the humblest arithmetical capacity, for
which purpose, also, I have exhibited them in the form of the simplest
mathematical figure. A considerable deduction in a strict calculation
would have to be made from the preceding estimates as to the volume
discharged in a given time, owing to the actual circular or ellipsoid
form of the trough. For present purposes, however, no error will arise
from making the calculations of the outflow on that which would be
discharged by means of a rectangular trough. These calculations have
been based on the supposition that the current would continuously flow
towards San Francisco. Such, however, would not be the case. On ordinary
occasions there would be a period twice in the course of twenty-four
hours when the water would be at a stand still, and a greater or less
number of hours when the water would be flowing continuously from the
Bay of San Pablo towards Sacramento. I admit that during floods an
apparently continuous discharge would probably appear on the surface,
but the main under current of salt water would be flowing eastward in
greater or less quantity, according to the period of flood tide. No plan
can ever be adopted calculated to produce permanently beneficial results,
nor can they even be devised, not to say effected, until the capacity of
the Straits of Carquinez for discharging the upper, in conjunction with
the tidal waters, is ascertained with something like approximation to
correctness.
One of the most astonishing things which I ever witnessed, and certainly
was not prepared to find existing in a community claiming to be educated
and civilized, is the boldness with which legislative action is attempted
to be taken on deeply important matters without any real consideration
having been paid to the subject; all inquiry and data are ignored.
Roach, in his advocacy of the bill introduced by Morrison, assumes that
the Straits of Carquinez are capable of discharging any amount of flood
water, or at all events a quantity equal to that which we have witnessed
the present year. Such an opinion is incorrect in every conceivable point
from which it may be viewed. Not only was the level of the waters above
the Straits of Carquinez elevated, owing to the incapacity of those
Straits for permitting their outflow, but the velocity and consequent
total discharge for any given time was diminished owing to the remarkable
fact that the waters of the Bay of San Francisco and San Pablo themselves
became so surcharged that the ordinary ebb of tide was imperceptible.
It is said by some that for a week it did not amount to two feet. I feel
pretty confident that for twenty-four hours it did not amount to more
than four feet during a period of ten days. If Roach wants these facts
verified I respectfully refer him to the habitues of the wharves of
San Francisco. Not only has tidal influence much to do with this question,
but no plan ought to be adopted on any other basis than such as are
founded on calculation made on the highest tide occurring simultaneously
with the highest conceivable flood.
I shall now proceed to show, according to Roach's own data, and assuming
even that like the Mississippi the flood waters would pour through them
continuously at the rate of ten feet per second, that in such a case they
are scarcely equal to the discharge of one-half of the flood waters which
would seek an outlet through them.
In a former paper I gave a calculation as to the amount of rain water
which probably fell in the district, including the American river and
a large part of the left bank of the Sacramento, estimating the same
at 1,075,000 cubic feet per second. At the time of making this calculation,
and for future use I estimated that the following additional quantities
would be a tolerably fair approximate estimate as to what might be
assumed to fall on the remaining parts of the water shed. In this way
I considered that three times that quantity would probably fall on the
water shed to the east and west, but south of the parallel of Sacramento,
and an equal amount by the country north of the head of navigation of
the Sacramento and that lying on its right bank, or a total of 5,375,000
cubic feet per second; more than double the Mississippi. I subsequently
made a calculation for the purpose of seeing whether the estimate would
be corroborated by a general calculation made for the entire water shed.
For convenience of calculation, it may be estimated that, in round
numbers, the drainage of the water shed, whose only outlet is at the
Straits of Carquinez, occupies an area equal to 50,000 square miles,
on which, if it ever averages a rain fall of four inches in twenty-four
hours, there must be received in that period, 479,160,000,000 cubic
feet, or 5,545,844 cubic feet per second, a quantity, when assisted
by prior and subsequent minor rains, quite adequate to temporarily
obliterate all the canals and levees proposed to be constructed through
the means of Morrison's bill.
The four inches rain fall is one which probably some may be prepared
to dispute; if so, and over a genuine signature, I am ready to break
a lance on the subject.
The great defect of Morrison's bill is that it will be wholly ineffectual
as to effecting the benefits which it proposes to attain, and must,
consequently, only lead to a waste of public money and labor, both of
which ought to be husbanded, even though the labor to be employed be that
of convicts; and also it proposes to keep even, according to Roach's own
showing, the swamp lands in a semi-inundated condition. . . .
A BODY DISCOVERED BY A DOG.--A short time since, as Captain Haven was at
work in his field, in Marin county, his dog came to him with the arm of
a man in his mouth. Upon following the dog back in the direction from
whence he came, he found the body of a man buried beneath some logs
in a creek close by, with his head and shoulders only exposed to view.
It proved to be the body of Zachariah Taylor, a native of Bourbon county,
Kentucky, who had been missing for about two months.
p. 8
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, March 1, 1862.
The President pro tem. called the Senate to order at eleven o'clock, . . .
REPORTS.
. . .Mr. CHAMBERLAIN reported, without recommendation Senate Bill
No. 218--An Act for the relief of the contractors upon the foundation
and basement walls of the Capitol building at Sacramento, which was
referred to the Judiciary Committee, who have another bill of the same
nature under consideration. . . .
Mr. QUINT introduced a bill for an Act to grant to James H. and
Charles J. Dearing the right to construct a bridge or bridges across
the Tuolumne river, which was read twice and referred to the Tuolumne
delegation. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, March 1, 1562.
The House met at eleven o'clock. . . .
SACRAMENTO BOATMEN.
Mr. HILLYER reported from the Committee on Public Expenditures and Accounts,
on the subject of paying boatmen employed by the Sergeant-at-Arms during
the flood at Sacramento. The bill making appropriations for that purpose
having been defeated, the Committee report resolutions paying all the
boatmen employed out of the Contingent Fund of the Assembly, and rescinding
former resolutions on that subject. The names and amounts in the resolution
are the same as in the bill introduced by Mr. Ferguson some weeks since,
and rejected in the Senate.
Mr. WARWICK moved to add an allowance to a boatman named Porter, for five
days attendance with his boat, at $20 a day.
Mr. FERGUSON advocated the amendment, and said Mr. Porter alleged that
his claim was thrown out because he refused to sell it at a discount.
Mr. BATTLES said $50 had already been paid to Porter.
Mr. FERGUSON moved to recommit the bill, with instructions to allow
Porter $100, and that motion was pending when the time for the special
order arrived. . . .
NAVIGATION ON THE MOKELUMNE.--This river is open for navigable purposes
from its mouth to the town of Woodbridge, in San Joaquin county. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3410, 4 March 1862, p. 1
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
. . .DROWNED.--On Wednesday, February 26th, Michael Lyons, a miner residing on
Boston Bar, was drowned while crossing the middle fork of the American. . . .
[For the Union.]
THE CANAL PROPOSITION.
MESSRS. EDITORS: Will you allow me to correct an entire misapprehension
of Mr. Rowlandson relative to my canal proposition, although, at the
same time, I should think that very few of your readers who have paid
the least attention to the subject can have fallen into so complete an
error? The difference between Mr. Rowlandson's erroneous estimate of
137,141 cubic feet rain fall per second, and 129,007, the true amount,
taking it at 4 inches in 24 hours over an area of 1,200 square miles,
had nothing whatever to do with my estimation of the requisite capacity
of a canal to carry off one-fifth of the American flood water. I
certainly might, if I had felt disposed, have taken into account the
deduction between 127,067 and 135,000 cubic feet, which latter quantity
of water Mr. Rowlandson informed us a trough 450 feet wide by 30 feet
deep could discharge in a second. But, notwithstanding his previous
error, and the real capability of the trough discharging 512,611,200
cubic feet more in 24 hours than it could be required to do if 129,067
cubic feet per second was all it had to discharge, I still preferred
as it were to give Mr. Rowlandson the whole benefit of the difference,
and simply proposed a trough, or canal, capable of discharging one-flfth
of 135,000 cubic feet per second, or in fact 27,000 cubic feet per
second instead of 25,814 the fifth of 129,067, I need to have done.
Your readers are already aware that I took the idea of one-fifth of
the rain fall from Rowland son's important remark that "perhaps absolute
security against the American might be attained if one-fifth of the
present overflow of waters during heavy floods were provided for" (beyond
the natural bed of the river, of course ). If there was any value to
be attached to that remark--which appeared to me to contain the whole
gist of the matter, from which a practical deduction could be drawn--it
followed, I think, pretty clearly that if a trough 450 feet wide and 30
feet deep could carry off the whole of the flood water, or rather more
than the whole, estimating it at four inches in the American basin a
canal of 180 feet wide by 15 feet deep could carry off one-fifth as
required.
I should be loth, however, to affirm that a trough of 450 feet wide by
30 feet deep would suffice to carry off the entire body of water of an
American freshet, as a rain fall of four inches in twenty-four hours is,
I understand, much too low an estimate when the melting of the snows has
to be included. It is not unlikely that at least double the capacity
might be required. In such case "absolute security" could not be
attained against the American by even one-fifth of the doubled amount;
but whatever the quantity may be to provide against in future floods,
it may be done with far better safety and advantage by a suitable canal,
properly leveed, than by trusting to a system of mere river levees, which
afford us scarcely any security. Without trespassing longer, and regretting
that I had not time to pen these remarks earlier in the day, I am
yours, A. F. G.
SACRAMENTO, March 3, 1862. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . . The Board of Supervisors met yesterday afternoon. The greater portion
of the session was occupied with the hearing of parties in the controversy
concerning a ferry over the American, near Lisle's bridge. . . .
The Sacramento remained about stationary yesterday. Nothing was done
towards strengthening the threatened portion of the Front street levee,
except by the wanton and unnecessary cutting down of valuable trees to
use as a check to the current. . . .
LEVEE BILL.--As there is a possibility that the Swamp Land
Commissioners may be deprived by the Legislature of the means to go
forward with the levee as proposed in the bill, it may be prudent to so
word a section as to authorize the City Board of Levee Commissioners to
build cross levees, if deemed advisable, without waiting for the levee to
be built from Thirty-first street to Burns' slough, It looks now very much
as if the city would be left to her own resources in building levees. If
she is, the cross-levee system will be adopted. . . .
BILL TO OPEN THE CAPITAL QUESTION.
The bill professing to provide for rescinding the present contract and
suspending the work on the State Capitol, appears to have been formed
with the view expressly to open the way for a permanent removal of the
State Capital from Sacramento. It would require but a very simple bill
to rescind the present contract and suspend the work on the Capitol.
If this were the only object in view, why was such a section as this
incorporated in this bill?
Section 2. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Treasurer and
Attorney General, together with one member of each branch of the
Legislature, to be appointed by the respective presiding officers
thereof, are hereby constituted a Committee of Examination, who shall,
during the ensuing Summer and Fall months, examine into the safety and
practicability of completing the construction of the said State Capitol,
and report their conclusions, and the reasons upon which they found
such conclusions, to the ensuing Legislature. If, after making a
thorough examination, they conclude that the present location of the
State Capitol is unsafe or unsuitable, and cannot be made a safe and
suitable one without a large outlay of money on the part of the State,
they may examine other localities, and report to the ensuing Legislature
where, in their opinion, is the most suitable site for the State
Capitol, stating the reasons which induced them to select such site.
Such a section is susceptible of but one interpretation; the intention
of the author of the bill was to open up the whole question of removing
the State Capital, and have it placed in a favorable position before
the next Legislature for removal. A Committee of Examination is provided
for, with power to examine into the safety and practicability of completing
the State Capitol, and if they conclude the present location "is unsafe
or unsuitable," they may examine other localities and report to the next
Legislature. The bill is the first step toward introducing the Capital
issue--after it has once been decided and acquiesced in by the people--into
the politics and future Legislatures in the State. But we are not
disappointed in the zeal manifested by certain gentlemen who took pains
to protest that they were not for permanent removal though they they [sic]
did favor a temporary adjournment to San Francisco. It was easy to see
then that there was a cat in the meal. Temporary adjournment, with those
men, covered a permanent removal design. They were for a temporary
adjournment because it was impossible to transact the business of the
State in Sacramento. We insisted then that the legislation necessary
could be completed here, and subsequent experience to this date has
established the correctness of our declaration. There has not a day
passed since the week the Legislature adjourned on which that body
could not have held a session as comfortably, and transacted its
business more satisfactorily than in San Francisco. There has been
water in the suburbs of the city, but none about the State Capitol
building, or on the business streets of the city. The Legislature could
have remained here until this time, and by to-day ought to have been
able to adjourn sine die. The members hastened to the Bay City because
they were afraid the water would subject them to personal inconvenience,
or a great bodily harm. The interest of the people had but little to do
with the vote to abandon the Capital.
In the debate on the bill, Senators seemed to trouble themselves
considerably about the practicability and possibility of building a
levee that will protect Sacramento. The anxiety on this point was
expressed by those opposed to this city as the Capital, levee or no
levee. But why need this point be discussed? If Sacramento does not
build levees which scientific engineers admit are ample for the positive
protection of the city and the State Capitol, our citizens will not ask
that the Capital remain here. Bat, as a matter of right and justice, they
ask that another Summer be afforded them to place their city in a condition
conceded to be safe from all future inundations. They protest, too,
against that kind of professed friendship which would do no injustice
to Sacramento while under the cloud of misfortune, and then adds,
"but we do not think it possible for her to recover from her prostrate
condition and build levees high enough to protect the city from future
inundations." For this kind of friendly expressions in the Legislature,
Sacramento is not particularly thankful.
The statements made in the Legislature about foundations in Sacramento,
as was remarked yesterday, are widely at variance with the facts. No
brick building has ever fallen in this city because of the insufficiency
of the soil upon which the foundation walls were laid. In this particular
the ground upon which the city is located exhibits a firmness which is
rarely met with in soil classed as alluvial. If it was of the character
represented in the Legislature, the heavy brick buildings in the city
would long ere this have been a mass of ruins. But Senators and Assemblymen
can easily obtain reliable information on the foundations of the new
Capitol by applying to the Superintendent. Some of them seem to need
information badly on this particular point, though we fear that in a number
of cases the old adage will apply--"there are none so blind as those who
will not see."
If the State is unable, from a lack of means, to go on with the new
building, the fact is a legitimate argument against further appropriations
for the present. It is, though, no argument against the present location
of the State Capitol. No appropriation has been asked for this year,
and, therefore, this cry of economy and inability to expend any more money
sounds suspicious when coming from those who avow their hostility to
Sacramento as the Capital of the State.
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
The Fire on the Polynesia--Casualty-- Committee Suits--The Case of
Schell--Fort Yuma News.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 3d.
. . . The bill appropriating money to the relief of flood sufferers was
indefinitely postponed without discussion. . . .
In the Assembly, a resolution to pay Sacramento boatmen $164 was adopted. . . .
THE LATE STORM IN BUTTE.--The Butte Record of March 1st says:
It has rained here for nearly two days, with slight intermissions, but
it did not appear to extend far into the mountains until Wednesday evening.
On Thursday morning the river commenced to rise rapidly until the bar,
in front of town, was covered and the ferries stopped crossing everything
except foot passengers. On yesterday, the weather cleared off bright
and warm, and the river had crawled up towards the point of the first
freshet, so as to put the citizens under the tune for preparing to move
from the old flooded districts; but although the water is rolling deep
over the bar, it was rising very slowly yesterday, and, no doubt, the
pleasant change will prevent a farther rise and not endanger property
by another overflow. All the streams in this vicinity--not bridged--are
impassable, at present, but one clear day will run them down. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
DANGEROUSLY STABBED.--A man named James Donavan was dangerously and
dreadfully stabbed at about one o'clock P.M. yesterday, at Front and
K streets; by a man named John Friel, alias Dutch John. Friel and another
man, both under the influence of liquor, were in a dispute on the sidewalk
on Front street, near Frank Kosta's coffee stand, when Donavan, also
intoxicated, stepped between them, pushing Friel back from the other
party. A scuffle then ensued between them, and Friel fell backward over
a wood-horse, with Donavan on top of him. As they arose spectators
observed a knife in the hand of Friel, and it was soon discovered that
Donavan had been stabbed. The knife was taken from Friel which he
surrendered reluctantly, and he was removed to the station house by
officers Cody and Locke. The wound received by Donavan proved to be
a gash four inches long, on the left side of the abdomen, just above
the hip. A large portion of the bowels protruded, and as the wounded
man walked up K to Second to Morse's building, with the assistance of
one or two citizens, some four or five feet of the bowels issued from
the wound. It was replaced by Dr. Morse, by whom the wound was dressed.
Donavan was then taken to the station house by Chief of Police Watson,
as he could not conveniently be taken to the Hospital on account of the
water by which it is surrounded. Dr. Phelan was subsequently called,
and gave Donavan such assistance as he required. It is thought that the
wound, though extremely dangerous, may not prove fatal. Donavan is an
Irishman by birth, and has been employed until recently at O'Brien's
gardens, near Rabel's tannery. Friel has been employed as a deck hand
on the upriver steamers. . . .
NEARLY DROWNED.--Robert O. Harmon, a child of J. B. Harmon, about six
years old, came near being drowned at nine o'clock yesterday morning
near his father's residence at Seventh and G streets. While passing
along the sidewalk on G street, near Eighth, he stepped on to some loose
planking and was precipitated into the waters of '"Lake Hedenberg," at
that point about three feet deep. He had been told by his father the day
before, in case he should ever fall into the water to "not to sink to the
bottom like a muggins, but to swim." This advice he did not probably
remember, but practically he seems to have acted upon it to the extent
of his ability. He sank to the bottom but came up again and .paddled
on the top until assistance came, which did not arrive until several
minutes had elapsed. . . .
THE RIVER.--There was but little change in the state of the Sacramento
river yesterday, the water standing throughout the day at about
twenty-one feet above low water mark. . . .
"WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE."--The work of destruction among the trees
along the lower part of the levee still continues. A fine sycamore
fell before the axe of vandalism yesterday. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
MONDAY, March 3, 1862.
The Board met to-day at half past two o'clock P.M. . . .
A petition was received fiom A. L. Jackson, praying for permission to
remove his frame house to a safe location. Granted. . . .
The report of Chief Engineer Graham, of the Fire Department, for the
period from August 8th to March 3d, was received and filed. . . . The
condition of the cisterns cannot be ascertained until the water recedes
from the city. Some of the damage done by the floods had been repaired. . . .
A report was received from Eli Mayo, Poundmaster, . . . In consequence
of the general breaking down of fences it was impossible for him to
restrain cattle from trespassing. . . .
The application of Samuel Norris for license to establish a ferry across
the American river, and the application of Pearis & Harris for the same
purpose, were taken up, and Messrs. Crocker, Williams and Winans, counsel
for the opposing parties, were allowed to discuss the points involved
in this protracted controversy. Mr. Winans argued at length against the
introduction of evidence showing that Samuel Norris held a license for a
ferry in bygone days as irrelevant to the present issue.
Supervisor GRANGER said that there were only two questions that the
Board ought to consider. If it was shown that Pearis & Harris had a
franchise for a toll bridge at the point mentioned, and that when the
bridge was carried away they established a ferry to meet th« requirements
of the public, the Board could proceed no further in the matter.
After some further discussion, the Board agreed to have the evidence
Mr. Crocker, counsel for Samuel Norris, had to submit, and the counsel
proceeded at length to submit the testimony in his possession, but not
without frequent interruption and objections from Winans and Williams,
counsel for Pearis & Harris.
Lerow, Hopping, Rabel and other witnesses were examined, to elicit
information in regard to the condition of things in the vicinity of
Lisle's Bridge, the existence of a ferry there at present, and the
necessity and practicability of establishing a ferry. Without
concluding the case the Board adjourned to meet, to-morrow morning
at eleven o'clock. . . .
LETTER FROM SALT LAKE.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 16, 1862 . . .
Floods in the South.
The tidings from "Our Dixie" during the past two weeks have been anything
but cheering. The Santa Clara and the Rio Virgin have fairly swept away
entire settlements. Other streams, before scarcely able to supply small
settlements with irrigating water, increased with such rapidity, and took
such dimensions, that the improvements of years of hard labor have been
wasted in a night, and utterly destroyed. Nurseries there had been
established, from which all the settlements expected to draw their
cuttings and young trees; and the greater portion of them, if not all,
have scarcely a trace of their existence left. Sereral letters from the
camps of the new cotton planters are printed in the News, giving unpleasant
relations of the floods. One writer says:
"As the morning dawned and the waters of the Santa Clara and Rio Virgin
become visible from our engagement, men were seen climbing on the highest
objects about camp to get a view of the awful angry flood--the like of
which the present inhabitants never saw. It has rained here half the time
for more than four weeks, and the streams have been high but not
dangerously so till the night of the 17th, when the Virgin and the Sauta
Clara became mighty rivers, and both man and beast fled from them
terrified. Some horses, mules and cattle are reported drowned, but the
extent of the damage in this and other respects is not yet fully known,
as we have not heard from the Upper Virgin country, but believe it has
suffered greatly. Fort Clara and one-half the adjacent houses are
entirely washed away, with the fine [?] orchards, nurseries and vineyards
at that place. The angry waters are now roaring wildly over the same spot
where three days ago stood a comfortable school house filled with children,
and many other houses occupied by families three days since have entirely
disappeared. Tonaquint, a little town a mile or two from us, is deserted,
and much valuable land on the Santa Clara bottoms has been ruined, and all
this by a little stream that in common stages is about like City creek.
The Indians assert that about forty years ago a similar flood occurred." . . .
The Mails
To and from Sacramento are shaping into regularity and schedule time,
with a fair prospect of improvement. You may expect a few days interruption
from heavy snows at the South Pass. No stage has passed there for three
days. The companies East and West have, I think, had a salutary intimation,
by the momentary withholding of the million appropriation, that large
improvements during the coming Summer, will alone save the continuauce
of that contract. They had everything very fine for good roads and dry
Weather, and in hours and minutes probably could defy the worst criticism
in the performance of obligations; but even with that admission in living
up to the letter of the law, they have undoubtedly learned something that
will secure regularity Winter as well as Summer. . . .
PROSPECTING IN DOWNIEVILLE.--The Sierra Democrat says:
Prospecting is an old feature growing into practice again since the
floods. The surface of the earth and the beds of the streams, and
whatever rested on them, have been so much disturbed by the high
water, that prospecting parties find many pans of rich dirt, without
much digging. We heard one of these prospectors say the other day that
he had picked up a little more than four dollars in one spot from the
rocks in the stream--having seen it through the water. Old miners are
confident of rich pay in the river beds the coming Summer. . . .
THE FLOOD IN THE EAST.--The Cincinnati Commercial, of
Jan. 31st, says:
The river here has risen over eight feet in twenty-four hours, and
was still rising rapidly. The lower floors of the buildings bordering
on the levee east of Broadway and west of Main, are covered with water
of from four to five feet in depth. At Pittsburgh, last night, there
was twenty-eight feet water, and the Alleghany and Monongahela rising
rapidly. We have already intelligence of the destruction of a large
amount of property at Pittsburg and elsewhere by the freshet. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3411, 5 March 1862, p. 1
LETTER FROM CHICAGO.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
Chicago, January 31st.
The Floods on the Ohio.
The Ohio river has been sporting itself at a great rate, and overflowed
its banks, to the terror of the quiet inhabitants. You have doubtless
had the prominent facts by telegraph, but I append the following from
the correspondence of the Cincinnati Times, written on board the
steamboat Superior, January 22d:
The beautiful Ohio is now as majestic and turbid as the great Father of
Waters in all his glory. The little Superior just booms over the boiling
bosom of the overflowing river. It was a grand sight as the boat passed
when in front of the Queen City. The river was bounded on both sides by
submerged buildings, crowded with people enjoying the sight of the flood.
It was surprising to see that the water had backed up below the junction
of Fifth street with Front, and that many houses there were partially
under water. Millcreek had the appearance, from the deck of the steamer,
of a large lake, its shores covered with villas. The body of water at some
points must have been over a mile in width, The railroad track was submerged
for some distance this side of the bridge.
A short distance below Millcreek, the river was reaching the railroad track,
and in some places the road was almost undermined. Every wave deepened the
inroad, and I am certain that by the time this reaches you, the track at
some points will be washed away, and the Whitewater canal, which it
protects, turned loose in the raging Ohio. At one point, the ends of
the track overhung the river, and seemed just ready to fall in. Workmen
were engaged endeavoring to stay the inroad, but apparantly with little
success.
Down about Sedamsville, many of the beautiful suburban residences which
adorn the river bank were surrounded with water. Some were even flooded
to the depth of several feet. Some of the vegetable gardens further down
are entirely covered with water. The damage on the lower river road will
be very heavy. I observed one house which was almost undermined by the
washing away of the banks, and which must go into the river.
At Industry four houses are submerged. The water is just crawling into
the old foundry there, which will not require a very heavy wash to bring
it down.
Home City, adjoining Industry, is high and dry, except an old stable,
which bids fair to float away.
Opposite Industry is a little settlement called Taylorsport, well known
to the picnicers from Cincinnati. Its front row of houses is being
washed out, a process that will not do any harm to the reputation of
the village.
The flood has covered an immense tract of country adjoining the Great
Miama. It is now certainly deserving of its name. The water today was
within two or three feet of the floor of the railroad bridge, and above
that the Miama is wider than the Ohio. The bridge is thought to be secure.
It is the third one, I believe, that has been erected by the company
across the mouth of the Miama.
Lawrenceburg presents a truly desolate appearance. About one-half the
buildings are in the water. The front is protected against the
encroachments of the river by the Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad
track, but the flood entered by the Great Miama. The upper and lower
portions of the town are divided by an immense sheet of water. Some of
the buildings are entirely under water. There is great suffering there
in consequence of the calamity, but the dry houses have been thrown open
with great generosity to those flooded out of their homes. Between two
and three hundred houses under water were counted from the deck of the
steamer. The Fair Grounds, east of the city, are inundated, and several
large frame buildings promise to be carried away by the flood. I was
informed that a number of hogs and cattle had been drowned. Both the
railroad tracks here are covered with water, and a few more feet will
inundate the whole lower part of the town. The wharf boat lies alongside
the depot, which, in the ordinar& [sic] stage of water, sits high up.
Below Lawrenceburg the river is from three to four miles wide. Several
farms are inundated, the water extending back to the knolls in the
distance. Several farm houses near the bank of the river are exposed to
a sweeping current. They are deserted, and likely to be swept away. The
railroad track has disappeared, and its whereabouts are only to be
distinguished by the telegraphic poles, which still preserve their
rectitude.
Aurora looks almost as desolate as Lawrenceburgh. Hagen's creek divides
it. On the upper side of the creek forty buildings are under water and
have been deserted. In the town proper, only the buildings on the river
front have received a visit from the flood. Their number sums up fifteen
or twenty, and includes the St. Charles Hotel. The upper stories of all
seem to be occupied. Below Aurora, a cooper's shop and several adjoining
buildings are under water, and the stock is fast floating off. At a little
settlement below, which is above the flood, the whole population seem to
be engaged in gathering drift wood, and have large piles on the land. For
some distance the turnpike running down the river is under water. Below
that, great tracts of bottom land on both sides the river are overflowed.
Several extensive farms are completely under water. At one point I saw a
large number of hogs on a very small spot, fully half a mile from shore.
Auother foot of rise will drown them.
An account written a day or two subsequently, in the same paper, says :
At the close of our report yesterday at noon, it was considered by many of
our old river men that the river was almost, if not quite at a stand,
although rumors were afloat at the time that the flood was increasing.
By calculation it was supposed that the Allegheny rise would not reach
this place until this morning, before which time it was hoped by those
who had anything to lose that the waters would sufficiently abate to
allow of the coming water without doing much damage. In the afternoon,
however, it was evident that the waters began to swell, giving evidence
that the expected rise had come along somewhat in advance of the
anticipated time. The rise, however, was not as rapid as during the
last few days. From five o'clock last night to seven o'clock this
morning, the flood crept up about ten inches. Since that time up to
nine o'clock, it has been rising at the rate of about half an inch per
hour. The flood at this latter named hour had reached to about half way
of the block on Walnut street, between Water and Front streets, almost
shutting out egress to Water street, either east or west. On Main street
it had progressed to about sixty feet above Water street, and had, from
the gradual rising of the wharf, greatly circumscribed the space of
wharfage left from yesterday. At the corner of Sycamore and Front
streets, in the sewer, it stood almost on a level with the gutters on
either side of the street. On Broadway it is level with the lower
curbstone of Front street, almost shutting out an entrance to the
railroad office located on that corner. From the latter point to the
little Miami depot, the scene riverward presents a scene of desolation.
All the cellars, yards, etc., are entirely submerged, and all kinds of
appliances have been brought into use to secure such movable property
as was placed therein. Front street east of the Deercreek bridge is
entirely under water, driving all foot passengers to Third street, as
the only safe avenue for travel. Through the entire route in the
Seventeenth Ward the scene is one of ruin and desolation. All the
houses standing near what was formerly the bank of the river now stand
out in a sea of water, the flood sweeping around them without mercy.
At Columbia all the houses south of the turnpike are inundated and
rendered uninhabitable. Through the immense bottom extending to the
Little Miami river, the water has taken entire possession, and presents
a scene of desolation such as has not been witnessed for many years
in that fertile region.
The road leading to Union Bridge is several feet under water, preventing
all access to the bridge. The residents at Mount Washington, many of whom
do business in this city, are now forced to go as far up as Newtown in
order to eflect a crossing. The bridge over Crawfish has been swept away.
The entire Little Miami bottom has been covered to the depth of a number
of feet from the mouth of the river to above Newtown, sweeping fences,
haystacks and everything at all movable before it.
This morning; several small frame tenements passed down the river.
The flow of driftwood has considerably decreased since yesterday morning,
showing the probability of an early subsiding of the waters. . . .
Miscellaneous Items.
. . . There was a regular "bang up" snow storm in New England, and as far west
as Utica, last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and nearly all the railroads
were blockaded. The snow was piled so heavily on the roofs at Albany that
some of the weaker structures were crumbled; among them a livery stable
(J.L. McCormick's), loss $2,500. Several persons were also hurt on the
sidewalks by snow slides. . . .
The late rains have caused a rise in the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers,
and a flood prevails at Pittsburg, Pa., some of the lower parts of the city
being overflowed. . . .
The infernal machines and chain cable placed in the Mississippi by General
Pillow have been swept away by the prevailing flood and gorging ice,
leaving a clear passage for our gunboats. . . .
MEPHISTOPHELES IN NEW YORK.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT..]
A Tremendous Storm and its Consequences--. . . Three Great Fires--. . . The Sleighing and the Skating--The Value of Sunlight--. . .
NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 1862.
Oh, Gemini! what a storm we had on Friday night and all day
Saturday [01/24-01/25]. Phew! talk irreverently as they do about a
certain relative of mine in a gale of wind--why he couldn't hold a
candle to the ferocious "blow-out" that Boreas and his particular friends
gave us on this occasion. It hailed and it blew. It rained and it blew.
It snowed and it blew. It blew and it hailed. It blew and it rained. It
blew and it snowed. It blew until "all was blew." The tide rose in its
indignation at the receipt of so many blows until it overflowed the streets
down town, put out the fires and stopped the press of the Journal of
Commerce, sent the ships flying in all directions from their moorings,
and made the travel all day Saturday perfectly frightful. A ferry-boat
might have done an excellent business along Broadway. The slush and mud
were nearly up to one's knees. Fancy a woman crossing a fasionable
thoroughfare at such a time. Good hevings! [sic] I did nothing all day
but contemplate the waders in the streets and think of the Royal
Order of the Garter.
As if for spite, a deuce of a fire broke out Saturday evening, and with
the gale theu blowing it soon demolished some large warehouses in Bridge
street, destroying property to the value of nearly half a million of
dollars. A few hours afterwards another large fire broke out; and early
next morning a tremendous conflagration commenced in Pearl and Fulton
streets. This last one was emphatically a "rouser;" it destroyed the
Fulton bank and nine other large buildings, besides coming very near
the destruction of the United States Hotel. The wind suddenly chopped
round, as if by a special providence, or the hotel would now be a mass
of ruins. . . .
. . .the storm was succeeded by a freeze, on Sunday, and Jehosaphat!
didn't we have nice sleighing out in the Central Park. The skating on
the lakes, though, was not so good, because the hail and rain roughened
the ice when they froze together; but it was pretty fair, and on Sunday
and Monday they do say that fifty thousand men and women were out
enjoying themselves in that region. Sunday was a charming day. The sun
was out in all his glory, and the day was prime. Monday was a ditto. . . .
To-day it clouded over again. This afternoon it snowed. The sleighing is
excellent; . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . . At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held yesterday, an application
of Samuel Norris for permission to establish a ferry over the American
river, near Lisle' s Bridge, was refused, and a temporary ferry license
was granted to Pearis & Harris, who hold the franchise of the bridge.
The weather continues mild, clear and pleasant. The Sacramento is falling
slowly, and the water in the lower part of the city has a tendency to
recede.
Deputy Surveyor E. H. Dyer completed, on Monday, the survey of what
is known on the maps as " the dotted line," from the Sacramento to the
American river, and left the city yesterday for San Francisco to submit
his report. . . .
A FLOATING HOUSE.--During the late flood, the house of Judge Hamlin, near
the Buttes, Colusa county, was floated from its foundation about a mile
into a slough. The Colusa Sun says:
It was then caught and tied up to a tree for safe keeping, where it
remained until Thursday, February 27th, when the freshet again started
it off; but it was caught a second time, after floating about three
miles farther down the slough. That concern may well be regarded as
floating property. . . .
TAXABLE PROPERTY DESTROYED BY THE FLOODS.
In its advocacy of the direct system for raising California's portion
of the war tax, the Bulletin, as we view the subject, greatly
underrates the loss of taxable property by the floods. In reviewing
the debate in the Assembly on the two propositions--direct tax, or
bonds--the Bulletin assumes that the speakers in favor of the
bond system largely over estimated the losses in the State caused by
the unprecedently high water in December and January. Those estimates
ranged from $27,000,000 to $47,000,000; the destruction of taxable
property by the floods is put down by the Bulletin, as the out
side figure, at $5,000,000. There is a wide difference between this
calculation and those made in the Assembly and by intelligent and
reliable men not in the Legislature. We have conversed with no man
who has given the subject consideration who estimated the loss at less
than twenty per cent. on the taxable property in this State. This would
fix the amount at a little less than $30,000,000. This may be somewhat
over the mark, for we concede that sum to be a large one; but the
destruction has been fearful, and if not as much as twenty per cent., is
a large figure over the estimate of the Bulletin. Of course the
real loss can only be approximated by estimate; the figures of the
Assessors in the State must finally be appealed to for a settlement of
the question. A good deal of light, though, might be thrown upon it by
intelligent men in the different counties in the State. In order that
some data may be furnished for calculation, we hope men interested in
the subject will voluntarily publish the estimate of the loss of
taxable property by the floods in the respective counties in which
they may reside.
The assessment of last year gave the taxable property in California at
$147,811,617 16; revenue from same, at sixty cents on the
$100, $899,081 90. This would have been the amount of revenue had the
tax all been collected. The argument of the Bulletin is that with
the increase in the value of taxable property in San Francisco, and the
improvement to farming land in some of the Bay counties by the rains, the
assessed value of taxable properly in the State, in 1862, will exceed
$140,000,000. Any improvement which may have been made ia land for the
production of a crop, as suggested in the argument, will produce no effect
on the taxable value of the property.
Our cotemporary selects Colusa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Sutter, Tehama,
Yolo, and Yuba, as the seven counties which have sustained the bulk of
damage by floods. The drift of its argument may be gathered from this
extract :
We find on examining the Controller's report, that the taxable property
of these seven valley counties was but $32,465,129 85, their assessment
of taxation being $195,642 14. It will be seen, therefore, that if they
had been entirely blotted out and washed away, the loss to the State in
taxable property would have been only about what was the lowest estimate
made by members of the Assembly of the loss to the State, and but about
half of what was the general opinion of those who expressed any opinion
at all. But when it is considered that of this sum $4,966,506 is composed
of the value of city lots and improvements in the city of Sacramento,
and at least $3,000,000 of personal property in the same city (the taxable
valuation of which has depreciated but little, and that not permanently)
and that $6,419,276 is assessed to Yuba county, a large portion of which
is in uninjured property at Marysvllle, we find that nearly one half the
original sum named, viz: $32,000,000, should be deducted from any estimate
to be made on this basis. But we are disposed to assume the entire taxable
property of the counties named as a basis for calculation. We have nowhere
seen it stated by any intelligent and well informed authority that in
these counties the ultimate loss can exceed ten per cent. of the value
of property. There can be little doubt that that will cover all damage
sustained by any of these counties, and that would give the sum of
$3,246,512 98, as the losses in these counties. Three and a quarter
millions of dollars is a large amount to be swept away, but little in
comparison with the $147,000,000 of taxable property of the State. But
suppose, in order to leave a wide margin, we nearly double it, and place
the loss at $5,000,000. It is scarcely appreciable when we come to calculate
the whole property of California, and would, in any event, yield but
$30,000 of revenue, while the single county of San Francisco was assessed
for the year 1861, as a State tax alone, $259,439 74.
Those conversant with the losses in this city will readily detect the
fallacy of the above reasoning as applied to Sacramento. The bulk of the
loss here was in personal property; the owners of that species of property
compose the majority of the sufferers. Competent judges estimate that
the taxable value of the real and personal property in this city has been
reduced from $7,966,506, to $6,000,000. Some even put the loss at a higher
figure. In the farming region east and south of this, in the county, where
the real and personal property was last year assessed at something like
a million of dollars, it is estimated that now the Assessor would be
puzzled to find property that would be valued at $250,000. And then the
Bulletin fails to give all the agricultural counties which have
been seriously injured by overflows. In the San Joaquin valley there are
other counties than San Joaquin which are heavy sufferers. The loss, too,
on Russian river was considerable. But one of the leading errors in the
calculation is the ignoring of the mining counties as sufferers in the
general calamity. In referring to them the Bulletin said:
While it is true that the floods have extended throughout the State, it
is apparent that in the mining regions the damage has been mainly confined
to the carrying away of county bridges, the impairing of roads and merely
temporary injury to flumes and ditches. Much of this property is not
embraced in the Assessors' returns, and, moreover, it is probable that
the benefits arising from the replenishing of placers, the discovery of
new diggings and the clearing away of vast quantities of "tailings," the
accumulation of years, will at least compensate for the losses sustained
when we make the estimate in the aggregate. Of course individuals, and
perhaps certain districts, will suffer; but, on the whole, the benefits
will nearly, if not quite, balance the damages.
We are greatly mistaken if the loss of taxable property in the mining
counties has not been about as great in proportion as in the valleys.
The destruction of improvements, of ditches, of flumes, mills, tunnels,
turnpikes, houses, fences, bridges, etc., has been immense. The storms
and floods may improve mining in many instances, but that will not add
to the taxable property, or restore that which is lost, in time to benefit
the assessment this year. The bridges and roads to which the
Bulletin refers were, in nearly every instance, private property,
which was registered in the Assessor's list. The county of El Dorado
alone must have lost bridges which were asseased at over a hundred
thousand dollars. The loss of bridges in this county must amount to
nearly or quite $50,000. An old resident, and one of the best informed
men in the county, assured us in January that the floods had destroyed
property in Trinity to the value of at least one million of dollars.
Other mining counties have doubtless suffered as severely as Trinity.
We concede that the losses by floods ought not to be overestimated ia
this State; as a general rule we do not think it will be done, for the
reason that it is very difficult to overestimate the effects of such a
widespread calamity. It has visited all portions of the State, and a
close investigation will show that all have suffered more or less.
ACCIDENTS IN MONTEREY COUNTY.--Drowned near Natividad, a Spaniard by
the name of Deblo, on the 22d February, in the Natividad creek.
On the 24th, W. F. Kidder, while boating wood from the beach at the mouth
of the Pajaro river, was carried over the breakers and also drowned.
UNPRECEDENTED RISE.--On Friday night, February 21st, the rain commenced
falling so fast that by two o'clock Saturday morning, the 22d, Petaluma
creek had risen one and one-half inch higher than ever before. A quantity
of grain in the Evans Flour Mill, in East Petaluma, was somewhat damaged, . . .
FLOODS ON THE OHIO.
Our Chicago correspondent gives a very graphic account of the floods on
the Ohio, and the damage which was done to the city of Cincinnati and
other towns on its banks. Houses were submerged, roads overflowed,
railroads covered up and buildings washed away. Great suffering was
caused by the calamity--the inundation having occurred about January 22d,
a peculiarly inclement season of the year. In Cincinnati, the Queen City
of the West, the flood was the cause of much inconvenience and suffering.
All the houses standing near what was formerly the bank of the river stood
in a sea of water, as it is represented, the flood sweeping around them
without mercy. At Columbia all the houses south of the turnpike were
inundated and rendered uninhabitable. The accounts do not show that there
was that degree of desolation and suffering that was experienced in
Sacramento--the area overflowed being somewhat more limited--but many of
the aspects of the flood are similar.
Considering the fact that a considerable portion of the city of Cincinnati
is located on what is called the bottom, or the first bank of the Ohio
river, and is occasionally subject to inundation, it is very remarkable
that the people of that city have not altogether removed to the high
hills, two or three miles back, where they could be out of the way of
water as well as out of the way of business. It looks like sheer madness,
that they have not long ago abandoned their great stores and warehouses,
their spacious public buildings, their flourishing factories and
magnificent churches, and fallen back on some wilderness spot where they
could not be visited by any aqueous dispensation. How much better would
they have been off if they only had some such enlightened counsel or in
their State Legislature as the distinguished Perkins, to instruct them
in the mysteries of locating cities, as well as necessary articles of
furniture and other creature comforts. He could have told them that it
was very dangerous to establish a town near a large body of water, and
could instance Sacramento, which was liable to floods, and San Francisco,
which was subject to earthquakes, and also had pitfalls, where unhappy
visitors disappear almost nightly and give no sign of departing vitality.
He could have informed them that Cincinnati was not a fit place for a
white man to live in, even though thousands had invested their all there,
and were surrounded by endeared associations of home, business and friends.
What a pity it is that a Perkins could not be sent as missionary to the
benighted region of the Queen City of the West, and console and instruct
ita barbarous inhabititants [sic], who have not sense enough to select
a proper abiding place, and are too ignorant to foretell and guard against
the visitations of Divine Providence.
CROSS LEVEES.--We publish a sensible article on the levee bill, in which
suggestions are made which should be heeded. Power should be given to
the City Levee Board to build cross levees, if deemed advisable. A
section should be framed and added, giving them the power without
regard to the action of the State Board of Swamp Land Commissioners.
The City Levee Board should also be clothed with power to condemn land
for straightening the American, and, if deemed advisable, to turn a
portion of the river through a canal.
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
Legislative Proceedings.
In the Senate, . . .
Nixon introduced a bill concerning the construction of levees at Sacramento.
Referred to the Sacramento delegation. . . .
[For the Union.]
OUR LOCAL LEVEES.
"To make aasurance doubly sure,
And take a bond from fate."
MESSRS. EDITORS: Notwithstanding the all absorbing interest levee
matters possess for your local readers, the subject must begin to bore
those who are more distaut, and who have not aa deep a pecuniary stake
ia the ultimate result of the discussion and elucidation of the matter
as we whose all depends upon correct conclusions being drawn from the
whole premises before our authorities attempt to reduce theory to practice.
Therefore, feeling some slight qualms at the idea of being deemed a bore,
I resisted as long as I could, in hopes some other correspondent would
anticipate me in asking some questions and propounding some propositions
which I conceive should be asked and considered before "the Levee Bill"
is finally acted on by the Legislature.
Does the proposed law, as published, fully meet the views and requirements
of this community? There is no doubt that it is excellent as far as it
goes; but does it go far enough? Now, whilst the law is in embryo, is
the time to think. Does it provide for the immediate building of all
the levees that can, by any conceivable possibility, ever become
necessary? Is there not danger that the Committee, in common with
the community at large, place too much confidence in the security to
be afforded by the levee on the Sacramento, south of the city, to be
built by the Board of Swamp Land Commissioners--a levee in no manner
under the control of the city--one which the city will have no right
to repair or prevent being destroyed--a levee extending down the
Sacramento almost to the extreme end of the county, around Snodgrass'
slough and up the Mokelumne, and liable at all times to be cut by the
farmers and ranchmen to make road-crossings and to facilitate communication
between one part of their possessions and another? It may be replied
that penal laws will prohibit this, and the safety of the farmers' own
property will prevent it. The rejoinders are, who will enforce the law?
and familiarity breeds contempt. A few years without freshets, and the
country levees would be looked upon as the useless rubbish of a past
age, and probably be used to fill up the ditch, so as to make a level
field. Does not every one who has walked around our own levees remember
a dozen places where they were cut down in Summer for the convenience
of those either living in the vicinity or having to cross them
frequently? And did not the Railroad Company obtain at least the tacit
consent of the city fathers to fill up the only egress there was for
waters coming in back of the city? and was not this embankment (put
in place of the original trestle work) the cause of the water forcing
itself into the city over the east levee on the 10th of December? And
did not the Supervisors themselves, within a year or eighteen months,
pay for having the levee cut away at Tenth street to accommodate brick
teams? A piece of engineering perhaps not quite equal to the attempt
to drain Sutter Lake into the cellar of the St. George Hotel, yet one
which would have subjected its perpetrators to innumerable invectives
and anathemas had the railroad embankment broken east of Seventeenth
street and saved the east levee, but deluged us with back water through
the Tenth street opening.
But, waiving these objections, it is suid that a competent engineer has
reported that this river and slough levee will give us perfect safety
on the south. So, too, did another engineer, alleged to be equally
competent, last year assert that his bulkhead at the tannery would
yield absolute protection, yet the first flood washed it from existence.
To err in judgment is human. No man is infallible. Therefore it is not
surprising that the logic of facts has demonstrated one error in the
calculations of the Swamp Land Commissioners' engineer: the city levee
on which he relied for the protection of the district from the waters
of the Americau has washed away.
But to return to the proposed law. Will the levees provided to be
constructed under it, even if they resist the current and save us
from inundation, be sufficient to give us that moral protection--that
feeling of safety in ourselves and assurance of it to others--which is
absolutely necessary for the future prosperity of our city? The immortal
modern high priest of Cloacina is a fair exponent of the views and
feelings of that unfortunately large class of mankind who have neither
mental caliber nor power of prolonged attention sufficient to invesgate
either the cause of any evil or the probable efficiency of any proposed
remedy, but who make a hasty diagnosis from the little of the surface
that comes under their glance, and then emphatically and dictatorially
declare the subject beyond the control or aid of human power, and resist
and denounce every effort of investigation and attempt at salvation made
by another. And our levees to be effective must protect us as absolutely
against this class of men as against the surging rivers. The protection
must not only be real against the water, but. it must be so superabundantly
sufficient as to carry conviction, self-evident demonstration, to the
lowest order of intellect--even to such as San Francisco occasionally uses
in making a Senator.
Can that feeling of security to ourselves and of confidence to strangers
be given with merely the levees proposed in the bill? Or must we, in
addition to a broad and high wagon road levee up the American to the
high lands, wherever they are, also have a substantial cross levee on
or near the line now used? This is a question of vast importance, and
one which, with your permission, I will discuss in a future
paper--suggesting now, that whilst we are raising money, a very few
additional thousands will place the R street and east levees in better
order than either of them were immediately preceding the first flood, ***
THE FLOOD IN THE STEREOSCOPE.
A SERIES OF TWENTY-SEVEN
VIEWS OF SACRAMENTO CITY AND VICIN-
ITY, during the great flood, FINELY PHOTOGRAPED. $7 50 per dozen.
Sent to any address by mall, postage paid, on receipt of the price. For sale by
LAWRENCE & HOUSEWORTH,
m5-1m2p 637 Clay street, San Francisco.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
. . . HEALTHY EXERCISE.--If no other good cornes from our Winter and Spring
floods, the healthy and invigorating exercise of rowing will serve to
cheat the doctors out of many a fee. The passion for "handling an oar"
seems to have become universal, and we are glad to see that girls as
well as boys devote their leisure to this good work. The bloom of health
has been brought to many a cheek, and we hope all parents will encourage
this exercise of the oar and paddle in their children. On "Lake Hedenberg,"
in particular, many lively times, resulting from contests between the
juveniles of both sexes, can be witnessed almost any hour of the day.
Some of the young misses prove themselves "masters" of the art. Let
others "go and do likewise." . . .
BODY FOUND.--A coffin containing a skeleton, found afloat on Monday
afternoon on the American river, near Lisle' s bridge, was reburied
yesterday morning by Coroner Reeves. It was make in a workmanlike
manner, but of half-inch pine, and had undoubtedly been washed from
its former place of interment in the mountains by the late floods. . . .
ANOTHER PUMP.--E. Fell has recently ordered, at the Vulcan Iron Works
of San Francisco, an additional hydraulic pump of equal size and capacity
with that of the one heretofore in use for house-raising purposes. It
will be finished in about twenty days, and will be brought to this city,
where he expects to have use for both after the rains are fairly over. . . .
FALLING.--The water in the Sacramento river fell some two or three
inches yesterday, and that of the lower part of the city at about
the same rate. The water north of J street fell still more rapidly. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Tuesday, March 4, 1862.
The Board convened at 10 A. M. . . .
Supervisor HITE offered the following, which was unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the city members be and they are hereby appointed
a Committee to take such action as they deem proper in providing a
revenue for building a levee and improving the city front, and that they
report to this Board by a proposed bill or otherwise.
On motion, the hearing of the ferry controversy between Samuel Norris
upon the one part and Pearis & Harris on the other, was resumed. The
evidence for Samuel Norris having been submitted by E. B. Crocker,
counsel for that gentleman, J. W. Winans, on behalf of Pearis & Harris,
opened the case for his clients. . Documentary and other evidence was
adduced to show that the title to the land on the north bank of the
American, in the vicinity of Lisle's Bridge, was no longer vested in
Samuel Norris; that Mr. Norris' interest in the bridge had been formally
conveyed to Mrs. Amanda C. Harris; that Pearis & Harris now held a license
for a toll bridge; and that when the bridge was damaged by the December
floods Pearis & Harris maintained a ferry as long as there was any access
to the river banks at that point. All the evidence for the contestants
having been submitted, the points at issue were argued at length by
E. B. Crocker, after which the Board took a recess until two o'clock,
P. M.
After the Board had reassembled, Mr. Winans proceeded with his argument
on behalf of Pearis & Harris. He characterized the application of Norris
as an attempt to take advantage of a calamity in which the whole community
had shared.
Mr. CROCKER rejoined rather sharply. One point made in his argument
was, that an Act of the Legislature prohibited the erection of bridges,
without draws, over navigable streams, and the American had been declared
a navigable stream as far as Brighton. Special charters alone conferred
the right to build such bridges, and Pearis & Harris had not complied
with their charter.
Mr. Winans was allowed to respond.
Supervisor HITE moved that the prayer of Mr. Norris be denied.
Supervisor WOODS moved to amend, to the effect that the prayer be granted.
Supervisor HALL hoped that time would be allowed for consultation,
and that a decision would be postponed until to-morrow.
Supervisors HITE and GRANGER said they were just as ready to vote upon
the question now as they would be at any time hereafter, and hoped the
decision would be given without further delay.
The ayes and noes were called upon the amendment, with the following
result:
Ayes--Dickinson, Woods, and Waterman--3.
Noes--Granger, Russell, Hite and Hall--4.
So the amendment was lost.
Supervisor HITE withdrew the original motion, and Supervisor GRANGER
moved that the prayer of Pearis & Harris for a temporary license for
a ferry be granted.
The ayes and noes were called, with the following result:
Ayes--Granger, Russell, Hite, Dlckerson, Hall and Waterman--6.
No--Woods--1.
So Pearis & Harris obtained the license.
Several Supervisors explained that they were in favor of granting
licenses to both parties.
It was then decided that there had been no final action upon the petition
of Samuel Norris, and Mr. Crocker requested that a direct vote should
be taken.
Supervisor WOODS moved that a license be granted to Samuel Norris to
establish a ferry over the American river at Twentieth street. Lost.
Ayes--Supervisors Dickerson, Woods and Waterman--3.
Noes--Supervisors Granger, Russell, Hite and Hall--4. . . .
An application was received from W. D. Wilson for a license to run a
ferry across the Cosumnes river, on the Jackson and Drytown road, where
the same individual had a toll bridge, which had been carried away by
the flood. The consideration of the application was postponed, on account
of the lack of evidence to make the license legal. . . .
FROZEN TO DEATH.--The body of David Chandler was found March 2d, on
Oregon Hill, Yuba county, where he had frozen to death about five weeks
since. The Express of March 3d says:
The deceased left the Indiana Ranch on the evening of the 27th of January,
intending to go to Dr. Cannon's sawmill, near the Milk Ranch, where he
had been employed as engineer, since which time he had not been heard
from. The citizens of the neighborhood instituted a search and found the
body on Sunday last, where it had been buried in the snow for about five
weeks. At the time he left the ranch it commenced snowing, and it is
believed that he lost his way, and perished in the snow. Chandler was
formerly from Salem, Massachusetts, and has a married sister living in
Sacramento. If she should wish any information she can address
J. G. Cannon, M. D., Indiana Ranch, Yuba county. . . .
STONY CREEK.--The velocity of the waters this Winter in Stony creek,
Colusa county, has depressed the channel of the stream and lowered the
bed generally. Most of the old fords have been destroyed, . . .
LOSS IN SHEEP.--John Bowland of Stony creek, Colusa county, has been particularly unfortunate in the sheep business this Winter. He had a flock of about six hundred in number, and lost the last one of them,
[For the Union]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
Their Causes and Suggested Remedies.--No. 8.
BY T. ROWLANDSON, SAN FRANCISCO.
CALIFORNIA FLOODS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
It has been stated in some hypercritical remarks that in ignoring levees
I oppose the experience derived from the Po and other European works
of a like character, and what has been accomplished on the Mississippi.
The time has arrived when I can without going out of the track of the
main argument enter into some explanation respecting such sentiments
as have been erroneously imputed to me. Before I quit the subject
I am vain enough to believe that I shall be able to satisfy an attentive
reader that it is not because I ignore what it is asserted has been
accomplished on the Mississippi, the Po, the Lincolnshire marshes, etc.,
but it is because I am better aware of the facts connected with the
above named cases than Mr. Roach, or others who have seen fit to comment
on my statements before I had the opportunity of fully explaining my
views, based upon calculations made with reference to the case of
California solely, and founded upon the experience derived from the
defective character of the works which from time to time have been
constructed at the places named. The ineffective character of many
of the plans that from time to time have been adopted, and which have
been so pointedly and zealously alluded to, ought rather to serve as
beacons of warning than as brilliant lights of guidance. The latter
part of Mr. Roach's letter consists of a series of quotations as to
the form, depth, etc., etc., of the Mississippi, of which it maybe
remarked as it was of Mrs. Malaprop, that "there can be no arguing
with one so polite as to permit every second syllable to be in favor
of the opponent." Like the assumption made by Mr. Roach, that the
Straits of Curquinez are equal, in spite of tidal influence, to the
discharge of a volume of water as large as that of the Mississippi,
ignoring at the same time that the flood waters, the proper control
of which is the question under consideration, are upwards of four times
the quantity discharged by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya.
To one fact respecting the Mississippi I wish to draw Mr. Roach's
particular attention, and I shall give it in the words of Mr. Ellett:
"It is the curious circumstance that the actual channel of the
Mississippi--or what may be denominated as the Mississippi between
banks--carries more water in time of flood towards the head of the
delta than near the mouth of the Red river, or thence to the sea.
In other words, more water is discharged by the actual channel of
the river immediately below the mouth of the Ohio, or even above the
mouth, as high up us Cape Girardeau, than passes Natchez or New Orleans,
or any intermediate point."
Cubic Feet.
The discharge of the Mississippi below New
Orleans, at the top of the flood of 1851,
(from measurement taken June 16th, and
corrected for extreme high water) was,
per second 995,000
The discharge through the channel below
the mouth of Red River when the sur-
face was highest, June, 1851 was, per
second 1,134,500
The discharge of the channel at Memphis,
at the top of the flood of May, 1850, as
deduced from the report of Robert A.
Marr, was 958,000
The discharge one mile below the mouth of
the Ohio, June 10, 1851, while the water
was seven feet ten baches below the high
Water of 1850, and nine feet below that
of 1849, and rising about one foot per
diem 1,223,000
The discharge about one mile above Cape
Girardeau, June 17, 1851, when the water
was 4 7-10 feet below the high water of
1844, was 1,025,000
The discharge at this point, above the
mouth of the Ohio, during the high
water of 1844, was estimated at... 1,200,000
Respecting the above table, Mr. Ellett makes the following pointed
observations:
"Those quantities, it will be observed, are in all cases the volumes
which flowed down between the banks of the river, and are exclusive
of the waters of overflow which enter the swamps above, and feed
and maintain the floods below.
"If we compare the volume discharged in 1851 below the mouth of the Ohio,
while the flood was yet nearly eight feet below the high water of 1851,
with that known to have passed Memphis at the top of the flood of 1850,
we will have data to justify the conclusion that more than forty per
centum of the volume discharged by the channel immediately below the
mouth of the Ohio passes over into the swamps of the southern counties
of Missouri and escapes the measurement at Memphis. And in order to form
a correct judgment of the masses of water to be dealt with in the attempt
to control the floods of this river, it must be further observed that a
great volume of water also leaves the channel of the Mississippi above
the Ohio, and passes around through the swamps of Missouri, and
consequently escapes even from the measurement below Cairo.
Some of these losses Ellet attempted to compute, and he thus found--
Cubic Feet.
The discharge of the Mississippi below the
mouth of the Red river, per second, at
the top of the flood of 1851, was 1,134,500
The discharge below New Orleans, during
the high water of 1851 995,000
__________
Lost between Red river and the place of
observation, eleven miles below New
Orleans 139,500
This loss Ellet attributed partly to the discharge of the crevasses
below Red river, and partly to that of the two natural outlets, the
bayous Plaquemine and La Fourche, and apportioned them as follows:
Cubic Feet.
The high water discharge of the Plaquemine
was found by measurement to be, per
second 28,500
That of La Fourche 10,200
__________
Total discharge of the two natural outlets 38,700
By deducting the discharge of the above two natural outlets from the
total loss of water between the mouth of Red river and a point eleven
miles below New Orleans, we obtain the discharge of all the crevasses
at the time of the extreme high water of 1851. This discharge was
100,800 cubic feet per second. Neglecting the fraction, we may presume
that in 1851 a volume equal to 100,000 cubic feet per second, or about
ten per cent, of the total discharge of the Mississippi at New Orleans
escaped from the channel and passed through the vents in the artificial
levees below Red river. Reasoning on the above, Mr. Ellet observes:
"But we have already seen that if the volume discharged by the river at
high water were increased 35,000 cubic feet per second, the surface would
be raised below Red river about one foot. We cannot, however, thence
conclude that if the crevasses, which, as we have seen, discharge
100,000 cubic feet per second, had been all closed up, the water would
have risen at any point within a fraction of three feet. These crevasses
were distributed all along the coast, and many of them were too far below
Red river to affect the hight of the floods materially there; while an
increase of more than 35,000 cubic feet per second would be required to
raise the surface twelve inches at New Orleans." The reader's attention
is especially called to the words in italics which appear in the
succeeding quotation: "It is indeed impossible to say with certainty
what would have been precisely the increased hight of the flood of 1851
at any point, if the levees below Red river had been
high enough and strong enough
to support the weight of the water which was upon them. The writer can
only express the opinion, the correctness of which he cannot fully
demonstrate, that if the levees had withstood the pressure, the flood
of this year would have been about two feet higher at and near Baton
Rouge than the line which it actually attained, and consequently
if the crevasses had not occurred to vent the water, the levees
of Lower Louisiana, which were only ten or twelve inches above the
flood, must have been generally overflowed. It follows, therefore,
that if it be determined hereafter to rely exclusively on levees,
and prevent the recurrence of crevasses altogether, these levees, to
sustain a flood like that of 1851, must be made from Red river to New
Orleans competent to resist an increase of ten per cent, on the volume
discharged by the river. This condition, it is apparent, would involve
the entire reconstruction of the embankments on both sides of the river;
and hence, in order to retain merely the crevasse water of this year,
the levees must be entirely reconstructed or new outlets must be opened
competent to vent 100,000 cubic feet per second--which is more than
is now drawn from the Mississippi at high water by the Atchafalaya
itself." It is clearly shown from the above that New Orleans has been
saved from inundation not because the river was securely leveed but
for a reason quite the contrary, namely, because the levees on the river
Mississippi were defective.
In another place Ellet remarks: But it is not these visitations of
Providence (alluding to exceptional high floods) which we have here
to discuss and provide for. It is only those most disastrous floods
which now almost annually occur, sweeping over the works of industry
from year to year, devastating extensive regions and which are referable
to causes which society has created and is still creating, and what it
is therefore in the power of society to prevent.
"The floods which now carry distress and destruction into the Lower
Mississippi, it is maintained, are essentially the result of artifical
causes. The water is supplied by nature, but its hight is increased
by man. * * * * The subordinate causes have been discussed. The remaining
and the prominent cause it is proposed now to consider. THIS CAUSE
IS THE EXTENSION OF THE LEVEES."
If such are found to be the results by only partially leveeing the
Mississippi, what disastrous consequences may be anticipated to follow
(if such could be accomplished) the impoundage within levees of the
vast floods which drain into the great central basin of California. I have
already shown that occasionally there must flow or fall into this basin
a volume of water amounting, in the aggregate, to upwards of 5,000,000
cubic feet per second, or more than three times the volume ever passed
the Mississippi during the greatest flood, when at the highest point and
at the most capacious part of the river, which occurs about one mile below
the mouth of the Ohio, in which place it is 4,031 feet wide and 71.3 feet
deep.
The average sectional area, at high flood, of the Missis-
sippi from Vicksburg to Donaldsonville is, square feet... 215,200
The average sectional area from the Ohio to New
Orleans, square feet 200,000
The average depth, from 1-1/2 miles above Cape
Girardeau to McMasters' plantation, about
eleven miles below New Orleans, is about, feet 100
The average width of the Mississippi, from Cape
Girardeau to McMasters' is, feet . .......... 3,236
Sectional area of the Straits of Carquinez, on the
authority of Mr. Roach, square feet ...... 824,000
The facility of discharge from the last is, however, very much reduced,
owing to tidal influence, which will cause a reduction so great that
the Straits of Curquinez cannot be estimated as having a discharging
capacity beyond one-half of that of the Mississippi at its junction
with the Ohio, Carquinez, according to the state of flood and tide,
varying probably from 500,000 to 800,000 or 900,000 cubic feet per
second, or not equal to one-fifth of the capacity required to at once
convey away the entire drainage.
For convenience of. illustration, I in a former paper made an estimate
of the capacity of the Straits of Carquinez, calculating the same as
a rectangular trough, in which case, if the current moved with an average
velocity of ten feet per second, the volume which would pour through
would be equivalent to 3,240,000 cubic feet per second; as, however,
it would not be rectangular, and other small causes of obstruction might
exist, it is probable that a fluctuating volume of not more than from
2,800,000 to 2,900,000 cubic feet ordinarily passes through per second
when the tide is near its lowest stage. To effect this supply, it.will
be requisite that the proposed straightened, dredged and leveed
water-course above should, at least, be of equal capacity. If such a
construction was even practicable, it would be ineffective, so far as
draining all the flood waters; and as to increasing the velocity by
raising the proposed levees, I apprehend, even at the rate of ten feet
per second, there are no materials at hand for their formation that
would withstand the abrading influence of such a current. What has been
stated ought to satisfy any candid mind that New Orleans and much of the
country bordering on the lower Mississippi have been saved from inundation
not in consequence of levees, but to the circumstance that at various
parts of the line of levee they have at high floods been always found
more or less ineffective. Having shown the evil and inability of levees
on the Mississippi, it might be deemed useless to dwell longer on the
want of similarity between the position of that river and the case of
Central California. It may, however, perhaps serve a good purpose to
explain some other points of dissimilarity that are thoughtlessly
overlooked. Few things are more difficult of removal than popular
impressions of the numbers in California personally acquainted with
the delta of the Mississippi. It is doubtful if one could be found who,
if the question was put to him, "Have the construction of levees on the
Mississippi been effective in preventing the destruction of property and
life from floods? [sic,no "] would give, and that most conscientiously,
other than
an affirmative answer; yet nothing could be further removed from the
truth. Such becoming an accepted opinion, the pertinency of attempting
a like remedy in the case of California is easily rendered popular,
especially when seconded by comparisons, made between the enormous
extent of country which is drained into that celebrated stream and
that of California, the ratio between which is as twenty-five to one.
If, therefore, argue these presumed well informed parties, the mighty
Mississippi, which drains a country twenty-four times more extensive
than that comprising the water shed of Central California, can be
curbed by levees, why cannot the same effects be produced in the latter
by similar means. This appears very plausible, yet the cases are quite
dissimilar. If levees were really effective in the former case, as
represented (which, however, I have shown them not to be), the vast
space from which the waters of that river are drawn would be favorable
to this efficiency, whilst the limited area of the California water
shed is unfavorable to their profitable adoption. These facts will be
apparent when I draw attention to the actual and relative proportions
of space, rain fall, etc., of the two basins. The California basin
drains an area equal to 50,000--that of the Mississippi, 1,226,000
square miles. The rain fall in the Mississippi valley is estimated to
amount to 40 inches per annum, or equal to 113,952,141,466,666 cubic
feet. The California valley will most probably receive an amount of
rain during the present season of not less than sixty inches, or
6,469,000,000,000, or at the rate of eighteen to one. The most marked
features of difference, however, have yet to be noticed. The rain fall
on the Mississippi basin is spread pretty evenly over the whole year;
in some places the Autumnal, in others the Spring, Summer or Winter rains
prevail, in consequence of which the effects of heavy rain falls are
more equalized throughout the entire year, were it not for this
circumstance the character of the Mississippi would be very different
to what it is. Another cause exists which very much modifies, or
rather weakens the destructive effects arising from floods, which is
the immense withdrawal of water from such an extensive area by means of
evaporation. No gaugings have ever been instituted to even approximately
ascertain the amount, but it must be enormous. I may here state,
parenthetically, that in, all the calculations made in this series of
papers, I have omitted and probably shall omit all reference to
evaporation. This has been done because at the time of high floods during
the rainy season in California evaporation is in abeyance, and therefore
possesses no influence in modifying the destructive consequence of
floods arising from extremely heavy rain falls. In calculations made
for the object of securing permanent and self-maintaining remedial
constructions, the subject of evaporation would become an important
consideration, one quite as serious as that which the rain fall
constitutes at this stage of the inquiry. The widespread branches and
extended length, of the main arteries of the Mississippi tend very greatly
to influence and modify the character of the floods, and make it a much
easier engineering matter to subject them to control yet with all these,
and other matters that must occur to any one, it has been, found that
levees are ineffective for that purpose. How different is the ease of
the water shed drained by the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, in which,
for all practical purposes, it may be stated that nearly the whole of
the rain fall which floods this valley is precipitated into it at once.
With the exception of the waters of the extreme northern portion of the
Sacramento, the flooding and subsiding of the various rivers which flow
into the valley are simultaneous, the upper waters of the Sacramento,
and the Sacramento only, not contributing to aid the first flood, but
sufficiently near enough to assist in maintaining that flood at the time
that the other rivers are subsiding. But there is another point which
appears to have been wholly overlooked, namely, that in place of the
rain fall in California being distributed over the whole year, that which
is productive of destructive floods occurs only during about three months,
If we take the rain fall of the present season at sixty inches, for the
water shed under consideration, from the 1st December, 1861, to the 1st
of March, 1862, it will be found that if a similar fall took place during
the remaining rain months of the year, the total would be equal to two
hundred and forty inches for the whole year, This fact alone must convince
any one that no analogy can be fairly drawn between the case of the
Mississippi volley and that of California, if even levees had been as
effective on that river as they have notoriously been the reverse. . . .
THE FLOOD.--Upon taking a calm and intelligent survey of the field
covered by the late inundations, it appears that while portions of
the farming lands of the State have been subjected to serious damage,
only a small portion has been ruined for the purposes of agriculture and
a large proportion, especially in the southerly part of the State, where
our fat cattle come from, have been actually benefitted by the soaking
they received. The rural industry of the State can never meet with a
reverse sufficiently calamitous to destroy it.--Santa Cruz Sentinel.
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Monday, March 3, 1862.
The Senate met at eleven o'clock . . .
BILLS REPORTED.
. . . Mr. QUINT also reported favorably on Senate Bill No. 238 --An Act
to grant to James H. Dearing and Charles A. Dearing the right to construct
a bridge across Tuoloumne [sic] river [at Stevens Bar, one-half mile from
Jacksonville, the old bridge having been washed away]--which was read a
third time and passed under suspension of the rules. . . .
Senate Bill No. 208--An Act to appropriate money out of the General Fund
for the relief of sufferers by the flood--was indefinitely postponed. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Monday, March 3, 1862.
The SPEAKER called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
On motion of Mr. HILLYER, the resolution reported on Saturday from the
Committee on Expenditures, to pay the Sacramento boatmen, was taken up
under suspension of the rules, read and adopted. . . .
SENATE BILLS.
The House took up the order of messages from the Senate. . . .
Senate Bill No. 68--An Act to authorize the re-binding of books belonging
to the State Library--was read twice and referred to the Special Committee
on the State Library. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3412, 6 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . . Advices from British Columbia state the cold has been intense in the
Cariboo region. Rich gold fields are reported to have been discovered there. . . .
The Sacramento fell about three inches yesterday, and last evening stood
at twenty feet six inches above low water mark.
MISSISSIPPI LEVEES.--In his article of yesterday, T. Rowlandeon quotes
quite extensively from the writings of a civil engineer, Ellet, to show
that the levees on the Mississippi were unequal to the protection of the
country from overflows; and that in high water it was indebted for its
safety to the vents by means of sloughs, etc., and not to the levees.
In explanation, it is fair to state that two schools of engineers have
written upon the sufficiency of the levees on the Mississippi and their
effect upon the rise of water and the deposit of sediment. One class
contended for the levees; the other insisted that nature should be
followed, aad that all the natural vents for the water in the Mississippi
which had been closed should be reopened, and those open enlarged if
possible, so as to give the surplus water in that mighty river a chance
to find its way to the Gulf in other than the regular channel. A large
volume has been written on the issue without any final settlement, except
that the policy of building and maintaining levees has always prevailed
in Louisiana as the leading system for controlling the floods of the
Mississippi.
In the Winter of 1850 a crevasse occurred a few miles above New Orleans,
which discharged an immense body of water into Lake Ponchartrain, and
caused the lake to back its water into the suburbs of the city. Such
a torrent was poured through that crevasse that the water in that lake
as well as in several of those connected with it became so fresh as to
destroy oysters, and in some instances fish were sacrificed. While the
water was flowing through that crevasse, an animated and interesting
discussion was maintained through the papers, by civil engineers, as
to whether that crevasse should or should not be left open, and form
a vent for the surplus water of the river. Those who argued that it
should be closed prevailed, and the crevasse was closed after the water
subsided. The question is still an open one, and we presume that Mr.
Ellet, from whose writings Rowlandson quotes, is one of the engineers
who wrote in favor of as many openings as practicable to carry off the
surplus water of the Mississippi, instead of confining it within its
banks by means of levees. Authority equally strong may be found in the
writings of engineers in favor of the levee system. The evidence of no
single engineer is conclusive on the question in issue. . . .
SACRAMENTO.--We regret to see any opposition to the bill appropriating
funds for the carrying on the work of constructing the State Capitol at
Sacramento. The City of the Plains has been wisely selected as the Capital
of the State, and before another wet season comes upon us, all danger of
inundation will have been securely provided against.--S. F. Herald.
SAN JUAN PRESS.--This journal comes to us in miniature size, about as
large as a quarter of a sheet of the San Francisco Call. The
Press says it will continue to be issued in its present form
until the storm breaks permanently away and times get better. . . .
FROST IN LOS ANGELES.--During last month the vicinity of Lo« Angeles
was visited by heavy frosts, which did great injury to fruit trees.
Trees in bloom were killed for.the season. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
Shipwreck and Loss of Life--Cold Weather at Car-
iboo--Exports--Conviction--United States Semi-
Annual Interest--Suicide.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 5th. . . .
British Columbia papers represent the cold as being intense in the
Cariboo district and provisions scarce. Rich gold fields are reported
to exist in the country watered by the North river. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
STEAMBOAT ACCIDENTS.--The steamer Victor left the city on Wednesday
morning of last week for Red Bluff. When within ten or fifteen miles
of that point, a portion of her machinery got out of order and she
was unable to complete her trip. A small boat was sent back to the city
to order such new castings as were required to place her again in running
order. On Saturday morning last the steamer Swan left the levee with
about eighty tons of freight, also for Red Bluff. On Monday morning,
when opposite Jacinto, one hundred and seventy-five miles up the river,
she ran upon a newly formed bar and was unable to get off again. A small
boat was sent down to the city with information of the fact, and the
steamer Gem left yesterday morning for the purpose of taking off the
freight of the Swan and supplying the Victor with her new castings and
machinery. It is to be hoped that the Gem will stick to the river, and
not be enticed off on any exploring expedition through the agricultural
regions of the upper portion of the State. . . .
FRANKLIN LITERARY SOCIETY.--A meeting of this Society will be held next
Friday evening, in the High School room, for the purpose of reorganizing
the Association. The late floods have prevented meetings for a considerable
period, but they will now be held more regularly.
STILL AT WORK.--The pile driver at the foot of R street is still busily
engaged in driving piles in front of the railroad works. The current is
less destructive to the bank than it was before the trees and piles were
placed in a position to protect it. . . .
THE CHAIN GANG.--Preparations were made yesterday by the chain gang,
under the direction of Overseer Long, to commence to-day to clean out
the sediment from the cistern tank at the Water Works. . . .
THREATENING.--A cloudy sky and southeastern wind threatened additional
rain yesterday, but a clear sky in the evening assumed a more promising
appearance.
FALLING.--The water in the Sacramento fell yesterday about three
inches--standing at twenty feet six inches above low water mark. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Wednesday, March 5, 1862.
The Board convened to-day at half-past two o'clock P. M.. . . .
A communication was received from R. D. Ferguson, one of the
representatives of the city of Sacramento in the Assembly, in reply
to a resolution of the Board requesting our "Senators and Representatives
to use all honorable means to defeat the passage of Assembly Bill
No. 68," entitled "an Act for the better protection of farmers and for
regulating the herding of stock." Mr. Ferguson favors the application
of such a law to those portions of the county which have been inundated
and injured by the floods of December, January and February.
Supervisor GRANGER moved that the communication be referred to a Special
Committee of three. He thought this action was due to Mr. Ferguson, as
one of the Representatives of the city, and to the importance.of the
subject. He had doubts in regard to the propriety of his course upon
the question on a previous occasion.
Supervisor WOODS said the communication was addressed to the Deputy
Clerk of the Board, and therefore the Board was not obliged to treat
the paper with any respect.
Supervisor GRANGER characterized the objection as merely technical and
trivial.
The motion was agreed to--ayes 6, noes 1--Supervisor Wood.
The PRESIDENT appointed Supervisors Granger, Woods and Hall to serve
as the Special Committee.
A petition was received from G. W. Colby, contractor for building a
bridge at Sutter slough, asking for the action of the Board to stop
the break at Rabel's Tannery, and also for an extension of the time
allowed him to complete the bridge until the 1st of August.
Supervisor GRANGER moved that Mr. Colby be granted the extension of
time asked for. Agreed to. . . .
SNOW STORM.--On Friday night, February 28th, the snow was so heavy and
wet in Shasta that it caved in the Catholic Chapel, the Stage Company's
shed, the L part of Desmond's hotel, and also several smaller buildings,
GENERAL NOTICES.
A Card.--The friends and patrons of
the steamer "DEFIANCE " are hereby informed that I have this day sold
all my interest in said boat. In making this statement I feel that an
explanation is due to those who have so generously patronized the little
steamer, and aided her in making the struggle she has to maintain her
position on the river.
The object of an opposition is to bring the price of freight and passage
to a fair standard price. If it fail to do this, it is valueless to the
public and ruinous to the enterprise. I am now satisfied, and was at the
time I built the "Defiance," that this can only be accomplished successfully
by running a direct line from San Francisco to the upper ports, thereby
securing the through freight without the necessity of reshipping or
subjecting it to the onerous tax of the monopoly. This could have been
effected by the "Defiance" had she not been deprived (as I believe
unjustly) of a license to cross the Bay, thereby confining her to the
upper river, and making her dependent, to a great extent, on the lower
boats for the freight she carried.
These circumtances, taken in connection with the fact that most of the
wood on the route has been swept off during the late floods; the little
that is left (as I understand) having been purchased by the Steam
Navigation Company, and the boiler of the "Defiance " being unfit for
the use of coal, thereby leaving no alternative but to purchase fuel at
an exorbitant price in Sacramento, I have concluded that I can best serve
the interests of both the public and myself by withdrawing from this
unequal contest until such time as I can prepare to enter the field on
more equal terms.
With feelings of gratitude for past favors, and a hope that I shall still
receive their support in my new enterprise, I tender my sincere thanks
to the friends of the "Defiance." JNO. C. GIBSON.
Sacramento, March 3, 1862. m5-3t
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Monday, March 3, 1862.
The following is the conclusion of our report of Monday's proceeding,
after quarter before four o'clock, when our report closed in order to
reach the Sacramento boat: . . .
Senate Bill No. 55--An Act to grant the right to construct a bridge
across the Mokelumne river to Lewis Soher and others--was amended as
recommended by the Calaveraa delegation and passed. . . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, March 4, 1862.
THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR cailed the Senate to order at the usual hour, . . .
Mr. BOGART presented a resolution from the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors permitting the Legislature to stretch chains across Battery
street at both corners of the Capitol building, to be let down for the
accommodation of the stores, and procured at the expense of the State.
He also offered a resolution from the Special Committee, to whom the
matter was referred, directing the Sergeant-at-Arms to procure the
chains, etc.
Mr. OULTON inquired whether the Committee knew how much the chains would
cost?
Mr. BOGART replied ten cents a pound, the chains to be twenty-four feet long.
Mr. CRANE inquired how much they could be sold for.
Mr. NIXON wanted to hear from the gentleman from Yuba (Mr. De Long),
as it went in direct opposition to the sawdust question.
Mr. DE LONG replied that he had not heard the resolution read, but
understood it to be a proposition to chain up San Francisco. He thought
it could be happily amended, in being made to provide for chaining up
Sacramento. [Laughter.]
The resolution was adopted on a division--ayes, 21; noes, 8.
Mr. RHODES said it was appropriating private property for public purposes
with a vengeance.
Senate Bill No. 55, In relation to a bridge across Mokelumne river, was
taken up for concurrence with Assembly amendments. As the Clerk had not
signed the amendments, the bill was sent back to the Assembly. . . .
CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR OF LEVEES AT SACRAMENTO.
Mr. NIXON introduced a bill for an Act concerning the construction and
repair of levees in the county of Sacramento, and the mode of raising
revenue therefor, which was read twice and referred to the Sacramento
delegation.
[The bill provides that a Board of City Levee Commissioners, with the
powers and duties hereinafter provided, is hereby created for the city
of Sacramento, which Board shall, until its members are elected and
qualified as hereinafter provided, consist of David B. Harris, Charles
Crocker, William F. Knox, J. D. Lord and E. P. Figg; three of whom shall
hold office, one for two; one for three and one for four years from the
first Monday of the month next succeeding the general election, their
respective terms of office to be determined by lot at the first meeting
of the Board. At the general election in 1864, and at the general election
annually thereafter, the qualified electors of the city of Sacraanento
shall elect one Levee Commissioner who shall take his seat in the Board
on the first Monday of the month next succeeding his election, and hold
office for three years or until his successor is elected and qualified.
If from any cause a vacancy shall occur in the Board it shall be filled
by the remaining members of the Board. It also provides for a Board of
County Levee Commissioners for Swamp Land District No. 2, to consist of
A. Runyon, Josiah Johnson and Washington Fern, who shall at their first
meeting determine by lot which of them respectively shall hold office
for two, three and four years from the first Monday in October next. . . .
THE GENERAL FILE..
. . . Mr. Lewis moved to take up Senate Bill No. 55--An Act granting to
L. Soher and others the right to construct a bridge across Mokelumne
river--which was carried, and the bill read a third time and passed. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, March 4, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
REPORTS.
. . .Mr. WARWICK reported back Senate Bill No. 63--An Act relative to
binding books in the State Library.
Mr. WARWICK said the whole number of books injured was 1,080, but some
of them did not require rebinding as it would be very easy to replace
them with new books. He asked that the bill be put on its passage at
once, because some of those books were mildewing and spoiling.
Mr. AMES moved to refer the bill to the Committee of Ways and Means.
THE CHATTEL MORTGAGE BILL
The special order was taken up, being Senate Bill No. 70--An Act concerning
chattel mortgages. . . .
Mr. FERGUSON advocated the bill as a practical measure of relief to save
from utter bankruptcy and ruin the farmers of the great valleys of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin, whose homes had been overwhelmed by the recent
floods. . . .
THE STATE LIBRARY.
The House resumed consideration or Senate Bill No. 68--An Act authorizing
the rebinding of books in the State Library.
Mr. AMES moved to recommit the bill, with instructions to the Library
Committee to amend by providing that no more than three hundred volumes
shall be rebound, at a cost not exceeding four hundred dollars.
After debate, the motion to recommit prevailed. . . .
HOLCOMBE VALLEY.--The Los Angeles News of February 26th thus speaks
of the mines in this vicinity:
Bad weather still continued at Holcombe Valley. Snow and rain had fallen
alternately in great quantities for several weeks past. At last accounts
the valley was covered with snow, and the weather extremely cold. Very
little water was running in the streams and gulches. The road continues
open and was fast improving. The high water in the Mohave river has
receded so far as to enable teams to pass and repass with safety.
Nearly all the miners at San Francisquito canon had suspended operations
for the want of a sufficient supply of water for washing. Work would be
again resumed in a short time; the melting of the snow in the mountains,
it was expected, would soon commence, and would probably yield sufficient
water to enable the miners to continue their operations for at least two
or three months. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3413, 7 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .The Sacramento continues to subside, but very slowly. Last evening the
river stood at twenty feet six inches above low water mark. . . .
REPAIRING THE ROADS.--As the water in the American has fallen within
the banks, no serious obstacle, unless it is want of means, exists to
prevent the repairing of J or K streets, east of Twelfth, so as to enable
teams to enter and depart from the city. Since the late high water the
business of the city has all been transacted by means of the railroad.
But the time has arrived when one or the other of the streets named should
be repaired. We are inclined to the opinion that K street can be more
easily repaired than J, though it would, in the event of a rise in the
American, be much sooner covered with water. But with the exception of
a few cuts where the ground has been worn or washed off, the street is
very much more solid than J street. For several blocks the street is
filled with sand from one to three feet deep; this sand will make a
good road. We understand that Colby, who built the bridge at the slough
and the small bridges over the cuts on J street, is making an effort to
get plank to lay down over the worst portions of the road from Twelfth
street to the slough on that street. If he succeeds in this and rebuilds
the bridges high enough, the road to the fort on the line of J will soon
be rendered passable for loaded teams. There is a good deal of sand along
that line which might be advantageously used for repairing and elevating
the roads.. In the West and South where the people build over ground so
soft as to render it impossible to secure a solid road of earth, a
"causeway," as it is termed of logs, large and small, is laid across
the track. It is left uneven and rough, but it remains solid for years.
Sometimes they are made of rails. A portion of the road from Twelfth
street to the Fort might be rendered passable for the rest of the Winter
by such a process if the timber can be obtained. From what we hear it
might possibly be got from the drift on the land of George R. Moore,
just east of Stewart's. There is said to be an immense amount of lumber
lodged there of all sorts and sizes. It is very necessary that the road
be put in traveling condition as soon as possible, and it would not be
a bad idea, for those interested to give the matter a little of their
attention. . . .
AID TO SACRAMENTO SUFFERERS.--The officers and men of Company C
(Colonel Carleton's regiment). First Infantry, California Volunteers
have subscribed ninety-three dollars towards Sacramento flood
sufferers. The officers who are in Camp Latham, of the Fifth Infantry,
California Volunteers, have also subscribed sixty dollars for the same
purpose. . . .
FATAL LAND SLIDE IN SAN MATEO.--On the morning of March 2d a land slide
was discovered in Deer Gulch, in the Redwood Mountains. San Mateo county,
ten miles back of Redwood City. At the bottom of the gulch, three men,
Bowers, Jones, and another man, name unknown, occupied a house, and
manufactured shingles. Their bodies were taken out next morning. The
slide was supposed to have occurred on February 28th. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
INSOLVENT SUIT.--Joshua T. Bailey filed a petition in insolvency
yesterday in the District Court, asking to be discharged from his
debts and liabilities. The petitioner has been engaged in the business
of ranching; and stock raising in Sacramento county, having commenced
in 1853 with two hundred and thirty head of American cattle, eleven
American horses and two hundred and forty head of sheep, wagons,
harness, etc., etc., of the aggregate value of about $30,000. The
petitioner lost from the depreciation in value of stock etc., about
$20,000; by farming and farming improvements about $14,000; actual
losses from destruction of stock by flood, disease, etc., $15,000.
Of this amount $11,500 worth was lost by the floods of the present
season. Petitioner and his family have worked steadily and iudustriously,
but their earnings have not been equal to his losses. The petitioner has
paid about $10;000 in interest, and his outstanding indebtedness is now
bearing interest at the rate of two and a half and three per cent. per
month. The liabilities of the petitioner are given at $4,288 14. Assets,
exempt from execution, $2,508.
THE WIRE BRIDGE.--Thomson & Kinsey, proprietors of the wire bridge at
Folsom, made a contract several weeks ago with Halliday & Co., of San
Francisco, for the construction of a new suspension bridge, to be
erected on the site of the one which was carried away by the flood on
the 11th of January. The work of building the abutments has been
commenced. The work of the preparation of the wire is being done at
San Francisco. It is expected that the bridge will be completed sometime
in April. The new bridge will be about sixteen feet higher than the
former one. The only means of crossing the American at Folsom at present
is by means of cars and the railroad bridge. Teams cannot be driven across. . . .
IMPROVEMENT OF J STREET.--G. W. Colby, who owns the bridge on J street,
across Burns' Slough, is making arrangements to put J street in passable
condition for teams, by private subscription and voluntary labor. It is
proposed to purchase lumber enough to plank such portions of the street
between Twelfth street and the slough as require it, and. to grade the
remaining portion so far as is necessary. A number of teamsters have
signified their readiness to assist in the work free of charge. As we
shall have no other outlet from the city for teams for several weeks,
it is highly important that this project be carried out. . . .
FLOATING PALACE.--A flat boat, eighteen feet long and nine feet wide,
is being built at the foot of N street, which is to be roofed over and
weatherboarded so as to serve as a portable house. It will be occupied
on marsh land thirty miles below the city, by men who will be engaged in
ditching such land as is out of water. They don't expect to be flooded
out of their house by high water, but will always adapt themselves in
the circumstances of the case.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
THURSDAY, March 6, 1862.
The Board met at 11 a. m., but as the Committee on Roads, Ferries and
Bridges were not ready to report in the matter of the Jackson and Drytown
road, an adjournment was effected until 2 p. m. At that hour, the Board
reassembled . . .
Supervisor GRANGER, from the Special Committee appointed to consider and
report upon the communication of R. D. Ferguson, member of the Assembly,
submitted the following:
Resolved, That the resolution heretofore passed by this Board
in regard to the fencing law, be and the same is hereby so far modified
as to request our Senators and Representatives to exclude from the
operation of the proposed law all that portion of the county that was
not overflowed during the floods of 1861 and 1862.
Resolved, That the Clerk of this Board send a certified copy of
this resolution to the delegation from this county in the Senate and
Assembly.
Supervisor WOODS was opposed to a law having only a partial application
to the county. If there was to be any legislation upon the subject, he
desired that it should cover the whole county.
Supervisor WATERMAN would favor the resolutions, with a slight amendment
fixing the precise localities to which the law should apply, and excluding
the district along the Cosumnes river, which was represented by Supervisor
Woods and himself. His constituents were generally stock owners, and they
had good fences. There was no necessity for legislation in regard to that
portion of the county.
Supervisor HITE said that necessity requires such a law. Farmers,
especially at this time, ought to be protected against the trespassing
of stock. If every man knew that he was compelled to take care of his
cattle, it would be done.
Supervisor DICKERSON remarked that if the season were not so far advanced
he would favor the passage of a fencing law. But, at this time, the first
business of the farmer was to put in his crops.
Supervisor GRANGER advocated the first resolution as a measure of relief
to those who had suffered severely by the flood.
Supervisor WOODS moved to amend the resolution so as to include the whole
county.
The ayes and noes were called upon the amendment, and it was lost by
the following vote:
Ayes--Dickerson, Woods--2.
Noes--Granger, Russell, Hite, Hall, Waterman--5.
The original resolutions were then adopted by a unanimous vote.
Supervisor HALL, from the Committee on Roads, Ferries and Bridges,
submitted a report in relation to the Placerville and Coloma, and Jackson
and Drytown roads, and a new road which had been proponed as a substitute.
The Committee stated that they had examined those portions of the roads
mentioned in the petitions and remonstrances referred for consideration.
It had been found that the Placerville and Coloma road was impassable,
and the Jackson and Drytown road, from Hull's house to Thirty-first street,
was in a very bad condition. The report favored the granting of the petition
for laying out a new road, and suggested that Viewers be appointed.
Supervisor WATERMAN concurred in the report, with the understanding that
the old roads were not to be declared vacant. The report was so amended.
Mr. Tilton of Brighton township was permitted to argue at length against
granting the prayer of the petitioners for the new road. He endeavored
to demonstrate that if the old Placerville and Coloma road wers vacated,
there were many residents of Brighton township that would have no direct
means of communication with Sacramento city.
Messrs. Roney and Day were also heard in advocacy of the maintenance of
the old roads, and Mr. Conner upon the other side of the question. Mr.
Conner said the Placerrville and Coloma was irretrievably ruined. He did
not desire the vacation of the old road; that was not necessary, for there
was no longer a practicable road there.
The report of the Committee was unanimously adopted.
Messrs. Waters and Hull were appointed Viewers, for laying out the
proposed road. It was understood that these gentlemen represented the
rural interest, and that the old roads were not to be vacated.
Supervisor RUSSELL reported in favor of a petition from A. M. Jackson,
praying. permission to remove his frame house to L street near Sixth.
Mr. Henley, on behalf of the Trustees of the Methodist Church in that
immediate neighborhood, urged the Board to refuse the prayer of the
petitioner, chiefly because any increase of frame houses in that vicinity
would endanger the church property.
Supervisor GRANGER considered the granting of such petitions, under
existing circumstances, a matter of charity.
Supervisor HITE said he had ascertained that Jackson leased the lot where
he was located and the one to which he proposed to remove, and he was
opposed to granting the petition. It would be to set a bad precedent.
The report of Supervisor Russell was adopted, and the petition,
consequently, granted. . . .
INDIAN COMMISSIONER FOR ARIZONA--FLOODS AT FORT YUMA, ETC.--Major Rigg,
commanding the post at Fort Yuma, writes as follows, under date of
February 12th, to a friend in this city: . . .
I have but little news of importance to communicate to you. We have had
our share of the flood. For some time we were completely surrounded by
water, the flood coming from both the Colorado and Gila river. Arizona
City and Colorado City were emphatically wiped out; also Gila City, not
a building left to mark the site here where once flourished a thriving
place except Colorado City. Captain George A. Johnson's residence
(Steamboat Company) was not entirely destroyed. The machine shop,
however, being built of adobe, was washed away. Hooper's store also
shared the same fate. Immense damage was sustained all along the river.
Many animals, horses, cattle, mules, sheep, etc. were drowned or mired
and starved to death. The Indians suffered very much, having lost nearly
all of their provender, besides many were drowned. . . .
THE CALAVERAS.--The Stockton Independent advocates the plan of
clearing the channel of this river from its obstructions, in order to
prevent the water from flowing into Mormon Slough. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . . SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, March 5, 1862.
The Senate met at eleven o'clock, . . .
GENERAL FILE..
. . . Senate Bill No. 53--An Act to extend the time for the completion
of the foundation and basement walls of the Capitol at Sacramento
(introduced by Mr. Hathaway, with amendments by Mr. Heacock) was taken up.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN moved to refer it to the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. HEACOCK said he was opposed to the motion. He did not know why
it should be referred to the Judiciary Committee, when all but one
on that Committee were opposed to the interests of Sacramento. The bill
had been reported back favorably once, and acted on by the Senate. If
it was not a proper bill let it be laid over until the other bills on
the same subject could be reported, and then let them be considered at
the same time. To refer the bill to a Committee where all but one were
opposed to the interests of Sacramento, he thought very unjust.
Mr. WARMCASTLE said there were two other bills of the same sort before
the Judiciary Committee and favored the reference.
Mr. HEACOCK said the bill simply provided for an extension of the
contract of Blake & Connor until November next. The only question the
Committee on Judiciary could consider at all as a point of law, he
apprehended every lawyer would agree with him upon, namely, that the
bill as introduced did not provide that Messrs. Blake & Connor should
give new bonds. The Committee held that if the time was extended without
requiring them to give new bonds, or file the assent of their sureties,
that they could go on and give up their contract; and they had reported
an amendment giving all the time the contractors asked, but seeking also
to protect the interests of the State by forcing the contractors to give
new bonds.
Mr. GALLAGHER said that, notwithstanding all but one member of the
Judiciary Committee were opposed to Sacramento, he could not think that
men acting under the solemn oath of office would do anything but what
was right and just. He understood this bill was simply to grant an
extension of time. He was willing not only to give them that, but to
afford them some relief. The action of the Commissioners for the
construction of the Capitol--which neither of the representatives from
Sacramonto, he would do them the justice to believe, would sustain--in
compelling these parties to go on with the work at this time, he belleved
to be very injurious to them. The Commissioners had the power to crush
them, and he was fearful of the results of allowing them to continue
without restriction.
Mr. HEACOCK asked why, if the gentleman was in favor of passing a
bill for an extension of time, he wanted this recommitted?
Mr. GALLAGHER said it was stated that the losses by the contractors were
very slight indeed. He was willing to allow them for the lime which had
been spoiled.
Mr. BURNELL thought there were no reasons for referring the bill.
The gentleman from Calaveras seemed to apprehend that certain parties
were going to be crushed, that this State was going to fall upon them.
The danger was the other way, for contractors invariably fell upon the
State. The idea of referring this to the Judiciary Committee to prevent
the State from being crushed, was simply ridiculous. If they had lost
$1,000, or $10,000, they would get relief if it took ten years to do it.
There was but a single proposition in the bill. He did not see what could
be gained by the reference of this bill, unless it was delay. The bill
had been considered by one Committee. He thought the proper course would
be to lay it over. He was opposed to letting it go on to the close of
the session to be passed over in the hurry of business.
Mr. HEACOCK raised a point of order that the amendments reported back
by the Committee had been adopted by the Senate, and the bill could
therefore not be recommitted.
Mr. PARKS said it could not be amended, although it might be recommitted.
The only way to amend it now would be to refer the bill with special
instructions.
The PRESIDENT said it could not be amended in any case before engrossment.
Mr. WARMCASTLE moved to lay it on the table.
Mr. NIXON wished to correct a statement in reference to the position
of the delegation from Sacramento.
The PRESIDENT (Mr. Shafter) said he hoped the delegation from
Sacramento would take some other opportunity to do it.
The bill was laid upon the table. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, March 5, 1862.
The SPEAKER called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
FURTHER REPORTS.
. . . Mr. WRIGHT, from the Library Committee, reported back Senate
Bill No. 68--An Act providing for rebinding books in the State
Library--with amendments, according to the instructions of the House,
limiting the number of volumes rebound to 300, and the cost to $400.
The amendments were adopted, and the bill was passed. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3414, 8 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
The Sacramento stood at about twenty feet three inches above low watermark
last evening. Rain fell yesterday, but not in any considerable quantity.
The water in the lower part of the city remains nearly stationary, with a
slightly receding tendency. . . .
DROWNED.--A man named Richard Bell was drowned at Nevada, March 3d, while
endeavoring to cross a bridge where the planking was taken up. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . . Legislative Proceedings.
In the Assembly . . . The two houses disagreed in the matter of repairs
of the State Library books, and a Conference Committee was appointed on
the part of the Assembly. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
REMOVAL OF FATHER CASSIN.--lnformation was received in this city a day or
two since to the effect that Father Cassin had been removed by Archbishop
Alemany from the priesthood of St. Rose Church. . . . A correspondence
has also taken place between the officers of the Howard Benevolent Society
and Bishop Alemany, concerning the alleged neglect on the part of Father
Cassin, of women who died while under the care of the Society during the
late flood. This correspondence may also have contributed to the final
result. . . .
LAMBARD MILLS.--The Lambard Flour Mills, on I street, near Second, after
standing idle for nearly two months, commenced running on Monday morning
last, and have been kept busy during the week. The building in which
these mills are located stands on the north side of I Street and on
the edge of Sutter slough. The flood of December 9th submerged the lower
story, and during the most of the time since that date there has been
water on the lower floor, which formed an impediment to the running of
the machinery. At the present time the water is kept out by the use of
a pump, which is driven by the engine. As the building was located on
the edge of the slough, and as the machinery was driven chiefly by means
of shafting, it was feared that the walls, floors, etc., might have settled
to such an extent as to render repairs and alterations necessary before
starting again. These fears were found, on experiment, to be unfounded,
everything about the establishment proving to be as firm and solid as
before the visitation of the flood. . . .
THE WORK ON J STREET.--The work of improving J street was commenced
yesterday, and though but few hands were engaged a good start was made.
Five bridges were constructed, varying in length from thirty to sixty
feet. Two-inch Puget Sound lumber--of which ten thousand feet have been
purchased--is used for their construction. As portion of J street near
the slough is covered with water, it is designed to cross to K at
Twentieth or Twenty-first street, and improve the route upon that street
to the Fort. . . .
SLOWLY.--The Sacramento river falls very slowly. It was still about
twenty feet above low water mark at sunset last evening. . . .
ANOTHER BOAT RACE.--Another boat race will take place to-morrow afternoon
at three o'clock, at the usual locality, below the railroad between
Mooney's Whitehall boat and the Fashion. The first named boat will be
rowed by J. Mooney and R. Pierce, and the Fashion by H. N. Pearce and
J. Thomas. A wager of $500 is said to have been staked on the result.
K STREET.--A subscription list was circulated yesterday in the eastern
portion of the city, to raise funds for the improvement of K street
between Twelfth street and the Fort. It is designed to fill up all
low places in the street with willow brush from the American river,
covered with sand, of which there is a great abundance to be had along
the entire line. . . .
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
Their Causes and Suggested Remedies.--No. 9.
BY T. ROWLANDSON, SAN FRANCISCO.
CUT OFFS--CONTRADICTORY LEGISLATION--THE PROPOSED TULARE CANAL.
Cut offs may be mischievous or beneficial according to the circumstances
under which they are made. Thus a cut off below Sacramento city would
undoubtedly tend to carry away the water more rapidly from above and
around it towards the general outlet at the Straits of Curquinez, but
a cut off above Sacramento would only facilitate the precipitation of
the flood waters on to that locality, unless such cut off was constructed
so as to discharge its waters below that city. Although the latter might
be very useful in the case of moderate floods it would only hasten the
evils during a following great rain fall; that is, whenever the supply
became heavier than the Straits of Carquinez possessed a capacity for
discharging it. This would vary, according to the nature or the tide,
and, in some measure, the winds which might prevail simultaneously with
the floods under notice.
If anything really beneficial is to be effected for the relief of the
inland cities of California located in the low central valley, such as
Sacramento, Stockton, Marysville, etc., from the disastrous effects of
future floods, it is of the utmost consequence in order to perfect a
thoroughly comprehensive and effectual system of relief that measures
be immediately taken for the purpose of clearing away contradictory
legislation and the neutralizing or purchasing all interests opposed
to such a desirable object, especially when combined with the laudable
purpose of simultaneously reclaiming 5,000,000 acres of land and
converting it from an unsightly marsh into fields waving with golden
grain, or luxuriant pastures studded with lowing herds, or filled with
flocks of sheep, regarding which animal the old Spanish proverb relates
"that wherever its foot touches the land is turned into gold." Incident
to such measures if finally adopted, would be the enormous reservation
of mechanical power consequent on the imprisonment of flood waters,
which, under their natural condition, are sometimes so terribly
disastrous. It would be; accompanied by benefits similar to those
which follow the adoption of the principles of civilization by savage
man, namely: the conversion of fitful, destructive and objectless power
into continuous, well directed, useful labor. In the brief summary which
will close this series, I shall advert to the measures which ought to be
adopted, and also dwell in some degree upon the means by which they may
be facilitated, in order to avoid future danger and obtain prospective
advantages; before arriving at which I have something to say on several
other matters, one of which can perhaps be appropriately alluded to at
the present moment; that is the great tendency of past, present and
prospective legislation to form such a muddle of interests as will
speedily, and, if not instantly and effectually stopped, form an
effectual bar to the practicability of carrying out any comprehensive,
truly effectual and beneficial plan hereafter.
I am only aware of the quantity of swamp land alienated from the State,
from the letter of Mr. Winn (see Union of the fourth ultimo), by which
it appears that the State has disposed of its interest in 287,490 out of
381,034 acres that have been surveyed under the existing Swamp Land
Commission; there still remains, probably 4,000,000 acres of land,
capable of being converted into the highest state of fertility. These
ought to be retained by the State, and not an acre more be alienated
until a definite and comprehensive plan is adopted, after the strictest
scrutiny and mature deliberation. This estate might be made the basis
for obtaining the requisite funds for commencing and in part completing
the works requisite for its reclamation contemporaneously with the
execution of works that would equally relieve the cities of the plains
and the swamp lands themselves. Part being completed, the drained and
secured lands might be sold, or a loan could be obtained on the
improvements so made, and thus step by step the whole might probably
be completed within ten years from, the time of commencing operations.
If such a scheme was honestly and unanimously set about, I am satisfied
all the funds requisite for the execution of the works which I contemplate
could be obtained at the rate of ten per cent. per annum, whilst the
benefit which would enure to the State would, at the expiration, be
worth more than cent [sic] per cent. per annum in direct increased revenue
derived by its inhabitants, and wholly excluding in this estimate the
collateral advantage of resting in perfect security from any future
damage arising from floods. In another way the State has, I believe,
alienated, or gone far towards doing so, an additional 500,000 acres,
or in round numbers, 800,000. In the latter case I allude to the Tulare
Canal Company. This scheme has twice or oftener obtained franchises
from the Legislature. The first one was forfeited; a second or third
one was granted by the last Legislature, the trustees of which, I
understand, have done very little towards accomplishing the results
promised, which promises were the means of obtaining their franchise.
I do not know whether I am rightly informed or not, but I understand
that, owing to non-fulfillment of the conditions on which the franchise
was granted, the company possessing the existing charter will have to
come before the present Legislature for the renewal, or what is tantamount
thereto, namely, an extension of time. This matter should be suspended,
until a thorough inquiry and accurate data has been obtained for devising
the best means for obtaining the various advantage in view.
It is possible, indeed probable that, to a cer: tain [sic] extent, the
existing arrangement regarding the Swamp Land Commission and a portion
of its fund would be the easiest and most expeditious mode of obtaining
the means for the construction of works which, whilst made in consonance
with a general plan, could with justice be taken advantage of for rendering
the city of Sacramento perfectly for the ensuing Winter, even though it
should prove as wet as the current season. The Tulare canal, however, is
a different matter, for if I understand that it means anything at all, it
means a canal made with the object of accelerating the flow of water from
the county proposed to be drained by it towards the common outlet at the
Straits of Carquinez. If it does not accomplish this, it would not
accomplish anything that is valuable, and would be perfectly useless to
its grantees. I know nothing of the practicability of this scheme in a
pecuniary or an engineering point of view. I only know that if, when
executed, the canal does what it is intended to do, it must, by more
readily inundating the lower valley, cause a reflex action on the waters
issuing from the Sacramento and American rivers, and very much enhance
the danger of Sacramento being again flooded on the occasion of a
repetition of similar rain storms to those which we have lately
experienced. On another account I shall have occasion to again refer
to this matter. I wish here to be most emphatically understood as by
no means advocating the forfeiture of, or in anywise abolishing the
equitable claims of parties already interested in either the lands already
alienated under the Swamp Land Act, or what are proposed to be by the
Tulare Canal Act. What I desire to see done is that all these matters
should be prevented from becoming paramount to, and exercising an
injurious tendency on, works hereafter to be proposed, which would have
a much wider, more permanent and profitable tendency, while those proposed
under the two Acts named would be directly injurious, so far as regards
increasing the destructive effects of futiure floods, and might also at
the same time be calculated to produce a clashing of interests that would
be fatal to the construction of any really valuable works in future.
Whatever rights or equities may have been obtained, owing to the
indifference of the public and the supineness of previous legislators,
let them be fairly, in fact, fully paid for, if required to be condemned
for public use.
Mr. Winn, in his letter, states that "we look to the ultimate reclamation
of all the swamp lands in this State." If so, notwithstanding his staff
of seventeen scientific assistants, as yet not one of them has publicly
shown any practicable plan for accomplishing so desirable an end.
"Levees!" "Levees!" have been all the cry. It is possible some hidden
Stephenson or mute but as yet inglorious Brunel may be amongst this
body; but as yet the public knows nothing of the fact, while it does
know and feel that a glorious opportunity for the display of genius has
as yet passed without the opportunity having been seized by any of its
members. I do not advocate the abolition of the Swamp Land Commission
and its staff; they may be made useful as an adjunct to a more pretentious
body, having more comprehensive objects in view and a clearer idea as to
the mode of accomplishing its various objects. This section, containing
matter relating to cut-offs, affords me the opportunity of explaining
that in a former paper, when asserting that all the dredging that could
be accomplished on the Hog's Back would not occasion a tea cup full more
water to hourly pass through the: Straits of Carquinez, I ought to have
stated "on occasions of overflow [no close "], when the river is confined between
banks the effect of dredging would undoubtedly very greatly increase the
flow towards and the discharge through the Straits of Carquinez. For
this and similar omissions and occasional deficient lucidity. I have to
request the reader to overlook, as I have observed that some confusion
of ideas may sometimes be occasioned owing to my having attempted to
explain too much or too many phases of a subject rather more briefly
than it was possible to accomplish. For the preceding other shortcomings,
I respectfully crave the reader's indulgence, on the ground that all
these papers have been written very hastily--part sometimes at my
residence and part at San Francisco, while attending to appointments
respecting widely different subjects, and not unfrequently attempted
to be revised whilst in conversation with others. This attempted apology
is obnoxious to the remark that I might have taken more time to have
written what I have done. This I would gladly have done, so far as my
own feelings are concerned, but as I could not tell how soon I might
be able to afford more time to devote to the subject, and feeling
satisfied that if action is to be taken on the matter there was not
a moment to lose, I have ventured to present my views to the public
notwithstanding the crude character of their composition. I may
conclude this episode by observing that all the chief engineering
points which I have or shall have to notice on this subject were firmly
impressed on my mind nearly six years ago, when I first visited the
various canons which receive the head waters of the different rivers
that discharge themselves into the valleys of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin, having previously, to that first journey been called upon as
consulting engineer on inquiries similar to and only varying from the
present by difference in magnitude. I was necessarily more impressionable
to the fact of the utilitarian purposes to which the physical
characteristics around these head waters were capable of being
converted, and I sighed to think that probably not until long after
the mind which then dwelt upon this subject had been separated from
its earthly tenement, and the hand that pens this had returned to
primitive dust, would the public mind be awakened to the great importance
and value of the works I have indicated, and shall hereafter advocate.
A sudden, though to me not altogether unexpected catastrophe, has drawn
public attention to the matter. According to results it will be seen
whether it has been sufficient to arouse the energies of the citizens
of California to manfully combat with and successfully overcome the evil.
THE OHIO--THE PO--THE LINCOLNSHIRE FENS.
Having recently obtained some statistics respecting the floods of the Ohio,
which will be serviceable as illustrative of the rate at which flood-waters
"between banks" pass down swollen rivers, I repeat them here. The greatest
flood of the Ohio, respecting which there is either tradition or record,
is the one of February, 1832, when this river attained a height of 31 feet
at Pittsburg, 442 feet at Wheeling and 63 feet at Cincinnati, above its
Summer level.
This flood is recorded to have attained its highest mark from place to
place along the Ohio as follows:
Pittsburg, February 10th.
Wheeling, February 11th (evening), 83 miles.
Marietta, February 13th (noon), 176 miles.
Maysville, February 16th (night), 405 miles.
Cincinnati, February 10th (midnight ), 460 miles.
Louisville, February 21st (morning), 613.
From the above it would appear that the flood traveled from Pittsburg
to Cincinnati, a distance computed to be 400 miles, in seven days and
a half, or at the rate of sixty-one miles per day, or two miles and a
half per hour. This is a very slow rate I suspect, when compared with
the velocity of the American river at high flood; probably not quite
one-half the rate of the latter under similar circumstances.
Whilst alluding to the American river it will not be out of place to
make allusion to some comments of A. F. G. respecting my calculations
on this point. I have not time to go over the estimates now, which is
the less requisite, as I am quite willing to accept that gentleman's
corrections, by remarking upon them however, as to a note which I
forwarded to the UNION on the 1st instant, I fell into an error owing
to the hasty glance which I could then only give to it. What I presume
A. F, G. must have intended to express was the fact that to carry off
the one-fifth of the flood waters which I propose should be impounded
in the canons on the upper parts of the three forks, can be securely
carried away by a canal as proposed by A. F. G., respecting which a
very practical rejoinder is made in some remarks by the editor of UNION,
namely, that apparently to a bystander who witnessed the stream flowing
through the recent crevasse of the American river, a canal such as
proposed by A. F. G., would be inadequate for the purpose. This is only
what I should a priori have anticipated, and for the following
seasons [sic]:
First--The impounded waters have necessarily a primary influence in
obviating floods to the extent of the volume so withheld, but there
are other consonant agencies consequent on such impoundage.
Second--The retention of so large a volume of water at the time of high
flood will proportionately retard the rate of outflow of the balance which
is drained by the lower parts of the river, by which means the secure
carrying power of the river between banks is increased ratebly to the
extra time so acquired for the discharge.
Third--The lake like character given to the upper waters tends greatly
to diminish the velocity of their flow through such lakes, thus retarding
their, descent until the first flood waters of the lower water shed have
had time to discharge themselves without endangering the couutry adjoining
the banks of the river.
It will thus be seen that the collateral advantages of impounding the
upper waters are fully equal to and probably exceed that of reducing so
large a mass to simple quiescence. When I rather empirically estimated
that the impoundage of one-fifth of the rain fall during twenty-four
hours, of the area drained by the American would suffice, for safety,
I had in view all the accessory advantages to be derived from such an
operation. The correctness of this view is corroborated by the
observations of the editor of the UNION. But the proposal of A. F. G.
is defective in a most important point, namely, the fact that even though
such a canal proved effective in saving Sacramento, it will only hasten
the inundation of lands below, for A. F. G. errs very much in inferring
that the Straits of Carquinez possess a capacity equal to the safe
conveyance in time of flood or the drainage of the large valley to which
they are the outlet.
My remarks respecting the Po must he brief; in fact it is the less
necessary to enter into the particulars of this river, as many of a
similar character have been touched upon when treating of the Mississippi.
The rain fall on the water shed drained by the Po is somewhat similar to
that which drains into the Misnissippi, namely: forty inches per annum,
not limited, as is the case of California, to three or four months, but
spread not very unevenly over the entire year. It is true that the season,
from June to the end of October is very dry, the supply of water to the Po
is, however, in such cases, maintained by the melting of the accumulation
of snow and ice on the Alps. This remark also applies to California under
analogous circumstances, namely: the melting of the snows of the Sierra
Nevada.
It must, however, be kept always in view that this special similarity
exercises no influence on the comparison. I have already stated that
during seasons like the current one, it is a low estimate to calculate
the rain fall of the area which drains through the Straits of Carquinez
at 60 inches in the course of three, whilst that of the Po us only 40
inches extended over twelve months, or six times the proportional amount
falls in the valley of California within a given time. There is also
this fact favorable to the Po, as also with the Mississippi, when
compared with the case of California, that evaporation exercises an
enormous influence in ameliorating the floods which descend to the Po.
As an illustration of this, it may be mentioned that of the amount of
rain fall which drains from the water shed of the Ohio into that river,
only forty per cent, finds its way into that tributary of the Mississippi,
sixty per cent, passing off in evaporation. There is every reason for
believing that as great or a greater percentage of the water shed of the
Po passes off in like manner. The evaporation in the California valley is
no doubt very great, but its influence only becomes manifest to any extent
after all danger from floods has ceased to be threatening. Practically,
therefore, no abatement on this account can be made when contemplating
the construction of works for avoiding the destructive effects of floods
in California in the arrangements of plans for keeping open the water
courses during the dry season evaporation is an important element, but
not requisite to'be entered upon in the present state of the inquiry.
Nor does the extraordinary difference between the case of the Po and
California end here; the entire water shed drained by the Po cannot
exceed twenty-five thousand square miles, whilst that drained through
the Straits of Carquinez is at least double that area, or fifty thousand
square miles. Notwithstanding all these advantages in favor of the Po,
and a system of leveeing that has been accumulating upwards of two
thousand years, the levees are overflowed almost annually, and their
neighborhood inundated. These floods are in consequence, in part, of
the defective principles and arrangements originally made on initiating
the levee system, and partly to a natural cause, namely: the shallow
character of the sea into which the Po debouches. The Po, like the
Mississippi, annually increases the elevation of its bed, and consequently
renders it indispensably necessary from time to time to elevate the
levees in proportion. In the absence of surveys, executed with the
minutest accuracy, it would be impossible to say how far this evil can
be guarded against through the favorable or unfavorable nature of the
fall from Sacramento to Carquinez. Whatever may be the favorable
circumstances, it is highly probable that they will be more than
neutralized by the circumstance that the rivers San Joaquin and
Sacramento are to some extent tidal rivers, which the Po and Mississippi
are not. This tidal influence is perhaps the most difficult matter to
get over of any connected with the subject, as its bearings are so much
ramified.
The fens of Lincolnshire have been alluded to as a very opposite case,
where leveeing, it is asserted, has proved very efficient. In this, as
in many more instances, "distance lends enchantment to the view"--in
this case both distance of time and distance of space. This extensive
area of lowlands is about seventy miles in length, varying from twenty
to forty miles in breadth and covering a space amounting to very near if
not full 700,000 acres. Part of this space was subjected to the
incursions of the sea, to prevent which levees became indispensable.
Their adoption, however, to too great an extent, in order to protect
the interior portions from the effects of land floods without the aid
of other accessories, caused the greater part of this area to remain
in a scarcely half reclaimed state. It is highly probable that the
attempt at reclamation was first made by the Romans. The "long causey,"
twentv-four miles in length, was made of gravel three feet thick and
sixty feet broad by those conquerors. A cutting was made across this
embankment a few years ago, which displayed the permanent character of
the works constructed by that extraordinary people. It was laid upon
the turf, the first layer being oak branches, then a tolerably thick
layer of rough flag stones, afterwards alternate layers of gravel and
clay, which in the course of time formed a cement which nothing but an
unwearied application of the pick could remove. This episode will serve
as an illustration of the kind of works that I contemplate and would
recommend; it ought also to remove the objection raised by. A. F. G.
to impounding of the upper waters of the American and other rivers; for,
if properly constructed, there is not the slightest danger of such
reservoirs bursting their embankments. I of course never contemplated
that such would be permitted to be made other than in the most
substantial and perfect manner. The slip-slop and ephemeral nature
of the embankment made for such purposes by private water companies,
as exhibited in such works made in California previous to this period,
would form a very inadequate criterion as to what ought to be done in
the formation of works that should be made to last all time. History
shows that, notwithstanding the efforts of the Romans, the fen county
remained a desolate one for ages afterwards, the first energetic effort
at reclamation in modern times being made by Morton, Bishop of Ely,
A. D. 1478. In the reign of Elizabeth, the general drainage of what was
called the great level became a matter of public interest, at the latter
end of which reign and the beginning of James the First, A. D. 1600-1606,
several Acts were made and charters granted for the improvement of the
fen districts--not, however, without opposition on the part of the "fen
men," who stated that the reclamation of such lands would cause the
destruction of wild ducks and other water fowl. During the Commonwealth
more energetic measures were taken under the superintendence of Vermuyden;
very imperfect, however, were all these attempts which were afterwards
from about 1770 to 1800, almost rendered valueless in consequence of
breaches made through the original levees; owing to conflicting interests
no systematic and energetic efforts were made toward obtaining effectual
relief until the year 1818, from which period, until the year 1830, works,
both of drainage and leveeing, were simultaneously carried on under the
advice of the celebrated engineers Tilford and Rennie. I have drawn up
the brief sketch of the history of the drainage of the Lincolnshire fens,
with the object of showing that the existing flourishing country was only
the result of a series of efforts made after repeated errors, ftnd a
comprehensive system adopted suitable to meet all the exigencies of the
case. I could have adduced some striking examples had time and space
permitted. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, March 6, 1862.
The Senate met at eleven o'clock, . . .
The Assembly amendments in reference to repairing books in the State Library
were opposed by Mr. Parks, and rejected. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3415, 10 March 1862, p. 1
LETTERS FROM WASHINGTON.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2d.
The longest way round is said to be sometimes the shortest way home,
and acting upon this ancient and paradoxical maxim I sent a letter
containing the proceedings of Congress up to the 30th ult., by the
steamer which left New York yesterday. We receive letters by the
overland mail so irregularly and of such uncertain ages, that a pretty
large proportion of the business and friendly correspondence with the
Pacific is reserved for the steamer. It is a little curious, that while
we get the UNION and other California papers twenty-eight and sometimes
twenty-seven days old, letters are often thirty-five days in coming
overland. The recent floods west of the Rocky Mountains, and indeed
the freshets and storms which have prevailed throughout the North and
West, have, it is feared, added to the difficulties of the overland
service. Joined to these causes of interruption are the operations of
the Missouri bridge burners. It is said that men born to be hanged will
never be drowned, so I suppose it were in vain to wish that the high floods
might be severely destructive to human life in the particular localities
infested by these wretches. . . .
p. 2
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, March 7, 1862.
. . .Senate Bill No. 178--An Act supplementary to an Act to provide for
the segregation and reclamation of swamp lands--was taken up.
Mr. PARKS offered an amendment, making all persons altering levees in
hight, width or otherwise, guilty of and punishable for misdemeanor;
which was adopted.
Several amendments were made in Committee of the Whole. The bill was read
a third time and passed, by a vote of--ayes, 17; noes, 7. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, March 7, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
THE STATE LIBRARY.
A message from the Senate announced that that body had refused to concur
in Assembly amendments to Senate Bill No. 68--An Act to authorize the
rebinding of books for the State Library.
Mr. SHANNON moved that the House recede, as he was satisfied that the
sum to which the expenditure was limited by the House was altogether
insufficient, and as the law already gave the Trustees of the State
Library full power to manage the Library Fund, to restrict them in this
respect would have no other effect than to prevent them from repairing
the books.
Mr. TILTON of San Francisco, said he hoped the House would not recede.
The amendment was adopted unanimously upon a statement of information
in possession of the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. WARWICK said the Trustees had control only of the library fund which
was set apart for the specific purpose of the purchase of the books. That
fund was in a healthy condition, having been carefully husbanded, and as
the Trustees had not squandered that fund he saw no reason to suspect that
they would squander any appropriation for rebinding the books.
Mr. BARTON of Sacramento said he thought somebody was going to make a good
thing out of this rebinding. He understood that the State Librarian had
without authority transferred about half the books to Sun Francisco, and
that two dollars per volume had been named ias the price of rebinding, but
the State binder had told him he thought he could reblnd the books for
seventy-five cents each. He hoped the House would adhere to its position.
After further debate the House refused to recede from its amendments,
and on motion of Mr. Ames, a Committee of Free Conference was appointed.
The Speaker appointed as such Committee, on the part of the House, Messrs.
Ames, Shannon, and Tilton of Saa Francisco. . . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, March 8, 1862.
Lieutenant Governor Chellis called the Senate to order at the usual hour. . . . .
ASSEMBLY MESSAGES.
A message was received from the Assembly, announcing the disagreement of
that body as to the Senate amendments to the bill authorizing the rebinding
of books in the State Library, and the appointment of a Committee of
Conference.
The PRESIDENT appointed Messrs. Denver, Oulton and Harvey as a Committee
on the part of the Senate. . . . .
p. 3
PERILOUS, BUT FUNNY AND LAUGHABLE.--One of the richest adventures of
this season of floods came to our knowledge a few days ago. A gentleman
residing in the southern part of this county, having urgent business at
home, started from this place, post haste, in a rain storm, last Tuesday,
determined to "brook" all obstacles that might obstruct his path or
prevent him from being with his family during the impending flood, that
he saw plainly must be the result of the rain storm. He made about half
the distance the first day, and put up for the night with a friend. On
Wednesday morning he saddled up, and started on his way rejoicing, little
dreaming of the "sad fate" in store for him. Arriving at a small stream,
now swollen to a mad torrent, some two miles from the place where he spent
the night, and concluding that the passage would be not only difficult
but considerably "wet," our hero took the precaution to doff his clothing,
all, save his shirt, tied them in a bundle to the horn of his saddle,
took the oath, mounted his steed and plunged into the muddy waters. At
the first plunge down went his horse, and overboard went the rider. The
horse relieved of his burden, struck boldly for the opposite shore, while
our hero, unable to stem the current, landed upon the same side from which
he started, covered with mud and benumbed with cold. Here was a dilemma,
perplexing as it was laughable, though we doubt if our hero was at all
inclined to be humorous. In a primitive state of nudity (barring the
shirt), shivering with cold, his horse and clothes upon one side of an
impassable stream, and himself upon the other, he took a long passionate
look to charger, clothes and stream, as things he might not see
again--and hastily seceeded from the scene of his misfortune, his shirt
tail streaming in the wind like a flag of truce, making 2:40 time for
the house he had left in the morning. Begrimed with mud, and resembling
a Camanche warrior who had found somebody's clothes line, footsore and
out of breath he arrived at the house of his friend. But here was a poser;
his modesty forbade his appearing before the family in his present plight,
and to stay outside was to freeze. Self-preservation being the first law
of nature, he determined to make a bold dash, and a bed standing near the
door furthered his plans, and with one bound he was inside and landed
safely out of sight under the bed, tipping over the--"wash basin." The
novel apparition caused a general stampede of the inmates--ladies and
children screamed, the cat ran up the chimney, and the dog lowered his
caudle appendage between his legs and shyed into the furthest corner.
The gentleman of the house came to the rescue; matters were explained,
dry clothes furnished, our hero came out from his hiding place (the ladies
retiring from the room), dressed, and appeared to enjoy the joke as hugely
as any of them. Before night his his [sic] horse returned to him, and the
next day he pursued his journey, comforting himself with the reflection
that "all is well that ends well."--Red Bluff Independent, March 4th. . . .
p. 4
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
Telegraphic communication with the East has been interrupted for
several days by very heavy snow storms that have occurred beyond the
Weber station. The break occurred between the Weber and Millersville
stations, and the depth of the snow has retarded the repairing of the
line. When the floods were at their hight on this side of the Sierra
Nevada, it is said that there was considerable feeling among the folks
who have charge of the eastern end of the line because the communication
was interrupted in this State. Now the boot is on the other leg. But
unavoidable accidents are charitably regarded in California. . . .
We continue to receive and publish communications in reference to
floods and the construction of levees--topics in which we have a vital
interest, that must not languish as the peril of the waters is temporarily
averted.
The Sacramento stood at about nineteen feet ten inches above low water
mark last evening. It is subsiiding very slowly. . . .
SALT LAKE.--A dispatch to the Bulletin, dated at Salt Lake,
March 8th, has the following:
It snowed very hard here last night, and the snow fell to the depth
of thirteen inches. Quite a storm raged both east and west of here.
Communication with the East is momentarily expected. Owing to the
immense depth of the snow and the bad roads, the repairing of the
telegraph line is somewhat retarded.
The mails from the East are detained by the continued storms and deep
snows along the line. Only four mails have passed here since the 9th
of February. . . .
[The trouble in the telegraph line is between Weber and Millersville
stations. Weber is about forty miles east of Salt Lake.--EDS. UNION.] . . . .
[For the Union.]
THE CANAL PROPOSITION.
EDITORS UNION: I observe that Mr. Rowlandson still adheres to his theory
that the narrowness of the Straits of Carquinez is the chief cause of
Sacramento and the swamp lands adjoining being flooded when our rain fall
is heavy, and that a canal to straighten the course of the American could
not therefore cure the evil. Mr. Rowlandson has, however, failed to observe
to what extent the Sacramento is really affected by the combined
impediments of the narrow Straits of Carquinez (which, after all, has a
pretty deep channel), the Hog's Back, a much worse obstacle, and the flood
waters of the Mokelumne and San Joaquin rivers. Now if all these put
together only back up the Sacramento waters to a very inconsiderable
distance, far below Sacramento and Sutterville, the objection so far as
it affects Sacramento has no weight whatever. By reference to the several
grades of fall of the Sacramento and American rivers, this can be proved
beyond dispute. No doubt the canal must have greater capacity than the one
I suggested, by adhering too closely to what Mr. Rowlandson assumed would
afford "absolute security" to Sacramento. You have before observed, however,
that means must be found for what is necessary to be done. Yours,
etc., A. F. G.
A TELEGRAPHIC FEAT.--The New York Times of February 7th relates
the following instance of direct telegraphing from Boston to Salt Lake:
The feat of telegraphing from Boston to Salt Lake City was performed
on Saturday night, the operatives at either end of the wire exchauging
the compliments of the season. The dispatch from Salt Lake City was
dated 8:35, and was received in Boston at 10:30. The route taken by the
dispatches was through Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, and
from thence directly across the prairies. The operators at Omaha City
and Salt Lake City reported the weather very cold, with deep snow. An
attempt was made to open communication with San Francisco, but it failed,
probably from the absence of the operator. Arrangements have been made,
and it is expected that on Thursday night communications will be sent
direct from Halifax, N. S., to San Francisco. . . .
STORMING IN THE MOUNTAINS.--An individual who came down from La Porte,
Sierra county, February 7th, informs the Marysville Express that a severe
snow storm was raging in the mountains. . . .
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE
THE STEAMER SWAN.--At an early hour on Saturday morning, the steamers
Gem and Victor arrived at the levee from Red Bluff. It will be remembered
that the Victor broke a portion of her machinery, a week ago; that the
Swan, in going to her aid, ran on to a sandbar, and that the Gem left
on Wednesday morning for the purpose of assisting both. The castings
taken up by the Gem enabled the Victor to repair and return to the city.
The Gem had the misfortune to tear off several of the paddles of her
wheel, but the injury was not so great as to prevent her from running.
The Swan is in a position from which she can only be extricated by
considerable labor and expense. She ran upon a sandbar recently formed,
the existence of which was unknown to the pilots. The waters have since
fallen so far that the steamer is entirely out of water. About eleven
o'clock on Saturday forenoon the steamer Victor started up the river
again with the apparatus necessary to bring the Swan back to her natural
element. The Navigation Company had entered into a contract with Edward
Fell, who recently launched the Gem at Rabel's, to accomplish the same
result in the present instance. The apparatus taken up on the Victor
was used in the case of the Gem. It is the design of those who have the
matter in charge to paint and caulk the Swan before she is launched, so
that she will not be fairly afloat again short of a week or ten days.
MOONLIGHT AND MUSIC.--On Saturday evening a number of social parties
were out boating ou the waters south of the city. The vicinity of the
railroad and Sixth and Seventh streets resounded with vocal music,
chiefly from female voices. The water was unusually calm, the moon
bright, and the evening pleasant. Such opportunities for pleasant
excursions should be generally embraced, and especially as it is to
be earnestly hoped that after the present season they will never return
in their present form. . . .
SHOULD BE ATTENDED TO.--The sidewalk in front of No. 153 J street has
been raised some two or three feet above its former level and above
those of the adjoining stores. The east end is provided with steps
for the benefit of foot passengers, and the west end is not. There
is danger of accident at night, and great inconvenience at all times
produced by the omission. The subject should receive early attention
from those whom it may concern. . . .
STILL SOWING.--Farmers in the vicinity of the city are still plowing
land which has been inundated, with the intention of sowing wheat.
There are others whose land is yet too wet to plow, who say they will
sow wheat in small quantities for experimental purposes whenever it
becomes dry enough, although that may not be until the Fourth of July. . . .
THE BOAT RACE.--A boat race took place yesterday afternoon, below the
railroad, between Mooney's boat, pulled by J. Mooney and R. Peirce, and
the Fashion, pulled by H. N. Pearce and J. Thomas. The race was won by
the Fashion by about her own length. . . .
RAIN AND RIVER.--A moderate rain set in at about eight o'clock last
evening. The city gauge indicated nineteen feet nine inches in the
Sacramento above low water mark. . . .
FROST.--The frost was so heavy in the vicinity of the city several
mornings last week as to injure the fruit trees which were in bloom. . . .
[For the Union.]
OVERFLOWS AND LEVEE DEFENSES.
MESSRS. EDITORS: In my last communication I intimated that I would in
the next direct my attention to levee defenses for Sacramento City.
I could have desired to have discussed more elaborately the subject of
overflows in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, before treating
upon modes of defense, so that the full magnitude of what we have to
encounter may be borne in mind while arranging for its resistance; but
there are urgent reasons for immediate attention to the levees required
to protect Sacramento City from inundation. In the first place, the
State has commenced the erection of Capitol buildings in Sacramento,
and as the session of the Legislature will soon close, legislation is
needed in aiding the city to accomplish the work of leveeing the city,
as it depends much upon what showing the city makes in its efforts to
render the property of the State safe, as to whether the work of building
the Capitol will be continued this season.
Not only for the above reason is there a deep anxiety felt by large
communities besides Sacramento, as to the securing, at that point, of
access from the navigable waters to the mountains, it being the
distributing point of a very large portion of the trade and travel of
California, as well as Nevada Territory.
Now in order to make this access certain and available to all modes of
conveyance, it is necessary that a levee should be built from the
Sacramento river along the south bank of the American to high land.
It is true that railway communication may be had over trestle work,
and if it is conceded that the railroad will answer all purposes, then
we at once waive all pretense that there is any need of a city at
Sacramento. No one will deny that cheap steamboat fares and railway
connection has vastly increased the "forwarding" business on the landing,
and proportionately decreased the wholesale trade of Sacramento. The plan
of some, which is to levee in a portion of the town, thereby making it an
island, will totally fail to recover to our drenched city its former thrift
and prosperity. The chief reliance in the future of Stockton, Sacramento
and Marysville will be found in the local trade of a contiguous and rich
agricultural country, and unless this trade is fostered and kept in constant
communication it will furnish itself with local conveniences, and be diverted
to the greater and more centralizing markets of San Francisco. It would be
well for those favoring the plan of isolating Sacramento from the country
by making it an island, to estimate the loss it would annually sustain
by permitting the American river to flow over its south bank and inundate
the heretofore productive farms along the Sacramento from the American
to the Cosumnes river. Indeed, the floods of this Winter are likely to
sadly demonstrate that Sacramento City can illy afford to have the farming
country around her an unproductive desolation. Look at the subject as we
may, and whatever its bearings, any levee system adopted that does not
turn the entire volume of the American river north of Sacramento City,
fails to bring any substantial benefits to the town.
It has been gravely suggested that a canal could be cut somewhere near
Brighton to carry off a portion of the water of the American river,
and discharge it into the Sacramento near Sutterville. Such a proposition
would create a dubious smile from the person making it, on an inspection
of the country and an estimate of the size of a canal sufficient to
afford perceptible relief to the turbulent and swollen American. I pass
such a project by without discussion, holding to the opinion that it is
best not to allow an undesirable guest to gain admission to your domicil.
In other words, that to attempt to carry the American river both sides of
the city, is to permit it to some time take a notion to drive directly
through the town. Even were a canal cut through the locality indicated
found of service in disposing of the surplus waters of the American, such
a viaduct would, in no long time, form a bar across the Sacramento so as
to destroy the navigation to that city. To permit the American river to
overflow its south bank and traverse the country toward the Cosumnes, is
to endanger all modes of communication during the season of floods, as
the avalanche of water, bearing along accumulations of timber from
uprooted forests and broken bridges, will sweep away any trestle work
the Railroad Company may build, which allows the passage of such a torrent.
In my opinion, the Railroad Company should join with the city in the
construction of a levee from Oak Ridge to the high land near Patterson's,
or perhaps build that portion of the levee, and aid, to some extent, by
bringing down rock needed in the construction of the line from Oak Ridge
to the mouth of the American. The levee from Oak Ridge to Patterson's
would of course be the superstructure for the rails, but below Oak Ridge
the line of the levee would have to deflect from a straight course to
accommodate itself to the most favorable formations of the land and
protect the northern part of the city, so that it would be of no use
to the railroad except as a matter of protection against an inundation.
No mere earth work can successfully withstand the floods of the American
river, nor should a levee, however strongly built, be located so as to
allow of the accumulation of any considerable body of water against it.
The momentum and accumulative force of our precipitous mountain streams
is beyond estimate, and when our levees are so designed as to direct
and lead the torrent rather than breast it, they will put to the test
the ingenuity of Science in a contest with Nature.
In my next, I will endeavor to show what effect a levee, which shall turn
the entire volume of the American river north of the city, will have upon
the navigation of the Sacramento river. WILSON FLINT. . . .
DEFENSES OF STOCKTON.--The Stockton Republican thus speaks in
reference to the importance of protecting that city for the future
against the incroachments of floods:
The floods of 1862 have demonstrated to the people of this city that
one of two things must be done, to protect us from the ravages of high
waters which may descend from the mountains--either to build a high and
substantial levee, for the purpose of turning the water from the plains
into Mormon Slough; or to open the natural channels or sloughs traversing
the town, and let them ever remain unobstructed. In order to accomplish
the latter proposition, it will be necessary to open Miner's avenue and
Oak street, and deepen and widen the sloughs traversing them, leaving them
entirely free from the incumbrance of fences and houses. This will cost
a large sum of money, and still those residing on the line of those
sloughs will be liable to overflow during extraordinary freshets. The
levee system, it strikes us, would be not only more economical, but safer.
Experience now demonstrates that a levee four feet high, and of sufficient
base to resist a heavy pressure of water, on the east side of the city,
would have saved us all the inconveniences and losses occasioned by the
mountain currents which visited us the present Winter. Against back water
we can make no successful defense; but a tithe of the loss sustained by
water from the plains this season would place us beyond the possibility
of disaster from that quarter in the future. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3416, 11 March 1862, p. 1
[For the Union.]
PROTECTION FROM FLOODS.
MESSRS. EDITORS: In a former communication I promised to show what
benefits would accrue to the navigation of the Sacramento river below
the city, by the construction of a levee along the south bank of the
American, which should turn its entire volume north of the town, and
in order to arrive at a proper understanding of the subject it will
be necessary to describe the. topography of the country adjacent to
the mouth of the American river on its northern bank. From Folsom,
until the American river passes Norris' bridge, the stream will in
all coming time be confined to a narrow bottom on its north side, as
a high bluff reaches down within a few hundred yards of the river to
the place indicated; but after passing Norris' bridge nearly opposite
Smith's Garden, the land to the north spreads out into a wide tule
basin extending nearly up to the mouth of the Feather river, and
having only a narrow belt of land to separate it from the Sacramento.
Now this great basin must become the receptacle of the debris from the
American river. It is supposed by some that the basin described will
be reclaimed by a projected levee which is to extend from high land on
the American river to the Sacramento, and thence along its east bank
to the Feather, and up the latter to high land on Bear river.
Notwithstanding that an official survey shows that all this (District
No. 1) can be reclaimed for some thirteen thousand dollars less than
there will be in the Swamp Land Fund of that district (some sixty
thousand dollars), I beg to suggest that there are a number of
arroyos not disposed of, among which may be named Coon creek and
Auburn ravine, either of which would fill up in two days time of the
floods of this Winter the said basin, after being leveed, to say nothing
of the Bear river and Auburn canal, and the canals of the North Fork
of the American river, which discharge into it throughout the year.
It is possible that "absorption," as somewhere explained, will dispose
of the vast body of water to be precipitated upon District No. 1. The
presumption, however, is that the term "absorption "is designed as a
figurative expression rather than to have a practical bearing. Really
the work of reclaiming the district north of the American river is
one of such magnitude as to be beyond the reach of the present generation.
It can only be done when there shall be a dense and wealthy population
on our high lands. A swift, voluminous stream, like the American,
bearing along its bosom the wreck of gigantic forests, and the
sedimentary drift of ariferous mountains, dissolving under hydraulic
batteries, can never be restrained within the limits of its former
natural banks, by any levees within the compass of our pecuniary
resources, and one side or the other of its banks must be surrendered
to extraordinary inundations. Suppose that a contest should be entered
into by persons on the opposings sides of the river, in the construction
of works calculated to defend each from overflow; which would, in the
outset, possess advantages of position and pecuniary resources, enabling
it to surpass the other in the strength and magnitude of its works? It
must be obvious that the eight or nine millions of capital invested in
Sacramento city would outweigh the Swamp Land Fund of sixty thousand
dollars, or the means of those holding unproductive swamp lands. Then,
again, the country south of the American river and to the west of Brighton
is elevated above the bottom land on the north side, and the indications
are that the American river has been gradually shifting its junction with
the Sacramento towards the north and west for a long period. Oak Ridge,
Poverty Hill, and the high sand bank composing the City Cemetery as well
as the bluffs of Sutterville, have successively been at the mouth of the
American river, where it debouched into a great inland sea--as each of
the prominences named have been raised by the surf and trade winds
throwing up on the beach the sand and debris discharged from the river.
It is most natural to follow nature, and artificial aid can greatly
facilitate the American river in seeking a still further north and
western outlet into the Sacramento.. The time is, comparatively, not
remote when the American river had its principal channel through Sutter
Lake, and out into the Sacramento near the Water Works. Much alarm has
been felt by residents of Sacramento, lest the American river should
cut itself a channel directly into the town from Rabel's tannery, or
at a lower point, on Judge McKune's ranch. It is true that at these
two points the river has made vast approaches to the south within a
few years, but at both it has been done by the current of the stream
setting at an acute angle, which was so sharp at Rabel's that its eddy
has formed an immense bar above it, which is likely to divert the American
entirely from the point at the tannery, and turn the stream many hundred
yards to the north. The American river is encroaching far more rapidly
on its north than south banks. I stated, in a former communication, that
I was of opinion that inside of ten years the Sacramento river would be
entirely filled up at the mouth of the American, so that the bulk of water
would flow through the Yolo tule to the Bay, below Rio Vista. I am more
and more strengthened in this opinion as I examine the causes which are
likely to produce such a result. The Feather and American rivers,
discharging into the Sacramento within twenty miles of each other, act
as the great sluices to carry off the tailings of more than half of all
the mining claims in the State, as on these streams and their branches
are located most of the large hydraulic mining enterprises. Now, during
the low stages of the river in the Summer, the tide acts on the Sacramento
to the mouth of the American, and makes it slack water nearly to the
month of the Feather twice during the twenty-four hours. These phenomena
greatly facilitate the precipitation of the slum, or clay held in solution
by the waters of the Yuba and Bear rivers. Extensive bars, bare during
the Summer season, have already made their appearance in the bed of the
Sacramento, above the mouth of the American, as high up as the Feather,
and when this process shall have gone on for a few years longer the work
of turning the upper Sacramento into the tule on the Yolo side will be of
easy accomplishment. Indeed, the Feather river will, at no distant time,
burst through the west bank of the Sacramento, and traverse the great tule
district on that side, because the tule bottom will be lower than the bed
of the Sacramento; hence, my theory is, that the Sacramento river below
the city will become a navigable tidewater slough, like that upon which
is built the city of Stockton. All evidences show that the present slough
at Stockton was formerly the main channel of the Calaveras river.
As the distance from the mouth of.the.American to the bay is much shorter
by the tule than by the meanderings of the Sacramento, it occurs to me that
the best mode of getting rid of the excess of water brought down by the
American would be to open a channel through the west bank of the Sacramento
to the tuhe opposite the mouth of the American river. A steam excavator
working in a scow from the level of the low water in the tule would cut
its way through to the Sacramento in a very brief time and at small cost.
It is a noticeable fact that at Rio Vista the banks of the river are but
a little above the tide flood while at Sacramento they are about twenty
feet; while the tule bottom is also about twenty feet lower than the
land on the banks of the river near Sacramento city on the Yolo side,
thus indicating a fall of nearly twenty feet, which could be availed of
to dispose of a great part of the water of the American during a sudden
inundation. The tule having a width of some miles would carry off a vast
body of water without any perceptible rise, as, once obtaining momentum
from the impetuous American, it would reach the bay in a much shorter
time, on account of distance, than when confined within the banks, of
the Sacramento. The effects of this would be to render the reclamation
of the land on the east side of the Sacramento river a matter of little
difficulty and would afford ample drainage to Sacramento city, nor would
it be as destructive to the river lands on the Yolo side as at first
glance would, be supposed. Indeed, on the lower Mississippi it has been
found that the safety against inundations consists in the greater number
of outlets from the main river, subdividing and carrying to the sea an
element which, if allowed to concentrate, brooks no human
restraint. WILSON FLINT. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
We are still without telegraphic communication with the East. . . .
Another communication upon the subject of protection from floods, from
the pen of Wilson Flint, will be found in our columns. . . .
The Sacramento continues to subside very slowly. Last evening the river
stood at about nineteen feet seven inches above low water mark. Rain
fell yesterday, but not in a menacing quantity, and the atmosphere was
as raw and chilly as that of an Eastern November. A continued rain is
to be feared while the Sacramento remains so far above low water mark. . . .
THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MAIL ROUTES.
The unparalleled storms of this Winter have vastly increased the Winter
difficulties of carrying a daily mail on the Central Overland route.
Such rain storms and floods on the Sierra Nevada and in the great basin
have never been witnessed since the country was known to the white man.
Probably a century has passed since anything like as much rain fell in
one season in the section of country between the Sierra Nevada and the
Rocky Mountains. As a consequence the obstructions to traveling have
been vastly greater than were anticipated, as all calculations were
based upon the average of Winters for the past ten years. Such a terrible
Winter as the past was not included in the estimate. So much greater
than was expected have been the difficulties encountered, that a few
persons have been drawing comparisons between the Central and Southern
routes favorable to the latter. The conceded prompt and regular
performance of the mail service on that route is instanced to sustain
the position. But these persons forget that the Southern Overland Mail
was exclusively for the carrying of letters, and that too at a time when
the main correspondence of the State was done by mail steamer, as the
steamer's contract was then in full operation. It was semi-weekly instead
of daily. The present Overland Mail service is six times a week, and the
contractors carry all the letter and newspaper mails. There is now no
mail-steamer contract from New York to San Francisco. In quantity and
weight there is, therefore, an immense difference between the service
to be performed now on the Central and that which was performed on the
Southern route. Persons, too, who favor the Southern route, appear to
base their comparison between the two upon the past Winter and its
unexampled storms and floods, and the Southern in the condition it was
when the letter mail was carried over it. They fail to take into the
calculation the fact that the rains and floods have been as severe, if
not more so, on the Southern route than they have on the Central. The
Tulare valley, in this State, through which the line ran, has been for
weeks impassable for a mail coach. The country south of that, in
California, has been nearly in a similar condition. On the Colorado
we have the testimony of Major Rigg, at Fort Yuma, that nearly the whole
country was under water. The fort was surrounded, the elevated ground
upon which it stands forming an island. The Gila Valley has also been
under water to a great extent, so great as to render traveling in it
impossible except in boats. The country east of the Gila--including the
route through Texas, Arkansas and Missouri in an ordinary season of
weather is rendered almost impassable on wheels, as may be seen by the
description of the country. In order to show the character of the country
on the Southern route and the desperate condition in which the road must
have been during such a Winter as the past, an intelligent friend, who
has closely observed it, sends us the following description of the route
from Missouri to California:
. . . .
From Fort Yuma to Los Angeles is 254 miles. After leaving the Fort,
and for ten miles, we are near the Colorado river. I am of the opinion
that nearly all of this ten miles must have been inundated during the
past Winter, and even further west; I have reason to believe that for
150 miles east and west of the Colorado, there would scarcely be ten
miles entirely free from obstruction with one half the rain that has
fallen here this season. Carissa creek, 106 miles west of Fort Yuma,
and on the west of the Colorado desert, is the only running stream after
leaving the Colorado. This creek runs through a notch in the hills, and
along the stage road, and loses itself in the sands of the desert. This
notch is similar to one in the mountains 60 miles east of El Paso--similar
at least in one respect. In case of heavy rains they become the only outlet
of waters over a large tract of country. On the Rio Grande, I think, of
fifty or more miles; and the road is in the beds of the streams.
Thirty-seven miles beyond Los Angeles is Rancho del Chino; from there
to Temescal, twenty miles, is much danger from overflows. There is a
stream at Temescal whose banks are low, and the whole country along the
route very flat.
From Los Angeles to San Francisco, four hundred and sixty-eight
miles--surface varies from beautiful plains to steep mountains. From
Kern river to Posey creek, ten miles, with hills between. Hilly from
Posey creek twenty-seven miles west; then forty miles to Visalia, of
which there can scarcely have been five miles during the past Winter
that has not been obstructed by water. The country is similar to that
from Visalia to the San Joaquin river.
From my knowledge of the country from the Colorado to the Red river
in Eastern Texas, feel warranted in saying that with one-fourth part
of the rain that has fallen in California this season, the mails cannot
be carried with the same regularity that they have been on the Central
route; and even now, with no more than one-eighth of the fall of rain
that we have had here, I much doubt whether a fair competition would
show the Southern route to be superior. Then, the six or eight hundred
miles greater distance is at least a small objection.
TAXABLE PROPERTY DESTROYED.
A few days since the Bulletin published an article on the loss of
taxable property in the State by floods, in which the aggregate was put
down at five millions of dollars. In the article it was assumed that the
loss by floods fell mainly upon the counties of Colusa, Sacramento, San
Joaquin, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba. Not admitting the correctness of the
conclusions of the Bulletin, we replied by advancing our own
views of the probable loss. The Bulletin responds and says:
The SACRAMENTO UNION, usually pretty correct in its statements of facts
and estimates, questions the justness of our conclusions, but hardly
advances argument sullicient to overthrow them. It places the loss at
probably $30,000,000. Although our cotemporary controverts our position,
it does not make out a good case. It says the damage has probably equaled
in amount twenty per cent, of the taxable property of the State, and in
confirmation says:
Those conversant with the losses in this city will readily detect the
fallacy of the above reasoning as applied to Sacramento. The bulk of
the loss here was in personal property; the owners of that species of
property compose the majority of the sufferers. Competent judges estimate
that the taxable value of the real and personal property in this city
has been reduced from $7,966,506 to $6,000,000. Some even put the loss
at a higher figure.
Now it certainly strikes us that, putting the question in that light,
effectually disposes of the UNION's calculation, and indorses our
statements, although in our former article we did not think it exactly
fair to make the estimate on merely the personal property of the seven
counties named by us. By reference again to the Controller's last report,
we find that the entire personal property assessed in the counties of
Colusa, Sacramento, San Joaquin; Sutter, Tehama, Yolo and Yuba--the great
central valley counties, most injured by the floods--amounted to but
$16,386,021. If this had been entirely swept. away the loss would have
been but half what the UNION suggests as probable, to the entire State;
but if we take 20 per cent, of that sum as a fair proportion of the loss
sustained, we find it amounts to but $3,277,204--a sum within the
aggregate presented by us as the probable loss to the State by the floods.
Our article was devoted principally to showing that the destruction of
property was general in the State and not confined to the seven
agricultural counties named. This branch of the argument the
Bulletin passes without remark, but it extracts what we
said in reference to its statement that the taxable value of the
$3,000,000 of personal property in Sacramento had been but slightly
reduced by the floods, and, strangely enough, argues from that extract
an indorsement of its conclusions. Our statement of the losses of
personal property was directly at variance with that of the
Bulletin, and hence could not have been an indorsement. Our
estimate was that the destruction of property in the State, real and
personal, would reach twenty per cent., which, on the assessed value
of last year, would amount to a little less than thirty millions of
dollars. Our remark about the personal property in Sacramento had.no
reference to the State at large, though the Bulletin assumes
that it applied to the personal property of the whole State. We took
twenty per cent, on all the property in California, real and personal,
as the basis of our calculation; our cotemporary takes as the basis of
its twenty per cent, estimate the personal property in seven counties.
It seems to ignore the fact that the estimate of the reduction in the
assessed value of property in the city of Sacramento was equal to almost
two-fifths of the entire loss it concedes to the State. There is a wide
margin between the estimates of the Bulletin and our own. If that
paper is right, we are most egregiously in error and, as we suggested
in a former article, the question can only be settled by the returns
of the Assessors.
From the Nevada Transcript we copy a short article, in which
that paper places the estimated loss at four times the sum named by
the Bulletin, which would make $20,000,000. The
Transcript said:
The Bulletin sets the figures at $5,000,000 for the losses
sustained by the State by the late floods, which is pretty certain
to be quite below the mark. The loss has been variously estimated
from the low sum of the Bulletin to thirty per cent, of the
taxable property of the State, which would amount to some $45,000,000.
There is a wide difference of opinion regarding these losses; Probably
the loss in confidence is quite as great to the State in the long run,
as the destruction of property, and the loss of the latter probably
reaches the figures of the Bulletin, multiplied by four. The
Assessors' books, in a few months, will give us a more reliable account
of the losses by floods than any we now have. . . .
MOKELUMNE HILL WATER WORKS.--The work on the flume has been urged
forward during the last few days of pleasant weather with all possible
dispatch. We learn that the water will be into town by the first of
next week. The company suffered severely by the late disastrous floods,
but with characteristic energy the officers have overcome all the
difficulties which, at first, appeared almost insurmountable, and
have now nearly completed all the repairs.--Calaveras Chronicle.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
. . .SIDEWALKS.--We called attention yesterday to the condition of the
sidewalk in front of No. 153, J street. The premises are owned by
G. H. Goddard, and we are informed that when he raised the sidewalk,
he constructed a slope at the westward end for the benefit of foot
passengers, but that the proprietor of the adjoining
building--Garwood--objected to it and required its removal. As
instances will frequently occur in which isolated sidewalks will be
elevated several feet above those on either side, there should be a
distinct regulation defining the obligations of each party. Each
property owner should certainly keep his own sidewalk in such condition
as to be free from danger in either daytime or night.
STOCKTON AND COOVER'S MILL.--The new mill being built by Stockton and
Coover, at Folsom, will be located fifteen feet higher than that which
was carried away by the flood, and two hundred feet further from the
center of the stream. It will, therefore, be less exposed to the effect
of accumulated driftwood duriug high water. A contract for its erection
has been entered into with Amos, of the firm of Amos, Finney & Co., lumber
dealers, of San Francisco. The first cargo of lumber for the work arrived
from Sau Francisco yesterday. The new mill will be four stories high
and sixty feet wide by eighty feet long. It is expected to have the work
completed by or before the first of September next.
RAIN.--Yesterday may be set down as a rainy day, on account rather of
persistent effort than of actual achievement. The amount which had fallen
at nine o'clock P. M., within the past twenty-four hours, as we are
informed by Dr. Logan, was 0.250 of an inch. As the water of the
Sacramento stands nineteen feet seven inches above low water mark,
we cannot stand a very heavy raiu without being flooded again, but
nothing need be feared from such contributions as that of the past
twenty-four hours. . . .
OPEN FOR TRAVEL.--J and K streets have been so far repaired that
teams and vehicles of all descriptions pass to and from the city
by way of Colby's bridge at the fort. On the two streets named there
have been eight different bridges constructed over the cuts and channels
running across the street--making an aggregate length of five hundred
feet. If we are not again subjected to heavy rains, communication
with the country will not again be cut off. . . .
THE BRICK TRADE.--Some fifty or sixty thousand brick have been boated
from the brick kilns to Fifth and L streets, where they are piled up
to be removed by wagons to the levee for shipment to San Francisco. . . .
COMMERCIAL.--Arrived yesterday: Schooner Lizzy T. Adams, from San
Francisco, with thirty-five thousand feet of lumber for Coover & Stockton's
mill at Folsom. . . .
OUTSIDE MINING DISTRICTS OF WASHOE.
[CORRESPONDENCE OF THE UNION..]
SONORA, March 3, 1862
Believing that information concerning many of the "outside districts" so
called, of Washoe might interest those of your readers who had some time
during the past two years read sanguine rumors of their richness, it was
my original intention to add to your usual New Year's statistics a succinct
account of the progress and prospects of the entire Washoe country as
far as explored. The all engaging theme of floods and their disasters
kept back the intended article, . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3417, 12 March 1862, p. 1
[For the Union.]
RECLAMATION OF SWAMP LANDS.
MESSRS. EDITORS: I see in your issue of Saturday last that T. Rowlandson
still contends that the Straits of Carquinez have not capacity for
discharging the waters that are conducted into Suisun Bay during our
rainy seasons, especially during such seasons as the present.
Mr. Rowlandson is decidedly in error. I hare conversed with citizens
of Benicia whose business upon the wharves at that place for years
past, and also during the present rainy season, has given them facilities
for observing the high and low water marks at that place. They assured
me that at no time during the late flood was the water in the Straits,
during low tide, more than eight inches above the lowest low tide mark
of the Summer season, nor were the highest tides of the past Winter more
than eighteen inches above the highest tides of the dry season. I have
obtained these statements from no less than five diflerent individuals,
whose familiarity with the Straits, and business upon the wharves at
Benicia, enables them to know that they are correct. However much
Mr. Rowlandson may scout the idea of levees and cut-offs, and advocate
his chimerical notions of damming up the waters in the mountain gorges,
he may continue to "sigh" and rest assured that it will be longer after
"the mind which" conceived those notions "has been separated from its
earthly tenement and the hand that" penned them has "returned to
primitive dust," than even he is inclined to believe, before his
speculations become practicable. I think Mr. Rowlandson has been
wrongly informed with regard to the capacity of the Straits of
Carquinez. They are evidently sufficient to carry even more water
than has passed through them this year. I wish to trespass upon your
columns a little farther, for the purpose of drawing the attention of
your various correspondents upon this subject, and the public generally,
to a few facts which are these: the distance from the mouth of Feather
river, or Knight's Landing, by the course of the river, to Suisun Bay,
is about one hundred miles, the fall about sixty feet, while the distance
across the country to Suisun Bay is less than fifty miles, with the same
fall as the river. Cache and Putah Creeks empty their waters into the tule
on the west side of the Sacramento river, and so long as there is no other
way provided to run those waters to the bay, except through a course which
nature has provided, that body of tule can never be reclaimed. Now a canal
may be dug from a point on the Sacramento at or near the mouth of Feather
river, to Suisun Bay, leading into the bay through the gap between the
Montezuma and Potrero hills, large enough to carry onethird the waters
of the Feather and Sacramento rivers and all the waters of the Cache and
Putah creeks into the bay below the mouth of the river. If the waters of
the creeks above mentioned alone could be carried to the bay direct, it
would materially decrease the quantity of water in the Sacramento valley,
much more than persons unacquainted with them would be willing to admit.
I will not pretend to estimate the cost or the dimensions of such a canal,
but I will say that the Sacramento valley never will be effectually
reclaimed without it, and if the good people inhabiting the valley wish
to be protected from any chance of being overflowed again, it is the
first move that should be made, after securing the city against flood; or
this reason--if the canal is dug, it will so decrease the water in the
river that they can easily levee against it while, if it is attempted
to reclaim entirely by leveeing, the first Winter that comes like the
one we have just experienced, the levees must inevitably be swept away,
and more damage will be done than has been sustained this season. J. M. D. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
The fall of rain on Monday night and during yesterday caused some
apprehension here. Our dispatches from the interior, however, are of
a character to allay any fears of a speedy overflow in this vicinity.
The storm extended over the eastern and northern portions of the State,
but it is stated that there is no considerable quantity of snow this side
of Strawberry Valley. The streams have risen, but not to an alarming
extent. The Sacramento remains about stationary. The American has a slight
tendency to rise.
We publish another communication in reference to floods, levees, the
capacity of Carquinez straits, and the feasibility of constructing a
canal from the Sacramento to Suisun bay. . . .
SAN FRANCISCO.--A dispatch to the Bee yesterday contained the following: . . .
Since the first of last November, less or more rain has fallen here during
sixty days. It has been raining lightly for the past forty-eight hours. . . .
MORTALITY AMONG CATTLE.--The Grass Valley National of March 8th has
the following:
We regret to learn that the farmers, ranchers and dairymen in this portion
of the county have suffered severely from losses in stock of all kinds
during the past Winter. We have heard of some who have lost almost their
entire herds, others losing the greater portion, and others a less number.
Many died undoubtedly from starvation and exposure to the inclemencies
of the weather, where they were turned out to shift for themselves--whilst,
in many other instances, numbers of cows, horses and young stock, apparently
in good order, some of them marketably fat, well sheltered and taken care
of, with plenty of food, have unaccountably and suddenly died. Some of the
latter exhibited symptoms similar to, and answering the description of the
terrible and destructive cattle disease which has prevailed in the Eastern
States during the last few years. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . . Legislative Proceedings.
In the Senate, the report of the Conference Committee on the State Library
Bill, restricting the amount for rebinding books to $500, was adopted. . . .
The Weather In the Interior.
MARYSVILLE, March 11--10 P. M.
Very little rain fell here since six o'clock this morning. The river is
rising gradually.
OROVILLE, March 11--10 P. M.
It rained a little this morning, but none since. The river has risen about
a foot.
CHICO, March 11--10 P. M.
It rained furiously all last night, but there was none to-day.
STRAWBERRY, March 11--4 P. M.
For the last three days there has about two feet of snow fallen at this point. It is now raining, and is quite warm.
NEVADA, March 11--9 P.M.
It has not rained since four o'clock, to any amount, but it is very cloudy
and murky. The streams have risen but little, although the rains are high
in the mountains. It is absorbed by the snow, and does not yet begin to
run off.
PLACERVILLE,, March 11--9 P. M.
The storm of to-day extended over all the eastern and northern portions
of the State and Nevada Territory. In the early part of the day rain fell
heavily below the snow line. On the Summit the snow changed to rain in the
afternoon, but it is falling but lightly. There is no snow this side of
Strawberry Valley, in any considerable quantity. At Webster's Station the
river is rising very gradually. At Coloma the river has risen two and a
half feet, and it is still rising slightly. It is not raining here at
present.
FOLSOM, March 11--8 P. M.
The American river has risen about one foot to-day. The weather is clearing up.
The Weather at Salt Lake.
SALT LAKE CITY, March 11--10 P. M.
The weather is getting warmer. The snow is reported to be twenty-five feet
deep on Big Mountain. . . .
GAME.--The game stalls of the city are quite well supplied with hare and
other game, considering the difficulties in the way of hunting which
prevail over a considerable portion of the country. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
HIDES.--The steamer Victor arrived from Red Bluff yesterday morning,
bringing down four thousand hides taken from drowned cattle. She brought
down on a former trip four thousand seven hundred. Within the last sixty
days. this steamer has brought from Tehama county alone twenty thousand
hides. It is evident from these figures that the destruction of cattle
by the flood has been enormous. The Marysville boats, and the other
Red Bluff boats, constantly bring to the levee corresponding evidences
of its disastrous work. A large portion of the cattle drowned of
course escape the knife, and fail to contribute hide or horn to the
commercial interests of the world. . . .
THE STEAMER SWAN.--The steamer Victor arrived from Red Bluff yesterday
morning. She reports the work of getting off the. Swan as progressing
favorably. While she remains in her present position a new bottom will
be substituted for the old one. To make this alteration and caulk and
paint her will require some five or six days. . . .
THE RAIN.--The rain which set in on Monday evening continued moderately,
but with little intermission, until yesterday afternoon. Dr. Logan reports
the amount which had fallen last evening, within the past twenty-four
hours, at 0.810 of an inch. the entire amount of the present rain is
1.060, and the amount for the present month is 1.195 inches. . . .
THE RIVERS.--There was no perceptible change in the Sacramento river
yesterday, The American at its mouth had risen last evening some two or
three inches. As a rise of two feet at Rabel's would cause an overflow
of the banks, we shall doubtless have a rise of the water in the city
to-day from that source. . . . .
PREPARING.--Many of our merchants, fearful of another inundation, made
preparations for it yesterday by raising portions of their goods. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3418, 13 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
The break in the Continental Telegraph is at Echo Canon, a steep defile
in the Wichita Mountains, which form the eastern boundary of the valley
of Salt Lake. Very heavy snow storms and drifts buried poles and wires,
and all efforts to reconstruct that portion of the line seem to have been
unavailing. Arrangements have been made to establish a new station on the
eastern side of the mountain. Thence the dispatches will be carried a
distance of forty-five miles by stage, to the first station on this side.
Under this arrangement there will only be about twenty-four hours delay
in the transmission of dispatches. . . .
Dispatches from the interior are of a character to allay apprehension of
a flood at this point. Considerable snow and rain had fallen, but the
rise in the American--three feet at Folsom since Tuesday night--is not
at all alarming. The Sacramento rises very slowly, and the water in the
lower part of the city has not been greatly increased by the rain. In
brief, there is no immediate danger of another flood. . . .
CHANGING ITS COURSE.--The Visalia Delta gives the following
instance of the readiness with which streams in this State accommodate
themselves with new channels:
During the recent flood Tule river has changed its course, and that so
completely as not to leave even a sluice stream in the old bed. It now
turns out from the former channel at a point nearly two miles above
Goodhue's crossing, and striking off at right angles from its former
course runs nearly due west, crossing the main road at a point about
three-fourths of a mile south of Murray's residence. Whether it continues
this course to the lake, or heading north again enters its former
channel, no one seems to know, lf the former, it will render valuable
an immense body of Government land which has hitherto been useless.
THE FLOOD IN MONTEREY.--The Santa Cruz Sentinel of March 7th says:
The beautiful residence of Eugene Sherwood on the Salinas river, near
the Mission of La Soledad, was completely.washed away, together with
the outhouses and nearly everything they contained; The Salinas which
is usually but one hundred and fifty yards wide, was over a mile wide;
and where the banks of the river used to gradually descend to the river's
edge, they have caved away, leaving the banks ten feet high on each side.
At Indian valley only forty miles from Monterey, the snow had been
knee-deep, and at Monterey it had fallen to the depth of six inches. . . .
FLOOD INJURIES.--A gentleman just from the Tuolumne river informs the
Stockton Independent that in the neighborhood of Bradley & Parker's
ranch, a good deal of damage has been sustained by the late flood. In many
places the ranches have been covered two feet deep with quicksand. Some
have lost all their fencing. and others a few of their cattle. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .
The Weather In the Interior.
FOLSOM, March 12th.
The weather is clearing off. The river is at a stand, and there is not more
than a foot rise since last night.
CHICO, March 12--8 P. M.
It commenced raining about ten o'clock last night, and continued till
eleven A. M. to-day. It has cleared up now, with a fair north wind.
OROVILLE, March 12--8 P. M.
It cleared up at two o'clock, and has been clear since.
MARYSVILLE, March 12--8 P. M.
It is clearing up this evening, with a north wind. The river is rising,
but very slowly.
NEVADA, March 12th.
It cleared up at four p. m. It is now clear and warm. It has rained none
since two o'clock. The streams are but little swollen.
PLACERVILLE, March 12 --9 P. M.
The rain ceased this afternoon, and it is clear.
STRAWBERRY, March 12--9 P. M.
In the last twenty-four hours the snow has fallen to the depth of two
feet. It is now sleeting and raining slightly. The stage is just in from
Lake valley, with mail and express, having made the trip in five hours.
COLOMA, March 12--9 P. M.
It is bright moonlight. The river is at a standstill, and is about
three feet higher than yesterday morning. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
THE RIVERS.--The rains of Tuesday night and yesterday forenoon created
the general impression that the city would be inundated again within
twenty-four hours. At about noon yesterday the rain ceased, and during
the afternoon the northwest wind dispelled the clouds from the sky.
Last evening was clear and moderately cold. The rain had but slight
effect upon the rivers. The Sacramento rose but about three inches--the
American, at the tannery, but about two feet--and the water in the lower
part of the city some five or six inches. During the forenoon yesterday
the water in the northern portion of the city rose several inches, from
the overflow from the American through the opening in the north levee;
but the advance was inconsiderable. From telegraphic information from
Folsom and various points in the mountains, it is evident we are to have
no additional flood at present . . .
FILLING WITH BRUSH.--Two teams and one flat-boat have been engaged for
two or three days past in conveying brush from the American river to
J and K streets, for the purpose of filling in the mud holes near the
fort. The boat is used on Burns' slough, between the river and the Fort. . . .
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 1862.
. . . Whatever may be said of the Overland Mail, in its adaptability to
all the wants of the public, the contractors have shown unsparing energy
in the use of the means at their disposal along the route, to comply with
the terms of their contract; and when the extraordinary severity of the
season is considered, they may be said to have performed wonders. An
examination of the returns in the Post Office Department for the quarter
ending Dec. 31, 1861, shows that up to that time, during the whole period,
the mail had only missed once of getting through in schedule time. No doubt
there have been many delays since the unprecedented floods of the past
month became an obstruction. Mr. Latham, in his capacity as a member of
the Post Qffice and Post Route Committee, received dispatches yesterday
from Carson Valley and stations this side, representing the Sink of the
Carson and all that region to have become an inland sea, across which the
mails were being ferried as rapidly as possible. In the Rocky mountains,
one of the company's stages was dug out of a snow drift twenty-three feet
deep. The Indians were employed to carry the mails through the passes of
the mountains, and the company seemed to be doing all in its power to
fulfil the terms of its contract. These may be stale items to your readers,
but they prove that even in this most unexampled season of storms and
floods, the obstacles in the way of performing the service with tolerable
regularity, and by various ingenious shifts, are not such as the enemies
of the route can hereafter declare insurmountable. . . . .
To-day is the first day in wliich the sun has shown for a longer duration
than two hours in twenty-two days. Three weeks ago yesterday the bad
weather began, and it has rained or snowed, with intermissions of only a
few hours, every day since. Five snow storms have occurred within the
period, the severest of which fell on Monday, when we had it on a level
five or six inches deep. In this state of the weather to move an army,
or detach even a battalion to operate against an enemy, was clearly out
of the question; a fact which the "On to Richmondites" appear to have
virtually admitted. The condition of some of the camps on the other
side, from accounts which reach us here, must be very distressing,
though I have yet to hear of any serious discontent or outbreaks among
the men. . . . The worst effect of the bad weather and roads I have
mentioned in a previous letter, namely, the obstruction of teams loaded
with the daily supplies of the camp, in their passage to and from the
soil of Virginia. How transportation is effected for a distance of eight
and ten miles, to our most distant camps of the "army of the Potomac," at
Washington, I can scarcely conceive. Yet the regular procession of teams
through streets continues at all hours of the week day. The horses look
dreadfully jaded, and the drivers have the appearance of resurrected
antediluvians with some of the old mud of the deluge still clinging to
their persons.
Regarding the prospects of an army movement, I do not see the first
faint hope at present. Even if the fine weather should hold on, it will
take a fortnight of sunshine at least to make roads passable. A writer
in Hooker's division, on the Lower Potomac, says:
"The idea of moving an army in this vicinity or, in fact, anywhere on
the Potomac, below Washington, is preposterous. A regiment alone could
not be moved three miles a day, without baggage. Every footstep made
in the track of another but sinks deeper and deeper in the yielding
soil. A month at least of unbroken dry weather will scarcely suffice
to render the roads passable for the movement of our army. Freezing
weather will not answer the purpose now. The mud is too deep to allow
more than a crust to be formed from any probable cold snap we shall
have this Winter. The effect of one warm day would again render the
soil as impassable as before, and all military movements would, per
force, suddenly terminate, and communication with our stores be rendered
impracticable."
It is well understood among the troops here and elsewhere on the Potomac
that active operations are delayed by the weather and roads alone. An
order has been recently issued to the commanders of divisions in Virginia,
directing all surplus baggage not actually needed for troops on the march
to be sent here and warehoused. Another order directs the hospital surgeons
to send the convalescent patients to Annapolis and elsewhere, so as to
have ready as many spare beds as possible. The health of the army is much
better than might be presumed from their exposed condition. The sanitary
condition of this city is also improving. the number of cases of smart
pox and typhoid lever gradually diminishing. Still, we see funerals
every day, and often as many as four and five in one day, passing. along
our public streets. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, February [sic] 11, 1862.
Lieutenant Governor CHELLIS called the Senate to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
REPORTS.
Mr. DENVER, from the Committee on Free Conference, in reference to
substitute for Senate Bill No. 68, in reference to library expenses,
reported a substitute, with a proviso fixing the limit at $500. The
report was adopted. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, March 11, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at eleven o'clock.
. . . Senate Bill No. 200--An Act making an appropriation for the payment
of the claim of James Whitney and others for the transportation of the
property and appurtenances of the Legislature, and fitting up apartments
for the same--was read twice and referred to the Committee on Claims. . . .
Mr. AMES, from the Committee of Conference on Senate Bill No. 68--for
rebinding books in State Library--reported a proviso limiting the expense
to $500. Adopted. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3419, 14 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
After the vexatious silence of a week, the Coutinental Telegraph takes
up the war story where it was dropped on the evening of March 4th. The
connection between the station east of Echo Canon and this side of the
Wachita Mountains is made by stage. . . .
In the State Senate, yesterday, a bill relating to the levees of
Sacramento was read twice and placed on the file. . . .
Tha anticipated flood has been postponed--on account of the weather. . . .
LOSS OF SHEEP.--A member of a firm in San Francisco, engaged in the wool
trade, in a note to the editors says:
My estimate of losses, although so very severely criticized by the
Bulletin, is likely to fall very much below the real loss.
I have correspondence now from nearly eighty ranches, and the general
loss so far foots up 19 6-10 per cent. of old sheep and 51-1./2 per cent,
of lambs. My statement, you will perceive, is based on an estimate of
5 per cent, loss of old sheep and 50 per cent. loss of lambs. I refer to
this as I notice a little controversy between yourselves. and the
Bulletin relative to the aggregate loss ot personal property,
and being, so far as it goes, corroborative of your estimate.
THUNDER.--On Friday, March 7th, a thunder storm occurred in Mariposa.
The lightning was quite vivid, and the thunder of the most improved pattern. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . . Legislative Proceedings.
In the Senate the bill relative to levees in Sacramento was read twice
and placed on top of file. . . .
[For the Union.]
FARTHER OPENING OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
MESSRS. EDITORS: Permit me to give information through your columns,
that provided there be no greater flood than now prevails, the following
city schools will open on Monday next, the 17th instant, viz: Grammar
School No. 3, Miss Stincen teacher, corner of G and Thirteenth street;
Primary School No. 5, Miss Osborne teacher, in the same building;
Intermediate No. 1, Miss Kercheval teacher, in the old High School
building, on M street, between Eighth and Ninth (front room); and
Primary No. 1, Miss Emons teacher, same building (rear room). The
land access to this building will be for the present through Eighth
street only.
The schools in P street at the Octagon Church, on L street, and at the
corner of N and Sixteenth street--must be postponed for awhile longer;
the last. named, it is hoped, for a week only. Permits must be obtained
from Dr. G. Taylor, 117 J street. Yours, etc.,
WM. H. HILL, President, etc.
MARCH 13, 1862. . . .
UNION BRIDGE.--By reference to our advertising columns it will be
perceived that this bridge (crossing the South Fork of the American
river at Uunion [sic], El Dorado county,) is again in traveling order.
The proprietors having, at a great outlay, reconstructed and repaired
the first of the many bridges across that stream which were carried away
or rendered impassable by the great rise, are deserving of great credit
and liberal patronage. . . .
UNION BRIDGE.
THE UNDERSIGNED WOULD IN-
form their former patrons and the public generally that their Bridge,
crossing the South Fork of the Amercan river at Union, El Dorado county,
is again in thorough order for travel, the portions carried away by the
late floods being permanently replaced. This Bridge is on the shortest
and best roads from Sacramento to Georgetown and Placerville via Coloma
to Auburn. Come and try it.
m18-12t2p INGALSBE, POAGUE & BROS.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
. . . RETURN OF THE SWAN.--The steamer Swan returned to the city at
about eight o'clock last evening, after an absence of about two weeks
on the Upper Sacramento. The rise in the river at the point at which
she stranded enabled those who had her in charge to get her afloat
several days earlier than they could otherwise have done. She was to
some extent repaired while on the ways, but not so thoroughly as was
at first designed. E. Fell, the contractor, and his apparatus, returned
to the city on board of her. . . .
A FINE DAY.--Yesterday presented an agreeable contrast to several of
its predecessors, and appeared to be the forerunner of a spell of fine
weather whether of long or short duration is a matter of uncertainty. . . .
NO CHANGE.--There was little or no change in the stage of the Sacramento
river or of the water in the lower portion of the city yesterday. . . .
SAN FRANCISCO.--A dispatch to the Bee yesterday contained the following:
A large portion of the land lying along either side of the Market street
railroad, at and beyond Hayes' valley, is still submerged. The late rains
have raised the water thereabouts, and in some places it encroaches beyond
the fences bounding the lots alongside the track. Two or three shanties,
half buried in water have been partially capsized. The city end of the
Yerba Buena Cemetery is in a lamentable condition, fences partially carried
away, and the ground completely covered with water, many of the tombstones
being barely visible. . . .
AGRICULTURAL MATTERS.
THE VINEYARDS OF LOS ANGELES.--The San Francisco Herald of the 6th says:
Gilmore, of the firm of Hobbs, Gilmore & Co., resident agents of the Lake
Vineyard, returned on Tuesday on the steamer Senator from a trip to Los
Angeles, and gives a cheerful account of the prospects of the vineyards,
etc., in that locality. . . . The road to San Pedro is not in passable
condition for teams, but with a continuance of good weather will be in
fine order in a few days. . . . There having been, within a few years,
great attention paid to the culture of oranges, and those of the best
qualities, there is no doubt but that California will in a year or two
be fully supplied with a prime article of fruit from that direction.
The opening of the road to San Pedro will enable our citizens to test
and appreciate their quality. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 11, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Tuesday's proceedings
after 3:45 o'clock P. M., when the report of that day closed for the
Sacramento boat.]
THE SWAMP LAND FUND.
The CLERK read the message of the Governor, vetoing Senate Bill
No. 152--An Act transferring certain funds. . . .
Mr. WARWICK--As small a matter as this may appear to some, it is one of
the most weighty that has yet been before this House, involving nothing
more or less than the lives and property of hundreds and hundreds of the
people of this State. There is no action of this House which will have
more solemn effect than its action this afternoon with regard to the
message now before it. I know there are some gentlemen here who smile
at the idea, of a few paltry dollars which they may possibly gain by
passing this bill over the veto of the Governor. But if they do it the
whole Sacramento valley will be one scene of desolation from one end to
the other. [Laughter.] Yes, sir, gentlemen may smile, but nevertheless
that will be the effect. The ruin of hundreds of families in that valley
will rest upon the heads of those who see fit to advocate the passage of
that bill. Now, I say without fear of contradiction that there is no man
upon the floor of this House poorer than myself to-day; that there is no
man on this floor more in need of what that bill will afford if passed
over the veto of the Governor than myself--yet I would sooner have my
hand taken off and my voice hushed forever than I would lend my aid to
a measure that will ruin hundreds and hundreds of families. That is the
effect of it. I address myself not only to the common sense but to the
heart and soul of this House. I appeal to men by their own wives and
families; I ask them if they are willing to deprive the State of this
fund which is set apart to be the protection to the inhabitants of the
whole Sacramento valley? If it is taken away it cannot by any possibility
be returned in time to be of any service whatever, and what is the
consequence? Hundreds in that valley are on the verge of ruin now,
whose farms are laid waste and whose homes are made desolate, and they
are looking toward this Legislature for protection. We can see them
appealing to us on every side from that vast sea that runs from mountain
to mountain and throughout the whole length of the Sacramento valley.
We see the little remnants of their homes rising up above the surface
of the waters. They appeal to us for protection, and I ask this
Legislature are they willing for the sake of a few paltry dollars, or
for the sake of a trifling expediency, to turn a deaf ear to that
appeal? I trust they will not override the action of the Governor.
If the Senate has done so, on them rests the responsibility. but let
this branch, which has thus far, and justly, I believe, been termed
the conservative body, show that they have something more than petty
interests at heart, and are willing to sacrifice something, at least,
for the benefit of the entire State. [Applause.] . . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3420, 15 March 1862, p. 1
GRAIN IN THE UPLANDS.--We learn that the grain crop in the uplands is
doing remarkably well this season, and that an unusually large crop is
being cultivated. Nicewander, a farmer, whose land is on the dry ridge
near French Camp, informed us that he was not seriously interrupted
by the rains of the Winter, in preparing his ground and sowing his
grain. He has succeeded in putting in three hundred acres of wheat,
all of which at this time bears the most promising appearance. We think,
considering the present prospect of a short crop in the low flat lands,
it would be a good venture for mountain and upland farmers to sow a
large crop.--Stockton Independent.
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
The Continental Telegraph is again in operation throughout its whole
extent. Previous to the completion of the repairs on the line, the
dispatches accumulated during a delay of more than a week were brought
by stage to Salt Lake, and thence have been sent us in the regular
order of dates, beginning with the news of March 6th. . . .
From San Francisco, we learn that a lake near the Mission Dolores
broke through its banks, at an early hour yesterday morning, and
destroyed property to the value of about fifty thousand dollars.
No lives were lost. Fears of floods from other lakes in that vicinity
are now entertained. . . .
A GRADE FOR J STREET.--In another column we publish a notice for a
meeting of the property owners on J street, to consult and determine
something about the grade to be adopted for that street. Quite a number
of owners are ready to raise their buildings to the grade as soon as
the weather will permit; and while they are about it, they are anxious
to put their buildings above the high water mark of this year. They
say truly that while they are raising their buildings, a difference of
one or two feet is a matter of no importance, while it is a matter of
great consequence that the floors of business houses be placed above
high water mark. If so placed, the basements of most buildings will not
be much below the surface of the ground, and would, therefore, be very
valuable for storing goods and other purposes. But the great consideration
is the elevation of the business portion of the city above high water
and beyond all danger from floods. The Board of Supervisors have the
question under consideration, as the grade previously established was
found nearly or quite two feet too low. If the grade of J and K streets
is once established at the right hight, the owners of property would in
a few years build up to it. A similar grade, too, is practicable for Front
street. That street can be more easily graded and the buildings raised
than any other in the city. . . .
New York, March 7th.,
Intelligence from Bremen, January 15th, states there has been a great
flood in the Moisy. Three cities were destroyed, and thirty lives lost. . . .
FIENDISH.--The following passage occurred in the proceedings of the
Assembly on Tuesday last while the Act for transferring the Swamp Land
Fund was under discussion, Mr. Warwick speaking:
As small a matter as this may appear to some, it is one of the most
weighty that has yet been before this House, involving nothing more or
less than the lives and property of hundreds and hundreds of the people
of this State. There is no action of this House which will have more
solemn effect than its action this afternoon with regard to the message
now before it. I know there are some gentlemen here who smile at the
idea or a few paltry dollars which they may possibly gain by passing
this bill over the veto of the Governor. But if they do it the whole
Sacramento valley will be one scene of desolation from one end to the
other. [Laughter.] Yes, sir, gentlemen may smile, but nevertheless that
will be the effect. The ruin of hundreds of families in that valley will
rest upon the heads of those who see fit to advocate the passage of that
bill.
Yet we are informed that the allusion to the sufferings of the people
of Sacramento valley was a matter for laughter in the Assembly. We are
of opinion that such perfect heartlessness was never exhibited in a
legislative body before. The present Legislature enjoys a monopoly of
the article, and the suffering people of the State will probably remember
the fact.
NOT EXACTLY.--The Stockton Republican of March 12th contained the
following:
Information reached this city yesterday afternoon that this unfortunate
city [Sacramento] had been again heavily overflowed. It seems a very
hard case, and a universal sentiment of regret was expressed at the
misfortunes of our neighbor. The people of that city have displayed
an energy which has done them infinite credit, but the elements this
year are above all control. All we have to say is to wish better luck
next time, [sic] We shall not always have such seasons.
We are very thankful for the expressed sympathy, but the fact is, there
has been no new flood in Sacramento. The late rains scarcely made a
ripple in our neighborhood. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
The Reported Triumph at Manassas--Excitement and Rejoicing--Destructive
Flood--Arrivals.. . . .
A lake about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, among the
hills near the Mission Dolores, broke through its bank at one o'clock
this morning, and precipitated itself into the valley below, utterly
crushing and destroying the splendid residence of M. Pioche, with the
fine garden, stable and carriage houses, and carrying away one hundred
feet of the Market Street Railroad. The grounds and gardens of Woodward
are damaged to the amount of four thousand dollars, being buried in nearly
five feet of sand and mud. Pioche's damage is twenty thousand dollars.
Great damage was done to the gardeners, whose early crops were nearly
ready for market, and which are now covered with two or three feet of
water. The total damage by the flood is estimated at fifty thousand
dollars. The persons in Pioche's house narrowly escaped with their
lives. There are fears that another lake in the vicinity will break
through, and workmen are embanking it.
Joel N. Brown sues the Spring Valley Water Company for $5,000 damages
sustained by the flooding of his lands in San Mateo county with water
from their main pipes. . . .
GRADE FOR J STREET.
OWNERS AND AGENTS OF REAL
ESTATE on J STREET are requested to meet at the COUNTY COURT ROOM, THIS
(Saturday) EVENING, at 7-1/2 o'clock, for the purpose of determining the
propriety of ESTABLISHING A HIGHER GRADE FOR J STREET than the one now
existing.
m15-1t PROPERTY OWNERS.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.--At a meeting of the Board of Delegates of the Fire
Department, held . . . To this end the Committee would suggest, as a
basis for the consideration of the Board, supposing the taxable property
of the city to be reduced by recent disasters to $5,000,000, the setting
aside of fourteen cents on the one hundred dollars of the amount heretofore
assigned to the Contingent Fund, . . .
INSOLVENCY.--G. K. Van Heusen filed yesterday a petition in insolvency
in the District Court. . . $1,000 from damage by flood, . . .
A HEAVY JOB.--During several days past, the chain gang, under the
direction of Overseer Long, has been engaged in cleaning out the
sediment from one of the tanks at the Water Works. There is found
to be a much larger quantity collected than on any former occasion,
and of a much coarser quality. Heretofore some two or three feet of
fine mud has required removal. At present there is a collection of
about four feet in depth, of quite coarse sand. It is being removed
by emptying down a chute into the slough at the rear of the building. . . .
BOAT RACE.--The boat race of to-morrow will take place at about three
o'clock, between C. Johnson and W. Brown. Both are represented to be
skillful boatmen. . . .
WINTER-KILLING OF TREES.--The Grass Valley National says that a large
number of fruit trees in the vicinity of that town, and in localities
above Nevada, have been Winter-killed. In several cases every peach tree
on some small ranches have been killed, and many apple trees also. In the
vicinity of Nevada many plants and shrubs that have heretofore withstood
the Winters, have been killed during the severe Winter just past; but we
are not aware of the fruit trees having been injured to any considerable
extent. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday March 13, 1862.
The Senate met at eleven o'clock, the Lieutenat [sic] Governor in the chair, . . .
The Governor also sent in the report of the Capitol Commissioners, in
answer to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 7, describing the present
condition of the Capitol building, naming the contracts entered into
and the moneys expended. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, March 13, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
THE PLACERVILLE ROUTE.
Assembly Bill No. 183--An Act to authorize the
Board of Supervisors of El Dorado county to lease the Sacramento and
El Dorado wagon road for a term of years, was amended as recommended
by the delegation.
Mr. FERGUSON opposed the bill. The counties of Sacramento and El Dorado
had gone to the expense of taxing themselves to build that highway as
a free road, inviting the people coming across the continent into
Sacramento county, and now it was proposed to take that road and place
it in the hands of private parties to levy tolls upon it, so that the
expense incurred by the counties in making it a free road would go for
nothing. He considered it an act of great injustice.
Mr. BENTON said this wagon road was built by the joint money of those
counties, but it was made a toll road ultimately, in order to keep it
in repair. This Winter it had been badly damaged, and the counties could
not afford to carry it on and repair it, which would cost $5,000. It
was therefore proposed to lease it out in such a way as to keep a good
road with the lowest practicable rates of fare. The majority of the
Sacramento delegation thought this plan would accomplish the object
better than in any other way. His colleague (Mr. Ferguson) proposed no
other plan.
Mr. FERGUSON said the real object was to give this public road to the
owners of private roads which had been damaged beyond repair. They would
allow these parties to collect tolls from the public road because they
find themselves unable to collect tolls from their own roads. The object
was said to be to open the road immediately, yet this bill allowed three
months for the parties to put the roads in repair, and in the meantime
they were to be allowed to collect tolls. The fact was that these men had
no money to repair the road but depended upon the tolls as a matter of
speculation.
Mr. DENNIS said he and his whole delegation were ignorant even of who were
to have the franchise. Certain parties had been applying but failed to get
the delegation, and were now opposing the bill.
Mr. FERGUSON said they were shrewd log rollers, and had got somebody to
draw a substitute which would accomplish the object.
Mr. BENTON said he thought his colleague did not himself believe the
insinuation. Mr. Dean drew the bill, and he would like him to answer it.
Mr. DEAN inquired if Mr. Ferguson meant to reflect upon his motives?
Mr. FERGUSON said he did not, but he thought Mr. Dean had been imposed
upon. He proposed to meet the delegation from El Dorado half way and
would favor a plan of selling the road to the highest bidder, provided
it could be submitted to the people. He thought there was no necessity
of taxing the people. If the county took the toll they would be able
in three months to put the road in better order than these men would
put it in who were working behind the screen.
Mr. WARWICK called Mr. Ferguson to order, as his time (twenty minutes)
had expired.
Mr. REED suggested that in order to harmonize the conflicting views the
bill be recommitted to the Committee on Roads and Highways.
Messrs. Benton, Dean and others objected.
Mr. SAUL urged the necessity of the measure, in order to have a passable
road this season. It was necessary, in order to compete with the Oglesby
road, to improve the grades and shorten the distances.
Mr. AVERY spoke of the excellence of the Henness Pass route, but that this
central Placerville route ought also to be kept open.
Mr. FRASIER said the great object was to have a good road across the
mountains, leading into the central part of the State.. This road was
as necessary now as at the time it was built. In ordinary seasons the
usual tolls might keep the road in good repair; but the past Winter had
been a most extraordinary one, and the road was now almost utterly
impassable for teams. The Road Fund was now exhausted, and the question
was should the road be abandoned, or should measures be devised to put
it in good order again? He thought this bill was the best if not the only
plan that could be devised for that purpose.
Mr. FERGUSON said he believed it would be as much for the interests of
the counties to sell the road as to put it into private hands in this manner.
Mr. WARWICK said from Slippery Ford on to Nevada the road was in private
hands, and had been put in good repair, notwithstanding the disastrous
Winter while the public road this side of Slippery Ford was impassable.
Mr. DEAN said he had not anticipated any opposition to this bill,
especially from any of the Sacramento delegation. He could not see how
any man in his senses could oppose it. He gave a brief history of the
road since the first opening of the route, and strongly urged the passage
of the bill.
Mr. WARWICK moved the previous question, which was sustained, and the bill
was ordered engrossed. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3421, 17 March 1862, p. 1
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, March 14, 1862.
Lieutenant Governor CHELLIS called the Senate to order at eleven o'clock, . . .
REPORTS.
Mr. PERKINS, from the Finance Committee, reported back Senate Bill
No. 241--An Act to appropriate money for the relief of destitute females
in the State California--without recommendation; . . .
[CONCLUDED ON FOURTH PAGE,
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . . By our dispatch trom San Francisco we learn that Sans Souci lake
has been drained, as a measure of precaution. . . .
MOVEMENTS OF CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS.--By a private letter from Camp
Kellogg, near Los Angeles, dated March 5th, we learn that there are
now encamped, in that locality four companies of cavalry and nine of
infantry. Companies E and G of the Fifth Regiment, and two companies
of the First, are under marching orders for Fort Yuma or Fort
Mojave--it is uncertain which. The volunteers of Company G, Fifth
Regiment, have repaired the San Fernando road, which was damaged
by the Winter floods. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
Lake Drawn off--Shooting Affair--Elopement--Incorporation--St. Patrick's
Celebration--Arrivals.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 16th.
Sans Souci lake, near the lake which recently flooded the Mission, is
being discharged through an artificial outlet, doing but little damage
to the low lands. The break in the Market Street Railroad has been
entirely repaired. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
CORONER'S INQUEST.--Coroner Reeves held an inquest yesterday afternoon
over the body of a colored man named James Burris, who was found dead
in the morning near his place of residence, on the alley between Fourth
and Fifth and N and O streets. The circumstances of the case leave some
room for the suspicion that the deceased was the victim of foul play.
He had lived alone, it appears, at the locality referred to. The house
is surrounded by water. He had not been seen for several days, and when
search was made for him, his body was found in the water near the house.
The house was open. The body showed marks of a bruise over the left eye.
The jury was composed of Amos Woods, Thomas Flitcroft, G. A. Lockhart,
John O 'Farrell, P. L. Hickman and Henry Hoole. The principal witness was
William Burris, a brother of deceased, who testified that the deceased
was a native of the State of Delaware and was fifty-one years of age.
He had been missing since Friday, the 7th of this month. The witness lives
in San Francisco, and came up for the purpose of searching for the deceased,
He went to the house in a boat, in company with Dr. Stephenson and
A. D. Barghost. The deceased was subject to fits, and might have fell
into the water on account of having a fit. When the body was discovered,
it was lying in the water about six feet from the doorstep, the water
being about seven feet deep. The deceased had no money about his person
when found. He had told witness that he had eight or nine hundred dollars
loaned out but did not say who had it. W. C. Stephenson corroborated the
testimony of the first witness, and added that the deceased was Treasurer
of the Seventh street Methodist Church, and it was supposed that he had
some forty dollars on his person or about the house at the time of his
death. A. D. Barghost also corroborated the above testimony. The jury
returned a verdict to the effect that the cause of the death of the
deceased was unknown to the jury, but that they were of the opinion that
he was drowned in this city between the 7th and 9th of March. The funeral
will take place from his late residence at ten o'clock this morning. . . .
INSOLVENCY.--D. D. Berwin applied on Saturday, in the District Court,
for the benefit of the insolvent Act. The petition states that the
applicant has been a resident of Sacramento for eight years, and has been
engaged in the clothing business. He lost by the floods of the past Winter
about $1,500 in damage to his stock of goods; the remainder of the stock
was then seized and sold by the Sheriff. The total losses of the applicant
are given at $2,650; liabilities about $3,000, and assets, chiefly exempt
from execution, $1,300. . . .
THE STREET GRADES.--A meeting of J street property owners was held at the
County Court room on Saturday evening for the consideration of the
propriety of raising the grade of the street. The proceedings of the
meeting are reported in another column. The meeting adjourned until
to-morrow evening, at which time property owners of the city, generally,
are expected to be present. . . .
BOAT RACE.--The boat race yesterday afternoon, between C. Johnson and
W. Brown, which came off below the railroad, resulted in the success of
the last named competitor. . . .
MEETING OF J STREET PROPERTY OWNERS.
Pursuant to a published notice, a meeting was held on Saturday evening
at the County Court room, composed of owners of real estate on J street,
for the purpose of considering the propriety of adopting a higher grade
for the street than the one now existing.
On motion of R. H. MCDONALD, T. M. Lindley was called to the chair, and
A. C. Sweetser was appointed Secretary.
R. H. MCDONALD said the meeting had been called for the purpose of
consultation on the propriety of agreeing upon a higher grade for J street
than that which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors prior to the
first flood. He was not there to advocate any particular grade, but
desired to see the city fully protected and safe from flood. He understood
the Hite grade to start at I street eighteen inches above the old high
water mark--22 feet 6 inches--but soon after its adoption, the water
rose about twenty-one inches above the old high water mark. He, therefore,
thought the future grade should be eighteen inches above the high water
mark of the present year. He based his views and calculatlons upon the
expectation that we should have a substantial and efficient levee which
would protect the city. If we were not to have such a levee, he should
not deem it worth while to go to the expense or trouble of raising the
grade. By raising the grade there would be double security gained. If we
had had during the past Winter but one street above the water, it would
have made a vast difference to the interests of the city. One hundred
thousand dollars worth of trade had been compelled to leave the city
from the want of a single street above water. He thought it not only a
matter of policy, but it was absolutely of vital interest to the city
to raise the grade, but he desired to hear the views of others on the
subject. If buildings were raised at all, they might as well be raised
all the way as half-way to high water mark.
The PRESIDENT stated that the object of the meeting was to obtain an
expression from all interested on the subject, that the best policy might
be adopted.
H. M. BERNARD was opposed to any single street adopting a grade. He
thought a general plan should be adopted for the whole city.
I. S. VAN WINKLE thought it our duty to ourselves and to future
generations to adopt a grade and a policy now which would meet any
future emergency. Had we in earlier times paid attention to the opinions
of Vallejo and others of experience, we should have been out of the
reach of destruction by the past flood. Let it not be said in ten years
from this that we were equally negligent as to our own experience. We
should adopt a grade a few inches above the highest water of the season,
though he thought eighteen inches unnecessarily high. There should be a
fixed grade. He put up a new building last year and endeavored to find
out the grade, but nobody appeared to know what it was. He built according
to the grade, as nearly as he could learn, and the water rose three feet
ten inches over the floor.
R. H. MCDONALD then offered the following :
Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that the grade
of J street be established at twelve inches above high water mark,
measuring from the top of the gutter.
He stated that he believed this grade would meet all interests more fully
than any other, and to test the sense of the meeting he offered the above
resolution. The foundation walls of most of the J street buildings were
now about two and a half feet below the floor. The water had risen three
and a half feet above the floor. These figures added made six feet.
Add to this twelve inches above high watermark and we would have seven
feet, just enough for a magnificent basement. He believed this basement
would be worth more to the owner in every instance than the cost of
making the alteration. These basements were necessary for purposes of
storage and would greatly enhance the value of our property. To raise
any less than the figures named would spoil these basements, and it
would be better to go higher than the flood required, in order to secure
them. It would not do to dig the cellars lower than the surface of the
natural ground, or the foundation walls would settle.
H. M. BERNARD thought it very selfish for the J street property owners
to get together and adopt a grade without regard to the interests of
other portions of the city. He owned no property on J but he did on
L street. There were many others who were interested in other portions
of the city, but they were too bashful to come forward and express
their views. As for himself, he was always ready to say what he thought.
He always paid his taxes, and thought his interests, though not so
extensive as those of many others, just as much entitled to consideration
in a movement of this character. He was in favor of the meeting
adjourning until Monday or Tuesday evening, and of inviting property
owners from all parts of the city to be present. There should be no
snap judgment taken. A regular system of grade should be adopted. He
was unwilling to see one or two streets graded and impassable mud holes
left in the cross streets. The owners of property in the lower portion
of the town were as anxious on this subject as anybody else. Don't
shuttle the water down on them without providing for carrying it off.
That would not do. Call a general meeting and give the people a chance.
The PRESIDENT stated that the meeting was not of an exclusive
character--that all present were expected to participate in the
proceedings--that a high grade was required on at least J, K and
L streets.
LORENZO HAMILTON said there was a wide difference outside on the grade
question. The cost of raising the grade was a matter of great importance.
He thought that if the city was thoroughly leveed there would be no
necessity for raising the grade. We should build a levee which would
make another flood impossible. We could not afford to do both. The
expense of raising the grade added to that of the levee would be more
than the people of the city could bear. Let it go abroad that we have
built a levee which will protect the city against any flood which can
possibly occur. If a few busiuess streets are raised, the dwelling houses
in other portions of the city would not be, nor was it desirable that
they should. We must therefore have a levee that could be relied upon.
Before any steps were taken on the subject he hoped the matter would be
thoroughly investigated and the expense calculated. He had made some
slight calculation on the cost of raising the grade and believed it to
be so great as to render the policy impracticable.
H. T. HOLMES was an outsider, but was anxious to see the streets raised.
Get one street up and ethers would follow. There was a grade already
established by the Board of Supervisors--the Hite grade. The only
question was, should we go higher, so as to be entirely safe.
E. P. FIGG presented a communication to the meeting from L. B. Harris,
the owner of one hundred feet of property on J street. The communication
was read. It took ground against raising the grade of J street more
than one foot. The author was confident that a levee would be built
which would render the city entirely secure.
A. C. SWEETSER stated that he represented considerable property on J street,
and was instructed to cast his vote against a high grade at the present
time. The owners relied upon a high, strong, safe levee.
I. S. VAN WINKLE said the object in establishing a grade was not to
commence now or next year to raise buildings, except where owners desired
to, but to have a grade for the government of all who wish to put up
new buildings. New buildings could be put up at the proper hight, and
at some future time the streets could be graded. He would himself have
been thankful for such a grade before building last year, as it would
have saved him great expense. When looking at the immense torrents
of water which came down the American river, with the logs and drift
wood which are swept along with such great force, it became evident
that there was no such thing as absolute safety from levee. They might
be cut away at any time. There was nothing like having the streets above
high water mark.
H. T. HOLMES stated that the grade, if adopted, would not compel any
to raise their buildings. It would regulate those which are yet to be
built. Then whenever the owners of two-thirds of any block wished to
raise, it could be done. Such a grade already existed, but it was not
high enough.
L. HAMILTON said that great confusion would be caused on account of
irregularity of sidewalks. He thought that sidewalks should be made
to conform with each other. He relied upon the construction of levees
full and complete. They would have to be built high and strong, for
the beds of rivers were constantly filling up. He knew that the bed
of the Yuba had raised ten feet within ten or twelve years, and he
believed the American had changed in the same manner. To raise the
grade of the streets at the present time would be a confession of
weakness and of want of faith in our ability to levee the city. Let
no such confession go forth. The vote was then taken on the adoption
of Dr. McDonald's resolution.
The PRESIDENT announced the resolution lost.
Dr. MCDONALD called for a division on the question on it adoption [sic].
J. GREENBAUM thought the action of the meeting too hasty. There should
be more caution and more time devoted to the examination of the subject.
The Hite grade, which was referred to, was not designed to meet the flood,
but to provide for sewerage and effectually drain the city. It was essential
to look at the cost of raising the grade and to ascertain whether it could
be borne or not. There would be municipal tax, State tax, war tax, etc.,
etc., and care should be observed before adopting another policy which
must, of necessity, be very expensive. He did not want a grade adopted
until it could be put in practice. He was opposed to having one building
high and another low and was not willing, in traveling along the sidewalks
to be forced to go up and down a set of step ladders all over town.
Establish a grade whenever property owners were ready for it, and then
make everybody conform to it.
R. H. MCDONALD thought the expense of grading the streets would be far
less than was generally supposed. Whenever the work should be undertaken,
a railroad and locomotive would be necessary. There was a vast quantity
of sand and earth in the eastern portion of the city, recently deposited
there. By laying a track on J street, it and the cross streets could
be filled up speedily and cheaply. He was satisfied that the cost to
each twenty foot lot on J street would not exceed $250 The basement stories
in each building would be worth much more than amount [sic].
I. S. VAN WINKLE said there were but few brick buildings in the city
in 1854, and if we had had the proper grade then great expense would
have been saved. Last year was one of unusual prosperity, and a large
number of new brick buildings were erected. They will now have to be
raised at considerable cost. We all admit that this is no place for a
city. The ground is like a sponge. The water comes in from the river and
overflows the lower part of the city, even when there is no flood. How
was it last year? We had to pump out the water at great expense, and it
ran back as fast as it was pumped out. The only remedy for this was to
adopt a grade above high water mark. We must profit by experience and
act with wisdom. He was in favor of a high grade, and wanted it adopted
if it ruined him.
R H. MCDONALD called for a division of the meeting on the adoption of
the resolution.
C. H .GRIMM was impressed with the idea that it was injudicious at this
time to take any decided action on the subject. The city should be left
pretty much as it is until we see what can be done with the levees. He
would let the grade of the streets rest for another year.
H. T. HOLMES inquired what the last speaker would do with new
buildings--let them be put up this year to require raising the next?
C H. GRIMM apprehended that there would be but few of them put up any
time soon.
J. GREENBAUM was not prepared to decide as to the grade of eighteen
inches above high water. But what ever hight might be agreed upon, let
there be uniformity as to streets and sidewalks. There was no necessity
for haste. Let there be an adjournment for the purpose of getting a
general expression of opinion on the subject
R. H. MCDONALD again called for a division on the adoption of the resolution.
H. M. BERNARD contended that the Chair had pronounced the resolution to be
lost before a division had been called for, and that it was therefore
disposed of.
The PRESIDENT of tte meeting stated that such had been his decision until
the division had been called for but that upon such call being made he
receded from the decision and considered the resolution still before the
meeting.
The resolution was then, on motion, laid upon the table until an adjourned
meeting, and on motion of H. M. BERNARD the meeting adjourned until
Tuesday evening at the same place, the Secretary being instructed to
invite a general attendance of property owners from all portions of the
city. . . .
[CONCLUDED FROM FIRST PAGE.]
. . .SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, March 15, 1862
The Senate met at eleven o'clock, the Lieutenant Governor in the chair, . . .
THE GENERAL FILE.
The Senate took up Senate Bill No. 251--An Act concerning the construction
and repair of levees in the county of Sacramento, and the mode of raising
revenue therefor.
On motion of Mr. NIXON, the reading was dispensed with, and he explained
the nature of the bill. The levee was to be built from near the mouth of
the American river, along the north side of the city, to the high land in
the neighborhood of Brighton, and to be used as a public highway and
macadamized, the franchise to be a property of the city. All conflicting
opinions with reference to the bill had been compromised and settled,
one-half of the expense to be paid from the American River Levee Fund of
the city, and the other half from the Swamp Land Fund belonging to the
county.
Messrs. HOLDEN and BANKS made further inquiries as to the nature of the
bill, as it had not been read.
Mr. PARKS said he had examined it, and the Swamp Land Commissioners had
examined it. The citizens of Sacramento preferred to build their own levee;
leaving this new subject to the Swamp Land Commissioners, who had the right
to determine the position of the levee, its hight and breadth, leaving it
with the city to increase the hight and breadth if they pleased. He thought
the citizens of Sacramento were doing more than their share in the
enterprise, but they preferred to have immediate control of the matter
themselves.
Mr. HEACOCK offered an amendment, providing that the expenses incurred in
searching titles be entered as costs in the case, which was adopted.
Mr. SHAFTER called attention to the fact that, after the work was concluded,
the levee would be the property of the city of Sacramento, who might make it
a toll road or lease the franchise. He did not think it wrong, but wanted to
have it understood.
The bill was considered engrossed, read a third time and passed.
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3422, 18 March 1862, p. 1
ATLANTIC INTELLIGENCE.
From our late Eastern files we collate the following intelligence: . . .
New England Items. . . .
The late storm in Vermont caused more obstruction to travel on the highways
than anyother that has occurred for several years. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
We have no telegraphic advices from the East to lay before our anxious
readers this morning. The wires are down at Strawberry. The line will
probably be in working order today.
A heavy fall of rain has occurred in the interior. At Auburn the river rose
three feet, but it has since fallen two feet, and at Folsom it has also
subsided. This relieves us from the apprehension of an overflow. . . .
Two communications in reference to floods and protection against their
destructive effects, will be found in our columns. The views expressed
are as widely divergent as the estimates of costs. "In the multitude of
counselors there is safety." It is to be hoped so. But there is another
proverb, ancient, vulgar and unscriptural, which refers to the damage
done by a superfluous number of cooks about the broth. Some plan of
protection against the tendency to turn the streets of Sacramento into
Venetian canals is an urgent necessity. . . .
There has been another rise in the American, and a consequent rise of
the water in the eastern portion of the city to the extent of about a
foot. The water in the southern section of the city has risen about six
inches. The Sacramento shows a rise of about six inches. The rise is
attributed to a heavy fall of rain in the upper country.
MORRISON'S BILL AND LEVEES.
An earnest advocate of Morrison's bill--providing for the employment of
State Prison labor in building levees and straightening rivers--appears
again on the subject. The advantages flowing from cut-offs and from
dredging such localities as the Hog's Back are undoubtedly fully as
great as claimed by Mr. Roach. The labor required to cut canals across
bends in rivers and to manage dredging machines, it is considered might
be furnished from the State Prison, and as an adjunct to the system of
swamp land reclamation might be advantageously adopted. Convict labor
could also be employed successfully in cutting a canal from Knight's
Landing to Suisun Bay, provided such a canal were determined upon
Convicts could, to be sure, be employed to build levees; but we doubt
whether the work can be performed with that kind of labor for less per
cubic yard than the price for which contractors would undertake it. But
we see no prospects of the bill becoming a law during this session, unless
it is adopted as a subordinate branch of the present swamp land system of
reclamation.
The suggestion that the Straits of Carquinez might be increased in width
by the labor of convicts does not strike us very favorably, for were such
a work necessary it would require more gigantic preparations and means than
could be made at or furnished from the State Penitentiary. It would be a
herculean undertaking, and one which it is not very likely man will ever
engage in. Men living at Benicia declare that the floods of water sent
down from the mountains do not make any perceptible difference in the
line of low water north of the straits when the tide is out. The level
of the water at high and low tide remains the same above the straits,
and hence it is pretty well demonstrated that the Straits of Carquinez
are amply sufficient to pass all the water which may collect in the
valleys above. The only effect produced by the high water upon the
tides above the straits is, that the point at which the current of the
river and that of the rising tide neutralize each other is pushed further
down in the bay. Instead of meeting and exactly balancing at the "Hog's
Back," as it may be assumed they do at low water--the opposing currents
are equalized at a point miles below. As consequence the retiring tide
appears to carry on its surface a mass of fresh water. An immense quantity
of salt water which usually flows through the straits and into the bays
above is displaced by fresh water, without, of course, making any
perceptible difference in the level of the water, at low or high tide
in the Bay of San Pablo. Suppose, therefore, the straits were made wider,
how could that affect the water in the Sacramento river? On the levee
question Roach furnishes some excellent authorities in reply to those
quoted by Rowlandson about the insufficiency of the levees on the
Mississippi. We stated at the time that there were two schools of
engineers who had written on the effect of levees and natural and
artificial lateral channels on the Mississippi; one of which contended
that levees caused the river to fill up and were unsafe--while the
other argued that levees must be the main dependence, and that they
did not cause the river bed to rise. Rowlandson quoted from one of the
former; Roach quotes from several of the latter. Each class fortified
itself with scientific calculations, investigations and experiments.
The State of Louisiana adopted the system advocated by the school of
engineers who argued the building of levees as the main protection for
the sugar and cotton land of the State. It was adopted years ago and has
never been departed from. The levees built have protected the country from
damage, except under extraordinary circumstances. Levees have also
protected Sacramento, except under extrordinary [sic] circumstances.
It is shown by Mr. Roach that a vastly greater amount of water falls in
the valley off the Mississippi than in that of the Sacramento. The
communication is one which may be read at this juncture with profit. . . .
NOT PRACTICABLE.--The plan for protecting the valleys from the effects
of floods, suggested by Mr. Rowlandson, will be pronounced totally
impracticable by nineteen men out of twenty. The expense would be
enormous, and the pounds, after they were built, would be about as
liable to break away as levees. Such a plan is not likely ever to be
adopted in California. The undertaking would be one of the most gigantic
ever undertaken by man. To make such a system safe and effective would
cost as much as to build the Pacific Railroad.
MEETING OF PROPERTY OWNERS.
A meeting of property owners on J street was called and held last
Saturday night, at the County Court room, to consider the question of
raising the grade of that street. Views were interchanged to a
considerable extent among those present, and some diversity of opinion
was manifested. A few were for relying on a levee, but the majority
seemed to concede that the foundation of the business streets should
be elevated. Some opposition, too, exhibited itself to any proposition
which looked alone to an elevation of the grade of J street. We take it
that an ordinance fixing the grade of one street will also establish it
for all the others. It must be remembered that an ordinance has been
passed by the Board of Supervisors establishing a grade which, we believe,
is the previous line of high water twenty-two and a half feet. This grade
was for the gutters on J streel, the crown of the street to be eighteen
inches higher. Such is the grade now fixed by law; all buildings hereafter
to be erected must conform to this grade, and, as a consequence, the street
would finally reach that line as high up as Tenth street, if not clear to
the Fort.
The late floods raised the line of high water from twenty-two and a half
to twenty-four feet, and the question now is, not whether a high grade
is to be established, as an original proposition, but whether one already
fixed by law shall be so changed as to cause it to conform to the first
idea of coming up to high water mark. When the ordinance was passed, had
the high water mark been twenty four feet, that would have been the grade
of the gutters on J street. The proposition now is simply to change the
present grade so as to bring it up, as was at first intended, to high water
mark for the gutter grade of J; or, if thought advisable, six inches above
that. It will take eighteen inches to bring the grade to high water mark,
and two feet to bring the line six inches above that point. If the gutter
line were raised eighteen inches, the crown of the street would be the
same number of inches above high water, and the stores on the street would
stand on a line just about two and a half feet above the old high water
line of twenty-two and a half feet. The proposed Hite grade was a foot
higher than the one adopted, but the water in the Sacramento rose a foot
over that.
To reach the present grade, buildings must be raised, and the street filled
about twenty-two inches; if raised to correspond with the new high water
figure, J street would have to be filled three feet and four inches. If
there were good reasons for bringing J street up to high water mark before
the late floods, there are certainly more cogent reasons for still keeping
the grade up to that line.
We have, from the first, advocated a high grade as an additional security
against damage by high water, and the experience of the past Winter has
shown that it would have been a wise policy had it been adopted in 1853.
But the point of high water then was considerably submerged in 1862. The
cost then would have been small compared with the expense now, but the
question of cost is one for property owners to decide, as they will be
called upon to foot the bills. It is not an expense which the public will
be called upon to stand.
But if property owners wish to place themselves in a position of
absolute safety they will determine upon building a levee broad and
high, and also to raise the business houses and streets of Sacramento
above high water. We entertain no doubts of the ability of the people of
the city to build a levee which human judgment will pronounce perfectly
safe, and still we think owners will exercise a high degree of wisdom if
they insist also upon having the grade of the city put at or above high
water. It will, with the levee, insure absolutely the safety of property
in the city. It will do more; it will restore perfect confidence in the
future of Sacramento, and add to the value of property three times the cost
of raising it, and filling the streets. It is certain that those who build
will go up with the first floor above high water, and stores thus situated
will be the first in demand when men of business desire to rent. Indeed,
in the course of a year it will be found difficult for the owner to rent
a store, the floor of which is on the present grade. Hence it is the
interest of owners of property to urge the adoption of a grade which
will insure them for all time.
The meeting Saturday night adjourned to meet again to-night in the County
Court room.
MORE ABOUT LEVEES.
EDITORS UNION: Much has been said of late about levees. Plans have been
various--some expensive and some otherwise. One plan--and a cheap one--was
advocated by the UNION for the protection of the levee at the tannery. My
object in referring to it is to show that what you advocated was not only
cheap, but sensible. I wish to state and refer to what all can look at by
going on to the ground.
After the first flood, the Citizens' Committee built a levee farther back
from the river, which was also carried away. Could that have been
protected? Let us see. Along the A street levee, and between that and
one on the immediate river bank, are a large number of peach trees, which
have been removed from some ground, and placed there without particular
care.
Then the levee was carried away by being undermined next the river, so as
to let the high waters across the fields between the two levees. The result
was that the peach trees before mentioned caused the sand to lodge among
the branches to more than one-half the depth of the A street levee, while
outside of this brush the land is swept clean of sand. If any one should
say that there was no current there, I would state that those trees are
apparently in the trench made by procuring the material for the levee.
Now we all know that water seeks the lowest places for its passage. The
only thing that could have prevented the current was the brush.
That is the thing desired to prevent the current. Now had this
brush or others been placed on the river side of the new work would it
not have been saved by accumulating sand in the same manner?
But to go still further back--before the floods. You advocated putting
brush in the river along the caving bank, so as to form a bar and prevent
the layer of sand from washing out and letting down the surface, which
is not acted upon by the water to any great degrae.
Again: It was proposed to cut the trees from from the bar opposite the
tannery, and thus give the current free course, and in the direction in
which it comes from above. Those plans carried out would most likely have
prevented the breaks at the tannery. T. F. P.
OLD WASH BY FLOOD.--San Juan Press cites the following facts to show
some of the good effects of the late flood:
In visiting the claims of Gilbert and Bicknell, on Sweetland creek, a
short distance above the town of Sweetland, our attention was called to
spots on the naked granite, the surface of which had undergone partial
decomposition, which were literally gleaming with the precious metal.
These claims had heretofore been thoroughly worked, and the bed rock picked
into to the depth of from one to six inches; and yet, here was the gold
again abundant, and visible to the unaided eye. A panful of gravel was
broken from a space of the rock not more than forty inches in circumference,
which we panned out ourself, and which, upon being subsequently weighed
in the scales of Dannals & Menner, yielded half a pennyweight of gold--equal
to about forty-five cents, Gilbert and Bicknell are again working over their
ground, and making from ten to thirty dollars per day to the hand. . . .
FLOOD NEAR SAN JUAN.--The cottage residence of John McCoy, in Sebastopol,
Nevada county, was seriously injured lately, with its improvements, by the
breaking away of a large volume of water collected in a basin. ...
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
Rain In the Interior.
AUBURN. March 17--9 P. M.
The American river had risen about three feet at noon to-day. No rain here
to-day. Clear and pleasant this evening.
COLOMA, March 17--8 P. M.
The river at noon had risen about three feet. Has fallen two feet since
and is still falling. Sky clear.
PLACERVILLE, March 17--9 P. M.
It rained hard all last night. Clear now.
FOLSOM, March 17--9 P. M.
Weather clear. The river is falling.
RED BLUFF, March 17--9 P. M.
Weather pleasant here to-day.
CHICO, March 17--9 P. M.
Clear and pleasant.
OROVILLE, March 17--9 P.M.
Clear and pleasant.
NEVADA, March 17--9 P.M.
It rained throughout the mountains till 10 A.M. to-day. Cleared up
at 2 P. M., and clear yet.
Charter Election in Marysvllle--The Union Ticket Successful--Weather.
Marysville, March 17--10 P. M..
. . .The weather is moderately warm, with no rain.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
HIDES FROM TEHAMA.--The steamer Victor brought down yesterday thirteen
hundred hides from Red Bluff. We stated recently that the Victor had
brought from Tehama county within sixty days, over twenty thousand hides,
chiefly from drowned cattle. The San Francisco Bulletin republished
the item, but the next day made the following statement: "Yesterday we
reprinted from the SACRAMENTO UNION an item on this subject, which we are
assured is altogether erroneous, as tending to show a much greater loss of
cattle by the recent floods than is the actual fact. But a comparatively
small quantity of hides now coming to market have been from cattle lost
by the floods. The great bulk of the receipts is composed of dry hides,
which are the usual Winter collection in the interior, now finding their
way to the seaboard, while those from drowned cattle come to hand
'green.' [sic, no close "] We are assured by officers of the Victor,
who have had ample facilities for informing themselves, that our statement
was entirely within bounds. That boat has brought to this city in three
trips alone--recently made--over twelve thousand hides, and the aggregate
amount brought by her is nearer twenty-five thousand than the number named.
More than seven-eighths of the amount are from cattle drowned by the flood
and those which perished for want of food. The dry hides of the season
which, from that section, nearly all come from Shasta and the mountain
region have not yet been brought into market. Not a wagon load of them,
we are assured, has yet been brought to Red Bluff, nor can they be at
present on account of the bad condition of the roads. It is a well known
fact at Red Bluff that more cattle have died during the Winter in Tehama
county than the number returned by the Assessor for last year. Three stock
owners alone, Chard, Thorn and Toombs, have lost over six thousand head.
We are also informed that cattle continue even now to die constantly for
want of food, and that the hides of not more than two-thirds of those
which have died have been saved. . . .
BODY FOUND.--Information was brought to Coroner Reeves last evening, by
Andrew Hunt, that the body of an unknown man had been found afloat some
six miles north of the city, near the Dry Creek House, on the Marysville
road. The Coroner will visit the locality this morning, for the purpose
of holding an inquest. The body, we are informed, is dressed in working
clothes, and the pockets contained $47 in coin. A boat left the city
about the 28th of January, with three men, for Fuller's ranch, on Auburn
ravine, Placer county, which never reached that point, and was never
heard from afterward. Two of the men were named Wm. Becker and C. H.
Gardineer, who lived with Fuller, and the other was W. Ladbrock, the owner
of the boat. It is possible that the body found yesterday is that of one
of the three men referred to. . . .
RISE IN THE AMERICAN.--Quite unexpectedly the American river commenced
to rise yesterday morning, and discharged so much water into the city
through Burns' slough, the crevasse at Rabel's, and other openings in
the north levee, as to affect sensibly the stage of the water in the
flooded districts. During the day. the water north of J street rose
about a foot, and that of the southwestern part of the town about six
inches. A strong current continued to pass through the eastern part of
the town from the openings referred to to those in the R street levee.
We learn by telegraph that there have been heavy rains in the mountains
within the past few days, although we have had none in this city. . . .
THE GRADE MEETING.--An adjourned meeting of city property holders generally
will be held this evening at the County Court room to consider the propriety
of raising the grade of the streets of the city. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Monday March 17, 1862.
The Board convened to-day at 2 P.M. . . .
Supervisor HITE submitted the following:
An Ordinance to amend the Ordinance fixing the Grade of certain streets.
The Board of Supervisors of the city and county of Sacramento do order
and ordain as follows:
Section 1. Section twelve of Ordinance No. 4, fixing the grade of certain
streets, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 12. The term
"high water mark" used in this ordinance shall be taken and deemed to be
a point on the water gauge twenty-four feet above low water mark.
The ordinance was laid over under the rules. . . .
LOSS OF SHEEP.--It is rather curious to note the inequality in the
loss of sheep in the same neighborhood. On the plains just this side
of Stony creek, Jeff. Walker and the Sproat brothers each had four or
five thousand head; the latter lost about two thousand, while the loss
of the former was less than fifty. This difference is owing a great deal,
no doubt, to the management of the herds; but it is more to be accounted
for from the time the ewes were permitted to drop their lambs. Late lambs
have done best this season. During the snow Walker kept his sheep in a
corral three days, without food, and lost but few, while those who let
theirs out lost immensely.--Colusa Sun. . . .
GOLD PROSPECTS IN TRINITY.--The Trinity Journal argues that the late floods
have not been without corresponding advantage. Whilst most of the
improvements along Trinity river have been either entirely swept away,
or much damaged, the immense body of water rushing down this stream has
washed heavy deposits of earth off many flats and bars, leaving nothing
for the miner to do when the water falls to its usual stage but to wash
the pay dirt. In some instances the entire bed of the stream has been
changed, and the old channel is nearly dry, saving to the miner, during
the coming Summer, much labor and expense in damming and fluming. We have
talked with miners residing along the river at different points for a
distance of sixty miles, and they all have about the same story to
tell--that Americans and Chinamen are busy everywhere, especially at
points where the water has bared the bed rock on the bars and banks,
and it is sufficiently low for them to get at it. We have heard of many
instances where men are making as high as an ounce per day, working with
a rocker, just picking up and washing the bed rock, left bare by the floods.
Many river miners express the opinion, notwithstanding the great destruction
of dams, flumes and mining machinery on the river, that there will be more
gold taken from the Trinity the coming Summer and Fall, than in any one of
the past five years. As to the dry placer and gulch diggings, there never
has been so favorable a season for working them since the discovery of
gold in California. . . .
p. 4
[For the Union.]
CALIFORNIA FLOODS.
Their Causes and Suggested Remedies.--No. 10.
BY T. ROWLANDSON, SAN FRANCISCO.
CUT OFFS--OUTLETS--AND STRAIGHTENING WATER COURSES.
The advocates of the levee system rely upon the auxiliary aids which they
suppose can be obtained by cut offs, outlets and straightening of streams.
If such could be made of practicable use, this train of reasoning would
apply; as, however, the only outlet which exists for the flood waters
which fall in the district under review is inadequate to their discharge
whilst retarded in their overflow towards the Straits of Carquinez under
the existing state of things, how much more susceptible of inundation must
the low lands become when the rain water from the extremities of the water
shed are hastened into the central lowlands by cut offs or straightened
streams. It is true that the advocates of such cut offs are probably
limited in their views to only making such as could be conveniently found
between Suisun Bay and Sacramento city. In such a case, the relief to that
city could only be very limited and confined to light floods; on the contrary,
the construction of a canal or cut off such as is proposed to Tulare would
probably hasten the arrival of the immense body of water which falls in
that district fully one-half, and consequently render Sacramento obnoxious
to overflow with its present levees during floods occasioned by a less fall
of rain than has as yet been known to produce destructive consequences.
As to outlets they are practically impossible. Where can such be made? The
only possible place where such a mode of relief could be carried out would
be by deep cutting and tunneling from the Bay of San Francisco to the San
Joaquin through some of the ravines between the Mission of San Jose and
Hayward. The construction of such an outlet, I presume, there is no one
bold enough to recommend. The last remark will serve to show how natural
is the comparison that has been made respecting the country under notice
and the Mississippi, because in the latter case one set of engineers
advocated the opening of old, or the construction of new outlets for its
flood waters. The entire want of analogy between the two cases must be
evident at a glance to the most obtuse intellect. A word, however, in
defense of Mr. Ellet; that gentleman was neither opposed to making levees
nor to the opening of old or new outlets; he simply apportioned the just
value of each, a notice of which, although it would be perfectly in plan,
would be so lengthy that it is on that account inadmissible.
WHAT THE ADVOCATES OF LEVEES OUGHT TO PROVE.
Except for the purpose of executing works that would be required in any
case as a part of a comprehensive system, not one cent of money ought to
be allowed to be expended either by the Swamp Land Commission or others,
of funds under public control, unless they or the other advocates of the
levee system produce evidence that such operations will be of permanent
advantage, as a whole, and not calculated to interfere with future attempts
at improvement. In order to do this, they have to show the means by which
they propose to carry off the water from the whole of the low lands--the
size of water course or river requisite for the purpose, the rate of
discharge, velocity, hight of embankment, etc., etc. No one has as yet
attempted anything of the kind; hitherto it has all been "blind hazard."
In order to facilitate the calculations of such as are still devotees of
the levee system as a panacea, I will here insert what I consider the
elements on which the problem ought to be based. In the first place,
however, I wish to call their attention and that of the public generally,
very emphatically to one or two points connected with the inquiry. The
first, which appears to have been very generally overlooked, is, that
at Carqninez, and for a considerable distance further in the interior,
the stream is not a river proper but a tidal one, which very much reduces
the amount of its discharging capacity; so much so that it is quite
unequal, under existing circumstances, to the discharge of even moderate
floods with sufficient rapidity to keep the swamp lands from being
overflowed. In the preventatives which I shall hereafter propose, I
have based my calculations on the presumption that any remedy, to be
efficient, ought at least to be equal to the neutralization of any evils
this might arise from a rain fall of twelve inches over the entire water
shed during the space of one week or seven days. I think it will be
admitted that we have had at least one week of such weather during the
current season--such a fall over the entire space, say 50.000 square
miles, would be equal to something over 2,300,000 cubic feet per second.
Now, the problem the levee advocates have to solve is the discharge of
this volume of water in such away that it shall not inundate the low lands
nor overflow the cities on the banks of the various rivers; and in fact,
to do no damage whatever. Unless they show this, or show how far they can
accomplish this by means of levees, all their assertions as to the efficacy
of levees alone ought to be disregarded. I may here add that with the
materials of which the banks of any trunk or branch stream would have to
be constructed, I do not anticipate that a mean velocity greatly exceeding
five feet per second could be maintained without injury to the banks.
PROPOSED MEASURES FOR RELIEF AND RECLAMATION.
Owing to the fact that very few persons nre acquainted with the country
north and south of the parallels of Sacramento or Stockton, very vague
and very inadequate impressions exist as to the vast area comprehended
by the water shed, whose only outlet is to be found at Carquincz. It is
in extent quite equal to the entire area of England proper, and probably
of Wales also. The rain fall of England and California, when taken on an
average, is probably not greatly dissimilar, the great difference between
the two being that whilst in England the rain is usually distributed over
the entire year, in California it cannot so far as it practically relates
to this subject be extended over six months. Notwithstanding the difference
in favor of England, destructive floods are not unknown in that country.
During the present century these have been much mitigated, owing to the
many precautions taken, which have been suggested by experience; but still
more so in consequence of the increased value of impounded waters for the
supply of towns and for manufacturing purposes. This relief from floods,
however, only applies to the head waters. On rivers flowing through low,
flat districts floods are more frequent than heretofore. This is owing to
the great increase of tile and other drainage of late years, executed on
cultivated lands. The consequence has been that the rain water which
previously took months of permeating the soil, whilst at the same time
much passed away by means of evaporation, is now quickly carried forward
to the various rivers rapidly--so rapidly, in fact, that the ancient banks
are frequently found inadequate for their office. Inundations follow.
These injurious consequences have in some instances been attempted to be
remedied by dredging and obtaining a greater outfall. Tidal volume in such
cases sets in higher and sooner than known before, and although the land
owner may find his outfall better, he also discovers that a concurrent
high tide and upland flood overtops the ancient banks, robs the meadows
of their burden or sweeps away his ripened grain. The instance just given
illustrates two things--the extraordinary susceptibility of riven to
circumstances apparently trival [sic] and often overlooked, and the great
difhculty of adjusting the current of rivers subjected to tidal agencies,
especially when combined with the irregularities occasioned by flood and
drought.
In estimating the extent of the works necessary to be constructed in order
to alleviate or entirely prevent the known disastrous consequences of
floods in California. I have taken as the basis of my calculation a rain
fall, as previously alluded to, namely, one foot or twelve inches falling
in the course of one week or seven consecutive days. This would equal per
week 1,393,920,000,000 cubic feet. This quantity, and upwards, I propose
to have impounded and kept back until the entire of the water which would
fall on the low lands had passed away. For this purpose I propose to have
constructed reservoirs possessing an aggregate capacity of
1,500,000,000,000 cubic feet, seeing that there would be about
200,000,000,000 cubic feet that, owing to its falling on the lower
lands, could not reach such reservoirs. I anticipate that an impoundage
capacity equal to that named would be equal to all emergencies, as it
would leave a margin of about 400,000,000,000 for the possible chance
of being found one-fourth filled at the commencement of a rain storm,
and also for the fact of any discrepancy in the calculation, in consequence
of the rate of rain fall being greater in the elevated districts than in
the plains of the 8,000,000 acres of low lands, which I do not expect can
be taken off in any other way than by means of drainage and rivers. I
estimate that only six inches of rain would fall thereon during the
hypothetic seven days. This, I believe, is in accordance with Dr. Logan's
observations at Sacramento. The amount would therefore be 174,240,000,000
cubic feet, or say in round numbers 300,000 cubic feet per second, which,
together with some water that necessarily would escape impoundage, might
possibly make a total of 500,000 cubic feet per second--a volume which
could. without any great difficulty, be made to pass through the Straits
of Carquinez. The flow of the impounded water would of course be regulated
at pleasure, and would not be permitted to flow excepting in small
quantities or to the low lands until the chief part of the water which
had fallen, or the latter had been discharged, facilities for carrying
off which would be constructed in the shape of draws, in some instances
of a capacity sufficient to be used for purposes of navigation.
The main carrier or river, with a branch to Stockton, and probably another
to Tulare lake, should be constructed so as to maintain as near as possible
an equable flow, with a depth of not less than fifty feet in the driest
weather, with proportionate embankments and discharge. This could easily
be obtained. The deepening of the Sacramento and the lower San Joaquin
ought to be produced by the force of the outscouring floods, assisted
and guided by human effort. Once deepened and completed, these main arteries
could always be kept open by regulating the passage through them of the
flood and impounded waters. With aids of this character the river Sacramento,
at a very slight expense, may be made capable of floating an ocean-going
steamer to the city of Sacramento during the driest season.
DISTRIBUTION OF WORKS NEEDED, AND PROBABLE COST.
In the preceding section a general outline has been given of the principles
on which preventives ought to be constructed. I shall soon briefly address
myself to their probable distribution and charge so as to attain the greatest
amount of relief or other benefit at the smallest cost. I consider that
from the San Joaquin to the Feather river, both inclusive, by selecting
the most appropriate ravines and canons on those and the other intermediate
rivers, five hundred thousand millions cubic feet of water may be impounded;
that on the upper Sacramento and some of the larger tributaries on its
right bank, where the impounded waters would not require such elevated
embankments as in ravines and canons, owing to the more expanded and
lake-like form which the impounded waters would assume in those places,
would suffice to retain four hundred thousand millions cubic feet, and that
by the construction of temporary reservoirs in the low district six hundred
thousand millions cubic feet could be held back so as to be prevented from
adding to the first rush of the flood, and could be allowed to flow off
gradually. The last I look upon only as a temporary measure to be abandoned
as the other works progressed, feeling satisfied that so valuable would
the impounded waters in the high reservoirs be found, that capital would
readily be forthcoming, and the public would loudly call for the impounding
of every drop of water that it would be practicable to accomplish; the
lower reservoir would consequently be a comparatively inexpensive one,
and the mounds composing it would be worth all the original expenditure
for future use as roads, canals for drainage, and, in some cases, for
navigation also, which canals are contemplated as adjuncts to the general
works which, as already briefly noticed, comprise the construction of a
deep flowing river to Sacramento, and a branch to Stockton. The chief
features may be gleaned from the following table:
Cubic Feet,
An aggregate length of embankment of
80 miles on the various head waters
alluded to, averaging 100 feet high,
and calculated to contain 500,000,000,000
An aggregate length of embankment on
the upper Sacramento and some of
the chief tributaries on its right bank,
averaging 25 feet high, to contain . . . 400,000,000,000
Thirty-five miles of embankment on the
low lands, 10 feet high, to contain... 600,000,000,000
-----------------
Total 1,500,000,000,000
The cost of constructing the above, together with the accessory works
indicated, would probably amount to between twenty-five and thirty
millions of dollars. For the latter sum, I feel convinced, something like
a perfect system of canalization could be constructed, capable of carrying
heavy freights to nearly the summit of the Sierra Nevada. This fact will
be again alluded to.
INEFFECTIVENESS AND COSTLINESS OF THE PROPOSED LEVEE SYSTEM.
The ineffectiveness of a mere levee system will be best exemplified by
drawing attention to the state of things now existing in the low lands.
The first inroad into Sacramento took place on the 9th of December, and
it is not unfair to suppose that with the Spring floods arising from
melting snow, the water will continue nearly as high as at present until
the first week in May next, allowance being made for some little rain
during the interval between now and the latter period. Supposing the most
complete system of levees that could be devised had been constructed, I
will put it to the common sense of the most ordinary observer to estimate
how many acres of the low lands of the California valley would have
escaped inundation for the continuous five months from December to May
during the current season; further, will it not be June, July, or possibly
August, before the present flood will have wholly retired from the lowest
portions of the valley? Mr. Winn very naively states that they (the Swamp
Land Commission) contemplate the entire reclamation of the swamp lands.
Unless some other agency than the construction of levees is devised by that
body contemplation will prove the Alpha and Omega of their efforts. I have
had as much experience as most living persons in regard to the reclamation
of swamp lands, as well as to the appropriate use of such lands when
reclaimed; nevertheless, I feel considerable curiosity to learn at what
sum per acre the Swamp Land Commission anticipate reclaiming the whole of
the swamp lands, even if by this means such an end could possibly be
accomplished. I venture to assert that it cannot be done for a sum so low
as five dollars per acre.which on six millions of acres, would amount to
the maximum sum which I calculate would effectually reclaim the entire area,
besides making a navigable river fifty feet deep up to Sacramento and
Stockton, and free those cities, Marysville and other low situated places
forever from all future danger occurring from excessive floods.
IMMENSE COLLATERAL GAIN TO BE OBTAINED BY THE IMPOUNDAGE SYSTEM
I have already shown that irrespective of its not being more costly,
whilst decidedly more effective, and possessing other advantages over
the levee system; in fact making so large a balance in favor of the
impounding system, that without at all enlarging upon any extra advantages,
the decision of the choice between the two proposed modes might be safely
left in the hands of any impartial and qualified judge on what has already
been stated. Safety from future inundation, and the reclamation of six
millions of acres of swamp land, form but a very small portion of the
advantages obtainable from the impounding system, which, although it
would curb the monster, would merely form a negative benefit. The next
step would be to convert its Titanic strength to civilized and useful
purposes. Its irresistible and almost boundless power for mischief has
recently been only too well exemplified whilst uncontrolled and unguided.
The same amount of force would still be existent in the impounded flood,
respecting which it would be for man to say whether it should be permitted
to idly expend its force in dribbling over desert stones or at once be put
to civilized use as a motive power.
It would not be difficult to show that it would be easy, to accumulate in
the manner already described a power equivalent to 2,000,000 horses, acting
day and night without interruption during the entire year--a power
exceeding that employed by the entire textile manufacture of Great Britain.
Assuming that not more than the power of 500,000 horses would be required
in California within a moderate period, for working saw, grist, woolen or
other mills, pumping or other useful application of power, and valuing
that power at only $100 per annum, per horse, this alone would be worth
$50,000,000 per annum; but $100 per horse is a very low estimate, rather
under the value set upon power in England, where coals cost not more than
two dollars per ton. In fact, California possesses advantages for obtaining
cheap power in connection with rapid and easy intercourse, beyond almost
any other country, and might easily not only, become independent of the
Eastern States and Europe for her own. supply of textiles, but is in a
position for supplying the markets of Asia and South America more favorably
than Europe, and could successfully compete with the manufacturers of the
latter continent. If capital and enterprise were only rightly directed,
California would speedily become a great mauufacturing as well as a great
agricultural State. Most prominent among the items belonging to.one or
other, and in some cases both these great sources of natural wealth, may
be named the following:
Wool.--Already considerable attention has been given to the growth
of wool, though probably with less judgment than energy, and steps towards
manufacturing the same have also been adopted in a way highly creditable
to the enterprising spirit of California. With facilities of power such
as have been indicated there can scarcely be a doubt but the entire present
growth of wool of the State, or that may be anticipated, could be consumed
here. Amongst the latter, I wish to have a word to say about a peculiar
kind for the growth of which the swamp lands, if perfectly reclaimed,
would be peculiarly well adapted. I allude to the Lincolnshire long wools.
The reclaimed swamp lands would be capable of supporting at least ten
millions of this breed of sheep annually, together with a fair proportion
of other stock and farm produce. These ten millions would average a clip
of fifteen pounds per fleece, worth for exportation at least thirty cents
per pound, or an annual value of forty-five million dollars. But if this
wool was manufactured in California it would be worth ten cents per pound
more, or equal to sixty million dollars for the raw material alone,
irrespective of labor, manufacturer's profit, etc. This particular species
of wool and sheep will only flourish on particular soils, such as those
which the swamp lands ought to be converted to, and which now exist in the
fens and marsh lands of Lincolnshire. Since the introduction of alpaca wool,
the Lincolnshire long wools have been gradually increasing in value for the
purpose of making a similar fabric to that composed of alpaca, and in
consequence of which, Lincolnshire luster wool is worth forty-two cents
per pound, with a rising market, and so eager are the wool-staplers for
its production, that it is deemed sufficiently interesting for the Central
Farmers' Club (London, England) to select for discussion on November 3d,
"The desirability of Increasing the Growth of Luster Wool," to be
introduced by J. Anderton, Bleckheaton, Leeds. The alpaca wool can be
imported from the west coast of South America, which country, also, is
the chief consumer of both manufactured fabrics. When I state that on
coming to California I had as a fellow-passenger from New York to Panama
the gentleman, Joseph Hegan, who first introduced alpaca wool to the
manufacturers of Great Britain, and that I have worn a waistcoat made
from a piece presented to me, manufactured from the first bale of alpaca
that ever was manufactured, it will at once be seen how rapidly manufactures
develop themselves under favorable circumstances; and I know of no place
so favorably circumstanced as California, provided her citizens have the
prudence and energy to adopt and carry forward the requisite measures.
There are other sources of agricultural and manufacturing wealth which,
for their full development, require some species of power. Such are flax
and rape--the textile of one requires machinery even for its rudest
manipulations as a raw product, whilst the elaboration of the prepared
fiber into finished cloth requires a greater amount of power than even
King Cotton; the seeds of both the plants named require powerful pressure
and grinding engines in order to express their valuable oils, whilst the
remaining cake is useful as food for stock. Flax is required for bagging
to mix with wool in order to make true linsey woolseys, instead of the
cotton imitation called winceys. If it is required to have the mixture
made of the more luxurious silk, we are nearer to the great silk producing
region of Asia than Europe, and could, if the Winter floods of California
were made useful, be manufactured into the heavy species of plain silk
goods as cheaply as in Europe. These are only the crude outlines of what
may be accomplished--a limited space forbids my dwelling further thereon.
I must leave this part of the subject by curtly stating that if my views
are adopted it will be the occasion of making the hills and ravines of
California to ring with industry, and her vales to smile in security and
plenty.
Perhaps what has already been recited only forms one-half of the benefits
to be obtained by adopting the measures I have indicated. After doing
duty at the grist, saw, flour, woolen or silk mills, the water can
afterwards be made use of by the miner and subsequently again by the
agriculturist, before it eventually performs its last office of doing
the double duty of bearing ocean bound vessels to or from the port of
Sacramento, at the same time performing the office of an automatic dredger.
I will only allude to one matter more to which such impounded floods may
be made useful, namely, as a means of communication between Sacramento and
Nevada Territory, either by a system of canalization to near the summit
level, or as a means of power for working a railroad over the Sierra
Nevada, and also in many cases as a means of conveying the splendid
timber found on the western flank of the Sierra Nevada towards the
plains of the San Joaquin, which district is now chiefly supplied with
lumber from Humboldt, Oregon or Puget Sound.
An enterprise such as I have marked out would be an honor to and worthy
of the Golden State; more real glory would result from it than all the
victories achieved by all the conquerors that have lived from Sesostris
to his modern prototype, Napoleon le Grand; it would be worthy of, as
it would form an everlasting memento of, a great and wise people.
Should the engineer intrusted with such a task execute the duties as
he ought, and complete them in such a manner that all the parts would
be so fairly balanced as not to need repair or reconstruction for ages
to come, he need not, when in the fullness of time he should be called
hence, desire a nobler sepulture than to be entombed amidst his works,
beside a stream whose furious floods he had tamed, whose gentle murmur,
added to the rustle of waving grain, would form an appropriate and perennial
requiem in such a place, neath the gloriously cerulean arched canopy of
heaven; while a simple slab to denote the spot, might be added to the
ordinary obituary, like the illustrious architect of St. Paul's: "For
his monument," Circumspice. (Look around you.)
[For the Union.]
MORRISON'S BILL--LEVEES, DREDGING, ETC.
MESSRS. EDITORS: Jury duty has prevented until now my making any further
remarks on Morrison's Reclamation Bill. The swamp and overflowed lands of
the State are estimated at six millions of acres; but on the principle
adopted in the Arkansas Act, we would be entitled to much more. A recent
debate in the Legislature, to send a Commission to Washington, claimed
that we were entitled to several millions more. Besides the enormous
value of the lands, the necessity of improving the navigation of the
rivers, and of preventing the recurrence of inundations, are causes why
the leading measure of the session should be the elaboration of a system
to protect the vast interests of the State, imperilled by floods,
hurricanes, etc. The bill before the Assembly offers a starting point
for this purpose, and it will be strange indeed if discussion does not
lead to a plan to attain the sought for remedy. We have engineers of high
ability among us, and the State, by liberal offers, should encourage their
presentation of plans, etc.
The swamp lands and the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers have been
frequently surveyed by United States and State engineers, and by United
States surveyors since 1853. The formation of a system of drainage and
river improvement is therefore greatly lessened by such work. If, however,
the allowance offered by the State for the preparation of plans, etc.,
be not sufficient, an adequate amount should be appropriated.
The means suggested in the bill for accomplishing these great works are:
by making proper cut offs, so as to straighten the river; by deepening the
channel of the river, and by the erection of proper levees; also, to
harmonize with the works of reclamation made by engineers under Act of
1861, by aiding the same by canals for drainage and transportation.
These methods to attain the object have met with criticism, and obstacles
to their practicability have been suggested by various parties. The writer
who has given his views at greatest length upon the subject, Mr. Rowlandson,
thinks that the difficulty exists in the inadequacy of the Straits of
Carquinez to discharge the waters of the central valley of California.
Let it be admitted for the present that that rocky passage is the obstacle
to the flow of water. If such prove to be the case, after investigation,
it is an additional reason why the State should employ its labor in
widening it. To enlarge this discharging point, now so much greater
than the area through which the Mississippi flows, and to make it
adequate to discharge even double the quantity of water that passes New
Orleans, let the prison labor be employed to enlarge the Straits to whatever
area competent engineers may decide to be necessary. Work of that character
is worthy of engaging the attention of the State. A good old hulk, costing
but little to answer the purpose, could be anchored near the point and be
fitted up as a more secure and healthier prison than San Quentin, and with
advantage to the inmates of that crowded school of vice. Such occupation
of the prisoners would prevent, for the present, the necessity of having
a branch prison, and would prevent the competition which is now fostered
by the State against the interests of the working classes. As this work
could not be undertaken at wages current over in the old States, the
employment of this special labor will not deprive even the day laborer
of any work that can be now projected at which be can earn living wages.
From our financial necessities, it seems to me that the work must be done
by the convicts or be left undone. If the State, however, can employ
hundreds of hired laborers at good wages, let her do so to the extent
of her ability but she should also employ the prisoners who cost her,
under any circumstances, a certain amount per annum. In this manner the
cost of the work would be lessened, and it could be done in a more
substantial manner.
I allude to the Mississippi river because so many of your readers have
seen its course, etc., and because certain points offer comparisons for
consideration. Carrollton, where all the waters of the river pass, is
fifteen feet above tide and is 110 miles from the mouths of the river.
Sacramento is 120 miles from its mouth, the Golden Gate, and is some 45
feet above tide. On the former the bar is fourteen feet, and at the
Golden Gate is thirty-six. With the declivity from Benicia to the Golden
Gate, and from the depth of bed from that point to the ocean, with its
corresponding velocity of discharge, I thought that the cause of the
overflow of the rivers would exist far above that point. Above Benicia
for many miles the channel is five fathoms, and until its reaches the
Hog's Back it is not less than two. Above the dam or shoal again it
deepens to three, four, and in some places five fathoms. Above and
below the Hog's Back and a few other points the greater depth of water
with its power of scouring the channel, is neutralized by such
obstructions. The loss of velocity, caused there by shoaling, produces
a retardation of discharge which causes the waters to deposit their
sediment at every point between similar dams and the source of the river.
Increase the depth of the river at those points to twelve feet--a labor
that can be easily accomplished--and the waters, urged with greater
velocity, will soon carry on the sand, etc., and deepen the channel
from Sacramento; in fact, deepen it so much that heavy laden ships can
ride at the wharves of the Capital. In the first place, the dredging
machine should be used to deepen the channel at these bars, then the
water in due time would deepen them further and keep them free.
Glasgow, the most flourishing city of Europe, owes its progress to the
artificial improvement of the Clyde. There the dredging machine has been
one of the principal appliances of the improvement.
The surveys made of the Sacramento in 1850 by Commander Ringgold, showed
that at the quay of your city the lowest tide was 1.6 feet--the highest
2.6 feet; a fact which shows that Sacramento may be a city of the sea,
as well as of the plains, if her people desire it.
Another means of effecting the improvement of the river is by making
proper cut-offs.
The Sacramento, in its course to the ocean, meanders to the east and west.
From Sutterville to the lower point of Redding's Reach, the bend to the
eastward is greater than its length. At Point Sutter the river divides,
and the loss of water lessens the depth materially in the channel.
If closed, this branch would add greatly to the power of the main channel
to deepen itself.
Cut-offs have been made in the Mississippi for the purpose of shortening
the time occupied in transportation; but some of them made in violation
of the principles governing the matter, did more injury than good. As
a means, with little other assistance, it is looked upon by engineers of
the highest capacity as fully equal to prevent overflow of the Mississippi.
Albert Stein, in his articles ou the Mississippi valley and the improvement
of the river, suggests the cut-offs as a remedy for the Father of Waters.
I will, however, quote his words:
"The fall in the Mississippi is so slight and gradual that there is no
possibility of any cutoff increasing the velocity so as to prevent or
impede navigation.
"Neither can the velocity be so increased by straightening the channel
as to render it dangerous to the banks." The crevasses in the Mississippi
are not caused "by the increased velocity of the waters, but by the checks
placed upon it by the interposition of bends, etc., which, retarding the
velocity and impeding the discharge of the water, cause its surface to
rise, and thereby increase the pressure against the levees; they never
occur in a straight river of normal breadth and under proper levee
regulations.
"On the other hand, were the channel made straight by the use of cut-offs,
the increase of the velocity, although it could not be made so great as to
impede navigation, would, by the increased rapidity of discharge and by
deepening the bed, lower the surface of the water, and thereby relieve
the levees from the pressure of the water, which, in the present condition
of the river, breaks through them in high water, while the very straightening
of the channel would lower the surface of the river, and consequently
reduce the pressure against the levees, and thereby remove the danger
of crevasses."
I have sought in the libraries here for works of various distinguished
engineers who have made rivers their study. Perhaps in the State Library
you may find Dubuat's Principes Hydrauliques, Frisi on Rivers and Torrents,
Weale on River Engineering, Robinson's Theory of Rivers, etc.
The system of leveeing has been pronounced by one of the reviewers of
the bill as likely to increase the extent of the inundation by confining
so large a body of water in narrow channels.
On this subject the Mississippi levees offer an example. Those barriers
are the only protection of the sugar and cotton fields of Louisiana,
whose annual production is far greater than the yield of our gold fields.
Major Barnard of the engineer corps, after an examination of the menus
necessary to protect the low lands, speaks as follows:
"What is the effect of the levee system on the bed of the river? Does
it cause it to rise, or does it, on the contrary, have the opposite
effect ? [sic, no close "]
He answers as follows: " I have but few words to say on the subject of
levees. If the results I have given in this paper are correct, then the
levee system, instead of favoring, as is alleged, the tendency of the bed
of the river to rise, has precisely the reverse effect. By confining the
waters within their limits, they increase the velocity and abrading power
of the current, causing a deepening rather than elevation of the bed.
This velocity may become too great for convenience, causing a rapid
destruction of the banks; but the tendency to prevent elevation is not
less true. It may safely be affirmed, therefore, that the bed of the river
(Mississippi) is now lower than it would have been had no levees been made.
If, as is probable, all schemes for relieving the river from its
surplus water by lateral discharges fail, then levees must remain,
as they now are, our only safeguard. * * * * The levees should be much
wider and higher than they now are. When the bank is curving the levee
should be so far removed from the river as to be beyond all danger, etc."
G. W. R. Bailey, a distinguished civil engineer of Louisiana, in reviewing
adversely Ellet's system of reservoirs for protecting the Lower Mississippi,
writes as follows : "A system of leveeing should be adopted. The State
should be divided into five or more districts, with natural boundaries.
The levees should be made higher, with wider base and a greater width than
now. When danger of caving is imminent. they should be put further back,
and in time, regardless of individual interest and remonstrance.
"Professor Forshey of Louisiana, having made the subject his study for
years, having made extended series of observations and examinations,
assures us that, the measurements for every decennial period from 1820
to 1850 show a diminished instead of an increased rise. The average from
1820 to 1830 was greater than from 1830 to 1840, and still greater from
1840 to 1850.
"All the facts, as well as our own obsevation, convince us of the truth
of Professor Forshey's results. Professor Forshcy is of opinion that the
extension of levees has the effect to lower the river, by causing it to
excavate a larger channel in which it can accommodate a larger body of
water than before."
The levees on the average appear to be about five feet high, thirty feet
at the base and seven and one-half at the top. Overflows have occurred
by the breaking of the levees, a false economy often placing them on
the brink of the bank; whereas, if placed back a few hundred feet they
would have resisted the pressure. The levees extend some five hundred
miles, and it frequently happens that to float timber to the stream the
levee is cut and often not repaired before the rainy season. But all
experience proves that these causes could be removed at little expense.
The rain shed at Baton Rouge in 1855 was 62.10 inches; at Fort Pike, La.,
71.92; at Fort Wood, La., 60.63; at New Orleans, 50.90. During the same
period in California the rain shed was as follows: San Francisco, 23.59;
Benicia, 16.62; Sacramento, 21:32; Fort Miller, 24.51; Fort Reading, 29.02.
I ask attention to the contrast of California and Louisiana--at the two
inland cities, New Orleans and Sacramento, at the two respective
headquarters and at the two principal forts the rain fell as follows: [See Army Register.]
Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter.
Sacramento 9.02 0.00 3.74 8.56
New Orleans 11.29 17.28 9.62 12.71
Benicia 6.40 0.01 2.65 7.56
Raton [sic] Rouge 15.08 19.14 12.48 15.40
Fort Reading, Cal. 11.30 39 4.89 12.44
Fort Pike, La..... 16.70 23.61 18.96 12.65
I have not been able to ascertain the heaviest fall of rain in any given
day at a point on the Sacramento and Mississippi, but hope that some of
your readers may be able to give the comparison. Robinson's Theory of
Rivers gives an instance which may apply to the Sacramento and the American
in connection with leveeing and of lateral discharge. In 1720 the waters
of the Rheno, a river of Lombardy, were added to the Po. The former was
189 feet wide, nine feet deep, with a declivity of fifteen inches in the
mile, and forty-four inches velocity per second. The Po was 759 feet wide,
thirty-one feet deep; declivity, six inches per mile, and thirty-one inches
velocity per second. These rivers were united, and the Po continues to
deepen its channel every day with great advantage to navigation, although
before the junction fears of disastrous results had been entertained.
JOHN ROACH
SAN FRANCISCO, March, 1862.
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3423, 19 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
We are again unable to lay before our readers any telegraphic news to-day
from the East. In addition to the break in the line at Strawberry, which
has been repaired, there is some trouble at or near Omaha, in Nebraska
Territory, which will undoubtedly be remedied soon. . . .
It rained some at Red Bluff yesterday. At other points there were some
indications of rain last evening. . . .
The Judiciary Committee of the Senate have
[torn] . . .ed a bill to cancel the State Capitol contract. . . .
[torn] . . . here is no important change in the rivers to
[torn] . . . ice. The water in the flooded portions of
[torn] . . . city remains nearly stationary. . . .
[torn] . . . An earnest meeting of our citizens was held
[torn] . . . he County Court Room last evening, and the
[torn] . . . eral expression of sentiment was in favor of
[torn] . . . highest [torn] . . . for our streets.
[State Fair]. . .
[torn] . . . n its indebtedness. In
[torn] . . . of the valleys, the Ag
[torn] . . . uffered by the floods. A
[torn] . . . of its library was destroyed,
[torn] . . . operty in the office of the So
[torn] . . . on is not injured; but the wall
[torn] . . . ark is considerably damaged.
[torn] . . . eral thousand dollars to put it in
[torn] . . . a condition as iit was at the time of the
[torn] . . . But the energy and ability of the Society
[torn] . . . on remove all such obstructions from the
[torn] . . . of its prosperity.
WHY WAS IT DONE?--Our delegation in the Legislature have made some
unnecessary changes in the names sent down as Commissioners in the
Levee Bill. The names in the bill were agreed upon after due consultation
among our citizens, and ought not to be changed except for good and
sufficient reasons. They were recognized as qualified, responsible men,
who have a deep interest in the future welfare of the city of Sacramento.
They were to be paid no salary for their services, and hence others could
not want the position because it paid. Then why were the changes made?
As the Commission is now arranged, there is not a mechanic or an engineer
on it, and not more than one or two who are accustomed at all to the kind
of work to be done. The Commissioners in the bill, as it passed the Senate,
are L. B. Harris, Charles Crocker, H. O. Beatty, J. D. Lord and Francis
Tukey. Harris, Crocker and Lord were in the bill as it was framed by the
Committee. Beatty and Tukey are substituted for E. P. Figg and W. F. Knox.
The Levee Bill should become a law as soon as possible, and ample power
ought to be given to the Commissioners to do whatever is necessary to
secure a levee which will certainly protect the city. A clear and distinct
right to build inside levees, if deemed advisable, should be granted to the
Board. The salvation of the city depends upon the provisions of the Levee
Bill and upon the action of the Board created by the Act. Its importance
to the community cannot, therefore, be over estimated. But what is done
should be quickly consummated, for the season for action is rapidly
approaching. Much, it will be recollected, has to be done before the
work can be commenced. A plan is to be settled upon, the rate of taxation
determined, the tax levied and collected before a great deal can be
accomplished under contract. All that is needed in the premises is for
our delegation to agree upon the bill, and the Legislature, in view of
the condition of the city, will pass it without a word of objection. Its
speedy or tardy passage depends upon the action of our own delegation.
THE GRADE MEETING last night was nearer unanimous than any one we ever
attended on any occasion. A high grade was popular--only two votes against
the resolution to put J street two feet above high water mark. Dr. McDonalds
proposition was to put the grade line of the gutter one foot above the late
high water mark; it was amended so as to make it two feet above that [changed
to "that"] line, and upon the latter the meeting voted with a unanimity
rarely seen on any question of a public nature. The flood was a convincing
argument in favor of a high grade.
After the grade meeting adjourned, another was called on the levee
question, and several gentlemen expressed themselves on that subject.
Some were in favor of having Sacramento take care of herself, while others
would go out to Burns' slough. All, however, were in favor of a strong
and a high levee.
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .SAN FRANCISCO March 18th. . . .
Legislative Proceedings.
In the Senate, . . .
The Judiciary Committee reported a bill to cancel the State Capitol contract,
release the contractors from all liabilities for non-performance, provide
for the payment of all cost incurred to this time, forbid the Commissioners
from making any further contracts until authorized by future legislation,
and causing the duties and compensation of the Capitol Commissioners to
cease on the 1st of May. . . .
Weather In the Interior.
RED BLUFF, March 18--9 P. M.
It is cloudy with appearance of rain. It rained a little this afternoon.
OROVILLE, March 18--9 P. M.
The weather is mild and cloudy.
PLACERVILLE, March 18th.
The weather is clear--a few clouds hanging over the mountains.
NEVADA, March 18--7 P. M.
It was clear and pleasant until noon; then it commenced clouding up.
It is now very cloudy and warm. Some rain is expected.
LEVEE MEETING IN NICOLAUS.--The following proceedings of a recent meeting
in the above locality have have been placed in our hands for publication:
At a meeting held by the Settlers of Nicolaus and Vernon townships, of
Sutter county, March 15th, at the town of Nicolaus, for the purpose of
devising ways and means for the building of a levee from the mouth of the
Feather river, along the east bank of the same, to the highlands in the
vicinity of the mouth of Bear river, the following resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, The late destruction of property in this district, caused by
inundation, makes it indispensably necessary for us to protect ourselves
from such future calamities--
Resolved, That we take immediate steps for the construction of
a levee from the mouth of Feather river, along the east bank of the same,
to the highlands in the vicinity of the mouth of Bear river.
Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed to confer with
the Board of Swamp Land Commissioners, and endeavor to obtain from said
Board an equivalent appropriation, according to the specifications made
by the Engineer of Swamp Land District No. 1.
Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed to ascertain the
cost of a levee sufficiently strong.
Resolved, That a Committee of Ways and Means, consisting of three,
be elected by this meeting, who shall be required to prepare a list of
assessments, in proper ratio, of the settlers of this district benefitted
by the levee, and submit said list to an adjourned meeting for such
modifications as may be deemed just and necessary.
Resolved, That the proceedings of, this meeting be forwarded to
the SACRAMENTO UNION for publication.
The meeting then adjourned until Saturday, March 28th.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
[gap down the middle of the column]
LEVEE MEETING.--At the clo[se of th]e street
grade meeting at the County [Court] room last
evening, S. Cross, by request, [took] the chair
and said that there were those [present] who were
prepared to make suggestion[s for th]e meeting
on a subject kindred to that wh[ich th]ey just
had under consideration. He [then] called upon
I. S. Van Winkle, who addres[ed th]e meeting,
suggesting that the interests of [the ci]ty required
a levee extending along the A[meric]an and Sac-
ramento rivers, as at present[, then] down to the
highlands at Sutterville, the[nce t]o Brighton,
etc. This levee, the speaker [thou]ght, should
be sixty or eighty feet wide, a[nd th]ree or four
feet above high water mark. [It co]uld be used
as a carriage way as well as a [?], and might
with propriety be made a toll [road], etc. H. M.
Bernard thought the revers[e an]d wished to
know where the money sho[uld c]ome from to
build it. He was in favor o[f ?]ttle compact
city well protected [meaning?]. The cit[y s]ide of Four-
teenth street, paid but $3,0[?? p]er annum in
taxes, and it would already r[equir]e forty, if not
seventy, years for that prope[rty to] pay its share
of the cost of building the [leve]e to Brighton,
along the American river. [?] Hamilton had
seen ground similar to that [?]ied by Sacra-
mento leveed, at Hartford, [Conn]ecticut, by S.
Colt. The, levee had stood a[s if C]olt had. built a
small city on the ground,[where] the water for-
merly overflowed it twenty [feet] deep. Several
other speakers addressed [the] meeting, but on
account of the lateness of [the] hour we were
compelled to leave, and a[m u]nable to give a
complete report of its pro[ceed]ings. We feel
confident, however, the leve[e w]as not built, but
don't know whether the [?] proposed was
adopted or not.
CORONER'S INQUEST.--Coro[ner] Reeves held an
inquest yesterday on the bo[dy] which had been
found afloat on Monday [near] the Dry Creek
House. six miles north of th[e cit]y. Samuel Cor-
rington, J. W. Hodgkin, [?] Harvey, James
Owen, A. H. Davis, and [?]nubbs, acted as
jurors. L. E. Hunt test[ified] that at eleven
o'clock on Monday forenoo[n h]e discovered the
body afloat in the slough, [and] drew it near the
shore, and informed Mr. [?]as and others of
the circumstance. Witne[ss d]id not know the
name of the deceased. J. [P.] Bane examined the pockets of the deceased,
and found therein a pocket comb, an earthen pipe, a key, a threebladed
knife, a buckskin wallet, containing two $20 gold pieces, one $5 piece,
and four half-dollars--in all $47; and a slip of paper containing a
memorandum. J. P. Bane corroborated the testimony of the last Witness,
and described the clothing and personal appearance of the deceased. He
thought the deceased had been drowned about two months, A. Hunt,
O. W. Wallace and E. Hancock corroborated the testimony of the previous
witness. The jury re-
turned a verdict to the ef[fect t]hat the name and
age of deceased was unkn[ow]n, but that he came
to his death from accidental drowning. The
body was buried in a pr[ivat]e grave yard near
the Six Mile House. . . .
IDENTIFIED.--Coroner Reeves held an inquest yesterday over the body of
an unknown man six miles north of the city, in American township. After
his return to this city it was ascertained beyond the possibility of a
doubt that the body was that of W.Ladbrook, the boatman who left this
city on the 29th of January, with Becker and Gardiner, for Fuller's
ranch. The articles found in the pockets of the deceased were identified
by the friends and acquaintances of Ladbrook. The proprietors of the Gas
Works Retreat, near the American river, recognize these articles, and also
his boots and other clothing. A slip of paper in his pocket contained a
list of items of [?] the expense of material and work in building his
boat. The deceased was an Englishman by birth, and has a mother still
living in England, A boat picked up in Yolo county by residents of
Washington has been identified as Ladbrook's. He was thirty years of age. . . .
THE STREET GRADE.--At meeting held at the County Court room, last
evening, a resolution fixing the grade of J street at two feet above
high water mark, was adopted, and the officers of the meeting were
instructed to request the Board of Supervisors to make such the legal
grade of the street. The proceedings of the meeting are fully reported
in another column. . . .
STREET GRADE MEETING.
Pursuant to adjournment, a meeting of the property holders of this city
was held last evening at the Coanty Court room.
About eight o'clock the meeting was called to order by Dr. MCDONALD.
He moved that, in the absence of T. M. Lindley, who presided at the former
meeting, Judge Samuel Cross be called to the chair. Agreed to.
A. C. SWEETSER acted as Secretary, and read the minutes of the former meeting.
The following resolution, offered by Dr. McDONALD at the previous meeting,
then came up for consideration:
Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that the grade of
J street be established at twelve inches above high water mark, measuring
from the top of the gutter.
H. M. BERNARD said he had been erroneously represented in the minutes as
opposing a high grade. He would be sorry to oppose any thing of the kind.
He was glad to see property owners present from all parts of the city,
and did not doubt that there would be a fair expression of views on the
subject. He desired to have the grade fixed, but he was not in favor of
raising the streets at this time. We have a levee to build, and that was
a sufficient burden for the present. He thought the citizens had been
bamboozled long enough in regard to the levee question, and that they
had now determined to take the matter into their own hands. He concluded
by expressing the hope that the meeting would take some action in reference
to the bill now before the Legislature.
By request, the SECRETARY read the pending resolution:
Z. DAVIS moved to amend by striking out "top of the gutter," and
substituting the phrase "measuring from the gutter."
Dr. MCDONALD accepted the amendment. He said he hoped there would be
a general expression of opinion. They had met for consultation. It was
not a question whether we should have a grade or no grade. A grade had
been established after the first flood, but a subsequent flood showed
that this was insufficient. His proposition was to put the grade a
suitable distance above the highest water we had known here. A high
grade was absolutely necessary. What had happened once might happen
again. Some persons entertained the opinion that as we were going to
have a new levee, the raising of the streets would be unnecessary. He
prediicated [sic] all he had to say upon the understanding that we were going
to have a good, substantial levee. But business men must have a stronger
guarantee of security. Every gentleman present knew that all levees are
liable to breaks. We know how utterly unmanageable the American river
becomes at times. Rats, gophers, and other animals would eat holes in
any levee, and open the way for the incoming waters. We had men in our
city who had set fire to our houses. The same individuals might at any
time go outside of the city and cut way the levee. Raising the grade
of the streets would prevent disastrous consequences to the business
portion of the city. The most formidable opposition to this movement
came from non-residents, who did not intend to make any further investments
in the city, but wanted to draw as much out of the city as they could
without doing anything to advance its welfare. The speaker then entered
into an argument to show that no great expense would be incurred in
making the proposed improvement.
J. H. CULVER said he felt an interest in this matter, because the grade
of J street would govern the grade of the other streets. He wanted the
highest possible grade. He would, however, support Dr. McDonald's resolution.
W. K. MORROW said he had been a citizen of Sacramento for twelve years.
He had lived here when the grade of K street was four feet lower than the
natural surface of the ground, and had witnessed its gradual rise. He had
built a great deal in this city and always favored a high grade. Whether
we stayed here or left and sacrificed our property, this was destined to
be a great point for trade, and we should not allow others to reap the
benefits we might enjoy. Dr. McDonald's movement was the best he had ever
known in Sacramento. By raising the grade of the principal streets, we
would eventually gain a higher grade for the whole city.
Dr. J. P. MORSE said he did not attend the meeting with the idea of
adding anything to the complete and satisfactory arguments of
Dr. McDonald. He rejoiced at this movement; it looked more like making
Sacramento a city set upon a hill, giving it a character for permanence,
and raising it above the wailings of the petulant Perkins, than anything
he had seen here during the whole term of his residence. It looked like
the beginning of a new era. It looked as if we were not of that sort of
humanity that could be crushed by disaster, and it would prove that the
greater the calamity the greater the recuperative power and sagacious
wisdom would the citizens of Sacramento exercise. He could add that one
argument to those already so ably set forth. By raising the city out of
the mud we would not only do much to restore the confidence of the business
community, but render Sacramento beyond all question the healthiest city
in the world. A friend had reminded him that New Orleans was fifteen feet
below the high water mark of the Mississippi, and he had answered by
referring to the annual prevalence of a malignant fever in that city,
which had swept an average of two hundred and fifty persons per diem to
their graves. Even now, in spite of many visitations, Sacramento enjoyed
an enviable reputation for its general salubrious condition; by raising
the grade it might challenge comparison in sanitary advantages. The
opposition to his movement comes chiefly from non-residents--persons
who were luxuriating in Paris and other European cities, and who had
instructed their agents to oppose any measure that promised to increase
the taxes upon their.property. These men were a curse to Sacramento.
They cared nothing for the welfare of the city--nothing to promote its
interests, and were anxious solely to draw the rents for their property.
The speaker hoped that the proposed improvement would be rigorously
pressed, without regard to the wishes of these absentee lords.
Z. DAVIS thought the proposed grade was not high enough. He moved to
amend the resolution by striking out twelve inches and substituting eighteen.
A. HAMBURGER moved to amend the resolution by substituting twenty-four
inches. His reason was that the beds of the rivers were filling up, and
the next flood might be two feet higher than the last.
L. A. BOOTH thought that the original proposition of Dr. McDonald would
be sufficient, and would be less expensive to property holders.
Dr. MCDONALD said he accepted the amendment offered by Mr. Hamburger,
because he was perfectly satisfied that the proposed grade was not too
high, but his object was to elicit a general expression of opinion.
J. LEAVITT and L. FRINCK favored such a regulation of the grade as would
insure drainage without subjecting the southern portion of the city to
overflow by the water from.the business section.
MARK HOPKINS said the proposed high grade was recommended by economical
considerations. If we raise but slightly, there will be but little
compensating advantage for property owners; but if we adopt a high
grade, those who raise their buildings will gain spacious basements
which will rent as highly for billiard saloons and restaurants as the
second stories of those structures. He was in favor of the highest grade
proposed, and if it were a few inches higher it would suit him better.
H. M. BERNARD lived in the southern portion of the city and was in favor
of the high grade, for the reason that the low grade would place L street
below high water mark. L street must become the Broadway of the city in the
future and the grade should be so high that the water could never reach it.
J. LEAVITT thought the streets south of L street should be remembered.
The Capitol was located on M street, which must some day become the center
of the city. On account of drainage, the southern streets must of necessity
be lower than the more northern. He was, therefore, in favor of the highest
grade suggested.
The question was called on Booth's amendment.
L. A. BOOTH said he was now satisfied that the highest grade was the proper
one, and he therefore withdrew his amendment.
The question was then taken on the amendment of Hamburger, to fix the grade
of J street at twenty-four inches above high water mark, and the proposition
was carried with two dissenting voices.
JOHN LEAVITT then moved that the Board of Supervisors be notified by the
officers of the meeting of the action just; had, with the earnest request
that they adopt it as the legal grade of the city.
R. H, MCDONALD stated that the Board of Supervisors had deferred action
on the subject for the purpose of ascertaining the action of this meeting,
and he had no doubt the Board would be governed by the decision of to-night.
L. HAMILTON would not have said anything this evening, except for the
remark of the last speaker. If the Board wan likely to enforce this
grade, he felt inclined to express himself still further against it.
There were not more than eight or ten J street property holders present
at the meeting. He knew as a fact that, when the matter was agitated
formerly by circulating petitions, one half or two-thirds of these owners
were opposed to disturbing the grade. They expressed their wish that the
grade should conform to the buildings already erected.
A VOICE--Was that since the flood?
L. HAMILTON--Yes.
A VOICE--No, sir.
J. F. MORSE--Before any flood?
HAMILTON--Well, I may be mistaken as to the time. But it should be
remembered that in raising this grade we at a single blow destroy at
least fifty per cent, of the value of the buildings on the streets.
To build the levee will cost two, three, or perhaps five per cent on
the property, but to raise these buildings as proposed will cost at least
fifty per cent, of their value. We must also remember another point.
Suppose any one has a building worth $10,000, which is mortgaged for
$5,000. By the establishment of this grade you break him up. He must
inevitably go under. You will ruin the owner and give his property to
the mortgage holder.
J. MCCLATCHY-- Well, somebody else will get it.
HAMILTON--Very good. If it is your intention to break up such men, go
ahead. A few years ago there were fifty jobbing houses on K street; now
there is not one. and there are but five or six on J street. The jobbing
houses are the only ones to whom the basements are of any value.
McDonald & Co. and E. P. Figg might require basements, but nobody else
this side of McDonald's did. Clothing dealers, fruit dealers, etc., did
not need basements, and could not use them. There is no use for them.
JOHN ISAAC--We need them for lager beer cellars.
HAMILTON--We have plenty of lager beer cellars already. We had better
let the grade go, and concentrate our efforts on the levee. If this
is done, we shall have a better city in twenty-five years than by any
other course. Take any two-story building, and it will cost two thousand
or three thousand dollars to raise such buildings.
J. F. MORSE said he had a standing offer from a responsible party to
raise his building at Second and K street, 40 by 80 feet, for $1,200.
R. H. MCDONALD said he had been told that day by a responsible party
who was now present that he would raise the St. George Hotel for $4,500.
HAMILTON--Well, that is a good deal of money, too.
JOHN ISAACS--And it is a good deal of a building
HAMILTON--The Ebner House would cost, he had been informed, $3,000 to raise.
MARK HOPKINS--Ebner is in favor of the high grade.
HAMILTON--I think a levee will be amply sufficient to protect us. If we
have the levee we don't need the high grade. If we have the grade we don't
need the levee. Who ever heard of leveeing in a city which was above
high water?
J. Z. DAVIS moved to amend Leavitt's motion by adding to the request
to the Board that they erect monuments or put up marks of the grade on
the streets.
H. M. BERNARD thought the Almighty had made so distinct a mark where
the high water had been that we needed nothing more.
R. H. MCDONALD thought we should have monuments or marks erected in order
that the line might be seen and known, but on some argument whispered in
his ear by J. McClatchy, concluded it would be best to not have them erected.
The question was then taken on Leavltt's motion, which was carried.
The meeting then adjourned sine die. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
TUESDAY, March 18, 1862.
The Board met at two p. m.-- . . . .
Supervisor RUSSELL moved that a license be granted for a ferry across
the Cosumnes river at the crossing of the old Jackson and Drytown road--the
license to run for six months and the price to be $80. Agreed to.
The amount of the bond was fixed at $1,000, and the rates of toll fixed
for Wilson's bridge, which was carried away by the floods, were fixed
for the ferry. . . .
LATE FROM HONOLULU.--We find the annexed intelligence in Honolulu papers
to March 1st by the ship George Washington: . . .
Kanakadour has suffered terribly from bad weather. The Polynesian says:
Thunder, lightning, rain and hail, and even snow, according to some, have
prevailed in quantities and duration beyond the memory of the "oldest
inhabitant." . On Friday night, the 14th inst., hail fell in Koolauloa
on this island; we are told, in quantities to be scooped up by the hands,
and people crossing the Wainae mountains that night report that snow fell
thick on the mountain peaks.
The Waikiki plains were at one time almost literally a sheet of water,
and partial freshets occurred in several directions, though the main river
of the Nuuanu Valley was not filled so as to endanger the bridge leading
over it. How many inches, or, rather, feet of rain fell that night, we
have not learned, but the amount must have been enormous.
On the 28th January last, a severe storm visited Waialua and adjoining
places, on Molokai. The sea rose to an excessive hight, and the fish
ponds on its margin were all overflowed and swept clear of their contents.
On the night of the 29th, a shock of an earthquake, lasting five seconds
and upwards, was felt.
The clipper ship Storm King had a quick run down of only nine days and
ten hours. During the first three days out, she made eight hundred and
seventy-five miles, or two hundred and ninety-one miles a day; on the
third day, the run was three hundred and seventeen miles--some of the
fastest sailing that we have recorded lately. The only passages shorter
than this are those of the Black Hawk, in 1859, nine days and nine hours;
and the Fair Wind, in 1861, eight days and seventeen and one-half hours.
The latest news from Washington brought by the Storm King was only 15
days old when delivered in Honolulu.
The schooner Kalihiwai, eleven tons burthen, went ashore at Kalihiwai,
Kauai, Friday, February 14th, and became a total wreck.. . .
THE RIVER.--The Sacramento last evening stood at nineteen feet eight
inches above low water mark, having raised but a few inches from that
point for nearly two weeks. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3424, 20 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
We are still without telegraphic advices from the East. . . . The line is
down east of Overland City. A terrible snow storm has been raging for two
days between Fort Laramie and Omaha, Nebraska Territory, and it is stated
that emigrants have cut down telegraph poles in order to obtain fuel.
Stages carrying the Overland Mail were abandoned near Overland City, in
consequence of the depth of snow. . . .
At the meeting of the Board of Supervisors held yesterday, no business
of importance was transacted. The ordinance fixing a higher grade for
the principal streets of the city will be considered and acted upon to-day.
We are enjoying delightful weather. The business portion of the city is
as dry as could be desired, and the water in the overflowed districts is
slowly subsiding. . . .
OPPOSITION TO THE CHARTER--COURSE OF OUR DELEGATION.
. . .Under the old charter the expenditures for the city government
were limited to one hundred thousand dollars, and this too when the cost
of administering it was greater than it should be now. That sum included
all the improvements made around the city, repairs of levees, etc., and
was not generally much exceeded by the Council. And for the one hundred
thousand dollars we had a pretty efficient city Government. Under the
Consolidation Bill we have not had an efficient Government, while the
expenditures for its administration reached, in the year ending September
1st, 1861, as per the report of Thomas, $124,235. And even with this
enormous expenditure, the Board of Supervisors is powerless to accomplish
anything for the good of the city in the case of an emergency. Witness
its inability to move one step in aid of the people during the floods
which laid waste their property. This condition of things the citizens
of Sacramento pray the Legislature to change in the manner proposed in
the bills they have perfected and sent to San Francisco. They petition
for the passage of those bills as they came from the hands of the
Citizens' Committee, without material change and they protest earnestly
against most of the changes made in the charter as it passed the Senate.
Most particularly obnoxious is that amendment which legislates the four
city members of the Board of Supervisors into the new Board of Aldermen
The people of the city passed a vote of want of confidence in the Board
of Supervisors, when they elected a Citizens' Committee to receive and
expend the sixty thousand dollars made up by subscriptions to a loan for
levee purposes. Under these circumstances, it strikes us as a remarkable
and unjustifiable proceeding for our delegation to legislate them into
the new Board. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .The Break in the Overland Telegraph--Snow Storm--Stages Abandoned.
SALT LAKE, March 19th.
The Eastern line is down east of Overland City. It is reported that
emigrants have cut down our poles for fire wood.
A terrible snow storm has been raging the last two days between Fort
Laramie and Omaha, Nabraska [sic] Territory. The snow reported four to
six feet deep.
A stage was deserted to-day by the driver several miles west of Overland
City. It was fast in the snow. The stage from the East, due at that place,
was also fast in the snow. The team had escaped. No coach has passed that
point for two days. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
WEDNESDAY, March 19, 1862
The Board met at. 11 a.m. . . .
. . .A communication was received from A. C Sweetser, Secretary of the
meeting of citizens called to give an expression of opinion in relation
to the street grade. The Secretary furnished a certified copy of the
resolution adopted by the meeting, in relation to the grade of J street.
Received and filed.
Supervisor HITE said there was an ordinance pending which was intended
to settle the grade. The meeting of citizens had since declared in favor
of a still higher grade than that fixed in the bill. He moved that the
consideration of the bill be postponed until to-morrow to allow time for
consultation and amendment. Agreed to. . . .
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
SAN FRANCISCO, March 18, 1862.
. . . The Sacramento delegation . . . There are two other bills in the
hands of the delegation, the passage of which is not perhaps imperatively
demanded. . . . The other bill is for the relief of that much wronged
individual, A. D. Rightmire, who lost a thousand dollars by not being
held, by your authorities, to his contract to repair the levee at Rabel's
tannery, in December last. The bill proposes to authorize the Supervisors
to levy a special tax in order that each tax-paying citizen may have the
privilege of contributing his mite towards paying a thousand dollars to
Rightmire, who was magnanimously released from the aforesaid contract to
do work he could not do, but for the performance of which he was bound in
a magnificent sum, with good and sufficient sureties. The bill was introduced
by Ferguson on Saturday, and referred to the delegation. Whether or not
it has any friend besides Rightmire and his friends in your Board of
Supervisors, I am unable to say. . . .
CALIFORNIA FLOOD MAZURKA--
With a fine Lithographic View of the late flood on J street. By Max Zorer.
Just published by E. L. RIPLEY & CO., Sacramento. Price, 50 cents. Copies
sent by mail on receipt of the cost in postage stamps, m20-2p6t
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
. . . K STREET BRIDGE.--Soon after the December flood the Board of Supervisors
authorized the construction of a bridge across Burns' slough at K street.
On the occurrence of the January flood it was carried away. It landed, it
is said, a short distance below Sutterville, and may be obtained again and
restored to its former position for less than quarter its value. The matter
has been brought before the Board of Supervisors, but no action has been
taken on the subject. The residents of K street--stable keepers, store
keepers, etc.--are agitating the matter of regaining the bridge and
readjusting it in its place. A subscription list will, we are informed,
be opened at the store of W. Hendrie, Tenth and K streets, for the purpose
of raising the funds necessary for the accomplishment of the above named
object. Preparations have already been made for improving K street, by
laying brush wherever it is needed on account of the mud. A large quantity
of brush from the tops of cottonwood trees has been collected, and as soon
as the water falls a few inches more, the work of distributing it will be
commenced, and the street will be graded and rendered passable for teams.
It is said that ranchmen living eight miles east of the city already go to
Folsom to trade, on account of the difficulties of getting to and from
the city. . . .
MATERIAL FOR GRADING.--Workmen were engaged yesterday at Holmes' lime house,
in wheeling out several hundred barrels of lime, which had been in the
building since the first flood, having been, of course, destroyed by the
water. It is now wheeled out and used for grading Sixth street. Several
hundred barrels of calcined plaster and cement, also destroyed, are used
for similar purposes. . . .
CALIFORNIA FLOOD MAZURKA.--We have received from the publishers,
E. L. Ripley & Co., 101 J street, Sacramento, a piece of music composed
and dedicated to the Sacramento Howard Benevolent Society by Max Zorer.
It represents a lithographic flood scene on J street, from a photograph
by Vance. . . .
DITCH BROKEN.--ln Nevada county, near Chalk Bluff, the ditch of
Hussey & Durham was . . . [page cut off]. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3425, 21 March 1862, p. 1
GOLD IN YUBA.--Yesterday, Rodman of Natchez, in this county, came down
with two hundred and forty ounces of gold for assay, and reports the mines
in that section in a very prosperous condition. As an evidence of this, he
exhibited to us a nugget which was picked up in that region, weighing sixteen
ounces, which was almost pure gold, found on the surface, and is valued
at $288.--Marysville Express, March [page cut off]. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
The Continental Telegraph is still silent. There is a deep, broad field
of snow between us and the seat of war, and the electric flash is suspended.
It is uncertain when the working of the line will be resumed. . . .
It seems we are not yet done with the Rightmire contract to build a bulkhead
at the tannery. He is now at work to get a bill through the Legislature to
compel the people of this city to pay him a thousand dollars for giving up
a contract which it was impossible for him to execute. He gave a good bond,
and his securities unquestionably considered themselves fortunate when the
Supervisors agreed to rescind the contract. But Rightmire, after surrendering
the contract and obtaining his bond, came forward with a claim for a thousand
dollars, damage sustained by going to San Francisco and purchasing piles.
But the Board of Supervisors finally rejected his claim, and our delegation
in the Legislature should go and do like wise. . . .
SNOW IN THE SOUTHEAST.--The snow on the hights over which the trail from
Mariposa goes to Yosemite, is of an unknown depth; it in many instances
reaches to the lower limbs of trees, J. C. Lamon lately made the trip on
snow-shoes to the entrance of fhe valley, and matters looked so
unpromising--the bed of the valley being to appearance deep with snow--that
he returned.
REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL.--As we anticipated some time since, the removal of
the State Capital from Sacramento was but the beginning of a series of
movements towards its permanent removal. A bill has been introduced into
the Legislature rescinding the contract of and stopping the work upon the
State Capitol. Such a bill can have but one object in view, and the State
Capital question will again become mixed up in the politics of the
State.--Douglas City Gazette.
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . . The Columbia river was not yet open within three miles of the Dalles. . . .
Cattle are dying from disease in Oregon in immense numbers. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
. . .SPRING.--Yesterday was the most Spring-like day of the season, and as the sun
crosses the line to-day, and as there is no appearance of an equinoctial storm,
we may safely bid adieu to Winter, and it is to be hoped, to the floods, which
have this year been its persistent and unwelcome companion. Fruit trees are out
in bloom; trees of other kinds are fast assuming a garb of verdure, and grass
and grain, wherever they are not submerged, are rapidly clothing the ground
in green. In the northeastern portion of the city gardens are being plowed and
spaded, and seed, shrubbery and trees are being planted with taste and care to
beautify and adorn the dwelling houses with which they are connected. The soil
is now, in many places, in fine order for working, and labor upon it is
advantageously expended. . . .
FILLED IN.--Thomas O'Brien was engaged yesterday in filling up the opening
in the north levee at Twentieth street. A little labor at that point will
render the levee passable to pedestrians up to the tannery, and also exclude
the water from coming in, should the water rise again. . . .
HYDRAULIC APPARATUS.--It is said that there will be in the city during the
ensuing Summer, three different contractors with hydraulic house raising
apparatus, to aid in placing the city above high water mark--that is, if
the high grade is finally adopted. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
THURSDAY, March 20, 1862.
The Board convened at 11 A. M. . . .
Supervisor HITE said the ordinance fixing the grade was in order to-day, but
the measure was not ready to be submitted to the Board. It was proposed to
raise double the amount of property that would be affected by the former
ordinance, and the expense of the improvement would be comparatively
trifling. The present grade has a too abrupt pitch to the south. His idea
was to so regulate the grade, that from I to M there would be a fall of only
six inches to the block, and from M to R a gradually increasing fall of from
six to thirteen and a half inches. The streets from First to Fifth were to
have a fall of six inches to the block. This plan would secure a drain to the
south, while securing the principal portion of the city against destructive
overflows. Time and care were required to perfect a measure of so much
importance, and he therefore moved that the consideration of the subject be
postponed until the next meeting of the Board. Agreed to. . . .
Supervisor Dickerson was appointed a Committee of one to examine and report
upon the condition of K street bridge, which had been carried away by the
flood and lodged on Mosher's ranch. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, March 18, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Tuesday's proceedings,
after 3:45 p. m., when the report closed for the Sacramento boat.] . . .
Mr. RHODES, from the Judiciary Committee, reported back Senate Bill
No. 218--An Act for the relief of contractors on the foundation and
basement walls of the State Capitol building at Sacramento, with a
substitute, recommending its adoption; also, Senate Bill No. 61--An Act
to suspend until the ensuing session of the Legislature the construction
of the State Capitol at Sacramento--recommending its indefinite postponement. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3426, 22 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
Another week of telegraphic silence. . . .
FURTHER FROM THE NORTH.
We give below some details of news received by the steamer Brother Jonathan,
which has arrived at San Francisco, in addition to the intelligence given
in our telegraphic column yesterday: . . .
HARD TIMES IN THE MINES.--Bridges, of Oregon City, who arrived on the Julia,
at Portland, from Salmon river direct, says that he left the Salmon river on
the 8th of February. The snow was deep at the mines. Very little work doing
and it was very cold. Between Lewiston and Walla Walla, the snow was deep in
places and the roads bad. He met a number on the way--more than he wanted to
see in a suffering condition. It was very cold and bad traveling. He stopped
some time at Walla Walla. The Commander of the Fort was renting out the mules
to packers, to pack to Lewiston and Salmon. He tried to buy one, or rent or
hire one, but found it no go. Left Walla Walla for the Dalles; saw men, on
their way down, frost bitten and suffering. A man at John Day's, a German,
was badly frozen. Paid thirty dollars for the use of a horse from the Umatilla
to the Dalles. On south side hills, the snow was melted off the ground, and
the grass was beginning to spring up. Met a few on the way to Walla Walla,
between Des Chutes and John Day's; tried to turn them back but could not.
Bridges had been in the upper country since the first excitement, and be
earnestly advised all parties bound upward, to stay down for one month or
six weeks to come. He says it is madness to go up at this time. He also says
the news from Oro Fino is that the snow at that place is four feet deep.
Little mining was done. There was plenty of provisions. Bridges is the last
man in from Salmon river. L. Day, Tracy & Co.'s messenger, says that a man
who left Salmon river on the 28th of January reports the snow five and six
feet deep, extremely cold, and all mining operations suspended; that
provisions were plenty for those already in the mines, but so many were on
the way there that it was fearful food would give out before new supplies
could get in.
CONDITION OF STOCK.--The Dalles Mountaineer of March 1st, says:
Jeffreys' agent writes to him from the Yakima Valley that the "stock is
still dying; not from starvation, but from disease. Cattle in good order
lie down and die, and from this fact I conclude there is some disease
among them. The Indians have lost a great many horses--some, all they
had. The snow is about two feet deep, with a heavy crust on top. But few
of your cattle have died as yet, and I am in hopes that we shall escape
any serious loss." From the Tygh we learn that four-fifths of the cattle
in that Valley are dead. Elder & McDonald have lost five hundred out of
five hundred and sixty-five head; Hubbard & Jeffreys have lost but a few;
Armitage, of Eugene City, has but twenty out of two hundred and fifty.
Solomon Jeffreys expresses the opinion that should the snow remain on the
ground ten days longer, every hoof in the Valley will be lost." The Indians
report everything dying at Warm Spring Reserve. The settlers are entirely
out of feed in the Valley. The cattle on the various creeks in the vicinity
of the Dalles are all dying off. On Three Mile creek cattle that have been
fed for weeks back are dying.
The Walla Walla Statesman says:
Out of the thirty thousand head of cattle supposed to be in this Valley
last Fall, it is doubtful whether five thousand head are living, and the
numerous bands of sheep have almost disappeared. Out of one lot of seventeen
hundred only three hundred are alive. At a moderate estimate, this Valley
alone has sustained, by loss of stock, a loss of one million of dollars.
The horses and mules have fared better, because they were better cared for,
and this Winter's experience has proved them much better calculated to
endure the cold. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
CORONER'S INQUEST.--Coroner Reeves held an inquest in American township on
Thursday evening, on the body of an unknown man found afloat in the American
river by P. K. Crohan and John Koppikus. James Mularen, Isaac Chase,
James A. Brant, David Foss, John Neff and J. H. Witherspoon were selected
as jurors. P. K. Crohan testified that while in a boat in the morning he
discovered the body lying on a plank, with another plank or board lying on the
breast. The body was without clothing of any description. Witness thought the
deceased must have been dead two or three mouths. He saw no belt, money or
valuables about the body. He knew nothing of the name or age of the deceased,
or the cause of his death. John Koppikus testified that he was in the boat
with Crohan, and corroborated his testimony. David Morton corroborated the
testimony of the first witness, and added that he had tied a rope to the plank
on which the body was lying, to make it fast, after the others had started
to the city for the Coroner. The deceased was about five feet high, with
black hair, and of light build. Witness could not say whether deceased was
a white man or a Chinaman. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that
the name, age and cause of death of deceased were unknown, but that he had
probably been drowned.
MISCELLANEOUS ROBBERY.--The rooms of A. G. Tryon, on Sixth street near I,
were entered by thieves on Thursday evening, before ten o'clock, during the
absence of the proprietor at the theater, and plundered of a large quantity
and great variety of goods, wares and merchandise. Among the articles stolen
were a brown cloth overcoat, a gray Summer sack coat, two pair black pants,
a dozen and a half white shirts, a dozen and a half pocket handkerchiefs, six
pair drawers, four under shirts, four pair white linen pants, four linen coats,
a dozen pair socks, a half dozen towels, three shirts, two pillow slips, two
pair white blankets, a Colt's revolver, a silver snuff box, and a variety of
nick-nacks too numerous to mention. The entrance was effected through the front
door, which could not be very securely fastened on account of having been
disarranged by the recent floods. . . .
FRESH FISH.--The occupation of fishing, which has been going on quite
briskly for several days past at the crevasse below R street, was not
so successful yesterday as heretofore. There is a short bar formed by
the natural bank which runs out into the water perhaps a rod. The fish
have chiefly been caught by men and boys with their hands while passing
up stream over the bar. Others, however, are caught with small nets from
the shore. These fish--perch, sunfish, etc.--are presumed to come up from
the Mokelumne. From some cause or other they come up from the channel east
of the river which connects together the various sloughs of the flooded
district. We are informed that our neighbors over at Washington are much
more successful than those of this side in piscatory sports. . . .
AT WORK.--The work of capping the piles recently driven in front of the
railroad depot at the foot of R street has been commenced, preparatory
to laying the railroad track on top of them. A double tier of these piles,
the width of the track, extends along nearly the entire front of the depot.
When the track is completed, the railroad company will deposit cobbles enough
along the line to constitute a bulkhead which will resist all further
encroachment from the current. . . .
MUSICAL.--Sacramento has been favored during the past week with a nightly
serenade by a choir composed of a million and a half of frogs. There is no
probability that the music will cease during the present season. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, March 20, 1862.
The Senate met at 11 o'clock--. . . .
PETITIONS AND REPORTS.
. . .Mr. BANKS, from the Committee on Corporations, reported several amendments
to Assembly Bill No. 300, relative to the construction of a bridge across
Mokelumne river; and as the stream was regarded navigable daring three months
in the year for small steamers, providing snags were removed, leaving the
matter of building the bridge with a draw, about which some difference of
opinion existed, to the local Board of Supervisors. There were two parties,
between whom considerable rivalry existed.
Mr. BURNELL moved to suspend the rules to consider the bill now. It was of
great importance to Stockton, whose thoroughfares were kept closed, to the
benefit of their rivals of Sacramento.
The motion was lost.
Mr. BANKS said the report recommended the reference of the whole matter to
the local authorities.
The bill was placed at the head of the file. . . .
THE GENERAL FILE.
Senate Bill No. 300--An Act to grant the right to construct a bridge across
Mokelumne river, to J. H. Woods, near Woodbridge, San Joaquin county--was
read by sections.
Mr. BURNELL urged the necessity or passing the bill, and said the bridge
had been washed away. The proposition to require a draw bridge he thought
impracticable. The navigation of the Mokelumne had never been heard of,
and was practically impossible. If the matter were left to the local Board
of Supervisors, there would be a scramble for the contract, and the bridge
would be delayed to the detriment of a large portion of country.
Mr. BANKS gave the reasons which had influenced the Committee to make the
report they had made. The stream was navigable daring three months for very
small steamers drawing twenty inches of water, and during the rest of the
year it was navigable for very small salmon.
Messrs. HARVEY, BAKER and GALLAGHER opposed the recommendation of the
Committee to refer the question to the Board of Supervisors. Although their
interests were in favor of a navigation of that stream, it was an utter
impossibility, the Mokelumne being a crooked, narrow river, and filled with
snags and sandbars. It was navigable only in flood time, like the surrounding
country. The effect of compellng Mr. Woods to construct a draw would be to
cripple him, while he had lost immense amounts by the tlood, and besides done
as much for the improvement of that section of the country as any other
resident.
The Committee recommendation was rejected.
[Mr. PARKS in the chair.]
A number of amendments which were claimed to be provided for by the general law,
were rejected and others of the same sort adopted.
The bill was read a third time and passed . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, March 20, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at 11 o'clock. . . .
SENATE MESSAGES.
The House took up the order of messages from the Senate. Assembly Bill
No. 300--An Act chartering a bridge across the Mokelumne river--came from
the Senate amended. The amendments were concurred in. So the bill is passed. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 22, Number 3427, 24 March 1862, p. 1
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, March 19, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Wednesday's proceedings.] . . . .
BILLS FROM THE SENATE.
The House took up the order of Senate messages.
Senate Bill No. 251--An Act concerning the repair and construction of
levees in the county of Sacramento, and the mode of raising a revenue
therefor--was read twice and referred to the Sacramento delegation. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, March 21, 1862.
The SPEAKER called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
Mr. AVERY reported correctly enrolled and handed to the Governor for approval,
. . . No. 300--An Act to grant the right to construct and maintain a bridge
across the Mokelumne river, to certain parlies therein named. . . .
p. 3
MINING IN SHASTA.--But little mining has been done in Western Shasta during
the past Winter, owing to breakages in the ditches. But the times have changed.
The Argus, published at Horsetown, says, under date of March 15th:
We learn that mining in the Cottonwood section has again commenced, and if
no unforeseen even [sic] occurs to deprive those disposed to labor of water,
we have reason to believe that the amount of gold taken out will be equal to
that of the best seasons that have passed, notwithstanding depopulation by the
Nez Perces excitement. At Janesville, on the North fork of Cottonwood, we
state upon the most reliable authority that three hill claims are now yielding
from seven to fourteen dollars to the hand per day. And here we will assert,
from observation, that while hill claims in the vicinity have yielded as high
as twenty-five to thirty dollars a day to the hand for months, it is probably
the least tested gold region in California. . . .
p. 4
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
We have no telegraphic advices from the East. It was expected that tlhe line
would be in operation yesterday, but the repairs were not completed. The
elements permitting, and the managers on the other side of the mountains
continuing their labors, we shall have a gleam of light firom that quarter
to-day. We trust that when the news does flash this way we may say, with
Vice President Hamlin. "It is in order to hurrah!"'
A communication from J. & R. in relation to floods, . . . will furnish
abundant food for reflection to those who take an interest in local topics. . .
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. . . .
OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE, }
SACRAMENTO, Cal., Dec. 15, 1861. }
To His Excellency, John G. Downey, Governor of the State of California:
Sir--I have the honor to submit herewith a statement of the transactions
of this Department for the year 1861. . . .
The Capitol building is now undergoing the necessary repairs and improvements,
and will be ready at the assembling of the Legislature.
Respectfully submitted.
JOHNSON PRICE, SECRETARY OF STATE.
THE CHARTERS. . . .
Therefore, this clause does not support the charge of repudiation made by
our Senators. But, say those gentlemen, thirty-five per cent, of the revenue
to be colleoted will not pay the interest on our public debt. To this the
Committee reply, it will pay the interest on our legal indebtedness; and if
the interest is to be paid on all the bonds out, the forty-nine per cent.
proposed by the Senators will fall considerably short of paying it. In fact,
so much has the taxable property of the city been reduced by floods, that
the 55 per cent. provided in the Consolidation Bill would not pay our
interest this year. That fund must be short in January, 1863, no matter
whether a new bill is or is not adopted. The Consolidation Bill doea not
authorize the levy of a tax high enough to meet the interest in full. . . .
Are the people of this city in a condition to pay an increased rate of
taxation for the support of the City Government? Most unquestionably they
are not. By an unforeseen interposition of Providence their ability to
pay has been greatly reduced, while their burdens, under the most favorable
circumstances, must be increased. They have a heavy levee tax to pay in
addition to those for the support of the National, State, County and City
Governments. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.. . .
SAN FRANCISCO, March 23, 1862. . . .
The weather here has been oppressively hot to-day. . . .
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO..
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
SAN FRANCISCO, March '22, 1862.
The Sacramento city charter fight . . .
I ought in justice to say that the Rightmire one thousand dollar claim
is not, to my knowledge provided for in the bill--a fact which ought
certainly to subject it to a charge of contemplating "repudiation." From
the numerous erasures and changes in the original bill, made by or for
the benefit of individuals, one is almost forced to conclude that had
Rightiuire been sufficiently on the alert, he too might have been protected
by some "provided" or "provided further." . . . .
[For the Union.]
TAXES.
MESSRS. EDITORS: If the Heacock, Nixon, Redding & Co. bill should become
a law, we will have to pay this year the following taxes:
State Tax, say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 85
Government Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
County Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 00
General City Tax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 50
Special Floating Debt Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Special Redemption Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Levee Tax, say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 00
-----
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7 05
Just think of it--$7 05 on every $100 you possess! This company bill
levies for city purposes general, and special taxes, of $1 95; the
citizens' bill, $1 25; difference in favor of latter bill, 70 cents.
Or the company bill makes us pay $50,000 to $60,000 more per annum than
the citizens' bill. . . .
LIVE AND LET LIVE.
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE
STILL UNSAFE.--The cistern at the corner of Tenth and G streets is still
uncovered, the lid having been carried away by the flood. Men and animals
are in constant danger of being drowned in it. It is a source of constant
complaint from all the neighbors of the vicinity. The Board of Supervisors
and the Chief Engineer together ought to be able to devise the ways aad
means of building at least a one board fence around it, to prevent serious
accident. . . .
THE METROPOLITAN THEATER.--The Metropolitan Theater, like most of our
public buildings, suffered considerably during the past Winter by the
action of the floods. The proprietors. J. and T. Hutchings, have been
engaged for several weeks in the work of overhauling and renovating the
establishment. The interior of the building has been repainted, and the
seats, wherever necessary, have been recushioned. As the water is just
leaving the lower portion of the parquette, the work of renovation
will--if we have no return of high water--soon be completed. Among
other changes made in the interior is the transformation of a portion
of the rear of the building into a place of residence for one of the
proprietors. . . .
THE RIVER.--The water in the Sacramento river has fallen to a point 19
feet above low water mark. It retreats slowly. . . .
p. 8
[CONCLUDED FROM FIRST PAGE.] . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, March 22, 1862.
The SPEAKER called the House to order at 11 o'clock. . . .
REPORTS. . . .
Mr. SAUL, from the Sacramento delegation, reported back Assembly Bill
No. 282--An Act for the better protection of farmers in Sacramento county,
and to regulate the herding of stock in certain portions of the same, with
an amendment. He asked that the bill be placed on its passage, as it was
purely a local bill.
Mr. DUDLEY of Placer said his was an adjoining county, and he would like
time to examine the bill.
Mr. FERGUSON said it would not affect his county as it applied only to
the overflowed portions of Sacramento county.
The bill was read for information. It provides that stock may he taken
up for trespass on lands which are
not fenced, on the American, Sacramento, Mokelumne and Cosumnes rivers,
overflowed in 1862, provided that cultivated land on public highways shall
be fenced or ditched.
Mr. DUDLEY said the bill was more objectionable than he had supposed before
it was read. Members had no idea of the extent of the flood above Sacramento.
Stock was herded and grazed upon the public domain in Sacramento, and this
was a stringent law to confiscate such property.
Mr. FERGUSON said the law was only to protect people in Sacramento county
who were unable to fence in their lands. The planting season had arrived,
and the ranchmen had gone to work in the expectation that a protection law
would be passed. The objections of those living on the high lands had been
all met and satisfied.
Mr. WILCOXON opposed the bill as likely to prove injurious to the people
of adjoining counties.
Mr. AVERY suggested that the bill be placed on the file to allow members
to examine it. He thought that would save time and satisfy all parties.
Mr. SEATON suggested a proviso that the Act shall not apply to any stock
owned in Amador, Placer, and other adjoining counties.
Mr. DEAN said if the bill did not apply beyond Sacramento county such a
proviso was hardly necessary.
Mr. MEYERS said he thought the request of the delegation from Sacramento
was very unreasonable.
Mr. BARTON said he thought there was an uncalled for factious opposition
to this bill. It suited Sacramento, and nobody else was interested.
Mr. DUDLEY of Placer denied that he factiously opposed the bill. His
delegation only wanted to know what the provisions of the bill were.
The ayes and noes were ordered, on suspending the rules for the present
consideration of the bill, and resulted--ayes 30, noes 15. So the rules
were suspended. Those who voted in the negative were: Messrs. Barton of
San Bernardino, Collins, Dudley of Placer, Dudley of Solano, Griswold,
Hillyer, Cot, Machin, Eagar, Sears, Smith of Fresno, Thompson of Tehama,
Thompson of San Joaquin, Wilcoxon, and Worthington.
Mr. WILCOXON moved to postpone the bill till Monday at half-past two
o'clock. Lost--ayes 14, noes 23.
Mr. HILLYER said be thought the request of the representatives of the
adjoining counties, to have till Monday to examine the bill, was a
reasonable one. He moved to place the bill on the top of the file for
Monday. Ruled out of order.
Mr. O'BRIEN said be considered this as a purely local matter, and did
not want to see the time of the House wasted in its discussion.
Mr. DUDLEY of Placer insisted that this hasty action was unjust to his
constituents.
Mr. SAUL moved to make bill the special order for two o'clock on Monday.
Mr. FERGUSON opposed the motion, and said the bill had been before the
House for more than a month, and these gentlemen had had ample opportunity
to examine it. If it was further postponed there was no assurance that
these talkative gentlemen would read it. The people of Sacramento were
clamorous for this protection. and if the bill was postponed at all it
should be to a time when the delegation could be present. He moved to
amend the motion so as to postpone till Tuesday.
Mr. SAUL, accepted the amendment, and the bill was postponed till Tuesday
at two o'clock. . . .
[For the Union.]
IS THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY INHABITABLE?
MESSRS. EDITORS: In an article under the above caption, published in the
UNION of February 4th, numerous instances were given to show that greater
difficulties than we have had to contend with have elsewhere been met and
mastered; and the conclusion was drawn that "the Sacramento valley may be
protected against floods, and that science and experience can be relied
upon to furnish the plans for doing it." Few seem to have doubted the
justness of that conclusion, but "science and experience," as yet, appear
to be very far from agreeing on a plan. Such being the case, it may not
be uninteresting to continue the discussion in the spirit at least of the
article above mentioned, and to measure a few of the leading facts obtained
from experience and observation by the rules which govern or constitute
the science. The subject may be considered under the following heads:
1. The formation of the valley and the topography of its overflowed
districts. 2. The success of what has been done toward rendering those
overflowed districts habitable; and 3. The correctness of the views of
those who own and work the land, and whose purse is to furnish the capital
to reclaim it. Reasons for a system of reclamation, based on the formation
of a valley, may, at first thought, seem rather far-fetched, but they are
indispensable for two purposes: to answer arguments that lead to such
conclusions as the widening of straits at one end of a river, and building
of reservoirs at the other, for the purpose of preventing an intervening
overflow, and to assure the laborer that be is aiding rather than contending
with nature, in giving permanence to that which she has left unstable. For
such an end it is worth considering.
THE FORMATION OF A VALLEY.
It is a common but very superficial view to look upon rivers as channels
cut by water through the upper strata of pre-existing valleys. The truth,
however, is the reverse of this, the river being the cause and not the
effect. To make this evident we have only to trace through its various
stages the process of its formation. At one period every valley was a
depression between mountain ranges either connected with or separated
from the ocean. As the California valley was doubtless at one time
separated from the ocean this shape may take precedence in the order of
description. Whether the depression had water in it at first or not is
a matter of no moment, for if not the surplus evaporation of the ocean
soon filled it, and the original state of an inland valley may therefore
be asserted to have been a lake or sea whose bottom and sides were rocks
and rocks only. Water and air aided by the extremes of heat and cold soon
broke and disintegrated the rocks on the sides and precipitated them into
the gulf below, at first in great bowlders and at last in fine particles.
Thus, whilst the rain increased the quantity, the tilling of the pit
elevated the waters, and eventually they poured over the lowest or burst
through the weakest part of the rim. This part, consequently, was the first
to begin to wear, and always wore the fastest. So soon as disintegration
had sufficiently advanced to permit the material of which it was composed
to hold water, little rills were found on the margin, and though their
course was short and their volume insignificant, each began to form a
little delta at its mouth and to contribute its mite [sic] to the power
of the general mass of the waters in enlarging the gap of exit to the
ocean. As this enlarged, the surface of the lake fell, and the courses
of the rills were lengthened. Two or more of these tending in the same
direction mingled their waters, cemented their deltas into a common bank,
and vigorously prosecuted the formation of a new delta at their common
mouth. Rills thus became rivulets, and these again at the next stage of
decrease in the lake, consequent upon the enlargement of its mouth, mingled
their waters, cemented their deltas and formed brooks. By a similar process
brooks formed larger streams, whose united deltas formed the valley and
whose united current constituted the river. At every stage of this formation
there were two distinct parts; the lake.which may be called the still
water, and the tributaries or running water. The first could rise or fall
only when all parts of it rose or fell at the same time. The last might
rise or fall not only separately, but could rise or fall at one end before
it did at the other. Thus no matter at what stage of the formation, from
rill to river, the mouth of the running stream always came in contact
with a surface of water all parts of which rose and fell together; and
at that point its energies were devoted to the formation of a delta. A
river and its valley thus formed, and all rivers and valleys are formed
on this principle, may be divided into natural sections, by drawing lines
at right angles to the general course of the stream, and through, or but
little above, the mouth of each of its tributaries. These sections
constitute a distinct formation thus far, that each is made by debris,
deposited by that part of the stream which lies between it and the source,
without receiving contributions from the waters below it. At the period of
its completion each secison, [section?] counting from the source downward,
constituted the mouth of the river, and below it was the gulf. The same may
be affirmed of each tributary, with the qualification that the last section
of the tributary proper terminates at the first bench above its point of
intersection with the main stream. Now, although the waters below contributed
nothing toward the formation of the sections or deltas above, the elevation
of each section depended materially upon the elevation of the surface of
the lake below. If that fell rapidly, debris which it might have enabled
the stream to deposit on an upper section was carried lower down, and the
banks were left too low to hold the waters of more than an ordinary flood.
Thus it is seen that at each successive stage of the formation the debris
pressing from the circumference inward enlarged the deltas as the surface
of the common receptacle fell, and this fall again depended on an outlet
or mouth of the lake, which, as has been said, was the first to begin to
wear and which always wore the fastest.
If, then, no convulsion has disturbed these natural relations of common
mouth to a general stream through aggregate deltas, they are as well
adapted to each other as members of the animal organization to the common
body. These principles obtain in the formation of all valleys, whether
the original pit or gulf be inland or an arm of the sea. The filling
in the latter case also comes from the margin, and is pressed forward
till it meets a counteracting force. The first beach forms at the foot
of the mountain, the next at the foot of that, and so on to the sea.
Little streams join themselves together by uniting their deltas, till
they have filled the pit, and seek for permanence. The mouth regulating
their action, and measuring, as it were, their daily labor, finally
secures to them repose and stability. If the mouth be too large it
will fill up; if it be too small it will enlarge. It would rather be
deep than wide, but it will widen if it cannot deepen, and it will hold
the productive energies of the entire body in abeyance until it has
accomplished its purpose. The principles on which this action takes
place are as well understood as any hydronamic laws, and no fact is
better established than what is termed the regimen of a river (the
regulation of permanence and stability), begins at the mouth. The
regimen of debouch is attained when the mouth is just large enough,
and not too large, to let the volume of water pass through it without
altering the slope of the surface. Till this is attained, or when
attained, if disturbed by art or accident, the whole energy of the
stream is devoted to establish or restore it. When established it is
indeed often unsuited to commercial convenience, as is the case with
the Mississippi, Columbia, and in truth of nearly all streams with deltas
rapidly forming at their mouths; but it is never too small for the ready
efflux of its greatest volume of waters. Commercial defects may often
be remedied (as was done at Cleveland, Ohio), by piers aiding the river
to carry its debris farther into the still water; but art never yet
attempted to enlarge or diminish the regimen of a river at its mouth
without meeting with inglorious defeat. It would be interesting to
illustrate this part of the subject by reference to the history of deltas,
but space will permit the mention of only a few of the most remarkable
ones. Adria, which gives name to the sea (Adriatic), was a perminent port
in the days of Augustus, but is now twenty miles from the coast. The
Mississippi has extended its delta fifty miles into the Gulf since the
day its waters received the body of its great discoverer. The common delta
of the Ganges and Brahma-pootra, has an area of some 65,000 square miles,
one-third of which is annually overflowed. The engineer who should propose
to reclaim these deltas by deepening the Adriatic, and widening the Gulf
stream, and dredging the fathomless "swatch" of the Bay of Bengal, would
act on the principle that the mouth of the river is sometimes to small
for its body. There is not much presumption then in taking for granted,
until undisputed facts shall establish the contrary, that the Golden Gate
and the Straits of Carquinez are not exceptions to an universal rule.
Attention may, therefore, be turned to
THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
A glance at the map will suggest, what the most careful examination will
only confirm, that the section of country lying at the head of Suisun bay
is a delta formed by the action of three rivers--the San Joaquin, Mokelumne
and Sacramento. It is a plain cut by sloughs into a number of islands,
whose surface is nearly level, raised but a few inches above high tide and
covered with swamp grass and tule. In extra floods, like the brakes of the
Mississippi or the Sunderbund of the Ganges, they are entirely covered with
water. If, now, we suppose these islands to be swept away, the upper margin
of the bay would be the recipient of three rivers instead of one, and as
the debris from each of those rivers was used in the formation of those
islands, they cannot with propriety be appropriated to the valley of either.
The Sacrameuto valley proper terminates, then, at this supposed margin of
the Bay. It deserves a more minute description.
The lower extremity of the high lands, near the mouth of the Cosumnes, is
the eastern terminus of the Sacramento valley proper, and a point of the
Montezuma hills, just below the former site of Rio Vista, is the western
terminus; the line uniting these two points is, of course, irregular.
The high lands from the Cosumnes sink gradually to the west, along, or
rather to the north of the right bank of the Mokelumne, and between these
and the Sacramento is a tule drained by Snodgrass slough, in which there
is an elevated sand ridge, known as Dodson's Mound. The Mokelumne extends
to the west to within a half mile of the Sacramento, at a point near the
head of Georgiana slough, and the rivers are there united by Tyler's
slough; the bank of the Mokelumne being about seven feet lower than that
of the Sacramento. The left bank of the Sacramento partially retains this
relative elevation along the next island to the head of Jackson
slough--distant from the San Joaquin about five miles; thence it
gradually sinks to the tide level, at a point opposite the Montezuma
Hills. It may be safely asserted that all above this line is a Sacramento
formation. The Sacramento or Old river (from the head of Georgiana slough
to the lower end of Grand Island twelve miles), is wide with banks
comparatively bluff and falling rapidly on either side toward the
interior. To the southwest of Grand Island is a broad stream, which,
as you proceed to the north branches to the west (Cache slough terminating
in the tule), and to the east (Steamboat slough) entering or tapping the
Sacramento above Grand Island, and six miles north of the Georgiana. Above
Steamboat slough is Sutter slough and other smaller sloughs on the west
side of the Sacramento. Now, at a low stage the river, the tides ebb and
flow through all of the above sloughs and rivers, so that from the head
of the Georgiana slough one may float in a skiff, by seizing the tide,
north, around Grand Island; east, to the Cosumnes; south, to Suisun, or
west to the head of Cache slough; and travel in either direction at the
rate of three or four miles an hour. But when the water is over the banks,
whilst there is little or no current on the east side of the Sacramento for
a distance of twenty miles above the head of the Georgiana, the water pours
down Cache slough from the tule on the west in such volume and with such
force as completely to neutralize the current in Steamboat slough. These
facts alone show that an embankment from the highlands on the Cosumnes to
the head of Georgiana slough on the the east side of the Sacramento, and
another around Grand Island on the west, would neither increase the volume
of water in Cache slough, nor in any manner affect the condition of the
waters of the Mokelumne, the San Joaquin or Suisun Bay, provided all the
rivers were at their highest stage at the same time; and when this is not
their condition, the natural channel has sufficient capacity to carry all
the waters of the Sacramento. Here, then, is located a basis of operations
where art may finish what nature has begun and carried so near to completion.
In addition to the facts above stated, there are two others, which require
more explanation than this article will permit, and which confirm the above
conclusion beyond a peradventure, viz: the relation of the curves of the
Mokelumne and Sacramento rivers, and the character of the bed rock or
substratum of tuffaceous clay along the dividing line above described.
This stratum is seen in the beds of the rivers and sloughs, at the Hog's
back, at the head of Jackson slough, in the Sacramento, and at the mouth
of Whitaker's slough in the Mokelumne. It forms the foundation of the
high bank or levee which nature has built along the outline of one of her
formations and it had sufficient elevation and firmness from the beginning
to turn in their courses the majestic rivers that originally mingled their
waters at its base. Leaving for future consideration the islands which lie
below the base line here described, and which are generally but improperly
included in the Sacramento valley, the topography of the upper districts
may be continued as follows: At low water the tide is felt about a hundred
miles further up the river. At Sacramento it is some twenty-two inches, and
at Fremont just perceptible. The land on the left or east bank, in high
water, is covered for an average width of between four and five miles as
far up as Sutterville, where the high lands approach within a few hundred
feet of the bank. The middle part of this overflowed district is low, the
river bank being comparatively high and falling to what may be denominated
the tule level of the interior, which is always withi n a few inches of
the line of high tides. During the flood the waters of the American and
Sacramento sweep over the district with a rapid current till they meet the
flood waters from the Cosumnes and Mokelumne, where they remain till a fall
permits them to pass into the Mokelumne, or they again return to the
Sacramento, passing down its channel, or crossing through the sloughs on
the west to the tule at the head of Cache creek slough. The soil of the
east bank is a tenacious clay loam, well adapted to the purposes of
embankment, and the fall along the bank from Sutterville to the head of
the Georgiana is a little more than eleven feet. The delta on which
Sacramento stands has a substratum of quicksand washed in from the
American, which here enters the Sacramento with a fall from the high
lands on the east of some seventeen feet, or about five feet to the
mile, and consequently with a current that drives its mud-freighted waters
through numerous sloughs for some two miles above the main point of
intersection. This stream, so to express it, commands its own channel.
When low, the waters of the swollen Sacramento back some distance up it,
but its south bank is too high to be flooded by them; and when high it
not only claims its own delta below, but forces its way over the low
lands on the north against the opposing current of the greater stream.
The upper part of the American is a mountain torrent descending at the rate
of about one hundred feet to the mile, and through gulches of such formation
that to impound waters within them in efficient quantities would require
walls and embankments compared with which Egyptian pyramids would dwindle
into insignificance, and when built they would soon be filled with debris
by the unwearied efforts of nature in the formation of valleys. From the
American to Feather river is about twenty miles. The overflowed district
lying between them is similar to that below the American, but is more
intersected with channels, which in the rainy season are filled with water
from the plains and foot hills to the east. The bank of the river, as is
universally the case in fluviatile formations, is higher than the interior,
and the average level of the plain is somewhat higher than the lower
district, and its average width is also, perhaps, a little greater. The
overflowed waters enter this district from the Feather river and its
eastern tributaries, and pressing downward till they meet the current of
the American or the south bank of that river again return to the main
channel of the Sacramento. The Feather river is nearly parallel in its
course to the upper Sacramento; receives all the large tributaries from
the east; and as it passes through a rolling country, has but little
overflowed lands above the town of Nicolaus, ten miles from its mouth.
Above the Feather river to the Buttes, about forty miles, is another
district similar to the ones already described, and the highlands, there
approaching to the bank, turn the floods from above, back again into the
main channel. Another small district above the Buttes, and the valley
narrows, and the hanks are sufficiently elevated to retain the stream.
Crossing over the river, Willow creek, about twenty miles above the
Buttes, is the last tributary on that side of the Sacramento. Below it
are Grapevine creek, Carter creek, Sycamore slough, Cache creek and Putah
creek, which in Summer sink in the tule between the river and foot hills
on the west, and in time of floods mingle their waters with the overflowing
of the main river and debouche through Cache slough and the tides at the
foot of the Montezuma Hills. From Knight's Landing along the western tier
of sections in range two east, United States surveys, it is thirty-four
miles to Cache slough, and the fall is estimated at sixty-two feet. This
line in all its parts is considerablv lower than the right bank of the
river, and during a flood the waters sweep down it with a current described
by a fisherman as being "too strong, sir, for a Whitehall with two pair
of sculls." The overflowed district at the southern end is about fifteen
miles wide, forming what is denominated a pocket, in which the eddying
waters find a level and gradually flow round the eastern extremity of
the Montezuma hills, back to the main channel of the Sacramento.
These facts seem to warrant the conclusion that the east bank of the
Sacramento might be leveed without increasing the waters on the western
side, and that a channel might be found or made on the west side that
would permit the efflux of the surplus waters before they could be of
detriment to the valley. It is claimed for them only that they warrant
a scientific examination with a reasonable prospect of success. The
probability of that success is increased by "what has been done," and
by the "views of the owners of the land," which will be treated of in
another article. J. & R.
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3428, 25 March 1862, p. 2
CITY INTELLIGENCE
. . .INSOLVENT SUIT.--James Kelly filed a petition in insolvency yesterday,
in the District Court, asking for a discharge from his debts and liabilities.
The petitioner came to this State about four years ago, with a cash capital
of about $3,000. After engaging in hotel and saloon keeping in San Francisco
for two and a half years, and losing $1,500, he purchased a ranch in
Georgiana township, in this county, and continued in the business of
farming until the inundation of the Sacramento valley. He was then compelled
to leave his ranch, losing in improvements, etc., about $2,000. The total
amount of the liabilities of the petitioner is given at $2,545 75. Total
amount of assets, $1,525. . . .
LIBRARY LECTURES.--The floods having subsided, the Winter course of
lectures inaugurated by the Library Association, will be resumed, commencing
to-morrow evening . . .
NORRIS' BRIDGE.--The road to and from the city, by way of Norris' ferry,
has been in an impassable condition during the greater portion of the
Winter, in consequence of the prevalence of the floods. Within the past
day or two the road is again open, and teams can now get to and from the
city without difficulty. Ranchmen of Center anil American townships,
especially, will be accommodated by the opening of the road. . . .
INDICATIVE.--The floating clouds and temperature of the atmosphere
yesterday were regarded by some as indicative of approaching rains. . . .
p. 6 [?]
LEVEE MEETING IN NICOLAUS.--The following proceedings of a recent meeting
in the above locality have have been placed in our hands for publication:
At a meeting held by the Settlers of Nicolaus and Vernon townships, of
Sutter county, March 15th, at the town of Nicolaus, for the purpose of
devising ways and means for the building of a levee from the mouth of the
Feather river, along the east bank of the same, to the highlands in the
vicinity of the mouth of Bear river, the following resolutions were
unanimously adopted: [several typographic disconnects on this page]
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3429, 26 March 1862, p. 2
[For the Union.]
A MEETING PROPOSED.
MESSRS. EDITORS: Please give notice that there will be a meeting this
evening, at early candle light, on the corner of Fifth and Q streets,
of all parties who are interested in those dwelling houses in the lower
part of the city, that are upside down, lying upon their sides, under
water and full of mud, for the purpose of considering and adopting
the following resolution, to wit:
Resolved, That as Senators Heacock and Nixon have determined
to add seventy cents to our taxes, for the benefit of office holders
and scrip brokers, we offer them our houses and lots as part pay of
said taxes, on condition that they will grant us a little more time
on the balance, without being the first to twit us with repudiation,
An early attendance is requested, as the debate may be a stormy one,
if the wind nnd rain are favorable. '62, Secretary.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE
. . . DEATH AND FUNERAL OF JOHN F. MADDEN.--John F. Madden, an old
resident of Sacramento, died about one o'clock yesterday morning, at
his rooms on J street, near Third, after an illness of about a week.
He was vaccinated some ten or twelve days ago, and was taken ill on on
Monday the 17th inst., in the County Court room, which was the last day
on which he was absent from home. His disease turned to erysipelas, which
baffled the unremitting exertions of his physician, Dr. Simmons, and friends.
He was at the time of his death Clerk of the Court of Sessions, County Court
and Probate Court, as deputy under Jared Irwin, County Clerk. The several
Courts adjourned yesterday morning out of respect to his memory and to
attend his funeral, which took place at three o'clock in the afternoon.
At that hour his remains were placed in a hearse and followed by a large
number of friends to Fourth and L street, at which point the coffin was
transferred to a boat and followed by about a hundred and thirty persons,
in some thirty boats, to the City Cemetery, where they were interred. The
rites of the Episcopal Church were administered at the grave by
Rev. W. H. Hill. . . .
THE FIRST CROP.--The firat crop of grass of the season was cut on Monday
afternoon in the yard of Jared Irwin, on Tenth street near F. The water
stood upon the ground at this locality but a short time, and for several
weeks past the white clover in the yard has grown very rapidly, and
had attained a hight of eight or ten inches. When cut with a scythe it
turned off an excellent swathe. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3430, 27 March 1862, p. 2
[For the Union.]
THE PEOPLE'S VS. THE OFFICEHOLDERS' BILL.
MESSRS. EDITORS: The people of this city are called upon to-day to
perform a duty as sacred and as solemn as any ever before presented
to an aggregate multitude. It is a question not less important than
life and death. For what is life if spent in servile subjection to
the caprice of a worthless, vulgar crowd, whose sole stock in trade
is their political capital, and whose only arguments are the bowie
knife and the revolver. Let the people turn over the pages for the
past seven years, track up all the political winding, and see who is
responsible for the enormous debt under which we are now staggering.
Is it not a part of the same clique that are taking part against the
people's bill now, and pressing into their service all the scrip sharks,
plug uglys, bummers and wharf rats--the depraved and guilty followers of
dishonest and unscrupulous leaders? And this same vile clique, now that
the people are suffering under visitations of a seemingly offended Deity,
tell the people that what of their substance has not been consumed by fire
and flood must be surrendered for their support and that of their abandoned
retainers. Those wretches, too lazy to work and too ignorant to earn a
support in any honorable pursuit are an incubus on the body politic ten
times more dangerous than the professional robber, against whose
depredations we may have security by watching, but against their licensed
plundering there is no safety. Citizens, will you submit to be longer
governed by these men? There is a debt of nearly two millions of dollars
against the city. What have we to show for it? We have not, with the
exception of the Water Works, a single public building--no jail, no
hospital, no school houses that deserve the name--our Court rooms in
the second story of a rented building, with a whisky shop at the main
entrance--our Treasurer's office in a couple of dingy rooms in some
other part of the town, and the rest of the officers scattered around
whereever they can obtain furnished apartments. To complete the picture,
three-fourths of the city under water for the last six months, and our
doughty Supervisors, who should be fighting the liquid element with pick
and shovel (instruments that most of them seem well qualified to handle),
instead of exhibiting such usefulness are passing ordinances against the
Railroad Company, whilst the raging waters are plowing up every street
and highway, and carrying devastation and ruin to the hearths of thousands
of families. With an impudence that has no parallel on record, four of
these Supervisors that permitted the banks and levees to be fretted away
for want of a few loads of clay in good season, now come forward, headed
by that huge mass of uselessness, Shattuck, and desire that the people
shall continue them in office. After several years patient submission to
the most outrageous wrongs and chicanery, the people conclude to take the
affairs of government into their own hands to administer them faithfully,
and to bend their efforts to relieve each other of the enormous load of
debt with which we are now embarrassed. What are the results? The hornet's
nest has been assailed, and the lying buzz of repudiation is the only
sound they could utter against the people's right to protect
themselves. . . .
K.
[For the Union.]
REPUDIATION.
MESSRS. EDITORS: "I will not harm thee myself," as the canting Quaker said to his dog, "but I will turn thee into the street and call aloud 'mad dog !'" That is the spirit which prompts the cry of repudiation against the People's Charter. The charter in no single provision either suggests or warrants what belongs to repudiation. It simply provides for an examination of our public debt, and if any portion of it can be demonstrated to be a fraudulent and unjust claim, to refuse to acknowledge it. A fraudulent claim is not a debt in law, equity or common honesty, and as there can be no repudiation without a just and legal debt, so the cry of repudiation upon the People's Charter is like the cant of the Quaker that was intended to destroy his dog.
Repudiation is a cheap means of trying to destroy a charter that gets rid of a Board of Supervisors, who for city purposes had not energy or credit enough to procure a standing place for drowning stock, let alone furnishing boats to save the lives of those citizens who honored them with office. CITIZEN. . . .
EVERY MAN who is at heart a Sacramentan, ought to consider it his duty
to go to the polls and cast his vote for one or the other of the proposed
charters. There is no man in the city who does not owe so much to flooded
and crippled Sacramento. Merchants cannot afford to neglect to vote or to
permit those about them to neglect the duty. If necessary, let them close
up to attend to the public business Sacramento to-day needs the aid of all
her true friends. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE . . .
RAIN AND RIVER.--At nine o'clock last evening a moderate rain commenced.
At eleven o'clock the rain had increased, and the indications were that
we should have a rainy night. The Sacramento, at sunset last evening,
stood at 18 feet 7 inches above low water mark. . . .
[For the Union.]
THE SHATTUCK DYNASTY.
MESSRS. EDITORS: I wish to ask the citizens of Sacramento whether they
wish to continue the Shattuck dynasty, under whose beautiful reign their
homes were made desolate, in power for a longer period? If they do, then
they will vote for the Senate Bill, which has a section providing for its
retention in office. The Shattuck Government stood by when your homes were
threatened with the floods, and when it had ample time to make your levees
secure, and never lifted a finger. When the floods came in upon us, the
energetic Shattuck and his associates quietly pocketed the people's money
and did nothing. They had not sense enough to know that they were humbugs
of the first water, but remained in office, thereby preventing the people
from taking matters into their own hands and protecting themselves. Do
the people want these men in office longer? Then vote for the Senate and
Sheriff's Bill, for this makes them rulers and lords over Sacramento for
the present, if not for all future time. Look around, and see how you are
governed, with no public buildings worthy of the name, no lamps in your
streets at night, hardly any protection from robbery, with your levees
prostrated by the flood, your Supervisors laughing at your calamity and
mocking when your fear cometh, and your Sheriff's office fleecing the
people and endeavoring to fasten upon you an oligarchy of its own
creation. How do you like this? Will you have the inefficient,
anti-working, anti-progressive Shattuck, who pockets your earnings and
does nothing, rule over you, or will you govern yourselves? If you admire
Shattuck and his works, vote for the Senate Bill; if not, then vote for
the Citizens' Bill.
A SUFFERER.
[For the Union.]
THE GREAT GRIZZLY BEAR.
MESSRS. EDITORS: I wish you would be kind enough to inform the people
of Sacramento that unless they build a levee one hundred feet at the
base and top around the whole county we'll take the Capital away from
you. Also, if you don't raise your streets ten feet at once, we'll take
the Capital away from you. Also, if you don't fill in the unsightly slough
north of the city, we'll take the Capital away from you. Also, if you
don't appoint a Board of Health that'll keep the small pox out of your
city, we'll take the Capital away from you. Also, if you don't continue
President Shattuck in oflice we'll take the Capital away from you. Also,
if you don't pass Senator Heacock' s Bill, who fled from your city because
it was flooded, we'll take the Capital away from you. Also, if you don't
tax your poor people seventy cents more for the benefit of scrip
speculators and the Sheriff's oflice, we'll take the Capital away from
you. Also, if the DAILY UNION, whose prosperity and power are a constant
reproach to sluggards, does not cease its support of the Citizens' Charter,
we'll take the Capital away from you. Also, if the Board of Supervisors
don't furnish a room suitably supplied with all necessary comforts for the
use of Senator Perkins next Winter, we'll take the Capital away from you.
Oh! what a fearful weapon is that grizzly bear! THE CAPITAL.
[For the Union.]
A FAMILY MAN SPEAKING.
MESSRS. EDITORS: I am living in a small garret room of my almost destroyed
house. I can only once in a while get a day's work. My family have been
sick, and our little Julia was lost because we could not get a doctor
and proper care. We are willing to work, but we cannot get it to do.
We have no money, and our credit is almost worn out. Please do not make
our taxes too much or we can't save our home when the water goes down
and we can work our garden. Yours, in distress, FAMILY. . . .
[For the Union.]
THE BEE AND REPUDIATION.
MESSRS. EDITORS: The Bee and several of its friends "of that ilk"
have a great deal to say . . . . It is no wonder the people are poor,
and find it difficult to meet their obligations, when they have such a
load of sin and corruption to stagger under as compose the present city
and county governments, with a few honorable exceptions, men whose whole
object is to feather their nests, while they leave the people, whose
interests they have sworn to protect, a prey to the floods and a horde
of merciless harpies in the shape of reckless, easy-going and do-nothing
politicians. . . . .
CITIZEN.
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3431, 28 March 1862, p. 1
LETTER FROM THE SUMMIT.
[FROM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.]
This region of the "mighty summit of the Nevada" is much more important
than I had previously imagined. I have seen it under disadvantageous
circumstances, I admit, and only to a limited extent; but, I confess,
my ideas of its importance, vastness and wealth were very imperfect.
The weather since I have been in the mountains has been terribly
severe--snow, rain, sleet, frost, all mixed up in a constant medley,
with only a few days fine at long intervals, so that pleasure and business
have been suspended. Still there is much worthy of observation. Prominent
among those things which arrest the attention of the curious, are the
land-slides, caused by the unprecedented season we are now, it is hoped,
leaving behind us for good. Its gloom and desolation have visited all
parts of the State, and it seems to me the property and interests of
every person have suffered more or less. But these landslides are not
more wonderful than terrible. No one, without a personal examination,
can form a correct idea of their marvelous character. The amount of earth,
large trees, immense rocks--sweeping bridges, roads and everything else
presenting an obstacle in their irresistible progress to the river--is
really awful; while the huge chasms upon the mountains' top whence they
started, and the accumulated debris scattered in all directions at
the bottom where they stopped, invest their desolation with something akin
to sublimity. By one slide in this neighborhood a rock, computed to weigh
at least 120 tons, was hurled from its resting place of ages to the slopes
of the river. Fortunately, though escape appears so miraculous, no lives
have been lost. In this respect the snow slides are more dangerous.
Doubtless you have heard of one of the Kingsburys, while in the act of
opening their trail for pack animals to pass, being killed a short time
since by one of these slides; they are so sudden, so rapid, that it is
impossible to escape them without the most vigilance. You may depend upon
it, travelers passing the dangerous spots exercise that vigilance, and
keep their weather eye wide open.
All the roads from Placerville, it cannot be denied, are in a deplorable
condition; no one can predict with certainty when they will be open for
wagon travel, or the amount it will cost to repair them. Since I have
been here, the proprietors of both roads have hired hands to commence
the repairs in earnest, and as quickly discharged them again, from the
continued severity of the weather. Now, however, we are enjoying three
fine days in succession, and as the sun crosses the line to-morrow, let
us hope the worst is over. All agree that on the summit such an immense
deposit of snow was never known before at any time. For a long distance
the telegraph poles are only just visible. Thus sympathy, for your section
in particular, which strongly pervades this community is kept alive; for,
if at the end of this month or the beginning of next, a warm rain should
come, it is painful to contemplate its effect upon the lower portions of
the State. As everything affecting America, for good or evil, affects
England to the same extent and in the same degree, so any calamity to
Sacramento is injurious to the interests and happiness of California at
large. Let us, therefore, hope we may be spared this last visitation--if
not, you may be prepared for it. When the weather positively settles, there
will be busy times up here; at present it is impossible to do anything.
It is one of the peculiar features of California, that wherever a man may
reside temporarily, he hears in general conversation, nothing but discussions
upon the peculiar interests of that section. Thus in one place it
will eternally be water-ditches or water-rights, and the laws controlling
them; in another it will be grain, its prices, and its prospects; in a
third, quartz and the per centage it will pay; in a fourth, comes an
elopement, the disgusting details of some girl marrying at thirteen, or
the spicy "denouement" of a local crim. con., and so forth. Here it is.
of course, the roads--which is the best, which ought and which will
command the travel of the ensuing season? In introducing this topic,
I have the advantage, that it is not of local but general interest.
Passing over the prejudiced views and statements of interested parties,
I must confess, my personal observations lead me to favor Ogilby's or
the lower road along the river. The grade on this road is excellent,
easy and free from those short, severe pulls, so numerous upon the upper
and old road, and so distressing to animals. When the bridges are repaired
upon the Ogilby road, which they are preparing, and thoroughly rebuilt,
some people think seventy-five or one hundred men can complete the repairs
in six weeks or two months. It will, I think, take more men and longer
time than that for the upper road. I regret to say the stockholders of
both roads must be severe losers. This statement is not made to subserve
a particular purpose, but impartially from observation, and in justice
to the traveling community. It will, I think, be the middle of June before
wagons get right through.
The hotels along the road I found to be very superior to what I expected
so far up in the mountains, with charges reasonable. Hay is only the
moderate sum of $140 a ton; barley the same. . . .
When the snow disappears thoroughly, some month hence, I intend having
an occasional day of grouse shooting, which are plentiful here in the
mountains. If successful, I shall do myself the pleasure of sending
"Quien Sabe" a couple of brace for the expression of his good will
and friendship, and perhaps a shot at himself in the meantime, He did
me one injustice in his "corrections," which some day I must correct. . . .
CIMON.
SUMMIT SIERRA NEVADA, March 20, 1862. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . . Dispatches from Placerville and one or two other places in the
interior, state that the rain fell quite heavily on Wednesday night,
but the storm did not extend over a wide region of country. The water
in the upper part of the city rose about a foot in consequence of the
rain. But the weather has improved somewhat all around, and there is
no reason for apprehension. . . .
SNOW AT KLAMATH LAKES.--The Yreka Union, speaking of the snow and the
Indians in the above locality, says:
One of the Klamath Lake Indians came in town one day this week. He
represents the snow to be about three feet in the vicinity of the lakes.
There is, however, but little confidence to be placed in what these
Indians say, as they have associated with white men so long, and are so
near civilized, that it is next to impossible for one of them to tell the
truth. According to the fellow's story, the snow is some two feet deeper
now out there than it was four weeks ago. The fact is, these Indians are
getting so that their word is but very little better than a white man's. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION. . . . .
Weather in the Interior.
PLACERVILLE, March 27--8:30 P.M.
We had a heavy rain last night till eight o'clock this morning; balance
of the day and evening cloudy.
COLUMBIA, March 27--8:30 P.M.
About six inches of suow has fallen since last eveniug, and is still snowing;
stages and pack trains still continue to pass the summit notwithstanding
the roads are very bad.
MARYSVILLE, March 27th.
Rained part of last night; none to-day.
NEVADA, March 27th.
Last twenty-four hours been cloudy, and sprinkles of rain at intervals,
but not enough to lay the dust.
RED BLUFF, March 27th.
Rained very little last night; clear to-day till four o'clock P.M.,
when it rained till dark.
OROVILLE, March 37th. [sic]
Rained all last night; been clear all day till four P.M., and been cloudy
with very little rain since.
CHICO, March 27th.
Rained at intervals last night; none to-day. . . .
MINING IN HOLCOMBE VALLEY.--The Los Angeles News of March 19th
remarks in this connection:
The weather in Holcombe valley continues cold and but little in the way of mining has been done since the last heavy storms. The weather has been so cold for the "past two weeks, that sluice-washing was entirely suspended, and but little could be done with a rocker, there being only about two hours during each day that water would not freeze. Several parties had commenced taking out quartz. The mill of Tibbetts & Co. was in operation, and that of Nicholas was undergoing repairs, and it was expected would be ready to start in a day or two. Tibbetts & Co. have purchased a steam engine which will arrive at their mill about the 15th of April, where it will be erected and set in motion as speedily as possible; it is expected this mill will do a brisk and paying business, this season. The road to Holcome valley was open, passable and clear of snow, at last accounts, with the exception of about sixty miles, which distance was passable for pack-trains.
FARMING IN CONTRA COSTA. -- The Contra Costa Gazette says:
The late fine weather has enabled our farmers to make considerable progress
in plowing and seeding the ground. Though crops may be put in later than
usual, there will probably be no trouble about their maturing, and none
the less grain harvested because the season's work has been delayed. It
is quite likely that some land which has hitherto produced largely, will
not be in a proper state for cultivation this year, on account of the
excessive amount of rain which has fallen, but on the other hand large
tracts have bean plowed on hillsides and hilltops which have hitherto been
unmarked by a single furrow. The amount of land devoted to wheat this year
is far greater than ever before, and judging from the past the harvest should
be an unusually bountiful one. Good crops and fair prices will go far towards
repairing the losses suffered by the farmers during the past Winter,
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]. . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, March 25, 1862.
[Ths following ls the conclusion of our report of Tuesday's proceedings
after 3:45 p. m., when the report closed for the Sacramento boat:]
SACRAMENTO FENCE BILL.
The House proceeded to consider Assembly Bill No. 282 -- An Act concerning
fences and to regulate the herding of stock.
Mr. SAUL said the bill provided for the regulating and herding of stock
only in certain portions of Sacramento county, and proceeded to explain
the provisions of the bill. He had received several petitions in favor of
the bill from large stock owners, who were perfectly satisfied with the
provisions of the bill. There were no vacant lands on these rivers.
They were mostly grain lands, gardens, orchards, etc., which would be
ruined unless they could' be protected against stock. He could not see
the justice of requiring these people to fence their lands to protect
them against vagrant bands of stock from adjoining counties or elsewhere.
He contended that stock which was not worth taking care of was not worth
having.
Mr. WILCOXON moved to amend the bill br providing that the Act shall not
apply to that portion of Sacramanto county lying north of the American river
and west of the road leading from the city of Sacramento and Marysville.
Mr. SAUL said he hoped the amendment would not prevail. He wanted the
Sutter county men to keep their cattle at home. The area proposed to be
excluded contained some 13,000 acres, and was all occupied along the
Saerainento river. That whole district--comprising Swamp Land District
No. 1--would be reclaimed this Summer and be exceedingly valuable. He
knew of one man there who had a vineyard worth more than all the vagrant
stock in the district. This vagrant stock, following the waters as they
receded would trample down crops, vineyards and everything else. Men had
gone to that district from Sacramento and built them nice little homes.
Mr. DUDLEY of Placer said this was an extraordinary bill, doing away with
the fence laws altogether, and doing great injustice to stock owners. Stock
was liable to be seized on the public domain by any person having a shadow
of title. The bill offered a bonus to persons to go out and seize cattle.
The bill would deprive the cattle in the grazing portion of Placer county
from going to the tules for water in the Summer, under penalty of seizure
for trespass. The odious and oppressive features of the bill would apply
to a vast extent of country, including thousands of acres which had never
before been flooded since California was inhabited by Americans.
Mr. WARWICK said he thought Mr. Dudley was laboring under an error in
regard to the bill. There was a broad belt of country between Placer
county and the land this bill was designed to protect. If cattle in
Placer wanted water they would more conveniently go to Bear rirer.
Legislation had hitherto been altogether in favor of stock raising,
and more money was expended to fence cattle out than all the cattle
were worth. The bill had been drawn with every care for the interests
of their neighbors; and as this bill was vitally necessary for those
who proposed to raise crops this season, he hoped the House would pass it.
[Mr. BELL in the chair.]
Mr. HILLYER said this was very far from being a purely local bill, for it
affected all the adjoining counties. He denied that there was a belt of
high land between the overflowed land in Sacramento county and the
agricultural land in Placer county. . . .
Mr. HILLYER proceeded with his remarks.
Mr. FERGUSON replied and advocated the bill. It was intended to extend
to those people the estray laws, which applied to them fully before the
flood, when their fences were all standing. The only objection could be
from those counties where stock raisers wanted to quarter their stock
upon other men's farms. They asked only the same privileges that they
would have had if their fences were not swept away. Why should they allow
this stock to destroy the property of those poor farmers who hsd suffered
from the disastrous flood. In Brighton township thousands of acres had
been plowed ready for ths crops. bur the farmers were not able to fence
their lands, and were relying for protection upon the passage of this bill.
Mr. DUDLEY of Solano gave notice of an amendment.
The amendments reported by the Sacramento delegation were apopted [sic].
The amendment proposed by Mr. WILCOXON was read.
Mr. FERGUSON said there was no good reason for the amendment, and
Mr. Wilkoxon's county (Sutter) did not join Sacramento at all, except in
the way of two tooth picks placed together at the points.
Mr. BENTON said the people of the high lands of Sacramento county were
willing to agree to take care of their stock this season for the benefit
of poor people who had been drowned out. and he thought it was small and
mean for those outside counties to object.
Mr. DUDLEY of Placer said if the gentleman had discovered something small
in this opposition, he would diecover something large in the vote. He denied
that the opposition to this bill was factious.
The ayes and noes were ordered on Mr. Wilcoxon's amendment, and resulted:
Ayes--Ames, Collins. Dennis, Dudley of Placer, Dudley of Solano, Griswold,
Hillyer, Jackson, Lane, Matthews, Orr, Pemberton, Sears, Seaton, Smith of
Fresno, Thompson of Tehama, Thompson of San Joaquin, Tilton of San Mateo,
Waddell, Wilcoxon, Wright, Yule--22.
Noes--Amerige, Avery, Barton of Sacramento, Benton, Campbell, Fay, Ferguson,
Frasier, Gordon, Hoag, Loewy, Meyers, Moore, O'Brien, Porter, Reeve, Sargent,
Saul, Shannon, Smith of Sierra, Van Zandt, Warwick--22.
So the amendment was rejected.
Mr. SAUL moved to suspend the rules to consider the bill engrossed,
in order to put the bill on its passage. Carried.
Mr. DUDLEY of Solano offered an amendment.
Mr. FERGUSON raised a question of order, that the bill having been
considered engrossed the amendment was not in order.
The SPEAKER pro tern. said the point of order was not well taken, for
the reason that he had put only one motion, which was to suspend the rules.
Mr. TILTON of San Francisco appealed from the decision of the Chair,
and a long discussion followed, which was brought to a close by the
previous question, and, on a division, the Chair was sustained--ayes,
26; noes, 17.
Mr. SAUL said he was willing to accept Mr. Dudley's amendments which
related to the width of ditches used as fences to turn cattle.
Mr. AMES moved that the House adjourn. Lost.
The amendment was adopted; the bill was then considered engrossed, read
a third time by title, and the ayes and noes were demanded on its passage,
resulting as follows:
Ayes--Amerige, Ames, Barton of Sacramento. Bell, Benton, Campbell, Collins,
Dennis, Dudley of Placer, Eagar, Eliason, Fay, Ferguson, Frasier, Gordon,
Hoag, Loewy, Moore, O'Brien, Parker, Porter, Printy, Reeve, Sargent, Saul,
Shannon, Smith of Fresno, Smith of Sierra, Tilton of San Francisco, Van
Zandt, Waddell, Warwick--32,
Noes--Dudley of Solano, Hillyer, Lane, Machin, Sears, Thompson of Tehama,
Thompson of San Joaquin, Wilcoxon, Yule--9.
So the bill was passed. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3432, 29 March 1862, p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
The Continental Telegraph managed to get up for a while, give us a glimpse
of some hard fighting in Virginia, and then to get down again in an extremely
provoking manner. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
STEAMER CHRYSOPOLIS AGROUXD.-- The steamer Chrysopolis left San Francisco
on Thursday afternoon for this city, having taken the place of the Antelope,
which boat has been running alternately with the New World for several
weeks past. At daylight yesterday morning she had not arrived, nor had
anything been heard of her. It was concluded, of course, by all concerned,
tliat some accident had happened, at least to her machinery, if not
anything of a more serious character to the boat and passengers. Several
hours passed, and she still failed to appear. The ag«nts of the Steam
Navigation Company received telegraphic information that she had left San
Francisco at four o'clock, and passed Benicia at about half-past six
o'clock, the usual hours at these points. Further than this, nothing
could be heard concerning her. Between nine and ten o'clock in the forenoon,
the steamer Swallow was dispatched down the river to ascertain the location
and condition of the missing steamer, and extend such aid as her necessities
might require. Two o'clock P. M. arrived, and nothing had been beard of
either the Chrysopolis or the Swallow. The Young America had arrived from
Marysville, and after landing her passengers and re-wooding, she drew up
to the Sau Francisco landing, took aboard passengers, freight and mail
matter and started for San Francisco. Throughout the day considerable
anxiety was felt by our citizens on account of the nonarrival of the boat.
A large number of persons, hacks, omnibuses, express wagons, etc.,
remained on the levee in anxious expectancy, and those who had either
friends as passengers or merchandise as freight on board, became quite
uneasy. The probable cause of the delay was discussed and a variety of
suggestions were made. The steamer might have broken a shaft, or burst a
cylinder head, or exploded a boiler, or caught fire, or struck a snag or
stuck on the Hog's back, or the Nevada might have been raised and a regular
Monitor and Merrimac naval engagement ensued in which the Chrysopolis was
disabled. Such was the state of fact and feeling on the subject until about
dusk, at which time Edward Taylor of th [sic] Navigation Company received
the following dispatch which explained the mystery: "The Chrysopolis is
hard aground in the middle of the old river, one-fourth of a mile above
Churn's Island, heavily loaded." This dispatch came by telegraph from
Benicia, but had been sent by Romer, the clerk of the steamer, to that
place, by a sail vessel. It was dated "Rio Vista, March 28, 1862, eight
o'clock and twenty minutes A. M." The island referred to is about forty-five
miles this side of Benicia, and a still greater distance from this city.
The Chrysopolis had on board about 720 tons of freight. At 11 o'clock last
night the Swallow returned. A citizen who went down and returned with her
furnishes us with the following information : "The non-arrival of the above
steamer yesterday morning, and the telegraphic advice that she passed Benicia
at the usual time, caused the dispatch of the Marysville boat, Swallow,
Capt. Summers, to learn the reason. She left at 9-1/2 A. M. and found the
Chrysopolis aground in the old river about two miles from the spot where
the steamer Nevada is sunken. She took on board one hundred and fifty tons
of freight, three hundred passengers, the mails, express and at 4 o'clock
started on her return, arriving at her dock at 11 p.m. The Chrysopolis has
been hauled off for repairs for six weeks past, and this was her first trip.
Captain Chadwick went up the old river to avoid the sharp and tortuous bends
of the slough, the wind blowing fresh. She had on board 720 tons of freight,
the accumulation of the past week. The floods have made a bar just below the
island, in the old river, a place where there has hitherto been plenty of
water, and at this point the steamer is hard and fast, bow in to shore, and
held by two hawsers. This occurred at 11 P. M., Thursday night, and Captain
Chadwick dispatched the Clerk to the mouth of the river to intercept any
vessels bound up or down, and to charter the steamer Flora Temple if
necessary, lying by the Nevada. Word was sent by sloop to Benicia, to
be telegraphed the owners and agents, of the situation of the steamer, and
by midnight other steamers would be on hand sufficient to take off all the
freight, when the Chrysopolis would once more float and return to port. The
passengers bore their detention with cheerfulness, us the officers did all
in their power to make them comfortable, and the hardship was greater to
them than to any others. The Young America, which left at two P. M. with
passengers and mails, was passed by the Swallow, in the slough, at five
P. M. The Swallow left last night for Marysville, and the Governor Dana
goes up this morning.
THE LEVEE CUT.-- During Thursday, the water in the American river rose
about a foot, which caused it to flow through the open places in the
levee into the city, thereby adding to the annoyance of inundated gardens
and yards in the eastern portion of the town. Between one and two o'clock
yesterday morning, Thomas O'Brien, who resides near to Rabel's tannery,
on his way home from the city, discovered that the levee had been cut at
Twentieth street, evidently by some malicious person who anticipated so
much of a rise in the American that the original crevasse at that point
wouid be reopened. It will be remembered that a gap of about forty feet
in width remained open for several weeks in the Winter, which rendered
it impracticable for foot passengers to get backward and forward to the
tannery. O'Brien and others closed up this breach about a week ago.
Yesterday morning, on making the discovery, he informed B. Ready and
W. B. Ready, who reside in the neighborhood, of the fact. The first named
of the brothers, with O'Brien, repaired to the spot and found that a ditch
had been cut across the newly made levee about two and a half feet wide
and of equal depth. The earth had been but recently removed. The police
should keep a sharp lookout in the vicinity, and the man that would be
guilty of cutting the levee, even though no flood of consequence is
imminent, should be dealt with without mercy. The admission of any water
into the city which can be kept out is at this time a serious evil, and
should be prevented if possible. O'Brien and Ready kept watch about the
place with a double barreled shot gun, but the guilty party did not again
make his appearance.
THE TRACK LAID. -- The rails have been laid on the new track along the levee
at the foot of R street, which rests on the piles recently driven by the
railroad company. Granite and cobbles may now be discharged from the cars
to schooners with but little trouble. . . .
THE RIVER. -- The water in the Sacramento still remains at about 19 feet
above low water mark. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3433, 31 March 1862 p. 3
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, March 28, 1862
The SPEAKER called the House to order at 11 o'clock. . . .
THE LEVEE BILL.
During the preceding business, the Assembly bill -- An Act for the
construction of levees, dykes, canals, etc.. and for the employment of
convict labor -- had come up as the special order, and been two or three
times postponed for a few minutes for other business.
Mr. SHANNON finally moved to postpone the bill till five o'clock,
remarking that it related to corralling the swamp lands. The motion
prevailed.
Subsequently, Mr. MORRISON said inasmuch as the subject was one of vast
importance, the measure being calculated, in his judgment, to benefit the
State millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, and inasmuch as
the measure was too important to be taken up and discussed at a late hour,
when members were fatigued, he moved the bill be made the special order
for to-morrow (Saturday), at 1-1/2 o'clock P. M. The motion prevailed. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, March 29. 1862.
The SPEAKER called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
THE SWAMP LAND BILL.
The House took up, at 3:10 o'clock, Assembly Bill No. 83 -- An Act to provide
for the reclamation of swamp and overflowed lands, by the construction of
dikes, etc., and the employment of convict labor.
Mr. MORRISON addressed the use in support of the bill, contending that
it provided the only practicable mode of saving to the State the
6,000,000 of acres of agricultural land now subject to overflow, and
worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the State. He referred to the
experience of scientific men in the great valley of thi» Mississippi.
[Mr. Morrison was still speaking at 3:45 o'clock.] . . .
AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS ABOUT PAJARO VALLEY. -- The Monterey Union of
March 21st says: . . .
The balance of the valley on the snme side to the beach, a distance of
about seven miles, has not one-twelfth been sown yet, and a portion has
on it such deposits of sand and flood-wood that it cannot be farmed
this year. . . .
p. 4
NEWS OF THE MORNING.. . .
Californians have begun to indulge the hope that the peril of floods has
passed for the season. Dr. Gibbons of San Francisco, an able and intelligent
meteorologist, contributes to our columns a table of statistics, showing
the quantity of rain that has fallen subsequent to the 25th of March,
during the past eleven years, The inference from those figures is that
drenching rains and consequent floods are still to be feared. . . .
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE. . . .
THE RIVER. -- There is but little change in the condition of the Sacramento
river within the past three days. It still stands at about nineteen feet
above low water mark. . . .
EL DORADO WAGON ROAD. -- The Mountain Democrat, in speaking
of the improvements on this road, says:
On all parts of the wagon road laborers are at work improving it, and in
a short time it will be ready for teams. The superintendent is giving his
whole attention to it, and has employed none but stout and industrious men
to work, The storms and land slides injured it to a much greater extent last
season than any previous one, and of course it takes a longer time and more
means and a larger number of hands to repair it. The improvements now being
made, too, are of a substantial character, and will be proof against an
ordinary storm. The hotel keepers and ranchmen along the road are assisting
to put it in order, and the proprietors of toll roads are also working a
large number of hands, so that in a few weeks, if we have no bad weather
to delay the work, the whole road will be in excellent traveling condition.
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3434, 1 April 1862, p. 2
. . . The Overland Telegraph Line -- The Mall.
SALT LAKE, March 31st.
The line east of Omaha is still down. The storm is raging so hard east of
Fort Laramie that it cannot work to-night. We will try and get you a report
to-morrow from Omaha, taken from the St. Louis papers, if the line does not
get to working east of Omaha.
There has been no Eastern mail received here since the 23d. It is detained
by the streams being so high as to be impassable. . . .
SNOW IN NEVADA. -- A severe snow storm set in on Friday night, March 28th,
in Nevada. The depth of the snow, Saturday morning, was six inches. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3435, 2 April 1862, p. 1
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTBD SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, March 29, 1862.
The Senate met at 11 o'clock, the LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR presiding, . . .
THE CAPITOL QUESTION AGAIN.
Senate Bill No. 218 -- An Act for the relief of the contractors upon the
foundations and basement walls of the State Capitol at Sacramento -- was
taken up, and the title of the substitute of yesterday read.
Mr. HEACOCK offered an amendment, striking out all after the enacting
clause, and inserting provisions wluch he said gave Blake & Connor all
the advantages of the present bill, and left a blank where the Committee's
substitute had $3,000.
Mr. RHODES said the substitute reported by the Judiciary Committee
directed that no further contract should be made until authorized by
the Legislature. The amendment by the Senator from Sacramento proivided
that the Commissioners might go on and make such contract as they should
deem advisable. Both bills provided for the relief of Messrs. Blake & Connor.
The Judiciary Committee were quite unanimous in the opinion that in
consideration of the state of our finances and the difficulties existing
in Sacramento as to to what plan they would adopt to protect the city
against floods and inundations, it was better not to go on until matters
stood in a more favorable position.
Mr. HEACOCK said this amendment gave Blake & Connor the whole amount
given by the Committee, which was the amount shown by the report of
the Commissioners as due the contractors. He had been informed that
that was too much, and was unwilling to give them more than $3,000,
unless the majority of the Senate should think otherwise, in which case
he would go with them. The question involved was simply this: Shall the
work on the State Capitol go on, or shall we wait twelve months to see
whether the people of Sacramento will construct their levees so as to
make the location of this building safe for the Capitol? To do this,
they would be obliged to sell thousands and thousands of dollars worth
of material on the ground for whatever it would bring. If they gave the
amount called for by Messrs. Blake & Connor, there would be a balance
in the appropriations of $46,884. Then the question was simply whether
the State of California would admit that 8,000,000 acres of her principal
valley was uninhabitable and untenable for the purpose of saving $46,000.
If he had understood him right, Mr. Perkins stated the other day that not
a solid foot of earth was to be found in the neighborhood of Sacramento
within fifty feet of the surface. The report which this Senate had called
for and received from Mr. Clark, the Superintendent of the Capitol,
stated, on the contrary, that they had found the soil to be from three
feet to three feet six inches in depth, under which lay a firm bed of
clay twenty-five feet deep, which in turn rested on bowlders, etc.
The trenches for the reception of the concrete were dug down through
the surface soil, and rested two feet in the solid bed of clay. He
apprehended that there was no civil engineer inside or outside of the
Senate who would venture to say that there was a better foundation for
any building in th« State. He merely referred to these facts because an
assertion of that kind from the Senator from San Francisco, owing to his
general character of probity, bore weight, while unfortunately for him it
was not upported by the truth in this case. The State bad already spent
in th» construction of
these basement walls $103,686 66, and the people of Sacramento by their
own subscription had expended for the land $68,000. And now it was
proposed, for this mere bagatelle of $46,000, to stop the entire work
for one year at least. This land would remain dug up, a cancer in the
heart of the city of Sacramento, and a monument of the folly of the State.
By stopping the work on the Capitol, and declaring the Valley uniahabitable,
they would make the generous city of San Francisco the loaded down
poor-house of the rest of the State for four months in the year, and all
the cities of the State walled poor-houses to protect the inhabitants of
the country. Sacramento poured into the treasury annually a tax of
$55,302; her own voice was therefore not to be altogether without weight.
Stop the work for one year, and where would be the $55.000 -- echo
answered, where? Her property would be depreciated, and they would be
forced to repudiation. Let the bondholders of San Frandaeo know the
verdict of the Legislature. People in San Francisco held the evidences
of our indebtedness while Sacramento was battling against fires and
floods, the conspiracies of the combined elements. Let them not load this
last feather's weight upon her back to destroy her from the face of the
earth. He would say, that of those fourteen hundred votes on one of the
City Charters, which would apparently favor repudiation, there were not
five of them that were in fact in favor of repudiation. But, if they took
from Sacramento the Capital, a different result must transpire. The people
had built more hotels and more stores because the Capitol was located
there; by removing the Capital, they would force them back into the old
channel. They would destroy them completely. And with what spirit would
men go to work this Summer to rebuild their levees, clean out the five
feet of mud from their homesteads, reset their vines and rosebushes knowing
that the Capital to them was lost, and that not by any act or crime of
their own, for the energies of that people had been able to surmount all
obstacles to progress that the elements hitherto brought against them.
The only apology, all the time, in the world, was to save $46,000. They
condemned the very ground on which the city itself was built as unsafe
ground -- that city which had, during the past year, paid her fifty-five
thousand dollars into the State treasury. Upon what stump was this matter
of the removal of the Capital first discussed, and was it alleged that
this balance of the appropriation should be saved? Since they had removed
to San Francisco the press had complained in thunder tones that needed
no lessons to understand, that the people wanted the Capital to remain
permanently at Sacramento, and that they wished no stumbling block
interposed to prevent the continuance and construction of the new Capitol,
which should stand as an ornament to our State. Where were any of these
questions discussed except in the Legislature? Was this Legislature
prepared to take the matter all upon itself, uncommanded and uninstructed,
to say that this work should be stopped? Was it not as certain as that
the sun would rise in to-morrow's sky that the coming six months would
see the levees rebuilt, as they had been done time and time again before,
that the washed off homesteads of Sacramento would be erected anew in
their places, and that their families and little ones would continue to
abide there, a part and portion of our proud Golden State? And yet they
must save these $46,000. They had been making appropriations out of a
depleted treasury to much more than this amount. He had voted for some
of them intended for charitable objects. But here was an appropriation
already made for a matter in which the entire State had an interest.
If they stopped the work they would not only force repudiation upon the
people he loved so well, but they would lose from the treasury more than
the amount they would save. He would now wait to hear from the other side
of the House.
Mr. DE LONG said he regretted very much that he would have to take a
position antagonistic to the Senator from Sacramento, knowing very well,
as he did, that he was wrapped up in the interests of his constituents.
But as Mr. Heacock owed a duty to his constituents, he likewise owed a
duty to his. He represented a county fifth in the list of taxpaying
counties of this State. That community did not believe it wise to continue
building a Capitol upon the magnitude which was proposed in the present
plan, leaving out of the question entirely the fitness of Sacramento for
that location. Was it wise, with our million of indebtness, to continue
building a Capital that would cost $2,000,000? The argument of the
gentleman from Sacramento appeared to be that because we had commenced
we must continue. He (Mr. De Long) said it would be unwise, insane to
continue building such a Capitol at Sacramento or anywhere else. If the
Legislature was to remain at Sacramento, let them buy the Court House,
which could be done for less than the foundation walls of the new Capitol
could be raised six feet higher. He repeated that California would look
like a little boy with a very big hat on, to be in debt $2,000,000 and
almost on the verge of repudiation, and to have such a Capitol. The press
of Sacramento persisted in regarding him as ona of their enemies, although
he had formerly and still had many friends in Sacramento. He had said, when
the temporary removal was in question, that he would oppose any scheme
looking to a permanent removal. He repeated it now, and would act up to
that policy. He believed that the contractors on the State Capitol building
could not he compelled by law to finish their contract. Did the gentleman
call $46,000 in the State treasury a mere bagatelle, when the treasury
had not in it forty-six cents? He would vote for the release of those
contractors, because he believed they were already released by an act of
God. In answer to a question of Mr. Parks in reference to the Committee
Investigation, he referred him to Senators Rhodes and Shafter, who were on
the Committee with himself. Unless these contractors were released a long
litigation would ensue. It would be injurious to both parties; and the
release should be made, if not in law then in equity. He did not think
any one familiar with the representatives of Sacramento and her press,
would deny that they were gifted with ingenuity. They would make out of
every misfortune a blessing. When they had spent $46,000 to no purpose
on account of the flood, which covered the whole over with sand, they
would say the sand was needed, and the flood therefore was just what
they wanted. At that rate they would never get the building above the
ground in God's world.
Mr. PORTER hoped the original bill would pass,
and after hearing Mr. Heacock's speech, entertained serious apprehensions
for the welfare of the people of Sacramento. The whole plan of the building
would have to be altered. If they went on with it, they must at least put
the building above high-water mark, and keep the Legislature from being
flooded out again. About one-third of the entire expense thus far had been
for Capitol Commissioners and Secretary. Was that not an excess for their
labor, which ought not to be tolerated? These men did not build the
Capitol. If five feet of mud lay around the walls, as the gentleman from
Sacramento had stated this morning, it was not a fit place for the Capital
any way. He was willing to go on if they could make it safe.
Mr. GALLAGHER said he was in favor of leaving the location of the Capital
unchanged, but at the same time in favor of the Committee bill in preference
to the substitute of Mr. Heacock. He believed that one year was a very short
time in comparison with the future, and that the people of Sacramento could
afford to wait that long. If they built up their levees efficiently, there
would be more confidence in the city of Sacramento next year than all that
had been spoken. It pained him to be compelled to differ with the Senator
from Sacramento upon this or upon any subject. He was his friend; and he
respected and loved him. Upon the whole, he thought it the wiser plan to
desist from work for one year. These contractors had done their best to
go on. One of them, Mr. Connor, he knew, had thrown everything into the
balance in order to continue the contract. But the combined elements had
conspired against them. He was in favor of doing them justice, and nothing
more than justice. Unless they could have the amount they asked for,
$10,000, the Legislature had better let the matter go by the board anyhow.
Less than that amount would not pay their debts. He honestly believed that
the people would be better pleased to let the matter lay by for one year.
We were a proud State, and wanted a Capltol that would be an honor to us.
The present building would take ten years to complete. He believed, with
the Senator from Sacramento, that the people of that city were entirely
able to protect themselves, and that they had the energy to do it.
Mr. GASKELL said, according to his figures, the question was whether
they should spend $69,000 instead of $46,000. He thought the work should
be stopped for a year, and did not apprehend that the question of
8,000,000 of acres being inhabited or not was involved in this at all.
He was willing that the Capital should remain at Sacramento; his
constituents were willing to leave it there. But they were not willing
to spend this large amount of money in order to leave it there, unless
it was irrevocably demonstrated that the city could be protected. He did
not believe that this question had anything to do with the permanent
location of the Capital. He believed it was permanently located at
Sacramento. But he was in favor of purchasing the present Capitol building
at Sacramento instead of going on with the new one. The argument that we
had already expended $100,000 was not a good one, for if the State was in
folly heretofore she ought not to continue in that course. He honored the
gentleman from Sacramento for standing here and advocating the interests
of his constituents. But there was no such question at issue as the
permanent removal of the Capital. For these reasons he would vote for
the substitute and not for the amendments.
[Mr. Irwin in the chair.]
Mr. PARKS said the one proposed to release the contractors and continue
the work, while the other proposed to release them also, and discontinue
the work. He would advocate the amendments of the Senator from Sacramento.
He believed that the people of the State desired the work continued. He
believed that it would be an economical thing to go on with it, and an
expensive thing to discontinue it. The principal expenditure, thus far,
was for materials, which might as well be used as not. There was no doubt
expressed from any source but the State was going on to build this Capitol,
and that the location would be Sacramento. He sent up the following
amendment to the amendment of Mr. Heacock, "Provided, that from and after
the first Monday in May, 1862, the Board of State Capitol Commissioners,
or any member thereof, shall receive no compensation whatever for any
services performed as such Commissioners." He hoped it would be adopted,
because the Commissioners were citizens of Sacramento and could afford to
serve. The gentleman from Yuba had stated that it would cost $2,000,000 to
complete this Capital. He did not believe anybody could produce figures to
warrant such a conclusion. The architect stated that on the present plan,
if continued, the building would be completed for $500,000. He would
hereafter propose an amendment that not more than $250,000 additional
should be expended in the Capital, and that the plan should be so modified
as to agree with that sum, about $150,000 having, he said, already been
appropriated. The question was whether they had not better go on slow and
sure in building this State Capitol. Ohio required fifteen or twenty years
to build her Capitol, and most States required two or three years. This
State was old enough to have a Capitol, and the people desired that the
question should not be eternally agitated, obliging Senators to change
and swap votes from time to time thereon. He reminded Messrs. Gaskell and
De Long of their appeals on behalf of Oroville the other day, where money
had been invested on the supposition that the town was to be the Capital.
The same argument applied here with tenfold more force.
Mr. GALLAGHER said a!l the contractors asked was simple justice -- to be
reimbursed for what they had lost by the flood.
Mr. HEACOCK, In reply to Mr. Gaskell's assertion that sixty-nine thousand
dollars was the amount involved, read several sums from the official
reports. The substitute proposed to make use of material that would bring
at auction some thirteen thousand seven hundred and forty-four dollars,
which was less than half of what it had cost to the State.
Mr. CRANE said he would support the Committee substitute. It was said
that this question was an entering wedge for the removal of the Capital;
It might be so, but he did not think so. He believed that the Capital
should have been located in the first place on some more eligible and
safe spot. But the present question was a different one. The flood had
swept away the levee of the American river and left the city of Sacramento
liable to submersion at every freshet. He was of the impression that
during every past session of the Legislature that it had been overflowed,
except in those portions where the streets had been raised. There was some
question whether it was possible to protect the city by levees constructed
with that alluvial soil. Senators from Sacramento asked them to take their
word that the city could and would be protected. He thought the better and
wiser course would be to wait and see. As to the legal question involved in
canceling the contract, he had not examined it in particular, but if the
contractors were not released, the simple, evident result would be that
they would go into insolvency. They could not go on even if the Legislature
refused to cancel the contract. He reckoned, from the whole amount
appropriated thus far ($115,500), that $69,900 was the amount now remaining
unexpended. By saving this amount for another year, they would not say any
such thing as that the Sacramento valley was uninhabitable, or that the
Capitol should be removed. According to his view, the idea of the Senator
from Sutter that the Capitol could be erected for $250,000, was simply
ridiculous. It would be worse than the small boy with a big hat to top
off such foundations with so paltry a Capitol. The estimates before the
Committee showed that the building would cost, total, $2,300,000. In
making these remarks, he had no ill feelings towards Sacramento. What
was the small pittance of $69,000 to the great city of Sacramento? He
did not suppose that he would change any votes from what he said. But
the question had been forced prominently before them, and had been
before them since they met. They had been driven away from the city
of Sacramento, and the fact was that the Capital to-day was not at
Sacramento. If they enacted that the Capital should be at the city of
Sacramento, and if the floods prevented the Legislature froom [sic]
meeting there, all their enactments would only be nugatory. It might
be that Sacramento could prevent the recurrence of these calamities.
He trusted to God that she might be able. But it was only just and right
that the work should be suspended until another year. He referred, as an
example, to the frequent suspensions of that great work of the Erie canal.
The conclusion that the Committee had come to with reference to the
material on hand at Sacramento was that most of it was of such a nature
that it could not be much injured by any flood. Most of the value was
in cut stone. It was true there was some loose wood shanties, brick, etc..
but the portion damaged was proportionately small.
Mr. OULTON repeated the reasons why several days ago he had opposed
the bill in the place of which the substitute had been adopted. He now
could scarcely say which bill to vote for, the substitute or amendment
of Mr. Heacock. He did not think that California could afford to
appropriate her entire receipts for two years, several millions, on
her State Capitol, as would be necessary if the work was continued on
the present plan. The system of changing contractors frequently he
regarded as a very expensive one, that should be prevented. If the
matter could be recommitted with a prospect of adopting some plan for
a Capitol at a cost of from $500,000 to $750,000, he would be in favor
of that. But he must oppose, on behalf of his own constituents, the
prosecutlon of such an expensive work as that now proposed. He was
also opposed to relieving State Capitol contractors. They ought to
bear their own losses. He would therefore vote against both bills
unless they were modified to suit him.
Mr. BURNELL said since California was a State this question of the
Capital was constantly agitated. We were now called upon to decide,
directly or indirectly, the great question whether the Sacramento
Valley was inhabitable or not. They might disguise this thing as they
chose, such would be the result. The Capital had been settled at
Sacramento; Sacramento was in the center of the Sacramento Valley,
and the Sacramento Valley was pretty much all the State of California.
The question was whether they, by their action, should declare to the
world that a part of the Sacramento Valley, comprising $8,000,000 worth
of property, was unable to protect itself against water. If California
ever became a wealthy and great State, her wealth and greatness must
grow up principally in the Sacramento Valley; and if Sacramento city
could not be made a fit place for the Legislature, California would
never amount to much as a State.
Mr. PORTER wished to inquire whether Sacramento city comprised the
Sacramento Valley.
Mr. BURNELL said he intimated no such thing, but the idea that Sacramento
could not protect herself against floods was ridiculous. She could do it
and would do it. He was opposed to indicating to the world, by the action
of the Legislature, which represented every interest in the State, that
Sacramento could not protect herself. Why did any one wish to discontinue
this work for a year instead of going on now? It was simply because they
feared that the valley of the Sacramento was uninhabitable. He had no
apprehensions for the future. Other countries had been visited by floods
as well as California. He was opposed, as other speakers had stated they
were, to the expenditure of $2,000,000. If Sacramento was not a fit place
for the Capital, let them remove it this Winter, and let the State have
a Capitol with proper accommodations. He was informed by the Treasurers
department that they were obliged to employ two night watchmen to prevent
the money of the State from being carried away by thieves.
Mr. DENVER -- By water, you mean.
Mr. BURNELL -- No; by thieves, because there is no safe place to keep it
in. He continued that he believed the little city of Marysville, which was
aspiring for the Capital, was pretty nearly surrounded by water this Winter.
The Capital had floated around long enough. Everything in the legislation
of the State had hinged and turned upon the Capital question or some
bulkhead question. He wished this matter settled. San Francisco, one of
her representatives had stated, did not want it here; she was a great
city, and they did not need it to build up her prosperity. He understood
that there was a great fund accumulating at Marysville to purchase land
for the State if the Capital could be located there. Santa Clara, Alameda,
and a portion of San Francisco were anxious to get it. He never wished to
see legislation depend upon this Capital question again. If the Sacramento
Valley was uninhabitable let them remove the Capital to Stockton or
Mariposa, or Humboldt, or somewhere, and set the matter at rest.
Mr. GALLAGHER said the Capitol question was not under consideration.
Mr. BURNELL replied that it undoubtedly was, and the fact was as open
as a ladder, plain and unmistakeable. He commended the gentleman from
Alameda to the stock policy of the Erie Canal. There never was such a
brainless policy in the world before, as the result proved.
Mr. DE LONG asked whether he was in favor of the floating policy.
Mr. BURNELL said the one was about as undesirable as the other. He
referred to the report of Mr. Ruggles on the construction of the Erie
Canal, to show that the State would have saved millions and millions
by the immediate conclusion of that canal. The Legislature had to meet
more claims for breaches of contract than the interest of the money to
construct the whole canal would amount to. That was a much more
magnificent thing than the construction of the State Capitol. Eventually
the canal was completed, and every one could now see by the figures
whether the stock policy was bad or good. He was in favor of giving
this all the consideration that an important question deserved. It
involved the interests of every county -- Siskiyou, Humboldt, San Diego
and Mariposa, etc. -- alike. Without intending to prevent discussion,
he would move to refer the bill and substitutes to the Committee on
Claims, with instructions to report back to some extent the views of
the Senator from Siskiyou, limiting the amount of expenditures for the
Capitol to a reasonable sum.
Mr. GALLAGHER said he liked openness, and did not like that dark,
hypocritical cant that characterized the action of some men. He must
say, and he could prove it now, that the gentleman from Amador,
[Mr. Burnell,] some weeks since said he was opposed to this measure.
Mr. BURNELL said two or three weeks since a bill was introduced for
the purpose of relieving the contractors, and he was opposed to it,
and in favor of letting the parties go on and fulfill their contract.
Mr. GALLAGHER asked Mr. Burnell whether he did not then say that
contractors always got the better of the State, and he was not in favor
of reimbursing them.
Mr. BURNELL said the gentleman was bringing up a private conversation here,
which he understood about as well as the man in the moon. His memory was
exceedingly tenacious.
Mr. GALLAGHER said the intention of the gentleman from Amador, he
conscientiously believed, was to smother this bill. He believed it
from his past action. Why did he not, like the noble Senator from
Sacramento, take a bold and open stand. Instead, he got up and moved
a reference, with the avowed object of killing the bill. His
(Mr. Gallagher's) object simply was to have justice done to the parties
concerned in the contract. That was all he asked, because that was all
they demanded. They had made a contract that they could live and stand
by, but for the floods, which had prevented them from working for the
past five months. He therefore wished the question considered and decided
now, fairly and squarely. If the bill were referred, it would not have
time to get to the other House and be considered there. For weeks he
had been trying to get that bill up, but, for some reason or other, he
had been overruled and outvoted in every case. He did not like to see
the gentleman from Amador get up here at this hour to make a long speech
without letting it become known what he was driving at, and finally sit
down making a motion to recommit.
Mr. BURNELL said the Senator seemed to consider all men dishonest but himself.
Mr. GALLAGHER -- You will not misrepresent me. I will not stand it.
Mr. BURNELL requested the gentleman not to go off on a tangent before
he was hurt, and disavowed any intention to defeat the measure. He had
insisted upon it, on the contrary, that the Capital question should be
settled now, and yet the gentleman saw it looming up darkly that he
(Mr. Burnell) and others were playing a deep trick.
Mr. GALLAGHER said the word dishonest was not used nor applied to any
one but himself.
Mr. BURNELL said if he was a hypocrite he supposed he must be dishonest.
He had an interest in this question, and had been requested by Senators
who had come to him to move a commitment. He had done it in good faith,
and pledged himself if the bill was reported to-morrow morning he would
at once vote upon it. Let them adopt a plan somewhat in accordance with
the finances of the State. The Senator from Calaveras was a member of
the Committee on Claims, and be thought all parties in the State would
be represented on that Committee.
Mr. DE LONG said he would not charge the Senator with hypocrisy, but he
would say he was cunning. If the Committee on Claims reported that bill
to-morrow morning it would go to the foot of the file; and it would then
take two-thirds of the Senate to take it up. In all human probability it
would never be acted upon. The Committee on Judiciary have been at great
trouble to get all the facts and the correct figures; and there was no
fault found with their report. He wished to know how they were going to
put up any suitable building at $250.000 upon a foundation intended for
one to cost $2,000,000.
Mr. SHAFTER -- Put a small top on it
Mr. NIXON said the Capitol could be built according to its present plan
and the specifications in the architect's office, with brick and rough
cast, for $500,000.
Mr. DE LONG said it was impossible.
Mr. PARKS said the gentleman from Yuba had had the whole of this thing
through his fingers. He now wanted him to enlighten the Senate as to how
much had gone into the hands of officers.
Mr. GALLAGHER called for the reading of the report.
Mr. NIXON presented to Mr. De Long a statement
from the architect's office, giving the figures in proof of his assertion.
Mr. DE LONG -- What report is that?
Mr. NIXON -- It is made out by authority.
Mr. DE LONG -- Sacramento authority? I do not consider that good authority
(returning it to Mr. Nixon without looking at it).
Mr. NIXON explained the nature of the document, pending which one of the
Pages placed the Committee's report into Mr. De Long's hands.
Mr. DE LONG read several items from the report. The money expended had
done no good; the Capitol had stuck in the mud. As good an authority as
the Senator from Sacramento informed him that it could not be constructed
short of $2,250,000. California could not afford to give any amount
sufficient, nor could the Committee on Claims discover any plan to build
any Capitol upon those foundations for $250,000 or $500,000. It would
go only a very short way, and the proposition of the gentleman from Amador
to curtail the work to that amount was impracticable. How could he do it?
Mr. RHODES -- By his shrinking machine.
Mr. DE LONG thought he probably had one of them up in Amador, and
intimated that he had run his judgment through it before he came down
here. The object of this was delay; he had made fights in the Legislature
before, and knew what all this was for. This attempt to attract the
applause of the community at the expense of the State was a poor business.
Whenever there was a charitable appropriation to be made for orphans or
widows, a cry was sure to come up from that portion of the Senate, first
from the Senator from Sutter, and then from the representative of Amador.
We hadn't the money to go on. It was all very nice to go on feeing a pack
of contractors, and to say that $46,000 was mere bagatelle.
Mr. BURNELL said he was in favor of cutting off the pay to officers.
Mr. DE LONG said he did not think the Committee on Claims so much more
intelligent and industrious that they could be expected to furnish the
Senate any more evidence than the Judiciary Committee had done, nor that
they were more candid or trustworthy. Senator Burnell he considered
prejudiced in his views, while the Committee on Judiciary had been impartial.
Mr. PORTER said the gentleman from Sutter proposed to put in granite half
way up the first story and then change the plan and put on brick. That met
the views of the Senator from Amador completely. Probably he desired a
canal built somewhere so as to navigate up to the wall. He wanted it settled
that the Capitol should not be at Marysville or any other ville, and a bill
reported providing that the permanent location shall be Sacramento. Under
the circumstances, he (Mr Porter) thought it should be committed.
Mr. PARKS said there had been a good deal said about sincerity and
insincerity. He was willing to allow that the Senators from Calaveras,
Yuba and San Francisco were as honest as himself. But he believed their
motives were personal, or that they had personal friends whom they desired
to serve.
Mr. GALLAGHER said he had no right to refer to him in that manner.
Mr. PARKS said he had only referred to him in a dignified and proper
manner. It was his interest in personal friends that made him so sensitive.
He (Mr Parks) was in favor of referring the matter to the Committee on
Claims, with the same sincerity that the Senator from Calaveras opposed
it. It was for the interest of the State that he wished it, too, and not
for individuals. He had never seen the assurance of the gentleman from
Yuba outdone in his life, when he knew that he was currying favor with
his own section in view of their votes. The question was not before the
Senate in a tangible shape. They got up an estimate that the Capitol would
cost two million five hundred thousand dollars, without showing a particle
of evidence in proof, except that the assertion was made by the Senator
from Alameda, and echoed by the gentleman from Yuba. Architects were to
judge what the building would cost and not members of the Senate, who
knew nothing about it. He did not suppose that the gentleman from Yuba
made out the figures of the Committee's report from the way he had presented
them to the Senate. This thing had been conducted on a very loose system.
A big per centage had gone to the pay of officers and for preliminary
purposes. But that was not the fault of the State. The old contractors
said "if you do not give us twenty-eight thousand dollars we will hold
you in obeyance for one year, during which all the employes will draw
pay, and it will amount to more than we ask of you." The State was forced
thus to comply, because the contractors had given bonds that were not
worth a cent. Gentlemen were as tenacious to defend them as the gentleman
from Calaveras was now, ready to jump up in a chivalrous manner and say
they were responsible for what they said outside.
Mr. GALLAGHER protested that the gentleman had no right to make use of
such language in reference to him.
Mr. PARKS said his name could not be alluded to but ha was sensitive.
Mr. GALLAGHER said ha had called the gentleman to order before, and he
had a right to insist that ha should keep within proper bounds.
Mr. PARKS expressed his belief that he had said nothing but what was
right and proper. He was in favor of the reference in order to get the
bill into a proper shape, and would be ready to act to-morrow morning.
This was not a matter to make a joke of, but one in which a large city
had some interest. There were different propositions before the Senate.
One was to get certain parties relieved, another to stop the work, and
another to fix or change the permanent location of the Capital. No one
would impugn the honesty and motives of the Committee on Claims.
Mr. NIXON said he was in favor of recommitting the bill and substitute,
and did not rise for the purpose of impugning the motives of any Senator.
But it struck him as very peculiar, that among Senators who were
advocating the propositions contrary to the interests of Sacramento,
that one was hailing from the ancient Capital of the State (Mr. Rhodes),
whose constituents he understood, would not object to having the Capital
back at San Jose. As to the Senator from Yuba, he would not pretend to
impugn his motives, but if he was rightly informed he desired it for his
own people. He understood his constituents held a meeting some time since,
which was addressed by himself, in order to adopt some plan whereby they
might have the Capital at Marysville. (To Mr. De Long) -- Am I right?
Mr. DE LONG -- Go on.
Mr. NIXON -- Am I right ?
Mr. DE LONG -- Go on. [Laughter.]
Mr. NIXON said he knew he was not doing the gentleman injustice, for if
he was treading on his toes he would resent it very soon. He was informed
that $60,000 had been already expended for land, and that they could raise
$160,000; also, that they would be in the field next year to press their
claims for the Capital against those of Sacramento. That accounted, perhaps,
for the interest the gentleman took in the Capital question upon this floor.
As to the Senator from Alameda, [Mr. Crane,] he remembered some time since
some splendid excursions from the Capital of this State to the city of
Oakland. He did not know whether his friend from Alameda took any interest
in them or not
Mr. CRANE -- l would say that I don't want the Capital at all; we want
it here.
Mr. NIXON said he would not say that the gentleman was not willing to
come over every year, although it might be flooded; he would not say that
he was ashamed to go away from the Capital this Winter; he did not know
whether he was or not. But he did know that the beautiful village of
Oakland had been a rival claimant for the Capital. He did not blame her
for that; he rather admired her, because it showed a laudable ambition.
If she could accomplish her end, he thought she was very deserving of it.
In relation to this Committee on Judiciary, which reported the bill under
consideration, and the members of which had become its champions, he would
like to have heard from one member of that Committee, and that was the
Senator from San Francisco, Mr. Shafter. He did not know whether he would
oppose the location of the Capital at San Francisco or not. He did not
believe the Senator would oppose it, provided he thought it were the wish
of his constituents to have the Capital here. Now the motives of these
gentlemen, as they were high, he would not impugn. But he did think it
was somewhat strange that the principal advocates of this bill should all
have a hankering after the State Capital in some way or other, either
directly or by their constituents. He thought perhaps it was their
constituents they were wishing to please; not that they had the remotest
idea that the Capital would be removed from Sacramento, but they wished
to stand well at home, etc.
Mr. PORTER -- Will the gentleman allow me? I would like to have him
recollect Santa Cruz.
Mr. NIXON said he had no doubt the people of Santa Cruz and many other
places would like to have the Capital where they resided. It certainly
would please these constituencies if their representatives had sufficient
influence to carry the Capital home with them. The gentleman stated that
if $5,000,000 of property invested in Sacramento were untenable, then the
great heart of the State of California, upon which we based our hopes of
the future, would all be dashed to the earth. He had not told them that
by wiping out the prospective future of the great valley of the Sacramento
they destroyed the hopes of the thousands who lived there. It was not
the paltry sum of $45,000 they wished to have expended in Sacramento
that made them speak in favor of continuing the work. But it was the
effect it would have abroad, and throughout other parts of the State.
It would be taken for granted that the present Legislature had not the
confidence that we could protect our property in that city. Our credit
would sink below zero in the East and everywhere else where it existed.
It would even affect the credit of the citizen of Sacramento. His property
might be mortgaged for half what it was worth. He might see his way clear
from embarrassments, but if the credit of the city was destroyed the
property located there could hardly be mortgaged. We had upon our
shoulders all that it was possible for us to bear at this time, owing to
the adversities we had recently met with. We had not the control of the
elements. No place on this continent had been subjected to greater
adversities than Sacramento. They (the Legislature) and the press accorded
to us the energy to stand up under adversity. Now we had to say,
"Gentlemen, we are passing through a crisis which will place our future
upon a permanent basis; permit us to go on and expend the balance of
the appropriation, $45,000." He (Mr. Nixon) asked it of them as
magnanimous men. It was but a mere pittance any way, and if we had
not restored confidence by the time of the coming session, he would
pledge himself that next Winter he would advocate no further appropriation
for the building of the Capital at Sacramento. He was in favor of the
recommittal of this whole question, that a bill might be devised which
might cover all the ground contemplated by these two bills. He entertained
the most friendly feelings for his friends, Messrs. Blake and Connor;
he did not wish to see them injured by the calamities that had injured
so many at Sacramento. He would not place them on the same ground
that he would a contractor who had taken a contract from him personally.
If the flood had swept his materials away it should be the loss of the
contractor. He would be more generous to these contractors, because he
thought the State of California could afford to be generous. In his
frequent intercourse with the Superintendent of the Capitol building
he had obtained information that the Capitol could be built upon the
present walls for $500,000. which would answer all the purposes of a
more costly structure. He thought his friend from Yuba had been talking
here without much knowledge of the question under discusslon. Very true,
he might have been upon the walls and come to the conclusion that
$2,000,000 could not complete the structure. The only difference in the
two estimates was as to the material. It had been contemplated by some
to build it of granite from Mount Auburn, and to make it a monument of
the industry of the State, so that every Californlan might in future be
justly proud of it. But if they wanted a less expensive building, make
the walls of brick and cover them with mastic, as most of the bnlldings
were done in this city. The cost would not be one fourth that of the hewn
granite, which was the most costly building material in
the country. The cutting of it run up the expense. Put on plastic mortar
with the trowel of the mason and it would scarcely cost one tenth of the
granite estimate. The Senator from Butte had a word to say on this
question. He was in favor of purchasing the Court House of the city of
Sacramento. He (Mr. Nixon) did not think that proposition in accordance
with the greatness of the State of California. We, as a State, are looked
upon by the balance of the civilized world as one of the most favored of
all. The Capitol of California should, if possible, correspond to her
greatness. The foundation walls should correspond to our future, and if
this Capitol was not built in four or fire years, he presumed the
Legislature were unanimous in saying, when it will be concluded, let it
be such an edifice in which every man would take pride when he laid his
eyes upon it. He had heard it stated, repeatedly that the State officers
were not properly provided with rooms, that the location of the State
Treasurer was a disgrace, situated in the basement of a Court House
erected for the incarceration of felons. To purchase such a building
for a permanent Capitol he called preposterous. it was belittling to
our State and did not correspond to the general cry of the progress of
the people, He hoped that the whole matter might be recommitted, and
wished to see it disposed of an early day. Make the time for the Committee
to report as early as possible, and he would guarantee to do everything
he could to bring about a speedy consideration.
Mr. OULTON disclaimed, in making the suggestlon to Mr. Burnell to refer
this matter, any intention to kill the bill or any enmity to Sacramento,
but his object was simply to discharge what he felt to be his duties.
He would do the same thing were the Capital located in any other place
than Sacramento. The removal of the Legislature did not, in his opinion,
enter into this question at all. It was simply whether they were able to
go on or not. He contended that they were not, and even if they were able,
it would be useless and extravagant to go on. He wished to see whether a
bill could not be drawn up to limit the amount this building was to cost.
He found that some $17,500 had been paid out to officers who did nothing.
He wanted to see this stopped. If we were going to build a Capitol, he
wanted it to correspond with our resources, without paying one-fifth to
those who were merely seeing that the work was properly done.
Mr. RHODES disagreed with Mr. Oulton, and regarded any further reference
as worthless. They had a plain duty before the Senate. .Each of them
proposed to release the contractors by paying the full amount for work
done and $3,000 for labor and materials lost.
Mr. NIXON said he understood the contractors were not willing to take that
amount. The bill, if passed would therefore involve the State in a law suit.
Mr. RHODES said he was simply stating certain propositions in the two
bills. The precise figures might be $2,000 or $10,000. If the matter
went to the Committee on Claims, he ventured to lay that it would be
impossible for them to agree upon what amount should be inserted. He
had the facts and figures and knew something about the flood, had his
own ideas, etc., so that when the Committe [sic] reported, it would still be
an open question.
Mr. NIXON Inquired whether an appropriation of $3,000 would have any
binding effect on the contractors.
Mr. DE LONG said the bill did not take effect unless the contractors
accepted the amount therein stated.
Mr. RHODES said the Committee on Claims could not reconcile the Senate
to the proceedure [sic] of the work until the next Lexislature [sic]
should meet. Could they enlighten the Senate or give them one fact whioh
they did not know, or devise any plan that was worth a straw? Were not
Senators aware that it was part of the bill now that the Capitol should
not cost more than $500,000? Did they not also know that the Legislature
was omnipotent and might in future fix it at $2,000,000 or more, though
the present Legislature had fixed it at $250,000? They would make no
binding law by such a course. They could accomplish nothing, fix nothing,
make nothing so fast but the next Legislature might change it. It seemed
to him there were some of the strangest arguments offered as reasons why
the bill should be recommitted, the strangest being the idea that the
Sacramento valley would be declared uninhabitable. Was his own word upon
that subject worth any more than that of any inhabitant of the Sacramento
valley? .Who believed that the valley was not inhabitable because the work
on the Capitol should not go on? The gentleman from Amador might as well
say that because we paid some money for charitable institutions, we had
therefore millions of money in our treasury -- they appropriated money,
therefore they had plenty of it.
Mr. WARMCASTLE inquired what was the amount of relief demanded by
the contractors?
Mr. RHODES replied some $12,000 altogether, including tools and the
interest which they would be obliged to pay if they hypothecated the
warrants they received. Permanent removal had nothing to do with the
question. He would tell the Senator from Sacramento, candidly and in
the presence of the Senate, that he did not desire the Capitol at San Jose.
Mr. NIXON said the gentleman meant to say that he expected the Capital
to remain where it is, but would not contradict the allegation that his
constituents would have some hopes and would desire the Capital;
furthermore, that if he should represent their interests, when he should
return to them they would extend their right hand of fellowship, and
desire him to go back to the Senate.
Mr. RHODES said he intended to adopt the Jeff. Davis policy, and induce
them to let him alone from this time hence. At the close of the session
he would return home as a private citizen, and he would pledge himself
to submit willingly, as a citizen of Santa Clara or San Jose, to one per
cent. additional taxation rather than have the Capital go there. The
question was a financial one, and depended, so far as the permanent
Capitol was concerned, on the people of Sacramento, who had now two
charters before the Legislature looking to a cheaper city government,
and protection from the floods. . : . : . .
Mr. PARKS said he believed it was the policy of, the State at least to
put the materials on hand into some shape where they could not be
destroyed. He believed that the law could be so framed that the building
should not cost more than $250,000. He had no doubt of it in the world.
If they commenced the work now, so as to cost $250,000, the next Legislature
could not stick $2,000,000 upon it reasonably, and would not. It was
possible to frame the bill in such a way as to curtail the expense.
Suppose a few thousand dollars additional were needed now to go on with
the work, to get some extra brick, lime, etc., there was no better way
in the world than to allow the material to go into the building. He did
not care whether the bills were referred to the Committee on Claims; he
would as soon have it go to any other Committee.
Mr. GALLAGHER said he was opposed to the reference, believing it was
intended to kill the bill: If he had used harsh language to the gentleman
from Amador, it was probably because the blood coursed too rapidly
through his veins, and he was sorry for it, as he now believed that
gentleman to be honest. The Senator from Sutter had seen fit to take
the matter up; to him he had nothing to say.
[The Lieutenant Governor in the chair.]
Mr. BURNELL said the Committee on Claims was made up of Messrs. Parks,
representing Marysville; Banks, San Francisco; Rhodes, Santa Clara;
Oulton, Siskiyou and Gallagher, Calaveras. He had named that Committee
because they represented all parts. If the Senator from Calaveras had
seen the error of his ways he accepted his apology with great pleasure.
He believed the Capitol could be brought within the expense of $250 000.
The reason why estimates were made to amount to $2,000,000 was because
extravagant plans were adopted. It was their duty to throw restrictions
around the Capitol Commissioners, and if a subsequent Legislature repealed
them, all right; they were not responsible.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN thought it impossible for the Committee to prepare a
plan for placing a small bullding upon a big foundation, like a small
hat upon a big man within the time allotted before adjournment and
believed recommitment would kill the bill. His constltuents, were
they consulted, would say they were unable after the losses they had
sustained; to be taxed for this splendid Capitol, as contemplated.
He. would not vote for suspending the work because he was an enemy of
Sacramento, but he did not believe in doing them justice, in order to
do injustice to his constituents. If they had another such flood in
twenty or thirty years: they could afford to adjourn again without much
trouble.
Mr. DE LONG wished to know how much the state was going to save; he
understood the cement on hand was destroyed, the planks were floated
off, the sheds gone to Davy Jones' locker, and the tools, bricks and
stones all buried in the mud, rendering it necessary to clean them off
first before using. Let them pay the Superintendent, and for cleaning
off the bricks, and see how much they would save.
Mr. PARKS said there was eleven thousand dollars' worth of property there now.
Mr. DE LONG said they were decently burled, and safe; unless men there
were in the habit of stealing things that they could not lift, they would
be on hand when wanted, as soon as Sacramento had raised her levees as her
representatives said she would do.
Mr. PARKS asked how the gentleman wanted it proved that Sacramento could
be protected by the levees they might build. They might not have another
such a flood in twenty years.
Mr. DE LONG said if they built them up to high water mark this year, it
was to be supposed they had proved it. He would then consider her safe;
otherwise he would not. The Senator from Sacramento argued that they had
suffered fire and flood, and why now discontinue the Capitol. It was not
because they loved Sacramento less, he would say in reply, but because
they loved the balance of the people more. They could not go to their
constituents, who had been similarly visited, and tell them with a good
conscience that they were taxing them for a building more magnificent and
a dream more idle than that of the Pacific Republicans. It struck him that
the worthy representatives of Sacramento had fallen into a great error
when they seemed to think that this thing of the Capital was the property
of Sacramento city -- that the Capital was given to any locality, instead
of for the benefit of the State. He had always understood that it was solely
a matter concerning the interest of the State. If at any time the fair City
of the North should put up her claims she would not expect to get the
Capital unless she could show that it was to the interest of the State
to put it there. She would come, asking nothing upon the ground of
sympathy, but offering her land and buildings free of charge for all time
to come. It seemed that the Senator from Sacramento had got a sort of
mental microscope which he carried about in his breeches pocket, and
with which he looked into every man's heart. How he had obtained his
information with reference to himself (Mr. De Long) he could not say,
but if he was correctly informed it was certainly a fact. He had an
imagination as great as that of the gentleman from Sutter, who had a
glorious imagination. He had been finding entering wedges ever since
this session convened. When they proposed to flee from the storms,
floods and destruction which drove away the men, women, children and
families of Sacramento, then he saw an entering wedge to the removal
of the Capital. He alluded to the abuse which the press had heaped on
them for adjourning to San Francisco, and made editors out at best only
human beings, who sat in their offices, and sometimes lacked correct
information. His manifold reasons for voting to adjourn he could give
when called upon. He merely alluded to the delicious beverage that was
taken from the streets, which they were obliged to sip. When it was
proposed to save the people from the expense of the Capitol building,
the gentleman saw another entering wedge. As both the Senators from
Sutter and Sacramento could see this latter entering wedge, he wondered
that they did not establish a Mutual Admiration Society upon this question.
He concluded by calling the motion to refer nothing more than a dodge
intended for delay.
The question upon reference was taken, with th» following result:
Ayes -- Messrs. Banks, Bogart, Burnell, Denver, Doll, Harvey, Heacock, Holden, Irwin, Merritt, Nixon, Oulton, Parks, Quint, Van Dyke, Warmcastle, Watt, and Williamson -- 18..
(CONCLUDED ON FOURTH PAGE.
[ p. 4 ]
[ CONCLUDED FROM FIRST PAGE.]
Noes -- Messrs. Baker, Chamberlain, Crane, De Long, Gallagher, Gaskell,
Harriman, Hathaway, Hill, Kimball, Kutz, Pacheco, Porter, Powers, Rhodes,
and Shafter -- 16. . . .
p. 2
. . . .
THE CAPITOL CONTRACT QUESTION. -- The discussion in the Senate on
Saturday last on the bill to relieve the State Capitol contractors
appears to have been lengthy and animated. The advantages and
disadvantages of Sacramento as the Capital of the State were very
generally canvassed by the speakers, though we do not see that there
was any necessity for going over such ground while considering that
particular bill. But it seems impossible for any question to rise
touching the new Capitol building which, in the opinion of certain
Senators, does not present an opportunity for fierce assaults on
Sacramento. At any rate, such opportunities are improved to give
the city a few broadsides. Senator Heacock offered a substitute,
which provided, as we understand it, that the contractors should be
paid any damage they may have sustained, but should not be released
from their contract or suspend the work. Our Senators labored earnestly
and ably to defeat the passage of the bill, and finally succeeded in
having it referred to the Committee on Claims, by a vote of 18 to 16.
A report from that Committee will again bring up the subject; but the
vote to refer is considered as a pretty fair test of the strength of
those who desire to pass a bill to suspend the work on the new Capitol,
as a preliminary step to a suspension of the work altogether. The
proposition to suspend the work, under the circumstances, we think
obtained several votes of Senators who would not vote for a permanent
removal. We take it for granted that Senators Gallagher of Calaveraa,
Harriman of Placer, Kutz of Nevada, Kimball of Sierra, and Gaskell of
Butte; who voted against the reference, would not favor a permanent
change of Capital. Their constituents are content to have the Capital
remain in Sacramento, provided, of course that her citizens can defend
her from the floods of the American. This ability was doubted in the
debate,but the people of this city will demonstrate before the 1st of
next November, that they can build a levee which will be admitted by
the present doubters to be amply sufficient to protect the city against
any flood, unless it rises ten feet above the high water of this year.
When this is done, we hope to hear no more crocking about the inability
of Sacramento to protect herself from the inroads of high water, on the
part of those who are laboring to deprive her of the Capital. Experience
has proved that up to this date, the Legislature could have transacted
its business in this city without inconvenience, and that, therefore,
said body took its flight to San Francisco when it was more scared than
hurt.
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . . .
SAN FRANCISCO, April 1st.
. . . .
It has rained here part of the day.
Weather In the Interior.
PLACERVILLE, April 1st.
It has rained and snowed here all day, and is still cloudy. It is snowing
on the mountains, and stages are unable to make the passage from Lake
valley to Strawberry.
AUBURN, April 1 -- 9:30 P. M.
It has rained here all day slightly. The streams are a little swollen.
COLOMA, April 1 -- 9:30 P. M.
Rain fell here during most of the day. Now and then we had a little snow.
It is cloudy now.
The Portland Advertiser publishes the following extract from a
private letter written by one Neal McClenchy. It speaks of hard times:
LEWISTON, March 2, 1862.
* * I have had a terrible time of it in trying to save my oxen. I bought
up all the oats and barley I could find, but that soon gave out, and as
the snow did not melt any, I was compelled either to let my oxen die, or
feed them with something else, so I have been giving them beans for some
time now, and think they will weather it through. This is a costly wav,
but I could not let them die, and am very well satisfied that I have
saved them any way. You can judge what it costs me when I tell you that
beans such as mine are worth fifty cents per pound. You have, I suppose,
already heard of the severe weather and the amount of suffering which the
people in this neighborhood have endured, also the loss of cattle, mules
and horses which have been destroyed in this upper country. I cannot
describe the misery which has existed among the people this Winter. But
it would seem all of no warning to the men bound to Salmon. * * Parties
are leaving every day for the mines, and large numbers are coming in from
Walla Walla, having packed their grub on their backs all the way. There
are no horses for sale, as they are all gone in, so the miners are making
a merit of necessity, and act as their own pack mules. . . .
p. 3
. . . .
THE WEATHER. -- We were favored yesterday with a specimen of weather
which was far from an improvement on that of March. It is to be hoped
that there will be improvement as the month progresses. . . .
A TURBULENT RIVER IN EUROPE. -- The river Moselle, like our American,
has startled the old residents on its banks by forcing for itself a new
bed. But rivers are not allowed to cut up such pranks in the old world,
for we are informed that workmen are employed, as well as the troops of
the garrison, in making the river return to the bed it has quitted. . . .
DESTRUCTIVE FLOOD IN MECCA. -- The Boston Traveler has the
following item of news:
An intelligent gentleman, who has for many years resided in Syria,
says, in a recent communication to a friend in this city: "There has
been a flood of rain at Mecca: "three hundred lives lost; one-third
of the city destroyed; the great sacred Mosque. Haram esh Sherif,
flooded; the holy Black Stone submerged; and the great library almost
destroyed." And he adds, very naturally and pertinently, "I cannot,
in view of this fact, forget that the massacre in Damascus was planned
and decided upon in that same so-called Holy City!" . . .
p. 4
. . . .
THE SACRAMENTO LEVEE BILL.
Mr. SAUL, from the Sacramento delegation, reported back Senate Bill
No. 251 -- An Act concerning the construction and repair of levees,
and the mode of raising revenues therefor, with amendments [substituting
certain names, and providing for a different basis of assessment by taxing
personal as well as real property].
Mr. FERGUSON opposed the latter amendment, contending that it was not just
to assess personal property when the only object was to protect real estate.
Mr. WARWICK defended the amendment, and said the people of Sacramento
were heartily in favor of it. Personal property needed protection
certainly, and this was the only way to raise the necessary revenue.
Mr. SAUL also advocated the taxation of personal property.
On a division
the amendment was carried -- ayes 15 ; noes 10. but no quorum voting.
Mr. WATSON moved a call of the House. Lost.
Mr. BARTON moved to recommit the bill. Lost.
The ayes and noes were demanded on the amendment, and resulted -- ayes 32 ;
noes 18. So the amendment prevailed. The following is the vote:
Ayes -- Barton of Sacramento, Battles, Bell, Bigelow, Dean, Dennis, Dore,
Dudley of Placer, Fay, Hillyer, Hoag, Irwin, Jackson, Kendall, Loewy, Love,
Meyers, Moore, O'Brien, Orr, Parker, Printy, Reeve, Sargent, Saul, Sears,
Shannon, Thornbury, Warwick, Woodman, Wright, Mr. Speaker -- 32.
Noes -- Amerige, Ames, Barton of San Bernardino, Brown, Cunnard, Ferguson,
Griswold, Lane, Leach, Matthews, Morrison, Reese, Seaton, Thompson of
Tehauia, Tilton of San Francisco, Van Zandt, Waddell, Watson -- 18
The bill was then read a third time and passed, and the Clerk was directed
to transmit it to the Senate. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3436, 3 April 1862, p. 1
SACRAMENTO METEOROLOGY AND NECROLOGY.
[REPORTED FOR THE UNION FROM THE RECORDS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.]
METEOROLOGY.
MARCH, 1862, . .
. . .Number of . . . rainy days . . . 14 . . .
. . .Quantity of . . . rain and fog . . . 2.800 . . .
Remarks. -- Contrary to general expectation, it will be seen that the monthly
amount of rain has fallen considerably below the average; and consequently,
the earth having become drier and warmer than we had any reason to
anticipate, Spring has advanced in a corresponding pace with the gradual
increase of temperature. We are pleased to hear that the farmers upon the
higher lands have, for the most part, availed themselves of these propitious
circumstances, and we see no real reason for discouraging them in their
endeavors to make the best of a bad season; on the contrary, the records
of several years, already published, afford strong motives for present
hopefulness. We may first observe that the month of March, just passed,
bears no comparison whatever to the Spring of 1850 or 1853 -- the two
seasons of maxima rains. In March, 1850, it was estimated that about ten
inches of rain fell, and in the same month in 1853 seven inches are
recorded in our register. By the table above it will be seen that less
than three inches have fallen during the present March, and this in such
a gradual manner as to produce no very material effect upon our rivers.
Now, then, It may be worthy of notice, that the rainfall in April for the
average of eleven years, from 1849 to 1861, has been less than one-half
the preceding March. This would give us less than one and a half inches
for the present month of April; and the same published tables show that
the rain-fall for May is seldom more than half what it is in April. It
may be almost too good to hope for only two and a quarter inches of rain
between the 1st of April and the 1st of June; but we have, perhaps, as
good a basis on which to predicate that small amount as Doctor Gibbons
has for a much greater amount, in his late interesting but too depressing
communication, published in the Union. The chief danger, however, at this
time to be apprehended, is from the sudden melting of the snows from an
excessive increase of temperature, accompanied by warm rains. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
No telegraphic dispatches from the East. The weather probably interferes
with electric communication on both sides of the Sierra. . . .
Quite a heavy rain set in last evening. Dispatches from Oroville and
other places in the interior state that the storm was quite general in
those parts yesterday. Another rise in the rivers is to be feared. . . .
THE PEOPLE'S CHARTER AND THE BULLETIN
An editorial was published in the Bulletin of Tuesday on the
"People'a Charter and its repudiating character," which is not exact
in its statements, and which is calculated to mislead the reader. A
writer who presumes to comment upon the finances and financial policy
of a city of which he is not a resident, ought at least to be correctly
informed upon the question he is discussing. In treating of the character
of the funded debt of Sacramento the Bulletin said:
The bonds of Sacramento whose legality is now questioned were issued
mauy years ago. Some $400,000 of them were expended in the various
injudicious efforts at levee building. Now the harbor dues for goods
landed on a portion of this same levee amount, under good management,
to $25,000 or $30,000 per year. This is ample provision for paying the
annual interest on the levee bonds.Some $400,000 more of the bonds went
to build the city water works. since which time the people have had
water brought into their houses instead of paying water carts three
prices for a more limited supply. Do the people expect now to get their
water free, and still repudiate the interest on the water bonds from
which they have derived such signal benefit? This cannot be. In fact
the water works do yield the city, under good management, about $50,000
per annum -- more than half enough to pay the interest on the entire debt.
The amount of bonds issued for levee purposes is much greater than the
Bulletin states; far more than the sum named were issued for
building levees as early as in 1852. In truth the large majority of the
indebtedness of the city was created building levees. A few hundred
thousands were expended in building engine houses and purchasing engines,
in erecting water works, buying pipe, engine, etc., and for some other
objects, including schools; but the main debt was created for work
performed on levees. The receipts for harbor and levee dues are not
connected directly with the bonds; they were never created a special
fund to pay interest on levee bonds, and ifthey [sic] had been the
Bulletin has over estimated them. From September 1, 1860, to
August 31, 1861, the receipts of harbor and levee dues amounted, as
reported by D. J. Thomas, who was employed by the Board of Supervisors
for that purpose, to $22,627; they have not in late years reached
anything like the sum named by the Bulletin.
The bonds issued for Water Works summed up a little less than $300,000.
The old City Charter contained a provision which prohibited the Council
from contracting a debt over a certain sum, unless the same was first
sanctioned by a vote of the people. A plan for building water works was
presented by Gordon of San Francisco, in which the entire estimate of
expense was placed at $125,000. For that sum he offered to build Water
Works of a certain capacity. The Council submitted the proposition to
the paople; they voted upon it in the Spring of 1853, when the city was
so flooded that merchants were doing business at Hoboken, and the plan
was adopted by a large majority. By a vote of the people the Council
was authorized to expend $125,000 in the erection of Water Works. In
the course of that year the city authorities took the responsibility
of entering into a contract for building Water Works, which amounted
to nearly $300,000. All beyond the $125,000 of that sum this paper
declared, at the time, was illegally created. We insisted that no
contract of such magnitude should be entered into without first being
submitted to a vote of the people. But the legal question was not
raised, and the bonds were issued pledging the credit of the city
and the income of the water works for the payment of the principal
and interest. To our surprise, the holders of those bonds surrendered
them and accepted the conditions and provisions of the Consolidation
Bill.
The building of the R street and Thirty-first street levees in the
same year presented another example of authority exceeded. The people
voted to expend $50,000 in that work; the Mayor and Council went forward
and expended nearly $100,000. In this case the UNION called attention to
the fact that all the bonds issued over $50,000 would be illegal, unless
the people by their votes authorized the addition to their indebtedness.
Other cases might also be named, but we have given enough to show that,
in a legal controversy, the Courts might hold that a considerable portion
of the public debt of Sacramento was not created according to the terms
of the law. We have referred to these cases also to show that the
Citizens' Committee had reasonable grounds to sustain them in proposing
to assert the legal rights of the city even at this late day.
The income from the water works, the Bulletin puts down at $50,000;
the report of Thomas gives the aggregate receipts from that source at
$32,564, for the year ending August 31, 1861; the expenditures for the
same time were $26,596. Some $10,000 of this sum, it is claimed, was paid
for extrordinary [sic] expenses -- purchasing pump, etc.; but the ordinary
expenses are estimated at over $12,000, which would reduce the income
from that source, as administered under the Consolidation Act, to about
$20,000, instead of $50,000, as stated by the Bulletin.
But the greatest blunder of our Bay cotemporary is in this statement:
Again: Some $300,000 or $400,000 of the bonds were issued since 1853,
to pay for elevating the main streets of Sacramento to the high water
mark established by the floods of that Winter. But for those elevations,
portions of J and K and intervening streets would have been six and seven
feet under water this Winter, whereas they were only submerged three and
four feet. Will the people who are enjoying the benefits of these
improvements retuse to pay six per cent. inerest [sic] on the money
expended for them? It cannot be possible.
The elevation of J and K streets--not to high water mark, as we insisted
then ought to be done--was paid for by assessments on the property
fronting on those streets, and not by the city, as assumed by the
Bulletin. No portion of our public debt was created for such
improvements. They were paid for by the individuals who owned the
property. In reference to the two charters, the Bulletin
remarked :
We think the people decided wisely, and had the Bulletin been
a Sacramento journal.it would have advocated the People's Charter as
against the other proposition, while we could not have indorsed all
the provisions of either.
The UNION, as a Sacramento journal, advocated the People's Charter,
as altogether better than the substitute which met the approval of
our Senators; but we never claimed that it was perfect. As a whole,
it was a vast improvement upon the present condition of things. The
financial scheme, though, we think would be greatly improved by making
the apportionment of the revenue for municipal purposes the same as
it is in the Consolidation Bill. It is our conviction the creditors
of the city can force such an apportionment through the agency of
the Courts, in spite of any law thut may be passed by the Legislature,
and, therefore, we think it would be sound policy to make said
apportionment in the new charter. The only change required is to
strike out thirty-five per cent and insert fifty-five per cent, to
the Interest and Sinking Fund. It is this point upon which the hue
and cry of rediation [sic] has been hung; remove it, and all such clamors
must cease. The provision to redeem bonds to run thirty or forty years,
at thirty cents, is not repudiation in any sense, for no holder is under
any obligation to sell his bonds at that price. It is, however, more
than they are now worth in the market.
The investigation of the Fund Commission into the legality of bonds
issued will settle nothing definitely; their decision will not be law;
it will merely be their conclusion upon the evidence before them; the
legal rights of bondholders, if the issue is raised, must be determined
by the Courts.
In 1858, when the new bonds were issued, the agent of the authorities
who was employed to examine and report the amount of indebtedness
reported that "in his opinion several hundred thousand dollars of the
bonds then out were illegal [no close quotes],
but as no steps were taken to have his
opinion rejected or confirmed in Court, the city and county authorities
went forward and funded all the bonds which were presented. In so doing
it is contended by many that they exceeded their authority, as they were
directed to refuse to fund bonds suspected of having been illegally issued,
in order to present a case and have the question determined by a Court of
competent jurisdiction. Certain it is that not a bond of Sacramento can
be finally declared illegal except by the Courts, and whenever they so
decide, we do not think any one will call it repudiation.
THE FLOATING DEBT. -- Our Senators appear determined to provide for the
dealers in scrip, or rather audited accounts in this city. We say dealers,
for we understand that most of the claims have been sold by those in whose
favor they were audited. They are therefore in the hands of speculators.
And the provision of the bill introduced, that the school teachers,
policemen, etc., shall first be paid, will prove of very little benefit
to those classes. There is no doubt about the final payment of this
floating debt; the city, unless it can be shown to be illegal, must
ultimately provide for its payment. But it is a hard case for her to be
forced to pay it in a single year, and that the one succeeding such
destructive floods as have swept over her. Hence we think our Senators
at fault in trying to pass bills to compel the collection of a tax for
that purpose. Cannot some plan be devised by which certificates of
indebtedness -- somewhat like those the Secretary of the Treasury is
authorized to issue, bearing an interest of ten per cent, and made
payable in two and three years -- interest to be paid with the principal,
may be issued?
If the incubus of this floating debt were removed for a short time,
the city might start under a new charter with prospects of being able
to maintain a government and keep out of debt, even on the revenue
authorized to be raised by the Consolidation Bill. But unless she can
start under a new charter without a floating debt to be paid out of
current receipts, it will be impossible for her to sustain a government
and incur no additional indebtedness. But if the floating debt can be
provided for on a plan that will enable the city to prepare for its
payment in two or three annual instalments, there would be a prospect
of bringing everything in the city government to a cash basis. This
should be accomplished, if possible. Our Senators have passed a bill
through the Senate to levy the same amount named in the Senate Charter
to pay the floating debt of the city -- twenty cents on the hundred
dollars--and all the delinquent taxes. The people did not vote for
the proposition, but let that pass. Can such a provision be legally
made for the payment of this floating debt? We think not. Under the
provisions of the Consolidation Bill, is not the Treasurer bound by
the law and by his oath of office, to apportion fifty-five per cent.
of all revenues for municipal purposes to the Interest and Sinking
Fund? Can the provisions of the law be evaded by a special Act levying
a special tax? They cannot; and if the twenty cents on the hundred
dollars is collected under the bill passed through the Senate, and
paid into the treasury, it will have to be apportioned as provided
in the Consolidation Act. We do not see how such a result can be
escaped. Again -- the delinquent taxes, as collected, must be paid
into the treasury and be distributed among the different funds, the
same as if they had been collected with the other taxes. The money
cannot legally be directed into another channel. Fifty-five per cent
must go to the Interest and Sinking Fund, and the remainder to other
funds. If parties who are interested appeal to the Court, they can
force an apportionment of all the money collected in this city for
municipal purposes, in accordance with the terms of the Consolidation
Bill. Therefore, all efforts to get through special bills to levy
special taxes for special purposes will prove labor lost. . . .
PAJARO VALLEY. -- The Monterey Union of the 21st of March says
Pajaro Valley is unsurpassed in its richness of soil and production of
abundant crops, but the unparalleled rains have this season so retarded
farmers from putting in grain, that in the upper part of the valley,
embracing the first two miles down from its head, on the south side
of the river only about two-thirds is now in crops, nearly all wheat. . . .
MELTED AWAY. -- The eight feet of snow which fell in Nevada, on the
night of March 28th and during the 29th and 30th, disappeared March 31st.
SNOW. -- On Saturday night, the snow fell at considerable depth on the
Coast Range, and the frost was quite sharp in several localities, . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.. . .
SAN FRANCISCO, April 2d. . . .
Legislative Proceedings. . . .
The substitute bill in relation to the State Capitol, reported by the
Committee, was debated at great length, and finally passed by the following
vote:
Ayes -- Baker, Banks, Burnell, Chamberlain, Denver, Doll, Gallagher, Harvey, Harrirman, Heacock, Holden, Irwin, Kutz, Merritt, Nixon, Parks, Quint, Shurtliff, Vineyard, Watt, Williamson -- 21.
Noes -- Crane, Gaskell, Hill, Kimball, Pacheco, Porter, Rhodes, Shaffer, Soule -- 9.
The bill releases the present contractors, allows them $10,000 and
authorizes the Commissioners to proceed with the work to the extent
of the unexpended balance of the appropriation. This was all that was
asked by the friends of Sacramento, and settles the question as to the
position of the Senate on the Capital question. . . .
Weather in the Interior.
OROVILLE, April 2d.
Rained nearly all day, and very hard since four o'clock this afternoon.
PLACERVILLE, April 2d.
Raining little here; weather cold and windy. . . .
p. 3
. . .
THE RIVER. -- The water in the Sacramento, at sunset last evening, stood
eighteen feet three inches above low water mark. . . .
RAIN. -- The showers of yesterday culminated last evening in a steady rain,
which continued through the latter part of the evening, as though we were
destined to have a rainy night. . . .
p. 4
. . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, April 1, 1862.
The Senate met at 11 o'clock, . . .
THE STATE CAPITOL CONTRACT.
Mr. PARKS, . . . He also reported back
substitute to Senate Bill No. 218 -- An Act to authorize and direct
the State Capitol Commissioners to cancel and annul the contract for
building the foundation and basement walls of the State Capitol at
Sacramento, etc., with amendments striking out all after the enacting
clause, and inserting a bill with the title, "An Act in relation to
the construction of the State Capitol building, and to annul contracts
heretofore entered into."
They found the figures in the case as follows:
Am't appropr'd March 29, 1860. $100,000.00
Am't appropr'd May 20, 1861 . . . 50,000.00
-----------
Total appropriation $150 000.00
Amount paid Michael Fennel.. $34,614.55
Amount paid Blake & Connor .. 34,177.70
Due Blake & Connor 11,392.51
-----------
Total in building and material. $80,184.81 [sic]
Salary of Architect $5,840.00
Salary of Commissioners 9,421.85
Salary of Secretary 2,000.00
-----------
Total salaries $17,361.85 [sic]
Plan and specifications ... 1,500.00
Abstract of title of land . . . . 350.00
Office and tool house 240.00
Laying corner stone, filling wells, etc 365.00
-----------
Total preliminary expenses $2,455.00
Total amount expended 100,001.66
-----------
Balance of appropriation $49,998.34
The amount paid officers, the Committee stated, amounts to 17-1/2
per cent., and only 75 per cent. applied to the construction of the
building. Blake & Counor claimed for damage and loss by several
floods to sheds, tools, derricks, etc $2,000.00
Material and labor since January 1, 1862 1,006.75
T. P. Roach, release of sub-contract 2,000.00
P. O. Dano, release of sub-contract 1.200.00
Nutting & Kittridge (Iron work) 565.00
Interest paid on audited accounts against the State
for raising money 715.38
Anticipated interest to January 1, 1863 5,520.36
-----------
Total $13,007.49
From which Blake & Connor propose to deduct 3,007.49
-----------
Making a net loss to the State on contract of $10,000.00
Mr. GALLAGHER moved to suspend the rules to take up the Capitol Bill
now. It was important and must be acted on.
Objections were made, and a count of the Senate was had.
Present 34 -- ayes 20, noes not counted.
Mr. GALLAGHER thought there was some mistake, and called for the ayes
and noes. It was admitted on all sides that the bill was important, and
unless considered now it could not be passed.
Messrs. GASKELL and DE LONG proposed that it should go to the top of
the file for to-morrow, which was assented to. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3437, 4 April 1862 p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.. . .
By a dispatch from Salt Lake we learn that the Overland Mail stages have
had a very rough time owing to the high water, the deep snows and Indian
depredations. . . .
The weather has cleared again, and the rivers do not as yet exhibit
a threatening rise. . . .
RELEASING THE CONTRACTORS.
The bill which has passed the Senate -- and which was reported from
the Committee on Claims -- on the Capitol matter, releases the contractors
and pays them $10,000 for damages sustained by floods. The report of the
Committee is full and presents an exhibit of the sum appropriated for the
Capitol and expended so far on the work and for salaries, etc. There has
been $150,000 appropriated toward building the Capitol; of this sum,
$68,791 have been paid to the contractors; $11,392 are still due to the
contractors; $17,361 have been paid the Architect, Ccmmiasioners [sic]
and Secretary; $2,455 were paid for specifications, for abstract of
title, for building an office, and for expense of laying the corner
stone -- making a total of $100,000 expended, whilst $50,000 remain
unexpended. With the $10,000 to be paid to the present contractors, it
appears that $110,000 of the sum appropriated has been expended --
$75,469 on the buildings and $34,532 for damages and salaries of
Superintendent, Commissioners, Secretary, and for plans and laying the
corner stone. The Commissioners have been paid $9,425.85; their Secretary,
$2,400. The position of Commissioner is a responsible one, but the labor
has not been very heavy, though at times excessively annoying. If they
have been paid too liberally, the fault was with the Legislature which
established the Commission and fixed the salary of each Commissioner.
The members of the Board were hampered in their action into making the
first contract, as the law compelled them to accept the lowest bid if
a good bond was offered. Fennell & Co. bid so much lower than others
that the general impression was, they could not complete the work if
they uudertook it. But they offered a good bond, and the Commissioners
were bound to accept it, and award them the contract. They failed to go
on with the work, and rather than sue on the bond the Legislature deemed
it advisable to release them from the contract and piy them for such
material as they had on hand. Appraisers under the law were appointed,
and of their proceedings the Committee on Claims in their report,
say:
When the Capitol Commissioners annulled the contract with Michael
Fennell, Reuben Clark was appointed appraiser on the part of the State,
and W. B. Carr appointed by Mr. Fennell. They two appointed Mr. Turton --
the three to constitute a Board of Appraisers to estimate the value of
work done, and material on hand at the time the contract was annulled.
Carr and Turton estimated the value of work done at and material on hand
at $34,614.55, and Reuben Clark appraiser on the part of the State,
estimated the same at $27,448.82, making a difference in the estimate
of $7,170.73; and it is not unfair to assume that Clark's estimate was
correct, he being Superintendent of the work.
Without impugning the honesty, or reflecting upon the judgment or
disinterestedness of the majority of the Board of Appraisers, it is
but fair to presume that Mr. Clark, with a thorough knowledge of the
business, and having had constant supervision of the work, estimated
the work and materials ut their correct value.
After thu two appraisers were appointed, who were, if they failed to
agree, to appoint a third, the proceedings, as we recollect, were brought
to a standstill for some time by a failure on the part of the two to
agree on a third. One was finally accepted on the part of the State,
with whom the appraiser of Feunell & Co. was satisfied; and the result
was the award the correctness and justice of which the Committee question.
The State was compelled to pay $7,170.73 more than the Superintendent of
the Capitol building believed the materials of Fennell & Co. were worth.
In all such instances the State, as a general rule, is the sufferer.
In consequence of the amount paid for salaries, etc , the Alta
expresses the opinion "that there has been gross incompetency or gross
dishonesty in the management." The Commissioners performed their duties,
we believe, faithfully under the law. The first year their duties were
somewhat laborious and responsible. They had a plan to adopt and a
contract to let. True, it might all have been done for less money, but
the compensation of the Commissioners was fixed by law, and they took
simply what the law allowed them. Last year when the appropriation was
reduced to $50,000, the compensation of the Commissioners should have
been reduced in proportion. But the $50,000 yet in the appropriation
is to be expended under the direction of the Commissioners, and the
work is to go on. This was the object our Senators had in view, and
they are entitled to the credit of having secured it handsomely. They
have secured the continuation of the work on the Capitol building until
the present appropriation ia expended. By next Winter Sacramento will
be in a condition to confidently expect another appropriation to continue
the building of the State House. . . .
NOME CULT AND OTHER RESERVATIONS.-- John B. Clark, Special Indian Agent of
the Northern District of California, was recently in Red Bluff, and states
that nearly double the amount of land on this Reservation has been fenced
in this season, and much better crops expected than have been raised
heretofore. As a substitute for the Klamath Reservation, which was
destroyed by high water, a large tract of land has been purchased on
Smith river, stocked and planted with crops. The Nome Lackee Reservation
is in a miserable condition, and the Red Bluff Independent advocates the
project of selling it. It says this would open a large tract of fine land,
sufficient for a hundred white families, while the Indians could and
should be removed to Nome Cult, where they can be better cared for and
kept much cheaper than where they now are. . . .
THE TELEGRAPH NORTH. -- Strong, who is now engaged on the line between
Yreka and Portland, says he will have it completed in about four months.
A new line is also to be built south of Yreka on the Sacramento river,
which will greatly add to the present facilities. The old line is much
injured between Yreka and Weaverville, many of the poles having been
washed away. . . .
p. 3
. . .
CITY INTELLIGENCE.. . .
Rising. -- The water in the lower part of the city rose two or three
inches yesterday afternoon, caused doubtless by additional contributions
from the American river, produced by the late rains. . . .
p. 4
. . .
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION..]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, April 1, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Tuesday's proceedings,
after 8:45 o'clock, when the report closed for the Sacramento boat] :
ASSEMBLY BILLS . . .
Assembly amendments to Senate Bill No. 251 -- An Act concerning the repair
and construction of levees in the county of Sacramento, and the mode of
raising revenue therefor -- were concurred in. . . .
THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY ANTI-FENCE BILL.
Mr. BURNELL moved to take Senate Bill No. 252 [the anti-fence bill drawn
up for the benefit of the farmers of Sacramento county] from the hands of
the Sacramento delegation, and refer it to the Committee on Agriculture.
He had some interest in Sacramento county, and paid taxes there.
Mi. HEACOCK said it provided that only that portion of Sacramento county
lying south of the American river, which has been overflowed, should be
in any manner affected. All the fences had been carried off, and farmers
owning stock were required to keep it fenced. The question involved was
whether $15,000 should prevent the raising of $100,000 worth of produce,
and have the freedom, besides, to destroy orchards and farms to the amount
of $200,000. The gentleman from Amador was not affected by it except so
far as his cattle might stray down into Sacramento county.
Mr. BURNELL said it must be apparent to all that the Senator from
Sacramento who had just spoken was not the proper party to judge fairly
as to the merits of that bill. He (Mr. Burnell) had looked it through,
and it was one of the most outrageous bills that any legislative body
had ever brought before it. It confiscated every man's property that
was running at large. He wished it referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, to obtain their opinion of it. If there was anything
defective in it. he was desirous it should be surrounded with proper
safeguards. He made the motion now, rather than after it had been
reported, because he wished to produce no delay.
Mr. HEACOCK said the delegation would report it tomorrow morning. He
preferred the question should come up then. They would try to get it
through if possible. He called for a division, and the question was
first taken on vacating the order.
The ayes had it by a close vote.
Mr. HEACOCK disputed the count, and was about appealing from the
decision of the Chair, when --
Mr. GALLAGHER proposed to let the bill go to the file and come up in due
time on its merits.
Mr. HEACOCK assented to that if the gentleman from Amidor was willing. .
Mr. BURNELL was satisfied. If the bill stood on its merits he did not
think it would stand long. Placed on file. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3438, 5 April 1862 p. 1
. . . .
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, April 2, 1862.
THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR called the Senate to order . . .
END OF THE CAPITAL AGITATION.
Senate Bill No. 218 -- An Act to authorize the State Capitol Commissioners
to cancel and annul the contract for the construction of the foundations
and basement walls of the State Capitol building -- came up at the head
of the file.
[Mr. .MERRITT in the chair.]
The amendment of the Committee on Claims was read by the Secretary --
striking out all after the enacting clause, and inserting the following:
Section 1st provides for the release of Blake & Connor, paying them
$10,000 for damages.
Section 2d provides that the architect shall so modify the plans as to
bring the aggregate cost of the building within $500.000.
Sections 3d 4th and 5th provide that the Commissioners shall be authorized
to sell such material as will not be applicable to the modified plan,
together with that which was damaged; then to contract for the delivery
of any material needed to be put, with the material on hand, into the
building by days' work, under the direction of the Superintendent
(,Mr. Clark), not to exceed in the aggregate the amount of the
appropriation unexpended.
Mr. DE LONG said as he understood the report of the Committee on Claims,
they had finally agreed with the friends of Blake & Connor to remodel the
bill so as to allow the work of going on until the appropriation was
exhausted. He was not going to make a speech, but merely said on behalf
of those he represented, that he protested against it. From the present
state of finances it was inexpedient to continue the erection of a Capitol
in that locality. It was the hight of insane folly at present to continue
upon that magnificent scale, when it would be uncertain for months to come
whether it would ever be of any value to the State. He hoped they would do
no such unwise act as to adopt this amendment. The original bill proposed
to stop the work and save $49.000. All this talk about the material going
to waste amounted to nothing, because Blake & Conner themselves had informed
him that the material was of such a nature that it could not be destroyed
either by fire or flood. All that could float had been washed away. The
materials would bring their first cost easily. This going on by the day
he did not believe in.
Mr. PORTER said he believed the substitute provided for a change of plan,
and for day"s work instead of contract work. He would like to know how
they were going to carry on the day's work economically. He concurred
fully with the remarks of the gentleman from Yuba.
Mr. GASKELL thoughti prudence dictated that they should not expend
further money. He concurred with Mr. De Long also.
Mr. Harvey said it appeared to him Senators did not take as comprehensive
a view of this matter as they ought. He held that if the people of this
State suspended work on their Capitol, the effect would be to lose instead
of save money. There was taxable property at Sacramento last year which
brought in a revenue of $100,000. This year, if the work were stopped,
it would be so depreciated as not to bring in more than $10,000. As a
matter of policy, and mere finance, it would be cheaper to go on. If it
cost $50,000, or half a million, the whole was but little in comparison
to the development of that portion of the country. He had no more doubt
than he had of his existence that if the opportunity was given them, the
people of Sacramento would protect themselves and the public works. He
urged that the opportunity should be given them. If the Legislature
stopped this work, they would depress every interest in Sacramento; but
if by their acts they showed that they desired to develop that country,
a fair inducement would be held out to go ahead.
Mr. BURNHILL said it was admitted that the agricultural interest was the
soul and life of the community. He knew of no act that would be so
successful in preventing a large amount of revenue from coming into
the treasury, as stopping the work at Sacramento. It looked almost like
a direct act with that object in view. He had been informed that even
as matters now stood property had decreased there in value one half.
Mr. SHAFTER asked the Senator from Sutter how the
Committee made out $10,000 of damages to Blake & Connor.
Mr. PARKS referred him to the report of the Committee on Claims, and
repeated several of the items for his information.
Mr. SHAFTER desired to know whether allowance was made in these figure
for throwing up sub-contracts.
Mr. PARKS said that was what it was for in several cases.
Mr. SHAFTER said he would be very sorry to suppose for a moment that
anything he could say would affect the result; he had no idea it would.
But he must express his dissent from all work going on this year. As a
mere business question, he regarded the proceeding as prodigal and
extravagant. The money involved was $40,000 in round numbers. The brick,
etc., could be sold for cost. Last year there was a little hitch in the
bill, to which he took exception, when the Senators from Sacramento
begged him not to interfere, because it would look like enmity. He
thought then the Capital should be at Sacramento, and thought so still,
notwithstanding the flood, because he was not disposed to believe that
the calamity was severe enough to warrant a removal. He did not think
Sacramento the most suitable place to build a Capitol, but was of the
opinion, nevertheless, that it could be built there safely. Upon the
present plan, however, he looked as a piece of extravagance. California
would not complete it in the next fifty yean. It wai nonsensical to talk
about the greatness of the Golden State. We had not the money. There was
a general disposition to go in debt not only on the part of the State,
but of individuals. The friends of Sacramento should, in self protection,
let this matter rest for a single year. The Capitol scheme would cost
three million dollars in his opinion, and he had seen a numher of State
Capitols put up. That forty thousand dollars was not going to do any
good at all. He did not believe it would build the first story, and
after having spent it, they would have uncovered walls left as at present.
If it should turn out that a different plan must be adopted, the whole
would be lost. Had he been a member of the Legislature he would have
opposed the building of the Capitol altogether, and favored the purchasing
of the Sacramento Court House. Live within our means. The whole matter
of the Capitol was like the prodigal who squandered all before he even
came into an inheritance. It was our duty to economize. He was opposed
to putting $3,000,000 into the Capitol for grandeur. He wanted the Capitol
for business. Were Senators going to convince people that that whole
country was not five to ten feet under water? It was like a sea -- a
waste of water twenty-five or thirty miles in view at any point. Should
the Legislature swear now that there was none there at all. [Applauee
in the lobby.] It was absurd. The water was there and everybody knew
it. It inundated that city and nobody could deny it. They were beaten
out of town, notwithstanding the attacks of newspapers about personal
convenience, etc., by absolute necessity, if they went on with the work
it would only show that the Legislature was as mad as that people were
unfortunate. When they demonstrated, as he had no doubt they would within
two months, that Sacramento was a safe and good place, there would be
time left to build the Capitol. He did not like to see the friends of
contractors so nervous as to lose all sense of propriety. The contractors
had been smitten by the act of God, and were justly entitled to relief
from the State, which was more able to bear it than they were. San
Francisco did not need the Capital. Her natural advantages would enable
her to maintain her supremacy without it. Stockton, Marysville and Marin
county had their institutions; Sacramento was entitled to the Capital.
These local interests should be met in such a manner as to keep a balance
of power, if possible, among the various districts.
Mr. NIXON said he intended to occupy but a very few moments of time. The
delegation had already occupied time sufficient, and he had no doubt every
Senator's mind had been made up already; consequently nothing he could say
would affect the result. In regard to Mr. Shatter's remarks, much that he
had said he agreed with. He believed that the location of the Capital at
Sacramento was acquiesced in by the people of the State of California, and
until the recent calamity we had heard no voice to find fault. But since
the adjournment of the Legislature to this city, schemes had been set on
foot, as he thought, looking towards a permanent removal. Indeed, it had
been avowed on this floor that such were the intentions of the people of
one locality at least. It had been asserted that this expenditure was
unjustifiably prodigal and criminal. He took issue with the Senator from
San Francisco in that respect, and said, in reply, that there was no such
thing as prodigality in the plans and specifications. He believed the
building was none too capacious to afford the Legislature, the different
departments, etc., suitable room for the transaction of the business of
the State. The plans and specifications were perhaps the best that could
be found in any State of this Union. Ample room was provided, because the
young and growing State seemed to demand it. He did not believe this State
was poor in its resources. The people of California, in commencing a
Capitol, should commence it with a view to the ultimate wealth and
prosperity of the State. This Capitol, he was informed, could be built
for about $500,000, to afford all the room intended by the original plan;
but it would have to be built of different material. With foundations and
walls of granite, and the interior to agree, it certainly might be made
to cost $2,000,000. But if close economy was to govern the decisions of
the Legislature, he was willing to acquiesce; but in justice to the people
he represented, he thought the unexpended appropriation should not he
discontinued. It was merely asked that the money in the present
appropriation might be left in the hands of the Commissioners. The people
of this State were noted for their energy, and he did not think the people
of Sacramento would be so despairing as to neglect their own defense. It
would depress property to have the news go out, that in consequence of the
insecurity of buildings at Sacramento, the State had been obliged to suspend
work on the Capitol. The Legislature should avoid doing that which would
unnecessarily depress any portion of the State, let alone the policy of
depressing the whole of the real estate of the second city of the State.
It was not the paltry sum of forty thousand dollars that made him advocate
the continuance of work, but if the Commissioners were allowed to go on,
the word would not go out that they were unable to protect their property
from periodical floods visiting the Sacramento valley. In regard to the
opposition Sacramento had met from some quarters, he had no particular
fault to find. He knew the constituencies of many gentlemen present had,
in the past, contended for the capital in their respective towns and
villages. Their hopes had been excited afresh. The Senator from San
Francisco stated that the Legislature were driven out of Sacramento.
Perhaps they were. Hundreds of others were driven out. It was represented
as a matter of great doubt whether Sacramento would not be entirely
abandoned. As the suspicion was altogether unfair, he did not wish it
to rest upon them by stopping work during the coming year. He had been
informed several days ago that $150,000 was raised for the Capital at
Marysville. All he had to say was that those people were very energetic
and ambitious. He applauded them for it. He had no fault to find with
the Senator from Yuba for contending strenuously on behalf of the interests
of Yuba county, and he hoped others would not blame. The unanimity of the
press against another removal of the Capital was referred to, after which
the Senator took his seat.
Mr. DE LONG said he was making no fight for the removal of the Capital.
If he was, he would ask it in uuqualifiable language. He spoke for his
constituents, and said on their behalf that it was not right to make this
further expenditure at this time. How could he tell hs constituents that
he had acted honestly in voting away their money for this wild project
of building a Capital where eight feet of water stood for months this
Winter? If it was an argument that the valley of the Sacramento was
declared uninhabitable, it would be an argument that San Francisco,
Vallejo and Benicia were uninhabitable also, because the State refused
to build a Capitol there. It was a stubborn fact that the water stood
there, that the streets and the site of the Capitol were subject to the
same catastrophe again. Were they going to delude the world into the
belief that there was no danger by continuing to sink money in that
building. He was in favor of relieving those contractors, because they
had suffered from an act of God. But he did not believe that in order
to do them an act of justice, they should squander $40,000. Col. Connor
was at Benicia, und«r marching orders with his regiment for the East,
and he was for releasing him. But he would rather vote against the whole
bill than lose those $40,000. If the people of Sacramento were as
energetic as their representatives alleged, if they would put up their
seawalls, then why not wait till next Winter?
Mr. NIXON inquired why they were straining themselves at Marysville to
raise funds to get the Capital there?
Mr. DE LONG said he would reply frankly. In consultatiou at Marysville --
although this was entirely foreign to the subject, he would reply as he
had been asked -- he (Mr. De Long) told them that if they would raise
sufficient money to build a Capitol to meet the wants of the people of
the State, all the officers included, place their building upon one of
their public squares in the center of the city where the floods did not
come, then, in another Winter, if Sacramento had not her levees built,
if she remained subject to inundation, and the State finances were still
low and growing worse every year, if they could arm their representative
with a deed and key to that building, and if in the Summer time they
connected themselves by a railway with that city, then they might come
in and compete with Sacramento for the Capital. That was all. There was
no attempt now to change the Capital on the part of anybody. If they placed
this $40,000 into the foundations, would the representatives of Sacramento
be in any better condition to defend themselves against this war upon them,
if a war should be made? He believed this was the very worst policy
Sacramento could pursue, because the $40,000 in the basements would be
lost, and as it took the last cent the State had, the people would unite
to call it extravagant. For his constituents, he would say that the harness
wore them, for they had gone through the experience of heavy taxes. When
the Capital was located at Sacramento there was no intention to prefer
Sacramento to Benicia or any other place because it was Sacramento. The
argument now seemed to be that because Sacramento demanded it they must
go on, on, on with the Capitol. He repeated that he could not go back to
his constituents and tell them as their agent that he had helped to invest
that money for the benefit of Sacramento, instead of the State. Messrs.
Burnell and Harvey were more particularly the representatives of Sacramento,
according to their own showing yesterday. He did not like combinations. If
there was any combination to keep on this contract, he would be opposed to
the whole thing. If Sacramento was properly leveed next year, there would
be no power that could remove the Capital from Sacramento. The only good
that the Capitol had done this Winter, he understood, was that it had
stabled a very fine Durham cow, and he understood the cow had increased
her stock while she was there.
Mr. OULTON said he belonged to the Committee on Claims which reported
this amendment, and it was not sympathy for Sacramento that induced him
to favor a continuance of the work on the Capitol, but he did it because
he believed it the interest of his constituents, and of the entire State,
that this work should go on, and go on in a proper form. He was not a
member of the Legislature that located the Capital at Sacramento, but
those present who were could testify to the fact that this Capital
question was mixed up with every question in the State, even the bulkhead
question. It was for the interest of the people of the State to have pure
legislation, and not to be controlled by such questions as this. By
continuing work on the Capitol this would remain a closed question.
Mr. DE LONG inquired whether they could not logroll just as well if the
work went on.
Mr. OULTON said the people had acquiesced in the decision of the
Legislature making Sacramento the capital. By stopping the work they
would fix public attention on the question whether Sacramento was not an
improper place. The policy of the State was become fixed and permanent.
Our miners and business men had come here to make money and go home again.
We should show those who came here the advantages of a permanent home, and
that the State was prepared to guard, maintain and protect their permanent
interests. In no way could this desirable object be better accomplished
than by the prosecution of this work. Mr. Shafter desired a capitol for
use, and not for ornament The same amendment that he energetically opposed
looked toward a capitol for use and not for ornament. The bill required
that the Architect should, under oath, report thirty days a plan reducing
the whole cost to $500,000.
Mr. SHAFTER said that was exactly the law now.
Mr. OULTON said the fact furnished one good reason why this bill was
necessary. He quoted from the report to show that one-third of the whole
appropriation thus far had been spent for purposes which did not further
the construction of the building.
Mr. SOULE -- You don't propose to make any change in the officers?
Mr. OULTON said they did propose to make a change with regard to the
officers. The Commissioners could be made to obey the law just as well
as any other officers. He thought this bill would keep them inside of
$500,000. If it did not, let the astute Senator from Alameda offer an
amendment that would. As to the damages allowed in the bill, $10,000,
he considered it a little too large. He believed the interests of the
people would be furthered by prosecuting this work in a moderate way.
These Senators that talked about squandering money, he found were just
as ready to vote for big appropriations as any of them. If they had this
Capitol they would have a place to meet without wandering from pillar
to post, a place for the offices and departments, a place for the Supreme
Court, etc.
Mr. GASKELL considered the relief of the contractors just, and the
expenditure of further money in Sacramento this Summer eminently unjust.
Between the internal crash that was going on now in Sacramento, he
believed that this would only add to their grievances. He referred
to an address in the Union to the Legislature, signed by leading
citizens, and looking upon their future prospects in the most gloomy
manner. They were fighting among themselves in regard to the best
manner of governing themselves. If the Legislature were to assist
them through their present difficulties, he thought it would have a
bad effect. Nothing but an act of Providence could declare that either
Sacramento or the Sacramento Valley was uninhabitable. This was an
unequal contest -- the people of Sacramento against the verdict of
the Almighty. Nevertheless, he hoped they might succeed. If the
Legislature decided that this work could go on, this beautiful little
fight between the Senate and Citizens' Charter would be renewed, and
next Winter they would return to Sacramento to find that between the
two they hnd done nothing to protect themselves against the floods.
They admitted themselves that this would be the last feather to break
the camel's back. He believed that if the Charter Bill was passed,
that would he the last feather to break the camel's back. Rather than
submit to the enormous taxation that was proposed, people would flee
from the city. The friends of this expenditure were uuwllling to
appropriate a cent for the reclamation of the hundreds of human beings
that had become degraded to the lowest depths from the use of liquor,
and yet they were in favor of appropriating $5,000,000 for the purpose
of keeping Sacramento up. He was sorry that the friends of the
contractors should make such a combination on this measure, if they
had made the combination as he supposed, he was not in favor of building
a mighty Capitol at Sacramento whose dome should reach high iuto the
heavens, while its base should rest on six feet of slush.
Mr. OULTON said this thing of getting up a cry of "a combination" was
something like the trick about mad dog. It was not right that a combination
should be charged unless they could allege something to support the
hypothesis. He did not believe there was any combination.
Mr. GASKELL said he did not assert that any combination existed,
and he hoped not.
Mr. PARKS asked why he had insinuated it, then.
Mr. GASKELL said the bill was prima facie evidence of it.
Mr. QUINT said the Capital had long been a floating institution.
The constituents of almost every Senator wanted it now. In watching
this matter with a jealous eye the people of Sacramento did justly,
and wh t [sic] they should do. He narrated the several steps by which
the Capital had been located at Sacramento, and quoted from the Act
describing the land, which was not to take effect until the people
of Sacramento had purchased and donated that land to the State. If
Sacramento had failed in her part of the contract, he wished some
Senator to state wherein. She had spent some $68,000 or $70,000 for
that land. Had not the State held possession of it, and reaped the
benefit of it.
Mr. DE LONG, by leave of Mr. Quint, moved to strike out sections five,
six, seven and eight of the bill, authorizing the Commissioners to go on
with the work. He would subsequently move to insert an additional section,
providing that the work shall stop until again directed to proceed by
the Legislature.
Mr. CRANE thought the proposition made by the Senator from Yuba did not
meet the idea.
Mr. RHODES suggested that by striking out these sections the bill would,
in substance and effect, be nothing else than the substitute bill.
Mr. DE LONG said Senators did not seem to understand it, ami mixed up the
two questions.
Mr. PARKS thought it very unfair that the gentleman from Yuba should ask
leave to make a motion, and then move an amendment that would cut off the
very speech that he was making.
Mr. QUINT continued his remarks. Senators all were willing to release
the present contractors. Sacramento was as much a party to the contract
as Blake & Connor. He thought Senators were not disposed to act towards
Sacramento with the same spirit of fairness that they were towards
Blake & Connor. Now why not?
Mr. RHODES said he was not in favor of releasing them if the contract
was to go on.
Mr. QUINT said he was not in favor of visiting upon Sacramento such an
infliction as the removal of the Capital would be. Every one knew what
effect the temporary removal of the Legislature from Sacramento -- which
was considered as an entering wedge to the permanent removal -- had had
upon property in that city. He argued that the several Acts of 1860 and
1861, in connection with the State Capitol, made Sacramento a party to
the contract. There was no use in disguising the fact that the location
of Sacramento had given it an importance that would otherwise have left
its lands and property almost worthless. What was the cause of it? There
was no question that the location of the Capital had a great deal to do
with it. There was last year some eight million dollars of taxable property
there. Anything tending toward a removal of the Capital would decrease
real estate one-half. If it were removed, property would not be worth
one-quarter of what it was last year. There was no doubt the report of
the Assessor would be so affected. The effect of a suspension of the work,
while an appropriation of $40,000 was left unexpended, would be to depress
the people with the idea that the removal of the Capital was a fixed fact,
and their energies would be palsied, instead of causing them to take hold
with energy, as they would do if the appropriation went on. It was their
duty to encourage and aid the people of Sacramento in such a case. Instead
of stopping the work, they should, if anything, appropriate more money. He
had no doubt whatever but Sacramento would protect herself against any
future flocd. Was $8,000,000 of property not sufficient to protect itself?
If they removed the Capital, then that $8,000,000 would next week not be
worth $2,000,000, and that amount might not be able to protect itself. The
amendment of the gentleman from Yuba was unjust and would be seriously felt.
He had no doubt of it at all that the great majority of the people of this
State were in favor of keeping the Capital at Sacramento, where it had been
these number of years. That the turning of the appropriation would have the
effect he described, he had no doubt whatever.
Mr. BAKER said when this measure first came up he was indisposed to spend
any further money out of this appropriation, except to relieve the
contractors. But since the introduction of the substitute, he must say
that he was in favor of it in its purity. His reasons were, that if the
Capitol did not go on toward completion there would be a permanent
removal on foot, and the question would be before the Legislature next
session. They would spend more money in discussing a permanent removal
next session, than the whole of the appropriation would amount to if
it were thrown away. If they stopped the work now, it would be understood
by the people generally --if he had understood the talk -- that this
Capitol would be considered on wheels, as it had been before. It would
be considered an open question at the next Legislature. But if they
went on with the building it would settle that question in the public
mind. So far as the question of economy was concerned, they expended
$39,000 for the purpose of keeping this work on its usual routine. If
they withheld it they would depreciate property in Sacramento city and
valley to an extent, as well remarked by the Senator from El Dorado,
so serious as to cost our State, perhaps, a greater amount in revenue.
Again, the people of Sacramento had suffered great calamities in
consequence of the flood. Now supposing it took half the property of
the Sacramento valley to reclaim the country from inundation, they were
yet bound to do it; and he doubted very much whether good would not
come to the State by such an expenditure of $500,000 to reclaim the
valley of the Sacramento, instead of letting it remain its present
condition where private parties would not be able to effect anything.
The value of the State consisted, in a great degree of the agricultural
interests of the Sacramento valley. If this work went on, it would brace
up the value of the property and the courage of the people of Sacramento,
and it would enable them to secure the city from further inundatlon,
while at the same time the State would lose nothing financially. While
it would promote the interests of the people of Sacramento, it would do
them nothing more than justice.
Mr. PARKS said if he had not been alluded to on several occasions he
would not have said a word. He did not suppose what he would say would
change the vote, but he must confess that the opposition to this bill
had been driven to some of the most violent assumptions and extraordinary
positions he had ever heard of in debate. The Senator from Butte
(Mr. Gaskell) undertook to say it was impracticable to construct a
Capitol at Sacramento, because there was an irrepressible conflict
between the people as to the way they should govern themselves. This
was one heavy argument, and after making a rambling debate, not relative
to the point at all, he wound up by saying that there was an irrepressible
conflict between the citizens of Sacramento and God Almighty. He presumed
to hope that the citizens of Sacramento would conquer. [Laughter.] These
were violent propositions, but they were no more ridiculous than some
of the arguments that preceeded his. The gentleman from Yuba founded
all his arguments on the proposition that the $39.000 to be expended
at Sacramento would be squandered -- thrown into a mud hole, and rendered
worthless. Starting on this false position, as he was very capable of
doing, he got a wide range from the merits of the bill. It was a violent
assumption that money appropriated for a Capitol was squandered. The bill
provided that every dollar should go into the State Capitol, not a dollar
to public officers; it released the contractors, and had no other purpose
in the world. That argument consequently did not hold good. In his opinion
it was to the very best interests of the people of the State to slowly
and gradually erect their Capitol at Sacramento. The question had been
once discussed, and he believed it would be detrimental to open it again.
As the figures showed $100,000 had been expended already, the State had
paid for all the preliminaries, and he believed it was to our best
interests to progress slowly with the work. Let the $39,000 left in the
appropriation be expended in a legitimate manner. The Senator from San
Francisco (Mr. Shafter) appealed to the friends of Sacramento that they
should not be too tenacious in this matter for the interests of Sacramento.
He (Mr. Parks) owned not a dollar of property in Sacramento; he had never
been
Sacramento. His desire was to have this question of a Capital settled,
and finally settled. All would remember the circumstances under which the
Capital was located. Whether it was thought that the State was in a proper
financial condition or not, necessities demanded that the bill to erect a
Capital should pass, and it did pass. The citizens of Sacramento condemned
$68,000 worth of property and donated it to the State, which had already
spent $150,000 on the Capitol. It was too great an amount to warrant
flattered by her press, nor had the citizens shown him attentions. Nor
did he owe them one dollar. But he was prompted to support the bill on
behalf of the interests of his own constituents as well as the people of
the opening up of this question again. These remarks he merely made to show
that the friends of the bill had no local interest in Sacramento. He did
not presume that the gentleman from Siskiyou had any local interest there.
He knew that he had none himself. After a thorough examination of affairs
as they now stood it was, he believed, to the advantage of the State to
go on. Whilst there had been unnecessary expenditures, this bill prevented
anything of the kind in future. There had been much said about the expense
of this Capitol. The very plan first submitted by the architect and adopted
would have built it for $500,000, without diminishing the size one brick.
But the Commissioners took it upon themselves to make a much more
extravagant building, without increasing the size or plan. It was the
peculiar style of architecture that made it so expensive -- the use of
stone from the base to the dome. The Committee had ascertained that the
work had not progressed so far that the State would be very much the loser
by modifying the plan of the Commissioners, so as to agree with the
original plan of building with brick. Then the whole thing would come
within the purview of $500,000. The Committee had offered a section, making
it obligatory upon the builders so to modify the plan. All that was
necessary was to construct the Capitol of the same size as the
Commissioners' plan, only of different material. The architect was
obliged to make his statement under oath, in order that the Commissioners
might be governed thereby. It was objected that the Commissioners might
not act in accordance with the plan. He would say that they had entirely
changed, that there was only one of the old ones left; and he had no
doubt the present Commissioners would acquiesce in the plan firrst
anticipated. The Senator from Yuba undertook to put the friends of
the present contractors in a peculiar position, by threatening them,
if they did accept of his terms, to refuse to release them entirely
unless the work was not positively and unequivocally stopped. He
(.Mr. Parks) was not desirous of placing their release upon any such
conditions. If it was right to release them at all, it was right to
release them whether the building continued or not. The amendment of
the Senator from Yuba was nothing more nor less than the original bill,
of which this was amendatory. He could not have drawn it nearer to the
original proposition.
Mr. GASKELL asked whether the gentleman was not opposed to the original bill?
Mr. PARKS replied in the affirmative, and said he was so still. He was
then charged with being the enemy of the contractors; and without
conversation to-day he was charged with being their friend. He was not
their friend. He wished to see whether the walls were to be let alone,
and tumbled down to the ground again or not. That was his ground for
relieving them. Under no consideration in the world would he release
those contractors if it was made contingent that the work must stop,
that the walls must tumble down and go to decay and the materials be
wasted, thereby losing all the State owned in the matter for the mere
purpose of releasing the contractors. He hoped the friends of these men
would not be guided at all by such threats. He did not know whether they
were going to support the bill of the Committee on Claims, except one,
who, being a member of that Committee acquiesced in the bill. It was in
bad taste for the gentleman from Yuba to make such a threat.
Mr. GASKELL did not like to see the gentleman put the representative of
Yuba in a false position while he was absent.
Mr. PARKS said he was not responsible for the Senator's making a speech
and running away before he was answered. That was an additional instance
of bad taste, if anything. He (Mr. Parks) was sorry himself the gentleman
was not here. There were not two separate propositions. The Legislature,
in acting upon the matter, must look to what condition it left the capitol
in after the contractors were released. He was willing and free to give
the contractors an additional amount upon the understanding that the
State would hereafter be protected. If the property of the State could
be protected -- the building progressed with slowly and surely; if the
citizens of Sacramento could be dealt with in good faith, as he believed
they should be and could, then he was not opposed to their release. The
gentleman from Yuba accused him the other day of moving to recommit solely
for purposes of delay, and himself demanded a square fight. Now he placed
him in the position of a friend of the contractors. It was a square
proposition -- the figures were all before the Senate -- whether this
State should proceed with the little sum of thirty-nine thousand dollars;
should take care of the material on the ground, put it slowly and surely
into the building between this and next Winter. The proposition that
Sacramento was uninhabitable was absurd and hardly worth replying to.
They appealed to you to rest the building until it was determined whether
Sacramento was inhabitable or not. He did not consider that a question
at all. It had met disaster. Other cities had met disasters before and
were prosperous still. He was as confident that Sacramento was inhabitable
as San Francisco. If th«y could protect their $8,000,000 of property,
then the Capitol was safe. He hoped the amendment of the gentleman from
Yuba would be voted down.
Mr. Harvey said the gentleman from Yuba had replied to his remarks that
this thing of declaring Sacramento uninhabitable was played out. He would
mention one strong point bearing on the matter, which was worthy of
consideration. It was estimated before the flood that there were some
eight and a half millions' worth of property in the city. Since then the
value had fallen, until it was now estimated at six millions. He held
that the effect of suspending that work at the present time would be so
depressing to the city that the revenue of the State would be reduced
directly move than $40,000. It affected the credit of the State at home
and abroad. He thought Senators ought to take comprehensive views with
regard to this question. A combination was charged upon him and the Senator
from Amidor, and it was said that they were interested in Sacramento. He
had no interests in Sacramento at all; but he took the grounds he did
because he believed them to be for the interest of the State. The gentleman
from Yuba was at one time fighting one interest and then another. Yesterday
he took into his charge the interests of San Francisco, and was fighting
the delegation.
Mr. GALLAGHER believed he was the party alluded to by the representatives
of Butte and Yuba, as forming combinations. He would take part of the
responsibility at least, and would not be very sensitive neither. The
remarks made by him upon this floor, and as reported in the public press,
had been invariably the same on this point, that he never would, by any
vote or act, do anything tending to a permanent removal of the Capital
from Sacramento. He said so still, believing Sacramento, from its position,
to be the place for the Capital. He called the attention of Senators to
the fact that if the Legislature had adjourned last Monday, according to
the resolution adopted, the Capital contract would not have been modified,
this wise provision not incorporated, and the contractors obliged to go
on with the same expensive structure. By looking at the bill, it would be
found that the whole work would be allowed to cost only $500,000, and that
the $39,000 would be expended this Summer through the agency of the
architect, a gentleman whose honesty and competency no Senator would deny.
One consideration in favor of the bill was that the people of this State
would have a stronger and more abiding confidence in Sacramento and her
ability to protect her property than could possibly exist if this
appropriation were stopped. Some hard language had been used in regard to
the friendship he was manifesting on behalf of the Capitol contractors.
He was proud to see now that everybody considered it only as an act of
justice to relieve them. Not that they had a bad contract, for they could
have made a handsome profit. But no man could look into the future and
see what devastations were to take place by flood and fire. He would
support the bill as recommended by the Committee on Claims, which was
adopted by them after a careful investigation, by, perhaps, as close
financiers as any that sat upon this floor, or ever occupied a seat in
the Senate of California.
Mr. HILL said, after the feeling and eloquent appeal made by the Senators
from Sacramento, he might be induced to waver as to how he should vote on
this bill. But he submitted that the interests of a thousand fellow
citizens, who had suffered equally with the Sacramentans, rose up and
demanded that they should not place upon their shoulders a burden, and
grasp from them the last plank for the Sacramentans to float on, leaving
them to sink. Upon this consideration he at once determined to vote
against a further continuation of the work on the State Capitol as unwise.
He differed as to the effect it would have on Sacramento. He believed it
would be more politic for the Sacramentans to have it stopped than
continued. It would be a stimulus upon their energies, and cause them to
go work und build a levee big enough to convince the incoming Legislature
that they were secure. What effect would a few thousand dollars have in
laying up the bricks and mortar on hand, if Sacramento did not convince
the next Legislature that they were secure from the flood? None at all.
It would be a detriment to Sacramento. It would exasperate the feelings
of the public, at seeing that their money had been so foolishly expended.
If it should ever be his fortune to be in the Senate again, and he trusted
it would not, he would always vote, on the permanent removal question,
" No." . . .
The question was taken on the amendments nf Mr. De Long, striking out
all that portion relating to the continuance of work on the State Capital.
They were rejected viva voce. by a strong vote in the negative.
The amendment (or substitute) of the Committee on Claims was adopted on
a division -- ayes, '28; noes not counted.
On the final passage of the bill, Messrs. Williamson, Shafter and Parks,
demanded the ayes and noes
Mr. PORTER hoped that memorial would be read. It contained some valuable
information. . . .
The memorial was ordered read by a vote, and the Secretary went though it
in about fifteen minutes. It is a prosy repetition of speeches in the
Legislature this Winter, and winds up by recommending Sutterville as the
site for the genuine Sacramento of the future. The fact was also stated
that the memorialist owned property there which would answer for the
Capitol to stand on.
The question was taken on orderiing the bill to a third reading, with
the following result:
Ayes -- Baker, Banks, Burnell, Chamberlain, Denver, Doll, Gallagher,
Harvey, Harriman, Hathaway, Heacock, Holden, Irwin, Kutz, Merritt,
Nixon, Parks, Quint, Shurtliff, Vineyard, Watt, Williamson -- 22.
Noes -- Crane, Gaskell, Hill, Kimball, Pacheco, Porter, Powers, Rhodes,
Shafter, Soule -- 10.
The bill was then passed by precisely the same vote
Mr. PARKS moved the adoption of the Committee title -- An Act to authorize
the Stnte Capitol Comniissioners to cancel and annul the contract for
building the foundation and basement walls of the State Capitol building
at Sacramento, and to settle with the contractors therefor.
Mr. RHODES moved to amend that title so as to declare that the Sacramento
valley was inhabitable. As that was the object of the bill, it should be
in the title. It was the strongest point in the argument.
Mr. PARKS said it was not germaln [aic] to the subject of the bill.
Mr. GASKELL hoped it would go all over the country that the Sacramento
valley was inhabitable.
The PRESIDENT ruled the motion out of order, on the ground that no such
language was in the bill, which must be titled in accordance with its
provisions, and not with the arguments used in its favor.
An appeal was taken and the Chair sustained. The forty-fifth rule was
suspended, and bill sent to the Assembly. . . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, April 3, 1862.
The President pro tem.(Mr. Shafter) called the Senate to order at
11 o'clock, . . .
Mr. NIXON moved to reconsider the vote on the Senate bill relating to the
levees of Sacramento city, by which the Assembly amendments were concurred in.
Mr. RHODES said there was an error in the amendments, and the object was
to make all the amendments agree.
The motion wa» carried, the amendments nonconcurred in, and the bill
sent back to the House. . .
p. 2
. . .
LEVEE BUILDING.
OFFICE OF SWAMP LAND COMMISSIONERS, }
SACRAMENTO, April 4, 1882, }
James P. Harris, J. McNamara and Philip E. Drescher -- Gentlemen: By
letter from my friend Mr. Drescher, dated March 24, 1862, I learn that
your citizens residing in Reclamation District No, 1 held a meeting not
long since at the town of Nicolaus, in Sutter county, at which you were
appointed a Committee to confer with the Board of Swamp Land Commissioners,
in relation to the amount of money that would be due to that portion of the
district, according to the engineer's estimate, and whether we would be
willing to let you have that amount if you build the levee according to
the plan and instructions of the Commissioners. As a reason for the request,
he says: "We apprehend that the levee proposed by the engineer to be built
with the Swamp Land Fund will not be strong enough to withstand the current
of water above the town of Nicolaus, therefore the settlers have called a
meeting to take some action in conjunction with the honorable Board of
Swamp Land Commissioners to insure a substantial and safe levee on this
part of the District, which levee of itself will reclaim one-fourth of the
area of District No. 1."
To this inquiry you ask a written answer to be laid before your citizens
at a future meeting. We have now thirty-four districts established in
this State, embracing nearly four hundred thousand acres of swamp land,
and as the people in those districts are all alike interested in my answer,
I shall publish it for general information.
I am not content with the more legal performance of legal duty as one of
the Commissioners; but while acting in that capacity I want to do all the
good I can by reclaiming the swamp lands, and, if possible, incidentally
helping our citizens who have suffered so much from the late and most
disastrous floods.
Whenever a petition is presented to us, signed by the holders of patents
and certificates of purchase of swamp lands that are susceptible of being
reclaimed in one body, and the petitioners represent one-third of the
number of acres in the tract described, it is our duty to appoint an
engineer to make an examination and survey of that tract of land. He
is to report its condition and cost of complete reclamation; we examine
the report and adopt his or some other plan of reclamation. After the
report is adopted, we advertise thirty days for proposals to do the work,
and then award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder, unless we
deem it too high. The contractor enters into bond for double the amount
of the contract, conditioned for its faithful performance. One half of
the contract is to be paid as a given portion of the work is completed
and approved by the engineer; the other half when the whole contract is
done.
The ninth section of the Reclamation Swamp Land Act of May 13, 1861,
provides that "whenever it shall be found necessary to use any levee or
embankment, or other means of reclamation, which has been constructed by
any person owning lands, the said levee, embankment, or other work shall
be measured, estimated, and paid for to said owners at the contract price,
and the sum so paid shall be deducted from the amount to be paid the
contractor."
From this brief statement you will learn precisely what we can do. If
your citizens go on and build the levees so as to become a portion of
the plan to be adopted, and the engineer reports that it is done properly,
we are bound to pay for it at the contract price. Our object is to hasten
the protection of your homes against another flood. If you build the levees
yourselves, we feel assured that you will, for your own safety, do it well.
As to the sufficiency of the Swamp Land Fund to reclaim your district and
reclaim it well, there can be no doubt; the Engineer reports that there
will be $13,000 to spare, but it will take it all, and if it takes more,
the late amendments to the Swamp Land Act will enable us to raise the
balance by taxation on the property of the district. The money belonging
to each district is, or will be, in the State Treasury for the purpose
of their reclamation, and can only be drawn for the purpose of paying
for the work as it is done.
I trust this answer will be satisfactory; if not, I will with great
pleasure answer any other questions that you may deem necessary for
the promotion of your interests.
Your friend and ob't servant,
A. M. WINN,
President Swamp Land Commission.
p. 3
. . .
CITY INTELLIGENCE.. . .
NEW SIDEWALK. -- The floods of the Winter were destructive alike to private
and public property, respectiug not aught with which they came in contact.
Several of our churches suffered severely from this source. The basement
story and the sidewalks of thu Catholic Church were greatly damaged thereby.
Workmen were engaged yesterday in constructing a new sidewalk on the K street
front, and we are informed that the Seventh street sidewalk will also be
repaired, and the basement as soon as practicable. . . .
RAISED AGAIN. -- The greater portion of the Waverly House, on the
southeast corner of Fifth and K street, settled down about a month ago,
under the influence of the water surrounding it, some three or feet [sic].
Although the buildings are old, they have been raised higher than they were
before, are firmly supported by new timbers underneath, and present a more
substantial appearance than they did before the flood. , , ,
FINE WEATHER. -- Yesterday as a sample of Spring weather gave general
satisfaction. More of the same sort will be generally welcomed and
appreciated. . . .
SINGULAR PHENOMENON. -- The San Mateo Gazette publishes the
annexed narrative, under date of March 29th:
On Monday morning last, William Durham visited the Woodside Dairy Farm,
for the purpose of making some repairs around the surface works, or
receiving reservoir of an old Artesian well on that place. That well
had been dry, or in other words, had not overflown for several years,
but when he reached it, he found it throwing a heavy stream of water
eight feet high -- by far the finest stream in this section of the
country, and was informed that it had been so flowing for several days.
But the most extraordinary feature of all is that, upon examination, the
water was found to contain, as it came from the well, large quantities
of redwood sawdust. Nothing had been done about the well by which the
said dust could get into it there, and there is not a sawmill near, as
far as can be learned, or any other place from which the dust could come,
within six miles of there. The sawdust comes directly up from the bowels
of the earth, and the question seems to be, how it got there. . . .
p. 4
. . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, April 3, 1862.
THE SPEAKER called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
BILLS FROM THE SENATE.
Senate messages were taken up. . . .
Senate Bill No. 218 -- An Act to authorize and direct the State Capitol
Commissioners to cancel and annul the contract for building the foundation
walls of the State Capitol, etc. -- was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Public Buildings. . . .
A GOOD BARGAIN.
A RANCH FOR SALE, CON-
taining 160 acres, situated on the Santa Rosa road, five miles from the
town of Petaluma, Sonoma county, completely fenced with the best kind
of fencing, with cross fences, dwelling house newly built with a good
well, stable, sheds, etc., for farming purposes. There are ten thousand
old and young Grape Vines; about twelve hundred Fruit Trees, situated on
a part of the farm so as to be protected from the winds. It is well wooded,
and has been entirely uninjured by the last floods.
The above is on the Cotate Grant, the most perfect title in the State of
California, which will be sold at a great sacrifice -- for $3,000 -- $1,800
in cash, the rest on a bond of mortgage at two per cent, for two years.
Apply at the Ranch, which is known as Dr. THOMAS' RANCH, or direct your
letters to the Petaluma Post Office, W. H. THOMAS, Dentist. The Proprietor
would not sell the above property had it not been for the floods at
Sacramento. a2-1m . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3439, 7 April 1862 p. 1
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH.
[ SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 3d. . . .
Terrible Gale and Loss or Life.. . .
BOSTON, March 29th.
Nineteen fishing vessels were lost in a gale, which
occurred between the 1st and 4th of February, off Gloucester. By this
disaster 138 fishermen were drowned. . . .
The Gale at Cairo.
CAIRO, April 3d.
A tremendous gale from the southwest passed over Cairo at three o'clock
this morning, and for the time destroying everything movable. Barracks
and houses were leveled to the ground. . . .
The Great Storm at Cairo, Illinois.
CAIRO, April 2d.
In the great storm the shipping at this port was badly damaged.
The loss of life is supposed great. The steamer Philadelphia is reported
sunk and all on board lost. As far as ascertained, the Transport lost five
men blown overboard. Several others had their decks broken. Steam tugs were
early dispatched down the river. What damage was done to the fleet at
Island No. 10 is not known. Hospital boat J. Ives at Mound City was severely
injured and several buildings destroyed. The roof of the St. Charles hotel
at Cairo was blown off. The Cairo and Columbus wharfboat was blown across
the river and now lies high and dry ashore. The steamer Illinois had both
chimneys and the upper cabin blown away, by the falling of which four or
five lives were lost. . . .
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 1862. . . .
On Monday last one of the severest gales ever known in this section of
country visited our city, damaging property and destroying life to a
fearful extent. Not less than a dozen persons received injuries more or
less severe from falling houses, chimneys and signs, and three or four
were killed outright. The heaviest loss of property was sustained by the
Baptist Congregation on Thirteenth street, whose fine church edifice was
almost totally demolished. It was my lot to be passing along an adjacent
street when the accident occurred. The force of the wind was such as to
sweep a man almost entirely off his feet. Chimneys, patent ventilators,
sign boards and other portable articles were flying on all sides. The
tall spire of the Baptist Church, 160 feet in hight, rocked violently,
and, finally, during a tremendous blast of old Boreas, lost its footing
and sank down with a terrific crash, nearly burying the church in the
ruin. Had it fallen otherwise than vertically it must have destroyed a
great many lives in the adjacent buildings, but. as it was, no one was
hurt. The congregation will set to work to repair their loss, and have
the sympathy of the other religious communities of Washington generally.
Trinity Church was also damaged by the gale, but suffered no material
loss. The tents and huts of some of the camps in exposed situations were
levelled to the ground, and several soldiers injured. At Brightwood, a
Sergeant of a New York regiment was killed by the falling of a hut. The
storm prevailed over a wide tract of country, visiting New York and
Boston with its violence.
The tornado of Monday, however, appears to
have been a forerunner of brighter days, in a meteorological sense, for
it scattered the rain clouds and gave us two days of pleasant sunshiny
weather. Under the influence of the sun and wind, the face of the country
has greatly improved and the roads rendered passable again. But rain
fell again on Wednesday, and the weather may hardly yet be considered
settled. The face of the sky is most anxiously consulted, for the belief
is almost universal that only the condition of the roads delays operations
directly from this point against the enemy. . . .
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 1862.
The Sacramento Levee bill has finally passed both houses, and is
being enrolled. It will doubtless be presented to the Governor during:
the afternoon, but not in time to permit of a copy being forwarded to
the UNION by this day's boat. The alteration in the Assembly in relation
to personal property was not correctly made in the first place, and the
bill had to be sent back fron the Senate. It is all straight now, and I
shall be able to send a copy by Monday's boat. The bill taxes real and
personal property equally,.and imposes no per capita tax. The
following gentlemen are appointed Commissioners: Charkes Crocker,
W. F Knox (in place of H. O. Beatty), H. T. Holmes, Francis Tukey and
Charles H. Swift. No other changes have been made in the original bill. . . .
p. 2
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.] . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, April 4. 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
p. 3
BILLS FROM THE SENATE.
The House took up the order of Senate messages. . . .
Senate Bill No. 251 -- An Act concerning the repair and construction of
levees in the county of Sacramento and the mode of raising revenue therefor
(already passed the House) was received from the Senate with a slight
amendment correcting a clerical error, and the amendment was adopted in
concurrence. . . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO Saturday, April 3, 1862.
Lieutenant Governor CHELLIS called the Senate to order at the usual hour, . . .
ASSEMBLY MESSAGES.
The Senate, on motion of Mr. HEACOCK, concurred in the amendments of the
Assembly to Senate Bill No. 251 -- An Act in relation to the levees of
Sacramento and mode of raising revenue therefor -- amendment relating to
taxes on personal property. . . .
p. 4
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH.
[ SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 5th. . . .
The Late Storm.
Cairo, April 3d.
The storm Wednesday morning was very severe at Point Pleasant. Two
soldiers were killed and several wounded by the falling trees at that
place. The steamboat Philadelphia which was blown away in the gale has
been found ashore near Columbus. Three of her crew were lost, and eight
persons were blown overboard from the steamboat America, and drowned. . . .
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE.. . .
FIRE. -- At about nine o'clock last evening, a two-story frame house on
the south side of M street, between Third and Fourth, was destroyed by
fire. The building was owned by J. Kyle, who with his family moved out
of it a few days ago. The fire is presumed to have been the work of an
incendiary. The house was surrounded by three or four feet of water,
but one or two streams were brought to operate upon the fire. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.. . .
SAN FRANCISCO, April 6th.
. . .Miners are leaving Salmon river for the lower country, on account
of scarcity of provisions. It will be a month before provisions can be
taken into the mines. The streams are very high, and snow at the diggings
is ten feet deep. All the papers and their correspondents discourage
present efforts to reach the mines. . . .
LETTER FROM SALT LAKE.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.,]
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, March 21, 1862. . . .
Narrow Escape.
The break and interruption of communication on th« Eastern telegraphic
line last week, though disagreeable and annoying, had at least one good
result -- in saving the life of an unfortunate sister who had got hedged
up in the Big Mountain amid impassable snow. The employes sent out from
this office to repair the line, after a great deal of hard labor and
fatigue, reached a shanty within half a mile of the summit, where they
concluded to take what shelter it might afford to rest themselves and
deposit their provisions and blankets. The snow was very deep everywhere,
and in some places was fourteen feet higher than the poles -- and they are
twenty feet out of the ground. Some stations had also been completely
buried. Seeing a portion of the shanty alluded to above the snow, they
concluded to get in by digging and so commenced, when they were suddenly
startled by hearing a human voice within. They continued their efforts
to break down the door and succeeded in getting in, where they discovered
a helpless woman who had been there for ten days without food, fire or
blankets. She was in a pitiable condition but had life enough in her to
tell her story. As far as I can learn from other sources besides the
telegraph employes, the woman had some time ago left her husband in
St. Louis on account of his bad treatment, and had reached Utah in hopes
of living with sorne friends. Possibly, absence and distance lending
enchantment to hsr reflections on her former home, she resolved very
late in the Fall to attempt the journey back to the States with a little
infant. The Winter overtaking her, she took refuge at a station far east
of this. The persons, discontented with her, treated her unkindly, and
forced her to return to Salt Lake, but retained the child. Becoming crazy,
if she had not been as much before, she set out again to see her child,
and got caught in the heavy storm that covered the mountains with thirty
feet of snow. She had taken refuge in this shanty and could not get out
again. Without other food than what she could conveniently take day by
day -- she had no subsistence to look to on entering the hut -- and for
the ten days that she had been hedged in there she had subsisted on some
few heads of wheat which lay scattered about the stable, which the
better-fed horses of the Mail Company had probably trampled under their
feet. The fortunate break in the wire has saved her life.
Local.
The Salmon River mines are attracting more attention here than is thought
prudent to acknowledge -- Jew and Gentile feels alike interested,
and "spec." runs high.
There is much uneasiness about the melting snows; the Jordan is already
high, and a few days warm sun will make a mighty difference in the volume
of water that will rush through the canon streams. Danger is apprehended.
The roads have been and are still terribly bad. The western mail stage,
one evening this week, stuck about three miles south of this, and the four
horses had to be detached till daylight -- they could not get out the empty
stage. The roads before good are terribly cut up.
By the bye, alluding to mails recalls to my recollection a paragraph in
the UNION of the 7th, alluding to my notice of lost mail matter in a
creek about forty miles to the east of this, on the 11th of January last.
I am pleased to know that no Sacramento mail matter was lost, and would be
equally pleased to learn yet that none from any quarter had been lost;
notwithstanding my statement then was made from the affidavit before me,
and was verily true. Reliability is the ambition of a correspondent, hence
I refer to this again, as I had a suspicion that the paragraph announcing
the Sacramento mails "all safe" admitted of a construction unfavorable
to my former statement. I could not pretend to tell what mail was lost,
as it was not stated in the affidavit: I only knew that five sacks were
lost, and that the Sacramento and San Francisco mails of the dates I gave
must have been in the water at the same time. Let me add, I saw the same
affidavit, or a copy of it, placed in the hands of Mr. Watrous, for perusal,
ten days after, when he passed through here. I think this statement due
the Union, for if we have pride, it is in reliability and being
LIBERAL. . . .
p. 8
LETTER FROM BOSTON.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
BOSTON. Feb. 28, 1862. . . .
Wind, snow, fire, each in turn and out of turn. . . . gentle dripping,
of warm Spring-like rain that came calmly and lazily down from a sky which
had hard work to frown. I sat through the piece, and at the end came out
of the theater, naturally enough. But the sky had changed,
"And such a change!
O night and darkness, ye are wondrous strange!"
The calmness had given place to fury, and instead of a gentle sympathetic
rain, I met a furious. insolent snow storm, filling the air with thick
flakes careering madly about with the force of a driving norwester. Bad
enough, indeed, for the comfort of the unprepared traveler through city
streets, but still worse in the reflection one makes upon the hazard and
peril of the great deep. . . .
, . . .and of the storm which accompanied it,
and which blocked up all the railroads and left us three days without
any intelligence in particular from those districts known as
"tooral-looral." Truly rural they are now. indeed, with a covering of
snow thick enough to clothe them for two mouths, unless we are visited
with sudden rains and "thews." In the latter case, freshets are imminent,
and we of the Eastern States will be as wet as you poor drowned rats of
Sacramento. Pardon my unfeeling allusion to your calamities. Of course
you have my warm sympathies in your deluge, but the greatest misfortune
has its ludicrous side somewhere. One thing is sure, however; if we in
Boston should be inundated, and have to paddle about from house to house,
our State House stands so high that the waters cannot reach it. So our
Legislature won't have to adjourn to the summit. of Mount Pisgah, or even
to Blue Hill, in like manner as your band of California Spartans were
driven from your city to seek higher ground! . . .
ATHENIENSIS.. . .
ROADS OUT OF STOCKTON. -- The Republican says:
It may be stated that Stockton has not had direct communication with the
interior, by stages and freight teams, for a period of four mouths. These
facts, unpalatable as they may be, should be sufficient to arouse our
people to provide some remedy for an evil which is so rapidly sapping
the prosperity of Stockton. This matter affects every man who has
selected Stockton as a home. A bill is now before the Legislature
asking a franchise to build a horse or steam railway from this city
to Copperopolis. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3440, 8 April 1862 p. 1
MEPHISTOPHELES IN NEW YORK.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
NEW YORK, February 27, 1862.
The Weather.
It's snowing again; as I pen this the great white flakes are coming down,
just as if somebody up above was picking spitefully to pieces an ermine
cloak about the size of the universe, and dropping the bits about our
ears. The gentle touch of each snowdrop on the window pane is like that
of the tap of some fairy finger, and the pure, uusullied sheet of white
which the night has thrown over street and house-top, covers, like
charity, a "multitude of sins," in the shape of dirt. We had a violent
storm on Monday, which pretty well carried off all the snow that had
accumulated in our thoroughfares. On Tuesday it cleared off, cold --
bitterly cold, and the wind blew a hurricane, unroofing some houses;
upsetting one building completely, as though it had been made of cards
instead of bricks; carrying off a church steeple or so; playing the
mischief with the shipping at the piers, "and all that sort of thing."
Yesterday, Nature put on about as sulky a look as ever worn by any woman
on a washing day, and last night commenced another snow storm in earnest.
Now for the sleigh bells again! . . .
MEPHISTOPHELES. . . .
p. 2
. . .
SOME SNOW. -- The snow on Big Mountain, east of Salt Lake, where the
telegraph line was down so long some time since, was said to be
thirty-four feet deep. We would like to know where the discoverers found
a pole long enough to measure it. . . .
HEAVY WIND. -- At Devil's Gate, Nevada Territory, a stone building was
completely demolished by the wind lately. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.. . .
DITCH FILLED UP. -- The Eighth street ditch, dug for the purpose of
draining off the water from the north of J street, was yesterday filled
up at the alley between J and K streets. The work was done by the chain
gang, by order of the President of the Board of Supervisors, to keep the
ditch from emptying its contents into his yard. The reason assigned for
so doing was that parties south of K street had dammed up the ditch
crossing that street, which drains Shattuck's premises, and he was under
the necessity of following the same policy. He holds to the principle
that if everybody damns him he must dam everybody in return. . . .
p. 4
ATLANTIC INTELLIGENCE.
From our Eastern exchanges by Overland Mail, to March 8th, we compile
the following: . . .
The Great Inundation in Germany.
The terrible inundations in Germany still continued at the latest
accounts. From Berlin, February 8th, we learn that the great dike of
the Elbe at Niogripp is broken, and the whole mass of the water had
been precipitated upon the Berlin, Potsdam and Magdeburg Railroad,
and had completely overthrown the dike at Buda. The Meuse journal informs
us that the waters which have desolated Liege and its neighborhood are
solwly subsiding, but still cover a large portion of the valley between
Namur and Maestricht, in the low countries.
The Neckar at Caunstatt had risen twelve feet; the Nagold at Calw, the
Murr at Backnaog, and the Rems at Schorndorf, had overflowed their banks.
At Hall, the Kocher inundated the town to such an extent that the new
Market Square was navigated by boats, and scores of people had to escape
by these from the second story of their dwellings.
At Trier, the flood at one time reached the hight of eighteen feet, but
was falling. The Saar, at Saarlouis, at one time got as high as twenty-two
feet, but on the 4th ult. coal barges were passing down the valley of the
Moselle from that river. Along the adjacent railroads dams had burst and
banks had fallen in, and the tributary mountain streams had swept off their
side paths and foot bridges. The neighboring mills were stopped for some
two weeks.
Madgeburg [sic] accounts state that the dam at Guebs had given way, thus
completely isolating the village, which is in a deep valley, and exposed
to floods in two directions. The cattle which were tended there, in
large numbers, were in danger of being totally lost.
In the north and east of France, toward the Belgian frontier, the floods
in the valley of the Sambre, were on the Departmental Road, No. 12.
between Belaimout and Aulnoys, as high as the breasts of the horses,
and this continued to be the case for nearly three days. , , ,
Miscellaneous.
The gale recently in the East caused considerable damage throughout the
country. It was more severely felt, however, through New England than
elsewhere. The Boston Journal has the following of its effects:
The thunder storm extended over a wide range of country. We hear of it
on Cape Cod and as far east as Kittery, Me. Several casualties by lightning
are reported at Sandwich -- the wife of Alfred Cheval was struck by
lightning and seriously injured. The house was uutouched.
At Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as we learn from the Chronicle,
the spire of the North Church was struck, the points knocked from the
top of the conductor and the gilt ball blackened, and a piece shattered
off. In the ambrotype saloon of Salen, the pictures were knocked down
from one side of the room, a chair prostrated and a stove funnel spread
open. At the farm of Charles Hayes, at the Plains, a large pine tree
was struck and much shattered down to the roots, where the fluid went
into the ground and came out in the railroad bank, twenty-five yards
or more distant, throwing earth and large stones on the track. The
Congregational Church in Kittery was also struck by lightning in the
same shower.
We learn from our Barnstable correspondent that the gale was very severe
in that vicinity. Such was the intensity of the cold and wind that any
vessel caught in Barnstable Bay could not have survived the night. More
or less damage to buildings and fences has been done in all parts of the
town.
The spire of the Unitarian church was injured. The Agricultural Hall,
the largest public building in the county, was blown down, and now lies
a heap of ruins. The east roof of this building was lifted and taken
whole a distance of seventy-five feet. The valuable portrait of Daniel
Webster, which adorned the hall, has been saved without injury. This,
with the flag of our Union (which was found without a star or a stripe
missing) is about all that will be saved from the hall. The loss to
the Society cannot be less than twenty-five hundred dollars. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3441, 9 April 1862 p. 1
ATLANTIC INTELLIGENCE.
Our dates from New York by the steamer St. Louis from Panama are to
March 11th. We make room for the following interesting intelligence: . . .
The Storm In Northern Maine.
A correspondent ot the Boston Journal, writing from Bethel,
Maine, on the 28th of February, says :
The snow in many places is higher than the tops of the cars for thirty
or forty rods in a place; and as they only cut a place through just wide
enough to "rub and go," the passage through them seems much like going
through an underground tunnel. In two places on the road the snow was
actually drifted several feet higher than the top of the smoke stacks
of the engines.
On Monday night of last week, a house occupied by two families in the
town of Mexico, Maine, was completely buried by an avalanche of suow.
In the morning the neighbors, on discovering the disaster, set to work
to release the buried ones. By tunneling forty feet through the enormous
bank, they succeeded in reaching the front door of the house, which was
immediately opened and the frightened occupants of the dwelling were
released from their precarious situation. . . .
p. 2
. . .
COLD COMFORT. -- After having suffered almost beyond estimate by the
floods of the past Winter; after having had one-fifth of the taxable
property in the city swallowed up by the remorseless waves, it would
be natural to expect a little sympathy at least from our own members
in the Legislature. But the majority appear to have lost sight of the
misfortunes of Sacramento, and the necessity which exists of rendering
her aid in every form, under existing circumstances. She demands a
simple and economical City Government; she asks the authority to
investigate the legality of the acts of her officers in creating the
crushing debt which is piled upon her; she asks that the taxes of her
people be rendered as light as possible. Were it consistent with her
safety, Sacramento for this year ought to be relieved from all taxes;
she is in no condition to pay them, and yet the majority of our
delegation seem bent upon an increase of taxation instead of a decrease
of that kind of burdens. They forget that the elements have greatly
reduced the ability of this people to pay taxes. Including the State,
national, school and poll tax, our citizens will be called upon to pay
seven dollars poll tax this year. The majority of our delegation would
compel us to pay one-fifth of one per cent, for the benefit of sciip
brokers, and one and one-half for municipal purposes. They sympathize
with the people in their distress by proposing to increase their taxes
for municipal purposes nearly a hundred per cent. From all such
sympathizers the people will pray to be preserved. Their sympathy will
prove a heavy load for the tax payers of this city to carry, and they
pray to be saved from any increase of their taxes for the support of
a municipal government. The people ask, if the Citizens' Charter fails,
that the Legislature pass no special Act for the benefit of scrip
speculators. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .
SAN FRANCISCO, April 8th.
The Sacramento Levee Bill has been approved by the Governor, and will
be filed in the office of the Secretary of State to-morrow morning. . . .
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
WASHINGTON, March 10, 1862.
. . .
Congressional,
On Wednesday, March 5th, Mr. Sumner introduced his bill to provide for
carrying the mails from the United States to foreign ports, of which the
following is a copy: . . .
Immediately on the introduction of the bill, [California Senator Milton]
Latham arose and made the following remarks:
I move that that bill be referred to the Committee on the Post Office
and Post Roads, and that it be printed. In making this motion I wish to
make a statement to the Senate. It is well known to this body, as well as
to the country, that for the past few months the overland communication
between the Pacific coast and the Atlantic States has been almost entirely
interrupted in consequence of severe and unprecedented floods. The valley
of the Sacramento has been visited with a flood almost unparalleled in
the history, I may say, of the world, certainly of this country. The same
calamity has happened to Carson Valley, as well as to Salt Lake, and the
consequence has been that the daily overland mail established bp [sic] Congress
during the last Congress has not been able to bring mail matter through
with as much expedition as could have been desired. The result has been
that the commercial intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific States
has been in a great degree interrupted, and merchants having business
with the Pacific coast and South America have been compelled to send
their letters under Government envelopes by the express companies, in
order that they might reach their place of destination in safety. The
petitions sent here by the citizens of different cities, presented by
the honorable Senator from Massachusetts, would convey the idea that
there was a disposition on the part of general ship merchants not to
carry mail matter for the Government when they were in the receipt of
the ordinary postage given them by law. Such, however, is not the case.
The line of steamships plying between New York city and Aspinwall, and
between Panama and San Francisco, for the first time in the history of
the Government, have determined not to carry either the dispatches of
the Government sent to its own officers on the South American coast, or
to oblige the mercantile community by taking under Government envelopes,
through the express companies, letters which relate to their business; and
it is to guard against an outrage of this kind that this bill is proposed
by the Senator from Massachusetts. I intend to offer it as an amendment,
if I can get the sanction of the Committee on the Post Office and Post
Roads of this body, to the Post Office Appropriation Bill, so that, if
possible, this evil may be corrected. I say. sir, it is an outrage for
these vessels, plyiug under the protection of the American flag, to refuse
to the Government of the United States, and to the commercial interests
of this country, the simple privilege of sending, so long as the Government
is not deprived of its revenue, their communications upon their ships.
Mr. COLLAMER -- And paying them for it.
Mr. LATHAM -- And also paying them for it. Why, sir, the very companies
who refuse to carry these dispatches have received over ten millions of
dollars from the Government of the United States for carrying our mail
matter. For ten years we paid them over nine hundred thousand dollars a
year; and now, when they find this great calamity of floods happening to
our country, causing a loss of life and millions of property, they think
it is a fit opportunity to put their iron heel on the Government in order
to force a mail contract from the United States whether it approves or not.
I say, sir, it is an outrage which the Government of the United States
should rebuke at once by passing a law that these vessels shall not be
allowed to clear from the ports of the country and receive the protection
of our flag unless they are willing to adapt themselves to our wants and
necessities. I have felt it proper, as a representative from the Pacific
coast, to make this statement. I shall have more to say upon the subject
when the bill comes up for legitimate consideration. I move that it be
printed and referred to the Committee on the Post Office; and Post
Roads.
The motion was agreed to. . . .
p. 3
. . .
THE RIVER. -- The water in the Sacramento river had yesterday fallen
to about seventeen feet ten inches above low water mark. . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Monday, April 7, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at eleven o'clock. . . .
THE SACRAMENTO CITY CHARTER BILL.
The House proceeded to consider bills on the general file. . . .
Assembly Bill No. 290 -- An Act to incorporate the city of Sacramento -- was
read by title. . . .
Mr. BARTON of Sacramento said that Sacramento was now in about the same
condition that San Francisco was a few years ago, when she repudiated about
a million of dollars or more. They had concluded that a portion of those
city bonds of Sacramento were illegal, and had decided to appoint a
Commission to investigate the matter. If none were found to be illegal,
of course the whole matter would remain as it was, so that the creditors
of the city would be fully secured. This indebtedness was created in
various ways. For instance, for the construction of the R street levee,
the people voted to appropriate $125,000, while the officers superintending
the work expended $250,000, exceeding their instructions by the people. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3442, 10 April 1862 p. 1
. . .
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Monday's proceedings
after 8:45 o'clock, when the report closed for the Sacramento boat.]. . .
BILLS INTRODUCED. . . .
Mr. SEATON -- An Act appropriating money to pay the cost of removing the
State printing office to and from San Francisco. To the Committee on Ways
and Means. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
SACRAMENTO NOT ALONE. -- At a ball given at a fashionable hotel in
Rio Janeiro, reeently, during the dancing of the Lancers, the ball room
was suddenly inundated by a rise in the river, the ladies being forced
to get on chairs and into the orchestra. In a few moments the water in
the room was two feet deep, and many valuable jewels were lost. The
ladies, who were all very wet, were eventually carried in the arms of
the people to the upper rooms of the hotel. The inundation subsided in
about two hours. It might be asked, as it has been by certain Legislative
wiseacres and others, in regard to Sacramento, why don't the people
leave that unfortunate city? . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .
Legislative Proceedings
. . .
The bill to release the State Capitol contractors, and to empower the
Commissioners to expend the balance of the appropriation, passed the
Assembly as it came from the Senate, by an overwhelming vote. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
THE CHAIN GANG. -- Detachments of the chain gang were at work yesterday
on J street, near Eignteenth street, in charge of Overseer Long and on
Seventh street, near L street, under Overseer Dreman, in the work of
ditching and draining the city. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
. . .
WEDNESDAY, April 9, 1862.
The Board met at 10 o'clock a. m. . . .
Supervisor RUSSELL called the attention of the President of the Board to
the necessity of constructing a ditch on Eighth street, between J and L,
in order to relieve residents of that section from the water now there.
The PRESIDENT was of opinion that this could not be done without subjecting
other residents to inconvenience. He desired to consult "the greatest good
of the greatest number," and intended to do so, without regard to being
"cursed" by a few who might be discommoded.
Supervisor GRANGER offered the following:
Resolved, That the President be authorized, whenever the property
holders furnish sufficient lumber, to build a sewer, commencing on G street,
running down Eighth; to use the chain gang to dig the ditch and build the
sewer and cover the same; provided, however, that there shall not be left
open at any time a space exceeding thirty feet of said ditch.
Adopted. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3442, 11 April 1862 p. 2
. . .
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
SAN FRANCISCO, April 8, 1862.
. . .
The Senate bill to release the State Capitol contractors has not yet
been reported from the House delegation. An effort will be made to reduce
the allowance to Blake & Connor to five thousand dollars. If this is
persisted in, and is successful in the Assembly, I fear it will defeat
the bill entirely, for the sum fixed in the Senate was a sort of compromise
between the friends of the contractors and the Senators friendly to
Sacramento. If the bill falls between the two houses, Blake & Connor
will probably refuse to go on with the work, and it is very doubtful
whether, under the existing law, the Commissioners have any power to
make a new contract. The friends of Sacramento differ so radically among
themselves that it is to be feared they will accomplish nothing further
for her than has been already gained by the passage of the Levee Bill.
[The Capitol Bill has passed as it came from the Senate. -- EDS.] . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS. -- The quantity of snow visible on the mountains
yesterday, and its prevalence over the foot hills, were the subject of
general remark.
THE RIVER.-- The water in the Sacramento river yesterday stood at about
18 feet 2 inches above low water mark. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
SENATE.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Tuesday's proceedings,
after forty minutes past three o'clock, P. M., when the report closed for
the Sacramento boat:]
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, April 8, 1862. . . .
Mr. HEACOCK, from the Sacramento delegation, reported favorably on Senate
bill No. 146 -- An Act providing for the condemnation of certain lands in
the city and county of Sacramento for public use. He said the only
amendments were inserting the words Levee Commissioners after city
authorities, so as to make the bill agree with the Act creating a Board
of Levee Commissioners. The object of the bill was to condemn and make
use of land for the construction of levees.
It was read a third time and passed. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, April 8, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Tuesday's proceedings
after 8:45 P, M., when the report closed for the Sacramento boat:] . . .
Mr. LOVE, from the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, reported
back Senate Bill No. 218 -- An Act to authorize and direct the State
Capitol Commissioners to cancel and annul the contract for the foundation
walls of the Capitol building, etc.. with amendments. [Signed by Messrs.
Love, Ferguson. Dore and Sears.]
Made the special order for half-past two o clock tomorrow. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3443, 12 April 1862 p. 1
. . .
`THE LEVEE LAW.
AN ACT Concerning the Construction and Repair of Levees in the county
of Sacramento, and the mode of raising Revenue therefor.
The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. A Board of City Levee Commissioners, with the powers and
duties hereinafter provided, is hereby created for the city of Sacramento,
which said Board shall, until its successors are elected and qualified, as
hereinafter provided, consist of H. T. Holmes, Charles Crocker, William
F. Knox, Charles H. Swift and Francis Tukey. At the general election in
the year 1862, and at the general election every four years thereafter,
there shall be elected by the qualified electors of the city of Sacramento,
three members of said Board, who shall each hold their office for the term
of four years from and after the first Monday in March, 1863, and until
their successors are elected and qualified; and at the general election
in 1863, and at the general election held every four years thereafter,
there shall be elected in like manner two members of said Board who shall
each hold his office for the period of four years from and after the
first Monday in March, 1864, and until their successors are elected and
qualified; provided that the members of said Board named herein, shall
determine by lot at the first meeting of said Board, which three of their
number shall go out of office on the first Monday of March, 1863; and
provided further, in case any vacancy occurs in the Board, it shall be
filled by the remaining members of the Board.
Sec. 2. A Board of County Levee Swamp Land Commissioners for Swamp Land
District No. 2, with the powers and duties hereinafter provided, is
hereby created, which said Board shall, until its members are elected
and qualified as hereinafter provided, consist of A. Runyon, Josiah
Johnson and Washington Fern, who shall at their first meeting determine
by lot, which of them respectively shall hold office for one, two and
three years from the first Monday in October next, and until their
respective successors are elected and qualified, and at the general
election in 1863, and at each general election thereafter, the voters
of the county outside of the city and within Swamp Land District No. 2
shall elect one Levee Commissioner who shall take his seat in the Board
on the first Monday in the month next succeeding his election, and shall
hold office for three years and until his succeessor is elected and
qualified. If, from any cause, a vacancy shall occur in the Board, it
shall be filled by the remaining members of the Board.
Sec. 3. No person shall act as a Levee Commissioner until he has taken
the constitutional oath of office, nor shall any Commissioner receive any
pay for his services; and if any Commissioner shall in any manner either
directly or indirectly be interested in any contract for constructing or
repairing any levee, or for furnishing any materials therefor, he shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished
by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not
more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Sec. 4. As soon as the Board of State Swamp and Overflowed Land
Commissioners have finally adopted a plan for the reclamation of Swamp
Land District No. 2, they shall certify so much of the plan, specifications
and estimates as relate to the work adjacent to the American river, and
as relate to the work adjacent to the Sacramento river, and north of the
south line of Y street, in the city of Sacramento, to the Board of City
Levee Commissioners, and said Board, as soon as possible after receiving
such plans, specifications and estimates, shall, if they approve the same,
proceed to cause so much of the levee required by said plans as lies within
the city, to be constructed on the line and in exact accordance with the
plans and specifications certified to them; provided, however, that they
may cause such levee to be made broader and higher than the width and
hight designated; and provided further, that if the Board of City Levee
Commissioners do not approve the plan certified to them, or disapprove
of any part thereof, or of any part of the specifications and estimates
therefor, they shall notify the State Commissioners of the fact, whereupon
a joint meeting of the two Boards shall be held, and the determination
arrived at by such joint meeting or meetings shall be final of tee [sic]
matters in controversy; and provided further, said City Levee Commissioners
shall have, and they are hereby given power and authority to turn or
straighten the channel of any portion of the American river deemed
necessary for the protection of the city.
Sec. 5. Before proceeding to construct the levee within the city,
the City Commissioners shall divide it into two or more convenient
sections, and shall then advertise for at least ten days, in two city
papers, for bids for each separate section, or the whole work, which
bids, at the time and place appointed, shall be opened in public; and
as soon as convenient after the bids have been opened, the Commissioners
shall let the work, either in sections or as a whole, to such bidder
or bidders, as they shall deem most advantageous, not being limited
to the lowest bidder, or they may reject all the bids, and then
re-advertise; and they may, at any time deemed necessary, employ
an engineer or Superintendent, and fix his compensation.
Sec. 6. The Board of City Levee Commissioners, their agents and
employes, may enter upon and take possession of any land that may
be necessary for the levee within the city, or any land in the city
or within the county outside of the city, that may be necessary or
proper to furnish materials for its construction, or that may be
necessary and proper to turn or straighten the channel of the American
river, and may have the same condemned for public use, in accordance
with section sixteen of the Act of May 18, 1861, entitled, an Act to
provide for the reclamation and segregation of swamp and overflowed
and salt marsh and tide lands donated to the State of California by
Act of Congress, or under the provisions of any law that has been or
may be passed authorizing the condemnation of lands for levee purposes
in the city and county of Sacramento.
Sec. 7. All the levees outside the limits of the city of Sacramento
required for the reclamation and protection of Swamp Land District
No. 2 shall, as soon as possible, be let out by the Board of State
Swamp Land Commissioners for construction as is now provided by law;
provided, however, that as soon as the work required on the American
river outside the city limits is let out, the City Levee Commissioners,
or some one of them, shall pay one-half the estimated cost of construction
of said levee from Thirty-first street up to and including Burns' Slough,
into the Swamp and Overflowed Land Fund of District No. 2; provided the
amount required has been received in the City Levee Fund hereinafter
created; but if not so received, then out of the first moneys that
are received in it.
Sec. 8. As soon as the levees north of a point to be fixed at or near
Sutterville by the Board of State Swamp Land Commissioners as the dividing
line between those thereafter to be controlled by the city, and those
to be controlled by the County Levee Commissioners are finished, the
Swamp Land Commissioners shall deliver them to the City Levee Commissioners,
whereupon the title to said levees, and their appurtenances, shall vest
absolutely in the city of Sacramento, and thenceforward the City Levee
Commissioners shall have the charge, care and control of all levees in
the city of Sacramento, and also of all levees in Swamp Land District
No. 2 north of the point to be fixed as in this section before mentioned;
and said Commissioners may raise, widen and strengthen them at their
pleasure, but shall not alter their line or in any way diminish their
hight, size or strength; and said Commissioners may, with the consent
of the city authorities, cause the levee on the American river side
to be turnpiked and used as a road, and may collect tolls thereon for
the Levee Fund; or they may, with the consent of the city authorities,
contract with any person or persons for raising, enlarging and
strengthening said levee, such work to be paid for by a lease, with
the right to collect tolls for a period not longer than ten years, and
the rate of tolls to be fixed from time to time by the city authorities;
provided, however, that no such lease shall be made unless the franchise
is put up for public competition, after at least thirty days notice in
two city papers. And all the levees in Swamp Land District No. 2, south
of the aforesaid point, shall, as soon us they are finished, be delivered
to the County Levee Commissioners for District No. 2, whereupon the title
to said levees and their appurtenances shall vest absolutely in the county
of Sacramento, and thenceforward the County Levee Commissioners for
District No. 2 shall have the charge, care and control of all said levees,
and may raise, widen and strengthen them at their pleasure, but shall not
alter their line excepting when the encroachments of the water render it
necessary, or in any manner diminish their hight, size or strength.
Sec. 9. Both the City and County Boards of Levee Commissioners herein
created shall, from personal inspection and examination, annually make
and certify to the proper authorities, city or county, as the case may
require, on or before the first Monday in March, an estimate of the
amount of money that will be necessary to put the levees and works for
protection under their control in perfect repair and keep them so during
the year. And upon receiving such statement, the city authorities shall
levy upon all taxable property within the city, and within the lines of
said levees, a tax sufficient to raise the whole amount of money so
estimated to be required, less the sum, if any therein, in the City
Levee Lund [sic], and not required for expenditures then already incurred.
And upon receiving such statement, the Board of Supervisors shall levy
upon all taxable property outside the city, in Swamp Land District
No. 2, a tax sufficient to raise the whole amount of money so estimated
to be required, less the sum, if any therein, in the County Levee Fund,
District No. 2, and not required for expenditures then already incurred.
The taxes levied under this section shall be collected as other city or
county taxes and the city tax shall be paid into a special fund entitled
the "City Levee Fund," and the county taxes into a special fund entitled
the "County Levee Fund, District No. 2;" and the money shall only be drawn
out of said fund upon warrants for claims for levee purposes allowed by
a majority of the proper Levee Commissioners, and approved by the proper
city or county authorities.
Sec. 10. During the session of the Board of Equalization, hereinafter
provided for, the City Levee Commissioners shall file with it a statement
of the whole sum of money necessary to construct the levee within the
city, to pay one-half of the estimated cost of that portion on the American
river east of the city, up to and including Burns' Slough, and to repay
the amount expended by the Citizens' Levee Committee for repairs, and
if in the opinion of said Commissioners it is deemed proper to turn or
straighten the channel of the American river during the present year,
then also including the estimated cost of such work; and the Board of
Equalization shall, after the whole value of the taxable property within
the city, and within the lines of the levee, has been ascertained, deduct
fifteen per cent. for anticipated delinquencies and then by dividing the
sum required by the Commissioners into the remainder, the Board of
Equalization shall ascertain the rate of taxation upon each one hundred
dollars value of property that will be required to raise the sum needed;
and the rate so found, using, however, a full cent in place of any fraction
of a cent, shall be and it is hereby levied as an ad valoram tax upon all
taxable property within the city of Sacramento, and within the lines of
the levee proposed to be constructed.
Sec. 11. As soon as possible after the passage of this Act, the Assessor
shall make a copy of the names of persons and description of real estate
and improvements assessed in the city and within the lines of levee as
aforesaid, in the year 1861, and then using the equalized assessment roll
of 1861 as a basis for making his estimates, he shall proceed and make an
assessment of all taxable property within the city and within the levee
lines as aforesaid, keeping, during the time he is engaged, an advertisement
in each paper published in the city, stating the fact that he is making an
assessment, and requesting parties interested to call at his office and
deliver him a statement of their property, and as soon as such assessment
is completed the Assessor shall deliver it to the Auditor, who shall
forthwith give notice by publication in each paper published in the city,
that the special levee assessment roll has been completed and is in his
possession open for examination, and that the Board of Equalization will,
upon a day to be named in the notice, which day shall not be less than five
nor more than ten days from the first publication of the notice, meet to
hear and determine complaints in regard to valuation and assessments
therein.
Sec. 12. Upon the day specified in the notice required by section eleven
for the meeting, the Board of Equalization shall meet and continue in
session from day to day so long as may be necessary, not exceeding eighteen
days, exclusive of Sundays, to hear and determine such objections to the
assessments and valuations as may come before them; and the Board may change
the valuation as may be just, and may cite any person to appear before them
and answer concerning his property, and may assess any person or property
omitted by the Assessor and liable to taxation. The Assessor shall be
present during the session of the Board and shall act as its clerk, and
shall note all alterations in value, changes in the description or
subdivisions of real estate, and in the owners thereof, or changes in
the value of the improvements thereon, and additions to the assessment made
by the Board, and within ten days after the close of the session he shall
have the total values, as finally equalized by the Board, extended into
columns and added up; provided further, that neither the Assessor nor
Board of Equalization shall assess any titular interest on any land other
than either the whole fee or an ascertained undivided portion thereof,
and upon the tenth day, or sooner if the Assessor has the roll completed,
from the close of its session aforesaid, the Board of Equalization shall
again meet and determine the rate of taxation, as provided in section ten,
and shall certify the rate to the Auditor, Tax Collector, Treasurer and
District Attorney, and the said Board, or a majority of its members, and
the Assessor shall then certify to the assessment roll as finally equalized
and determined, and the Assessor shall deliver it to the Auditor, and
the Auditor shall forthwith deliver it to the Tax Collector, charging him
the full amount of taxes therein assessed, and shall, from time to time,
credit him with the amounts paid to the County Treasurer. During the sixty
days next following, the Tax Collector shall collect thereon the amount of
taxes levied, extending the sums received in figures, as they are paid, and
as soon as possible, not exceeding ten days after the expiration of the
sixty days, the Tax Collector shall deliver said roll to the Auditor and
make a final settlement with him, and the Tax Collector shall at the same
time deliver to the Auditor a duplicate of so much of said roll as remains
unpaid, which duplicate shall be known as the Delinquent List. The Auditor
shall forthwith deliver the delinquent list to the District Attorney,
charging him with the total amount of delinquent taxes therein set forth,
and the District Attorney, upon receiving such delinquent list, shall
forthwith commence action in the name of "The People of the State of
California," for the amount of tax hereinbefore levied and unpaid; and
all the provisions, excepting such as are hereafter modified or rendered
nugatory of the Act of May 17, 1861, entitled "An Act to legalize and
provide for the collection of delinquent taxes in the counties of this
State," are hereby extended to and made applicable to all taxes levied
under this Act, and delinquent; provided, however, that when any real
estate is assessed to unknown owners, or being assessed to some person
the true owner is unknown, the District Attorney may employ some competent
person to search the title and ascertain the owner, for which, the party
making the search may be allowed $1.25 for each lot or fraction of a lot,
which shall be entered up as costs in the case; and provided further, that
when any real estate is assessed to unknown owners, or being assessed to
some person the true owner is unknown, and the District Attorney uses a
fictitious name to represent such true owner or owners, and joins
therewith the names of real parties, it shall not be necessary to serve
summons on any such real parties personally, when summons is served by
publication as hereafter provided; and provided further, that in case of
estates of deceased persons, it shall not be necessary to present the
claim to the executors or administrators, or the Probate Court or Judge,
but by reason of the non-payment of the taxes it shall be taken and deemed,
in both law and equity, that the claims have been presented and rejected,
and that the Probate Court has directed the issue to he joined in the Court
where the suit is brought, which Court is hereby given jurisdiction for
that purpose; and execution is hereby authorized to issue and to be levied
upon the interest of the estate in the property described in the complaint.
in the same manner as against other judgment debtors in civil actions; and
provided, further, that when any real estate is assessed to unknown owners,
or being assessed to any person, the true owner is unknown, any number of
actions may be included in one general summons, giving in place of the
names of the parties and thing in action in an ordinary summons, the amount
claimed, a description of the property, the fictitious name used to represent
the true owner or owners, and the real party or parties, if any, joined as
defendants to that particular claim, substantially as follows: To
recover ------ dollars and ------ cents from John Doe, representing the
true owner, and John Brown, John Smith and John Jones, supposed to be
parties interested, for taxes levied on the east half of lot 8, between
H and I, Fourth and Fifth streets, in the city of Sacramento, and so on
with a similar condensation for each complaint wished to be embodied in
the summons, and upon the publication of such summons, as hereinafter
provided, service shall be complete upon all persons and parties
whomsoever, whether named by their real names or represented by the
fictitious name, owning, claiming or having any interest in or on any
land or improvements described in such general summons. Every such
general summons issued shall be returnable in not less than thirty nor
more than forty days from its issuance, and shall be published one time
per week, four weeks, in some newspaper published in the city of Sacramento;
and provided further, to obviate an unnecessary multiplicity of actions
for the recovery of delinquent taxes, that when any person or property
delinquent for taxes levied under this Act, is also delinquent for any
taxes levied either in 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, or State Capitol taxes
levied under the Act of April 21, 1861, all the taxes due from any such
person or property may be included in one complaint, and all the provisions
of this section shall apply, and they are hereby made applicable thereto;
and the proceedings shall be had in the same manner, and with the same
force and effect, as though only the taxes levied under this Act were
sued for; and provided, further, that a certificate by the officer having
the custody of any delinquent tax roll of any entry therein shall be prima
facia proof in any Court of the person and property, or both, assessed, of
the delinquency, of the amount due and unpaid, and that all the forms and
requirements of law in relation to the levy and assessment have been
complied with; and provided, further, that no redemption shall be made
from a sale under this Act except in accordance with the provisions of
the Act of May 17. 1861, entitled an Act to provide revenue for the support
of the Government of this State; but provided, further, that no person
shall redeem unless he first pay to the purchaser the amount, if any, of
all taxes and costs thereon paid on the same property by the purchaser,
after his purchase, together with legal interest on the amount; and
provided, that any person holding any certificate of any tax sale for
the same property, may at any time redeem any other outstanding tax
certificate, the time for the redemption of which has not expired, and
that, in case of such redemption, any subsequent redemptioner shall be
required to redeem as well the original purchase as all redemptions
subsequently made; provided, however, that in redeeming redemptions,
he shall only be required to pay legal interest on the amount of
redemption paid.
Sec. 13. The directions in this Act, given in regard to the manner of
assessing, equalizing and levying the taxes, shall be deemed directory
only, and the assessments, valuations, assessment roll and delinquent
list in this Act provided for, are hereby made valid and binding both
in law and equity against the persons and property assessed; and the
taxes levied shall become a lien upon the property assessed upon the
determination of the rate of taxation as herein provided, which lien
shall not in any manner whatever be discharged until said taxes and
costs, if any accrue, are paid; and all the officers who are required
to render any service under the provisions of this Act shall have and
receive for their own use such compensation as is now allowed by law
for similar services.
Sec. 14. Upon the presentation to him of any certificate signed by
J. H. Warwick, Charles Crocker and Alexander Boyd, or any two of them,
of the amount of money advanced by the holder or his assignor to the
Citizens' Committee for levee purposes, the Auditor shall draw his
warrant therefor on the City Levee Fund, provided that when any certificate
presented exceeds one hundred dollars the Auditor shall draw his warrant
therefor in such sums, not less than fifty dollars each, as the holder
may demand, and such warrants shall be receivable for any taxes levied
under this Act.
Sec. 15. As soon as the City Levee Commissi»ners shall certify to the
Treasurer that all the cost of constructlng the levee within the city,
and one-half the estimated cost of constructing the portions on the
American east of the city, up to and including Burns' Slough, has been
paid, the Treasurer shall proceed to pay out of the City Levee Fund,
and in the order in which they were drawn, the warrants issued under
the provisions of section fourteen.
Sec. 16. If any money shall remain in the City Levee Fund after paying
the warrants as provided in section fifteen, or shall thereafter come
into said fund from any of the taxes levied by section ten, the City
Levee Commissioners may use it in constructing inner or cross levees,
or they may use it in macadamizing or otherwise improving one or more
outlets of travel to and from the city; and if no such money comes into
the City Levee Fund, or it is insufficient, and the Commissioners deem
any inner or cross levee necessary, they may cause the same to be built,
and the money to pay therefor shall be levied and collected upon their
estimate in accordance with the provisions of section nine, provided
that the tax necessary to pay for such inside or cross levee shall only
be levied upon the real estate and improvements inclosed thereby.
Sec. 17. In case the Swamp and Overflowed Land Commissioners shall from
a legislative diversion of the Swamp Land Fund, and consequent want of
money, or for any other cause, be unable to let out the constructing the
levees for Swamp Land District No. 2, so as to be completed on or before
the first day of October, 1862, the City Levee Commissioners may construct
so much of said levee as they may deem necessary for the protection of
the city, and the cost of such construction, excepting the one-half
hereinbefore provided for, from Thirty-first street to Burns' Slough,
shall be paid into the City Levee Fund out of the first moneys that come
into the State Treasury applicable to Swamp Land District No. 2, or said
City Levee Commissioners may advance the amount of money required for
such construction, and the money so advanced shall be returned into the
Levee Fund out of the first moneys that come into the State Treasury
applicable to Swamp Land District No. 2.
Sec. 18. If any person shall cut, or dig away, or in any manner lessen
the width, or diminish the hight or strength of any levee within the
county of Sacramento, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than
twenty-five nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for
not less than ten days nor more than six months, or by both such fine
and imprisonment.
Sec. 19. This Act shall go into effect on and after its passage, and
all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent or conflicting with this Act
are hereby repealed so far as to exempt the county of Sacramento from
their operallon.
GEORGE BARSTOW,
Speaker of the Assembly.
J. F. CHELLIS,
President of the Senate.
Approved April 9, 1862.
LELAND STANFORD, Governor. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .
The Sacramento Levee Bill, as passed by the Legislature and approved by
the Governor, will be found in our present issue. The measure, if properly
and energetically carried out. will prove of vast and euduring advantage
to the city. The Commissioners, we understand, propose to go to work
immediately. . . .
CLIMATE OF THE MOUNTAINS. -- A man named Richey, living four miles west
of the summit of the Sierra Nevadas, on the Big Tree road, has kept a
correct record of the thermometrical readings there each day from the
11th of February to the 23d of March. He has also kept an account of
the clear, cloudy, snowy nnd rainy days from November 11 1861, to
March 23, 1862 with an exact measurement of the depth of each snow.
The total fall of snow in that period was six hundred and two inches,
or fifty feet and two inches, besides the rain which fell. We hope the
melting of these snows will be judiciously graduated. . . .
THE CAPITOL. -- It appears that the Assembly passed the Capitol Bill as
it comes to them from the Senate. It provides for the surrender of the
contract, pays the contractors $10,000, and authorizes the Commissioners
to expend the remainder of the appropriation. The members of the Assembly
Committee who visited the Capitol and examined the walls estimated the
damage sustained by the contractors at ouly $5,000. But the House seemed
to conclude that some bill must pass, and that there was not time to get
through any other than the one matured in the Senate. The Commissioners
complain that it takes $10,000 from the appropriation and pays it to
contractors, who are not entitled to so much. The debate in the Assembly
developed the fact that the foundation of the State Capitol could not
be better. One of the Committee declared that it was as firm as the rock
of Gibraltar. The architect and superintendeni has always declared, after
testing it thoroughly, that he never commenced the wall of a heavy building
on so good a foundation. By the way, we should like to know why the report
of the superintendent to the Legislature has never been published. We hope
to hear no more about the foundation of the Capitol building being a mud
hole. . . .
LATE FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. -- By the Yankee, at San Francisco, we
have dates from Honolulu to March 27th. We extract the following
intelligence :
The British bark Emperor, which arrived at Honolulu ou the 10th of March,
from Puget Sound, with a cargo of assorted lumber for Shanghae, sprang a
leak in a singular way. She had bad weather, a rough sea and heavy gales
after leaving the Sound, and bore away for Monterey, on the California
coast. She sailed thence on March 1st, and in the afternoon of that day
struck a log, thirty or forty feet long and about two feet in diameter.
The log was struck directly athwart hawse, and after the second shock
canted to one side and floated astern. This accident started some old
leaks afresh, and from that time till her arrival at Honolulu the pumps
were continually kept going, day and night, and then never entirely freeing
her. Providentially, the pumps and gear were of the best description, and
the trades, which they took on the second day out, were strong, so that
these islands were safely reached. The log had undoubtedly been floated
to sea by the late freshets in California. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
FIRE. -- At about one o'clock yesterday morning, two frame houses ou
T street, between Second and Third, were destroyed by fire. They were
owned by A. Strachan, and as they were unoccupied, must have been set on
fire. Sacramento Engine Company No. 3 arrived in the vicinity, and although
the burning buildings were surrounded by a foot or two of water, a stream
was brought to bear upon the flames. The houses were insured for the sum
of $350. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.] . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, April 9, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Wednesday's proceedings
after 8:45 o'clock, when the report closed for the Sacramento boat.] . . .
THE STATE CAPITOL.
The House took up as the special order, Senate Bill No. 218 -- An Act
to authorize and direct the State Capitol Commissioners to cancel and
annul the contract for building the foundation and basement walls of
the State Capitol building, and to settle with the contractors therefor.
On motion of Mr. LOVE, the bill was considered as in Committee of the
Whole (Mr. BENTON in the chair), and read by sections.
The question was stated on amendments reported by the Committee on Public
Buildings.
Mr. O'BRIEN said the amenments [sic] could more properly be acted upon
in the House, and he moved that the Committee rise and report the bill
to the House. Carried; Mr. BENTON retaining the chair as Speaker pro tern.
Mr. LOVE briefly explained the amendments.
Mr. WARWICK said he thought the bill was good as it came from the Senate,
and if they sent it back amended he thought it was very questionable if it
was got through at all this session. He therefore hoped the amendments
would be rejected.
Mr. O'BRIEN said he hoped the House would act on the matter at once,
as one of the contractors (Mr. Connor,) was now in command of a volunteer
regiment in the service of the United States, and his regiment had been
detailed for service iv a remote Territory.
Mr. SEARS said the Committee of which he was a member, had examined the
bill thoroughly, and had visited Sacramento and examined the building,
and taken the statements of the contractors, the State Architect and
various others. The result was the amendments which they had proposed,
and which were essential to do justice between these parties and the State.
There was a prejudice among members against continuing the erection of the
Capitol at Sacramento. There was about $40,000 left of the appropriation of
last Winter, and the first question before the Committee was how to stop
the expenditure of that money and put it in the General Fund, but they
found they could not reach it. They desired this in order to give Sacramento
an opportunity of placing herself in a position by raising and widening her
levees, to defy the future, before asking to have the Capitol building
completed. They found that an impression had gone abroad that Sacramento
is a mudhole and where the Capitol has been commenced was only a bog,
and they examined the Architect as to that point. The Architect informed
them that he had bored wells on that very spot, and stated that the first
eight feet was clay, next four feet of hard pan, then thirteen feet of
hard clay, and all below that gravel and bowlders. These strata of clay,
bowlders, etc., extended five or six hundred feet towards the river, and,
in the other direction, to the foot hills, so that settled the question
about Sacramento being a bog hole; and the Committee considered that
the foundation of the Capitol was as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.
Messrs Blake & Connor were going on very well with their contract, and
but for the flood would doubtless have made considerable money. The flood
threw down brick walls, destroyed barrels of cement and lime and did
other damage, but the State had paid them for every dollar they had lost,
except, perhaps, a few tools, which were private property. The losses were:
75,000 brick, $712.50; 102 barrels cement, $528; 700 barrels lime, $2,475;
sand, and a few other things, making a total of $4,397.50. If this bill
should not pass the contractors would have to go on and complete their
contract, after losing that amount, but, if the bill should pass. the
State would lose it. But the contractors asked that, after assuming the
damages and releasing them, the State should give them a bonus of ten
thousand dollars. The proposition was absurd. The Commitee had concluded,
however, taking all the circumstances into consideration, to grant them
$5,000. The consideration for this was the loss of tools and lumber by the
flood, and certain claims for interest at 2 per cent, on hypothecated audited
accounts, the whole amounting to $3,321.92. For that sum the Committee
proposed to allow $5,000, which was nearly $1,700 bonus. It was a great
deal for the State to allow anybody two per cent. a month interest on
money, for it would sink any State to carry on a very extensive business
at such a ruinous rate. The bill also proposed to modify the plans of
the Capitol, so that the cost of the building should not exceed $500,000.
Mr. FERGUSON said he desired to call attention to the section in the bill
appropriating $11,454, and said the bonus of $10,000 was an appropriation
for which there was no good reason. Messrs. Blake & Connor had taken this
contract under the $100,000 appropriation, had done certain work and
furnished certain materials, all of which had been certified by
Superintendent Clark, and they had already received from the State
seventy-five cents on every dollar expended. Section two proposed to
pay them the balance of twenty-five per cent, still due. That would pay
them in full for all the labor done and materials furnished. All the
lime, cement, bricks, and everything else on the ground, whether used
or destroyed by flood, would thus be paid for, so that the contractors
would not lose a dime. For what, then, was it proposed to give them
$10,000 bonus? There were a few tools, derricks and sheds, estimated
to be worth about $1,000, and that was all. The bill amended by cutting
down the $10,000 to $5,000, still gave the contractors the magnificent
bonus of $4,000, for any losses, real or imaginary which they might
suffer. The Senate bill did not require the contractors to turn over
their tools to the State, so that the bill would absolutely give them
$10,000 for nothing; but the Committee had proposed an amendment requiring
them to turn over their tools. The Committee had also added a section to
protect the present sub-contractors by accepting all their contracts. The
Superintendent stated that they were such contracts as the Commissioners
desired; that the materials must be had, and that the State could not
make contracts on such favorable terms. This would save Messrs.
Blake & Connor from all loss on account of these sub-contracts, and that
was the principal item on which they based their claim to $10,000 bonus.
The contractors also made a magnificent proposition that the State should
pay them interest at two per cent so that if they appropriated $10,000
for them and the money was not ready before next February, they would
have to pay in addition interest amounting in all to over $5,000. They
asked $755 interest upon their hypothecated audited accounts, but the
terms of their contract were that they should only be paid when there
was money in the treasury. The contractors delayed signing the contract
for two days on that account, and only signed it at last after learning
where and on what terms they could hypothecate their claims and draw
their money.
Mr. WORTHINGTON asked what the compensation of the Capitol Commissioners was,
and what it was proposed to be by the new bill.
Mr. FERGUSON replied that the Capitol Commissioners who signed this
contract received $1,000 a year, but under this bill they would not
receive a cent.
Mr. WORTHINGTON asked if that would not account for the strenuous
opposition to the bill.
Mr. FERGUSON said no one had proposed to amend the bill in that particular.
He supposed the idea had been suggested by interested parties outside. He
proceeded to read from the contract between the State and Blake & Connor,
and between Blake & Connor and the contractor to furnish granite, to show
that the contractors agreed to receive orders on the Controller of State
in payment, and that the sub-contractors agreed to receive the same. The
claim of interest was therefore wholly unfounded and when they made this
further appropriation of $10,000, or $5,000 if the amendment prevailed,
it would be a donation to Blake & Connor of exactly that amount, less what
their tools on the ground were worth.
Mr. WORTHINGTON advocated the bill as it came from the Senate. The sum
of $10 000 was to be paid to these contractors, not as a bonus, but to
compensate them for their labor and their losses. The contractors had, it
was true, been paid seventy-five per cent. on monthly estimates of their
expenditures of labor and material, but these estimates were made by the
State Architect, and were altogether too low. The bill had received the
sanction of a large majority of the Senate; it was just and proper, and
the only question now was whether they would pass the bill in the shape
in which it received the Senate's indorsement, or endanger its passage
by these amendments diminishing the sum to be paid to $5,000. For the
sake of annulling this contract and getting rid of the subject altogether,
he hoped the amendments would be voted down, and the bill passed as it
came from the Senate.
Mr. LOVE said the true reason for cutting down the bonus from $10,000
to $5,000 had not yet been fairly stated. The Committee could not find
from the best evidence they could get, that the contractors had a claim
of over $3,800 agamst the State. The contractors in their statement to
the Senate Judicial Committee, stated as one reason for asking this
indemnity, that they would be compelled to pay to Roach & Dana,
subcontractors, for granite, $2,700; to the contractor for ironwork,
$560, and so on. But a section of this bill provided that the State
should assume all these sub-contracts, as advised by the State Architect
and the subcontractors would therefore have no claim on Blake & Connor.
The whole amount to be paid to the«e contractors, if the contracts were
annulled, would be $3,265, but if the State assumed the contract that
amount might be saved. The real reduction from the Senate bill, however
was only some seventeen hundred and odd dollars and if he thought there
was any danger of defeating the bill by amending it, he would prefer
to pass it as it came from the Senate.
Mr. AMES advocated the Senate bill unamended and gave instances
in which the State Architect had greatly underestimated the labor and
material of the contractors.
Mr. FERGUSON inquired where the gentleman got his information.
Mr. AMES replied that he got it from the contractors, who were honorable
men. He was willing to place Mr. Blake's word against that of the State
Architect. All this buncombe speech making was about one thousand four
hundred dollars, for that was all the difference between the Committee's
amendments and the Senate bill. He thought the wisest course was to
refrain from endangering the bill for sake of that small sum. His
experience for the last thirteen years showed that every body who had
a claim against the State of California if defeated one year always
followed it up the next, and always got it in the end, especially if
It was as well based and strongly fortified as this would be. If they
refused to pass this bill there would be afterclaps in the shape of
relief bills enough to last a life time. As a matter of economy they
had better pass the bill as it came from the Senate.
Mr. SAUL said the time consumed in this discussion already cost the State
more than the amendments proposed to save. He was like most of the
Sacramento delegation, in favor of the Senate bill and opposed to the
amendments, and moved the previous question.
The previous question was sustained.
The ayes and noes were demanded, on adopting the Committee's amendments,
and resulted:
Ayes -- Amerige, Avery, Bigelow, Cot, Cunnard, Dore, Dow, Fay, Ferguson,
Love, McCullough, Printy, Reed, Sargent, Sears, Teegarden, Werk,
Wilcoxon, Yule, Zuck -- 20.
Noes -- Ames, Barton of Sacramento, Barton of San Bernardino, Battles,
Bell, Benton, Brown, Campbell, Dean, Dennis, Dudley of Placer, Dudley
of Solano, Eagar, Eliason, Evey, Frasier, Griswold, Hillyer, Hoag.
Hoffman, Irwin, Kendall, Lane, Leach, Loewy, Machin. Maclay, Matthews,
Meyers, O'Brien, Orr, Parker, Pemberton, Porter, Reese, Reeve, Saul,
Smith of Fresno, Smith of Sierra, Thompson of Tehama, Van Zandt, Waddell,
Warwick, Watson, Woodman, Worthington, Mr. Speaker -- 47.
So the amendments were rejected.
On the passage of the bill the ayes and noes were demanded, and the
result was -- ayes 54, noes 4. So the bill was passed. Those voting no
were Messrs. Amerige, Dow, Reed and Teegarden.
Mr. SEARS said he voted aye for the purpose of giving notice of
reconsideration.
Mr. O'BRIEN obtaining the floor immediately after the announcement of
the vote, moved to supend the rules in order to send the bill at once
to the Senate.
Mr. SEARS -- I object. I desire to state that thuy have given
Blake & Connor $4,000 more than they asked for, and I now give notice
of reconsideration. [The last sentence was nearly smothered under the
cries of "Order" and "Mr. Speaker" from all directions.]
On Mr. O'BRIEN's motion to suspend the rules, the ayes and noes were
demanded, and the motion was lost -- ayes 30, noes 35.
Mr. O'BRIEN said he had made the motion only in order to save time, as he
did not want to hear the subject discussed again to-morrow. If gentlemen
wanted reconsideration he would give them reconsideration; he moved to
reconsider the vote now.
Mr. AMES moved to adjourn. Lost.
Mr. O'BRIEN moved to postpone indefinitely his own motion to reconsider.
Mr. SEARS asked if that would cut off his notice to reconsider to-morrow.
The SPEAKER pro tern. (Mr. Benton) said the motion to reconsider now was
first in order.
Mr. AVERY referred to the rule that a motion to reconsider shall not be
in order if notice is given of reconsideration the following day.
The SPEAKER pro tern. -- The Chair decides that the motion to reconsider
is first in order.
Mr. O'BRIEN -- The notice to reconsider has not been given.
Mr. AVERY -- It has been, by my colleague, Mr. Sears.
Mr. O'BRIEN -- It was not in order; he had not the floor.
Mr. McCULLOUGH moved to adjourn. Ruled out of order.
Mr. SEARS asked if his notice of reconsideration had been recorded.
The CLERK -- No, sir.
Mr. SEARS -- Then I give that notice now, and I ask to have it reorded
[sic]. ["Order!" "Order!"]
Mr. TEEGARDEN -- This House is very anxious to give away $4,000 or $5,000.
Mr. BATTLES raised a question of order, that a motion to adjourn was pending.
Mr. SEARS -- That was very properly ruled out of order.
The SPEAKER pro tern, stated the question on Mr. O'Brien's motion to
postpone his own motion to reconsider.
Mr. SEARS asked what had been done with his notice.
The SPEAKER pro tern. -- Your notice is not in order. The motion of
Mr. O'Brien was made first, and the motion to postpone that motion
indefinitely is in order.
Mr. SEARS -- I appeal from that decision of the Chair. I will see if the
House will override my rights.
The question was stated on the appeal, when Mr. O'BRIEN withdrew his motion to reconsider.
Mr. SEARS -- I do not withdraw my appeal.
Mr. AMES moved to adjourn. Lost by ayes and noes. Ayes 14, noes 47.
Mr. SEARS then gave his notice of reconsideration and had it recorded
by the Clerk. . . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, April 10. 1862.
The Senate met at the usual hour, Lieutenant Governor CHELLIS in the chair, . . .
FEATHER RIVER NAVIGABLE.
Senate Bill No. 430 -- An Act declaring Feather river navigable -- was
taken from the top of the general file.
Mr. GASKELL said Mr. De Long was absent and he knew he was opposed to it.
Mr. PARKS said Mr. De Long knew the bill was at the top of the file.
He did not believe he would oppose it if he was here, but might prefer
to have it killed in this way. Mr. De Long had no interest in the matter
in the world, except that he was formerly counsel for the old company.
Mr. GASKELL moved the indefinite postponement of the bill. He would not
say that the object was to benefit what ought to be a free bridge, but
which was now collecting tolls.
Mr. PARKS -- Do you insinuate it?
Mr. GASKELL said the effect would be that no bridge could be built again
in the place of the one carried away, without the consent of the Legislature.
He had been doing business up there for ten years and had never found any
complaint of the steamboat companies not being able to land properly. The
Senator from Sutter had engineered through a free bridge bill and the bridge
had been built, while the floods had carried away the only bridge competing
with it. The proprietors were now charging toll, and enormous rates at that.
He referred to the Marysville papers in proof, and believed the old bridge
company's ferry would be replaced by a bridge in less than six months.
Mr. PARKS said the insinuations of the Senator from Butte were entirely
wrong. There was no competition between the ferry and the bridge. There
was a small debt on constructing the bridge which the builders were
authorized to remove by collecting tolls, but the bridge would be free
in less than six months. Nobody would build another bridge alongside of
a free bridge. If the Senator from Butte knew what he was talking about
he would not suppose that any person would object to the passage of the
bill. The only object was to permit the steamboat company to land a block
and a half farther up for the reason that a mud bank had been formed at
the old berth, which was now untenable.
The bill was read a third time and passed by the following vote:
Ayes -- Baker, Banks, Bogart, Burnell, Chamberlain, Gaskell, Harvey,
Heacock, Hill, Holden, Merritt, Nixon, Oulton, Parks, Pacheco, Powers,
Rhodes, Soule, Shurtliff, Van Dyke -- 20.
Noes -- Harriman, Hathaway, Irwin, Lewis, Porter, Watt, Warnicastle -- 7.
Mr. GASKELL changed his vote to the affirmative, and gave notice of
a reconsideration. . . .
[Where is Number 3444]
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3445, 14 April 1862 p. 1
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
p. 2
. . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, April 11,1662.
The Senate met at eleven o'clock, Lieutenant Governor CHELLIS in the chair, . . .
Mr. GASKELL moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed,
yesterday, declaring Feather river navigable.
Mr. DE LONG said there had been a small sized contest going on up there
for the past four or five years, in which he had been interested on the
one hand, and his half brother from Sutter on the other. He proceeded
to give a detailed history of that contest. The old bridge was a toll
bridge and the new one a free bridge, according to law, while, in point
of fact, the former was a free bridge and the latter a toll bridge, and
a worse monopoly, since the old bridge, just below, had been washed away
by the flood, on some unaccountable principle, than the old bridge company
ever was. Now they were trying to declare Feather river navigable, so as
to prevent them from ferrying, or compel them to construct a draw, which
would cost thousands of dollars.
Mr. PARKS gave his version of the history, and accused the Senator from
Yuba with sharp practice.
The bill was reconsidered -- ayes 16, noes 8; and subsequently passed.
p. 4
. . .
Weather in the Interior.
PLACERVILLE, April 13th -- 8 P. M.
Showery all the afternoon. Raining a little now.
STRAWBERRY, April 13th.
Snowing and blowing very hard. Road over the summit good. . . .
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
WILL MEET TO-DAY -- The newly appointed Levee Commissioners will hold
their first meeting at two o'clock P. M. to-day, at which time they will
be sworn in. They were to have met at two o'clock on Saturday, but were
prevented from doing so on account of the illness of one of their number. . . .
PUMPING OUT. -- During several days past a steam engine has been employed
in pumping the water from the cellars at the corner of Ninth and K streets.
LETTER FROM THE SALMON RIVER MINES.
[The following letter has been forwarded to us for publication by the
parties to whom it is addressed, -- EDS. UNION.]
SALMON RIVER MINES, }
FLORENCE CITY, Jan 17, 1862. }
Pursuant to agreement I proceed to write you-- I arrived in the mines on
the 1st of January, being forty-two days from Pine Grove. I was detained
in Oregon by the great flood, in consequence of which all overland travel
was nearly suspended. . . .
The ground was covered with snow when I came here and remains so, , , ,
There is little mining being done here on account of the extreme cold.
Those who go out a few hours in the day are obliged to keep a fire in
the "pit" to keep from freezing. They have to heat water, and pour into
their rockers every few buckets to keep from freezing the rocker up. In
fact, this country, if properly described, would produce a book that would
freeze the reader beneath the hottest midday tropical sun. . . .
and we took out $102, and we thawed a part of the dirt on a fire near by. . . .
It is intensely cold. The mercury has ranged from ten to twelve degrees
below zero for the last month. On the 15th inst. the mercury sunk to 24
degrees, and on the 16th stood for several hours at 21 degrees.
Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, and the tremendous mountains
over which the adventurer has to pass, whose summits are capped with almost
perpetual snow, still the new miners are constantly arriving, and cabins
are being daily erected in every direction. [Since this many have returned
owing to the severe weather.] Every day there may be seen a few prospectors
going and coming to and from the ravines and gulches with their fancy
moustaches white with frost, as if old Time had stamped them with seventy
years. . . .
. . .Very little mining can be done here before the 1st of March. I have met
no white man who ever experienced a Winter so severe. The Indians say that
the cold will kill all the "Bostons."
Notwithstanding the inclemency of the Winter, the privations and hardships
experienced by those who are wintering here, I think they have done better
than to have remained at home until Spring, for they have mostly secured
claims, either by purchase or location.
Snow is four feet deep, and, there being so much fallen timber, it is
difficult to get around, unless you have snow shoes. The snow does not
pack here as in California. * * * There are about one thousand seven
hundred (1,700} miners in these mines at the present time, and I am
informed that Walla Walla is crowded to its utmost capacity with those
who are on their way here, but who are afraid to venture across the snow
until the weather moderates.
. . .before you leave your California home let me ask you a few questions, . . .
3d. Can you stand as much cold as would freeze a moose in the most
northern part of the State of Maine? . . .
January 27th. -- Not having had any express from or to this place for three
weeks, my letter has remained in the office, . . . None of which days were
we able to work more than six or seven hours, being compelled to pack wood
and heat water to keep the rocker in running order. I send you a sample of
gold from my claim, the proceeds of one pan, obtained with difficulty, on
account of snow and frost. It weighs $5.50. If there were no frost, I could
easily have got from two to three ounces.
JOHN DOUGHERTY.
To Messrs. McFarland, Fry, Long, Dougherty, Vellis and others, Pine Grove,
Sierra Co. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3446, 15 April 1862 p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .
Snow and rain fell at a number of the interior towns yesterday. Last
evening there was a general clearing up. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .
Weather in the Interior.
RED BLUFF, April 14th.
Rained all day. Cleared up at sundown.
DOWNIEVILLE, April 14th.
Snowing and raining, at intervals, all day.
OROVILLE, April 14th.
Raining all day. Clear and pleasant now. . . .
SNOW NORTH. -- Snow fell week before last on Scott Mountain to the depth
of four and a-half feet. Along the Upper Sacramento river more snow fell,
according to the Yreka Union, than at any other time this Winter. The
people in that section were very fearful that they would experience the
seventh flood of the season. . . . .
THE WEATHER. -- We understand that it has been snowing in the mountains
for the last two or three days. If no warm rains follow extending to the
summit there will be but little danger of a flood, and the warm days which
may now be expected will have the effect of bringing down the snow-water
in judicious quantities. From the fact that the periodical winds have
commenced blowing in San Francisco, it appears probable that we will have
no long storms after this date.
THE HENNESS ROUTE. -- The Nevada Democrat is informed that the snow
between Maple's and Jackson's, on the Henness route, is eighteen to
twenty feet, and between Jackson's and Eureka fifteen feet deep. Most
of the snow deposited fell during the month of March when it rained in
the foothills and valleys. It is the impression that on the higher
elevations the depth of snow is much greater, and fears are entertained
of a flood if it goes off suddenly. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
MEETING OF LEVEE COMMISSIONERS. -- The first meeting of the Board of
Levee Commissioners, designated by the Legislature in the Levee Bill to
superintend the construction of the new levee, was held yesterday at two
o'clock P. M., at ihe office of the Swamp Land Commissioners. The Board
is composed of the following members: C. H. Swift, W. F. Knox, Charles
Crocker, F. Tukey and H. T. Holmes. They were sworn in by Jared Irwin,
County Clerk. The meeting organized by the election of C. H. Swift as
President of the Board and W. F. Knox as Secretary. A Committee was
appointed to wait on B. F. Leet, Engineer of Swamp Land District No. 2,
and solicit a report from him as early as practicable of the levee survey
ordered by the Swamp Land Commissioners several months ago. It is the
intention of the members to take hold of the work intrusted to their
charge and have it commenced and completed as early as possible. It
will be remembered that, during the Winter, Engineer Leet, aided by
five or six other engineers, made a survey of the line of the levee
from Sutterville up the Sacramento to I street, and up I and nearly
along the line of the present levee out to Brighton. The Commissioners
are now ready to go to work as soon as the report of that survey can
be had. . . .
REMOVAL.-- The stables erected during the Winter on the levee, by
parties whose premises were so situated that they could not keep their
horses at home, were yesterday removed. The appearance of the levee
is thereby improved. . . .
NEW LEVEE. -- Several of the gardeners near Rabel's tannery have been engaged
for a few days past in throwing up a light levee across the break at that
point, for the temporary protection of their gardens and fruit orchards. . . .
STATE CAPITOL.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN
that the undersigned has opened an office in the Furniture Store of
Messrs. Grimes & Felton, Fourth street, for the purpose of settling
up the affairs of BLAKE & CONNOR, in matters connected with the Capitol
Building.
All persons having claims against the firm are requested to present them
on next THURSDAY April 17th, or as soon after that date as possible.
P. L. SHOAFF.
April 14, 1862. a14-2p . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3447, 16 April 1862 p. 2
. . .
THE CRISIS.
When the recent visitation of the elements involved the city of
Sacramento in that calamity which, for a season, threatened her complete
subversion, there arose from every quarter the spontaneous expression of
a universal sympathy. It was expected that the Legislature, then just
entering upon its session, would come generously to her relief, and
members were profuse in their proffers of pecuniary aid from the coffers
of the State. But. this people, strong in their self reliance, scorned
to be pensioners upon the public bounty. Stricken as she was, their
cherished city still possessed within herself the impulse and the ambition
to be her own protector. Swept by a desolating flood, stripped of her
wealth, palsied in her marts and abandoned by the Legislature, it needed
the display of an energy untiring and a courage almost superhuman to
rescue her from absolute destruction. Her funded debt exceeded one quarter
of the entire possessions of her citizens, while her own affairs were
hopelessly insolvent. Subjected, as she was, in the mixed condition of
her government, to a double burthen of taxation, she endured heavier
exactions than any other portion of the State, not even excepting its
metropolis. In this emergency the people with one voice, while they
abjured its charity, asked from the Legislature a new form of government,
which should equally insure reduced expenditure and the rejection of
illegal claims. . . .
After enduring hardships unexampled and lifting herself up with a gigantic
energy from the dark bosom of the flood; after declining the earlier offers
of extrinsic aid from Legislative bounty, she finds herself at last the
subject of hostile legislation, and the victim of outside cabal. . . . .
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
SAN FRANCISCO, April 14, 1862.
. . .
The "little bill" recommended by your city Supervisors, authorizing
the levying of a special tax sufficient to raise the money for paying
A. D. Rightmire $1,004, was defeated on Saturday, in the face of the
unanimous recommendation of your delegation that it pass. The delegation
and the Board of Supervisors have evidently been coerced in this matter
by a fear that Rightmire would, if not paid to the last cent of his
claim, go on under the contract made last December, and build that
$18,000 bulkhead at Rabel's Tannery. What a terrible hold he has upon
Sacramento, to be sure. Unless she will instantly raise $1,000 for him
in coin, by a special tax, he will go on under his $18,000 contract,
and perform impossibilities, for the sake of having a greater claim
against an impoverished city. The whole thing seems so extremely
ridiculous, that it is a wonder this liberal claimant came so near
carrying his point as he did. Avery of Nevada, and Hillyer of Placer,
reminded the Assembly of the UNION's comments upon this subject. The
bill was defeated by this, and the eagerness of its backers to rush
it through. It is to be hoped that the action of the Assembly in the
premises will not enable Rightmire to utterly crush out what remains
of Sacramento. If Rightmire's claim really be as just as one for money
loaned would be, it might still be asked if there are not other equally
just claims outstanding against Sacramento? If so, why does not the
Board of Supervisors ask power to levy a special tax, to raise money
enough to pay everybody? Why not compel every city and county to pay
up its entire indebtedness instantly? . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
MEETING OF LEVEE COMMISSIONERS. -- A meeting of the Levee Commissioners
was held last evening at the room of the Swamp Land Commissioners -- present
a full Board. The Committee appointed to wait upon B. F. Leet, and request
him to make a report of the levee survey, reported that they had performed
the duty, and that he would be prepared to comply with the request in a
few days. The Board then elected H. O. Beatty as its legal adviser, a
position which he is understood to be willing to accept, and the duties
of which he will perform without compensation. The Board then adjourned
until Monday evening next, at which time it is expected that Leet's
report will be received. The Board appears to have made a good beginning,
and it is to be hoped that the work intrusted to them will be speedily,
thoroughly and economically performed. . . .
THE REASON. -- For some two or three weeks past, tbe flag of the
St. George Hotel has not been raised above that edifice, but the omission
has been one of necessity rather than of choice. The halyard became unrove
by the storms some time ago, and the flagstaff is so slender that the
proprietor has been unable to find any one to ascend it to reeve it.
To-day the staff will be taken down, the running gear will be adjusted,
and when the next news of a Union victory is received, the flag will
speak for itself. . . .
COURT HOUSE REMOVED. -- The store of Sevey & Co., of Washington, was
removed a few days ago from its old position to the corner, one block
further north, on a line with the bridge. The second story of this
building is occupied as the County Court room of Yolo county. The
building was set considerably higher from the ground than formerly,
to be out of reach of the next flood. . . .
RISING. -- The water in the flooded portion of the city rose two inches
during yesterday afternoon. . . .
HIDES. -- On Tuesday, April 8th, according to the Knight's Landing News,
the Victor took 2,200 hides on board at that place, and the Visalia 500.
Still the levee was covered with them. Nearly all the hides were taken
from animals that perished by the flood or the late inclement season. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, April 12, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Saturday's proceedings,
after forty-five minutes past three P. M., when the report closed for the
Sacramento boat:] . . .
THE RIGHTMIRE CLAIM.
Mr. FERGUSON asked leave to make a unanimous report from the Sacramento
delegation. Granted.
Mr. FERGUSON reported back Assembly Bill No. 814 -- An Act to allow the
Board of Supervisors of Sacramento city and county to levy a special tax.
Also, Assembly Bill No. 347-- An Act to liquidate an equitable claim
against the city of Sacramento.
Mr. FERGUSON moved to suspend the rules in order to place Assembly
Bill No. 314 on its passage, and the rules were suspended.
Mr. AVERY -- What claim is it?
Mr. WARWICK -- It is all right.
Mr. AMES said, for a wonder the Sacramento delegation had made a
unanimous report, and he thought the House ought to pass any bill
having such an indorsement.
Mr. AVERY asked if this was not the Rightmire contract -- a bill
to pay a man four dollars for one on what was due him. If it was
that bill, he would like to hear it explained, for, by the accounts
in the SACRAMENTO UNION, he was led to think that such a bill ought
not to pass. He should object to passing the bill under whip and spur.
Mr. FERGUSON said this bill simply allowed Rightmire the $1,000 due him
from the city.
Mr. HILLYER said he had been told by a citizen of Sacramento that the bill
ought never to pass, and he thought it was bad policy to rush through these
local bills. It was only by a sort of chance that they had learned what the
bill was about. He understood it was to pay Rightmire $1,000 on a contract
which he had never fulfilled. He moved that the House adjourn.
The motion to adjourn was ruled out of order.
Mr. FERGUSON said the delegation was at first as much prejudiced against
the bill as any one, but all their objections had been removed by
explanations. He was astonished at the course of Mr. Avery and Mr. Hillyer,
and thought their language impugned the motives of the Sacramento
delegation. Whatever might have been the ipse dixit of the
SACRAMENTO UNION, the delegation had acted only upon questions of
fact, and had reported unanimously in favor of the bill. To remove
prejudices which might have been created by the SACRAMENTO UNION, he
would read, if the House desired, the report of the Board of Supervisors.
The city had entered into a contract with Rightmire to build a bulkhead
at Rabel's tannery, he being the lowest bidder, and proposing to do the
work for $18,500 in city scrip, or $7,500 in cash. The Board agreed before
the thirty days expired, to extend the time of the contract if a flood
intervened to prevent the work. Rightmire entered into the contract about
the 5th of December, and immediately came to San Francisco to purchase
tools and lumber. About that time the first flood occurred and the
Citizens' Committee of Safety was formed, and raised money to rebuild
the levees. It was found that in consequence of the action of the flood,
the bulkhead was unnecessary, and Rightmire said he was ready to go on,
but if the city would release him from the contract and repay him the
actual expenses he had already incurred in good faith, he would be
satisfied. The Supervisors agreed to this, on condition that he should
produce the vouchers for what he had expended. Rightmire presented the
vouchers under oath, and the Board of Supervisors passed a warrant in
his favor for four times the amount, for the reason that Rightmire was
unable to sell the warrants for more than twenty-five per cent. The
Auditor vetoed this warrant, on the ground that the Supervisors had
no authority to entail such indebtedness upon the city. The Board of
Supervisors were unable to pay cash, and the only way to do justice in
the premises was to pass this bill, allowing them to levy a special tax,
and to pay the actual damage incurred by Rightmire. If the Board of
Supervisors represented the matter correctly, Rightmire could still go
on and do that work under his contract, and collect the full amount,
although it would be worth not one dollar to the city.
Upon the passage of the bill a division was called, and the vote -- ayes
13, noes 18 -- no quorum voting.
The question was again taken viva voce, and declared to be lost. So the
bill was rejected.
A division was demanded, but a motion to adjourn was put and carried.
Accordingly, at 6:10 P. M. the House adjourned.
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3448, 17 April 1862 p. 1
. . .
LETTER FROM ST. LOUIS.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
ST. LOUIS, March 12, 1862.
. . .
New England Matters.. . .
VERMONT. -- The snow storm of Monday last occasioned great inconvenience
to the people of Vermont, by the blocking of highways and railroads.
The St. Johnsbury Caledonian says that a train on the Passumpsic road
was three days and two nights in going from St. Johnsbury to Barton,
a distance of twenty-nine miles, and back. A man near St. Johnsbury
has a drift in his barnyard as large as a "forty-foot" barn, which
he has been obliged to tunnel in order to get his cattle to water.
The mail on the Vermont Central and Passumpsic roads, due at Windsor
on Monday afternoon, did not arrive until Thursday morning. . . .
MASSACHUSETTS.. --
The Town House of Belchertown was crushed on Monday night by the
superincumbent weight of snow and ice on the roof, leaving it a
perfect ruin. This house was erected in 1845, at an expense of $2,100.
The roof of a large building in Pittsfield, Massachusttts, was crushed
through last Tuesday evening, by the snow, killing Sydney Wright and
Miss Polly Barnes, and also badly injuring W. H. Hubbard, William Olds
and Miss Ruth Taylor. Considerable damage was done to other property
by the weight of snow, including the Berkshire County Eagle
newspaper office. . . .
p. 2
. . .
FROST. -- There was a heavy frost in Nevada on the night of April 14th. . . .
ASSESSMENT FOR BUILDING
LEVEE. -- Pursuant to requirements of an Act of the Legislature, approved
April 9th, 1862, I have this day commenced making out the assessment for
the purpose of constructing a levee, taking the Assessment Roll of the year
A. D. 1861-2 as a basis for said assessment. All persons owning real or
personal property, or having such property under their control, are hereby
notified that such assessment has commenced, and are requested to call at
the Assessor's office (over the Post Office) and deliver a list of said
property to the Assessor.
E. B. RYAN, Assessor.
Sacramento, April 16, 1862. a17-1m3p . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
THE SPRINKLERS COMING. -- The inquiry and demand for the street
sprinklers were yesterday quite general. During the greater portion
of the day, clouds of dust swept through the streets, to the annoyance
and disgust of the community in general. We are informed by J. Shaw,
one of the proprietors of the water carts, that the floods carried off
the boxes or tanks in which they carry the water through the streets.
Some of them floated to Sutterville, and others to a greater or less
distance. The ground has been so soft that until within a few days it
has been .impossible to get them back. Active preparations are being made
to meet the emergency, and it is likely that before night we shall see
the sprinklers on the streets. . . .
K STREET BRIDGE. -- W. Hendrie and A. T. Renwick have for some time past
been engaged in obtaining signatures to a subscription list, for the
purpose of erecting a free bridge on K street, across Burns' Slough.
The sum of three hundred dollars, which was required for the purchase
cf lumber, was so nearly obtained yesterday that the lumber was bought
and the work is likely to be commenced at once. A bridge built there,
early in the season, was carried off by the flood and landed below
Sutterville. . . .
FIRE. -- About nine o'clock last evening, two small frame dwelling houses
on the south side of the alley between Fifth and Sixth and L and M streets,
were destroyed by fire. The buildings were surrounded by water, and being
unoccupied must have been set on fire. One of the buildings was owned by
J. Campbell. . . .
RE-FENCING. -- Many of our citizens in the eastern part of the city were
engaged yesterday, either individually or by hired parties, in rebuilding
fences around their yards, taking care of shrubbery, and otherwise bringing
order out of the confusion produced by the flood. . . .
THE RIVER. -- The Sacramento river stands at about seventeen feet ten
inches above low-water mark, a point from which it has varied but little
for several days past. . . .
DESTRUCTION OF TREES. -- The San Joaquin Republican says it continues
to hear of the destruction of peach trees by the water standing about
them during the flood. Whitmore, in his neighborhood, has lost five acres
of peach trees. Salter, on the Tuolumne, on Dickinson's ranch, has lost
ten acres of them. The slum is so high about them that their trunks cannot
be seen. Apricot trees have fared no better. . . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, Ap'ril 15, 1862.
The Senate met at eleven o'clock, Lieutenant Governor CHELLIS presiding, . . .
MISCELLANEOUS. Mr. BURNELL rose to correct the UNION reporter in making him
say that he visited the State Reform School at Marysville in a boat. It
would have been uphill business to do that, for the institution was situated
ten or fifteen feet above high water. The remark was that the Resident
Physician had been obliged to go to the institution at Stockton in a boat. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Tuesday, April 15, 1862,
The Speaker called the House to order at 11 o'clock . . .
THE RIGHTMIRE CLAIM.
Mr. AVERY moved to take up Senate Bill No.-- An Act
authorizing a special tax in the city of Sacramento, to pay the claim of
A. D. Rightmire -- for the reason that there was no quorum present on
Saturday when the bill was disposed of. He wanted to give the bill a fair
chance if it had any merit in it.
The SPEAKER pro tem, said he then
decided that the bill was rejected, but he was informed that no quorum
was present in the House. He was informed, however, that the Journal
showed that the bill failed to pass, and consequently the bill could
be reinstated before the House only by unanimous consent to amend the
Journal.
Mr. BENTON of Sacramento objected.
The SPEAKER pro tern. said then the only remedy was for the delegation
to introduce a new bill. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3449, 18 April 1862 p. 2
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .
We publish the report of the Committee of Safety appointed on the 13th of
December last, in reference to the operations of that body, the moneys
received, the amount expended, and the purposes to which those sums were
applied. The total amount collected and placed in the hands of the Committee
was $27,017.35; the amount expended was §13,533.27. The balance has been
handed over to Messrs. Crocker and Boyd, to be distributed, pro rata,
among the subscribers.
IMPASSABLE ROADS. --
. . .
The Col. Garfield who whipped Humphrey Marshall, saved his command from
starvation by bringing up his stores from the Ohio during the great flood
in that part of the country, and when even brave and experienced men
assured them that such a task would.be impossible. When it is considered
that in war celerity of movement will often enable an inferior force to
achieve a decisive victory, or save an army from disaster, the importance
of applying the spur to irresolute or routine Generals will be obvious. . . .
THE NEW ARRANGEMENT.
It has been announced that an arrangement was recently made by tbe Overland
Stage Company with Vanderbilt, uuder which all printed mail matter will
hereafter be sent each way by steamship, instead of, as heretofore, by
overland stage. . . .
When the law passed to transfer
the mail matter to an overland line, it was deemed impolitic to attempt
to transport all mail matter by such means; it was known that the printed
matter -- including documents and books franked by members of
Congress -- was of great bulk and weight, and in the Winter would be
likely to overtask the energy and ability of any newly established line
running for so many hundreds of miles through an almost trackless desert.
The result has proved that those fears were well grounded. The terrible
Winter experienced, and immaturity of the preparations of the company for
grappling with such formidable difficulties, and the excessive weight of
the mails, have combined to force the company to coucede that they ought to
have waited a year or two before undertaking to transport all the mail
matter, Winter and Summer, overland. The members of our delegation in
Congress are liberal in sending documents to their constituents, and we
presume during the present session they have franked tons of them to be
transported across the continent in mail stages. With good roads the labor
would have been just about equal to the capacity of the coaches and horses
of the Overland Mail Company. The company did not make the preparations
in the Summer necessary for Winter service. During the Fall the coaches
of the company were taxed to their utmost capacity to convey the newspaper
and letter mails. So nearly full were its coaches packed with mail matter,
that to carry passengers was simply out of their power. With these facts
standing out prominently before the public, as well as the company, it
became obviously the duty of the contractors to avail themselves of the
right they possessed under the law, to make a contract with the steamship
company to transport all the heavy matter during the Winter season. But
this they neglected to do; they undertook to perform the service
overland, and failed so decidedly that they have been forced to enter
into such an arrangement in the Spring, after the inconvenience of
failures has been endured for the Winter, with the steamship companies.
Had they consummated a contract of the same character early in the Fall,
we should have heard no complaints of the irregularities of tbe overland
mails; with only the letter mails, the service would have been performed
regularly, in spite of the extraordinary inclemency of the season.
Probably suoh another Winter will not be experienced for the nezt quarter
of a century; but the terrible Winter is not a sufficient apology for the
failure of the contractors to make provision last Fall for sending printed
matter by sea, as contemplated by the law. . . .
PASSAGE OF THE MOUNTAINS. -- A correspondent of the UNION, writing from
Strawberry Valley, April 14th, says:
For the past week there has been more or less snow falling nearly every
day at this place, and even so far down as Brockliss' bridge. On the
mountains east of here some of these storms have been quite severe,
filling up the track and rendering travel rather unpleasant, and at some
points difficult. Four animals belonging to a pack train slipped from
the grade this afternoon while going down the west summit into Lake
Valley. One of them was killed, and the others gotten back upon the
road with difficulty. The principal trouble in crossing the mountains
at present is in turning out, the snow being soft, and animals sinking
in to their sides the moment they step outside the beaten track. So
long as they keep this they get along very well. The stage travel now
is from Placervilie, 25 miles in coaches; then 23 miles to this place
on horseback; then 11 miles to Lake Valley in sleighs; then 21 miles
to Vansickle's on horseback, and the balance of the way to Carson City,
Virginia, etc., in coaches. The stages having their stations and feed on
the old road up the north side of the river, go that way. Nearly all
other travel goes over the Ogilsby road, which, besides being a little
shorter, is in much better condition than the other. Wagons, however,
cannot at present go this way, the bridge over the American fork --
carried away last Winter -- not being rebuilt. Most of the timbers for
the new bridge are on the ground, and the abutments up, and I am assured
by the proprietors that it will be complete and their road open for wagons
by the 12th of May. They have over fifty hands at work repairing their
grade, which, with the exception of some few spots, is in an excellent
condition. The Ogilsby road extends from the Junction House, sixteen
miles east of Placerville, to Webster's -- a distance of twenty miles.
It runs along the south side of the river, to which it descends by an
easy and regular grade, crossing the stream five miles below Webster's.
There is no difficulty in horsemen, footmen and pack trains passing
over it, as the obstructions caused by land-slides have been removed,
and the deep mud, which in no place takes a horse over the knee, extends
not over a mile or two in the whole distance. The old road from Webster's
to near Brockliss' Bridge -- say twenty miles -- is represented to be
very bad, wherefore travelers and packers would do well to take the other.
Owing to the high price of freights, both feed and provisions are getting
scarce up this way -- hay selling at this place for eighteen and barley for
twelve cents a pound. In Carson Valley they are selling at twelve and
fifteen cents, respectively; flour having gone up to twenty cents. The
charge is two dollars and a half for keeping a horse over night here,
and four dollars and a half in Washoe. There is a good deal of freight
going over the mountains just now, mostly on pack animals, teams being
able to come out no further than twenty-five miles from Placerville.
Most of the goods being carried over consist of flour and other staple
articles of provision. Freights are fifteen dollars per hundred.
The snow commenced falling about noon today, and has has [sic] continued
steadily since, up till ten o'clock at night. Passengers just in from
Carson report it drifting badly on the mountains -- the trail being
completely filled up when they crossed. The stage and road companies
will send men out with shovels to open it in the morning, and we expect
to get over some time to-morrow. . . .
HOMOCIDE. -- A colored boy known as John Lamman was killed. April 16th.
on the Piatt road near Marysville, by S. W. Van Luven, who gave himself
up to the Sheriff. There was a difficulty about some flood timber between
the parties. . . .
LEVEE MATTERS -- ENGINEER'S REPORTS -- DUTIES OF COMMISSIONERS, ETC.
OFFICE OF SWAMP LAND COMMISSIONERS,}
SACRAMENTO, April 16, 1862. }
Andrew R. Jackson, Engineer of District No. 8:
Dear Sir -- I hear frequent inquiries about the relative duties of the
State, County and City Levee Commissioners; and in the local columns of
the UNION of this morning a meeting of the "City Levee Commissioners" is
published at which we are told, "The Committee appointed to wait upon
B. F. Leet, and request him to make a report of the levee survey, reported
that they had performed that duty, and that he would be prepared to comply
with the request in a few days. The Board then adjourned until Monday
evening next, at which time it is expected that Leet's report will be
received."
From this statement the public are left to infer that Mr. Leet is the
City Engineer, and that the "City Levee Commissioners" are controling [sic]
his actions. When that Board meets next Monday the public will expect
sorne action in relation to the Levee, in which they will of course be
disappointed.
The State Swamp Land Commissioners are required to have surveyed and
reclaimed all of the swamp, overflowed, salt marsh and tide lands in
the State. Sacramento city and the low lands for some thirty miles below
constittute [sic] District No. 2, of which Mr. Leet is the Engineer. When he
makes his report to the Board of Swamp Land Commissioners they will
consider it and adopt his plan or some other plan based upon the same
survey. When they have finally adopted the plan for the permanent
reclamation of District No. 2, that portion of the levee lying within
the city will be certified to the Board of City Levee Commissioners;
if they object to the plan, they are to appeal to a Joint Convention of
the two Boards of Commissioners, who will finally determine the plan for
the levee. Then the City Levee Commissioners will proceed to build that
part of the levee within the city, and the Swamp Land Commissioners will
build that part of the levee and other necessary reclamation improvements
outside of the city. When the whole work is done, that portion of the
levee in and for the city will be placed in charge of the City Levee
Commissioners, and that portion south of the city will be placed in
charge of the Board of County Levee Commissioners for Swamp Land District
No. 2. They and their sucessors in office will ever after take care of
their respective levees and keep them in proper order.
The State Swamp Land Commissioners will meet in this city next Tuesday,
the 22d of this month, when the Board will proceed to consider the plan
for reclaiming District No. 2. That is, if the Engineer should be ready
with his report.
Be so good as to publish tbis letter for public information. Your obedient
servant,
A. M. WINN,
President Swamp Land Commissioners. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
THE K STREET BRIDGE. -- We mentioned yesterday that W. Hendrie and
A. T. Renwick had been engaged in collectiug funds for the purpose of
constructing a free bridge at K street over Burns' slough. They were
served yesterday with the following notice by G. W. Colby, the proprietor
of the toll bridge on J street: "To William Hendrie and A. T. Renwick -- You
are hereby required to take notice, that in the month of January last I
entered into a contract with the Board of Supervisors in and for the city
and county of Sacramento, for the construction of a bridge across the Sutter
Slough; in consideration of which I obtained from said Board a franchise
authorizing me to collect tolls up to the 1st day of August, A. D. 1862;
prohibiting all competition.. This is, therefore, to warn you against the
erection of any bridge or ferry which may interfere with my said franchise,
and that I shall hold you responsible for any damage which I may sustain
thereby." . . .
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.-- The report of the Committee of Safety, giving
an account of its receipts and expenditures during the Winter may be found
in another column. The entire amount expended was $13,533. Seventy-five per
cent. of the amount originally subscribed to the Levee Fund will be returned
to the subscribers within a few days. . . .
LEVEE ASSESSMENT. -- Assessor Ryan has commenced to make out the levee
assessment roll. All persons owning property in the city, or having
property under their control, are requested to furnish him with a list. . . .
LETTER FROM SALT LAKE.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, April 5, 1862.
The Interruption of the Mails.
I commence my letter in the expectation that it will start westward
this evening, with the continuation of that expected from the East -- the
first through mail for the last ten days. . . .
In ordinary good weather their arrangements for carrying the daily mail
within schedule time were complete and abundant; they did so with ease.
Either company could rest at Salt Lake City, and resume the connection,
when it suited taste or the convenience of friends; hours were no
consideration, and a day or two could be made up if required. The past
Winter has been unusually severe, in fact there has been nothing like
it since the settlers came here, and "Jack Robinson" -- the veritable
"Jack," a splendid fellow, who has lived thirty years contiguous to
Bridger, says that for eighteen years they have had no such Winter.
The shanties and wigi-ups that had been built and stuck down for trading
purposes, on an elevation impregnable to the rushing of the mighty
waters, have all got deluged, submerged and otherwise steeped in the
melting snows. There are no great rivers to point to on the map, but
the streams are innumerable, and for 250 miles to the east of Bridger
the country has been inundated. Of course I receive with many grains
of allowance all statements that come over the wires, but if only the
one half of the reports have been true about rain and snow, the eastern
company has had quite a high time in the mountains; and then they have
had quite a nice amount of snow between Yellow creek and the mouth of
the famous Echo Canon. Snow thirty feet higher than tbe telegraph poles!
I have not yet learned who did the measuring. It has been deep enough,
no doubt of it, when Bromley, the division agent -- a fellow hard to
beat, out of doors -- was three days traveliug ten miles; "making" ten,
I expect, is the vernacular of the Jehus.
The ageuts here have been unremitting in their attentions to the public
service during this time, and to my certain knowledge have applied every
means at their. disposal. Their stages have run daily as before, as far
as they could run, and then "packing" the lock sacks where water was not
too deep and snow too soft, has been attempted every day. The mail hourly
expected is said to be the gatherings of seven days, aad the last messenger
from the East reports no mail was now piled up on this side of Echo
Canon -- it had all "gone in," and packing was somewhat successful.
Philosophers say that "out of evil cometh good." No doubt of it when men
are determined to do right, for blockheads only consent to go through the
world in everlasting babyhood. With the conviction that the million is
not to be thrown away, I, therefore, conclude that the Overland Company
will never find themselves again in such a position as that occupied
during the past Winter. They say that they will not be found there, and
I give them credit for knowing their own interest. Their vision is
extending, not only to heavy snows and deep waters; but the conviction
is forced upon them, and taking permanent hold of everybody, that this
Central Overland Route is going to be the most important military highway
within the domains of Uncle Sam, It must be so, if California does not
become the Empire of the West -- which to say, is treason! Well, I am
perhaps visionary, but can't help it; everything looks that way, and I
am astonished at the blindness of those who don't see it. Where would be
the passage for treasure from the Pacific to the Atlantic, if war with a
European Power was the order of the day? I understand nothing, if the late
order from Washington touching the protection of this daily mail had not
a direct allusion to this very contingency, The failures during the past
Winter were unlooked for, and could not have been taken into account by
the contractors and provision made to "tackle" the snow and high
waters -- the million could not cover that labor. The road has been shown
to be the most practicable on the prairies and deserts, and time only,
with the incentives to improvement which are looming up in the distance,
will make it a sure and pleasant highway. I can, and so could any person
that has ever traveled over the mountains of Europe, tell the company how
uninterrupted daily communication cau be preserved between the Atlantic
and Pacific States even though the snow was ten times deeper than it is
now reported. I venture to affirm that Brigham Young, I should say Governor
Young, could rig out teams enough among the disciples from Norway to carry
over that daily letter mail without trouble over the highest mountains and
deepest snows -- and en passant they would, I think, be pleased with
the job: i. e., if the chief said so; instead of counting their fingers over
and over again in Winter they could more agreeably amuse themselves with
turning over Uncle's outspread eagles and now and again kiss liberty and
dream of dry goods and groceries coming in the Spring -- for once this
is certainly enough -- yet all true.
Loss of Mail Stock.
The eastern company have to add to the extra expenditure of the past
Winter a severe tax imposed by the Indians. . . .
The Conference.
. . .We have had very variable and stormy weather recently, which may tend
to prevent many from "assisting," as the French call it,. . .
There is the mail. -- 3 P. M. LIBERAL
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.
We give below the report of the Committee of Safety, appointed on the 13th
of December, 1861, at a meeting of citizens held in the County Court room,
for the purpose of providing for the repairing of levees and securing the
city from inundation. It will be remembered that Charles Crocker, Alexander
Boyd and J. H. Warwick had collected subscriptions to a large amount for
the purpose designated, and C. H. Swift, C. W. Lightner, W. F.Knox,
E. P. Figg, L. B Harris and Newton Booth were appointed a Committee to
whom the expenditure of this money was entrusted:
SACRAMENTO, April 17, 1862.
To the Citizens of Sacramento: Your Committee, appointed at a meeting of
the citizens on the 18th December, 1861, "to take charge of and lay out
the funds" to be collected by Messrs. Crocker, Boyd and Warwick, in
repairing the levees and securing the city from inundation, beg leave
to report --
That they organlzed on the 4th [?] December by appointing C. H. Swift,
Chairman, and C. W, Lightner, Secretary, and proceeded at once to employ
hands and procure material for the purpose of preventing a recurrence of
the disasters of the 9th December.
They deem it unnecessary to enter into a detailed account of the manner
in which they performed their duties, and how, in almost every instance,
their labors were frustrated by recurring floods, which rendered useless
almost every undertaking. These details are already familiar to every
resident of the city. For an account of what was done by the Committee,
the following disposition of the funds placed in their hands is submitted.
There was deposited in the banking houses of D. O. Mills & Co., and
B. F. Hastings & Co., by Messrs. Crocker, Boyd and Warwick, ths sum of
$21,215, which, with the amount obtained by voluntary subscriptions,
collected by Messrs. Coleman, Whiting and Taylor ($802.35), make an
aggregate of $22,017.35, subject to the order of the Committee,
independent of a considerable amount remaining in the hands of the
Collecting Committee, which would have been placed at our disposal had
it been needed.
Of this amount there was expended at Rabel's Tannery
and Thirty-first street .$3,847.39
At Burns' slough and vicinity. 6,628.36
At Sixth and Seventh street levee 807.18
At Front street, near R 451.36
At I street 266.25
Miscellaneous Items -- Crossings, advertising,
removing carcasses, etc 660 02
__________
Making an aggregate cash expenditure of. . . $12,660 56
There were also labor done and materials furnished under their supervision
to the amount of $872.71 by subscribers to the loan, and audited accounts
have been furnished to the Collecting Committee. With this, the aggregate
amount of labor done and materials furnished is $13,533.27. vouchers for
which remain in the hands of the Secretary.
The Committee have turned over to Messrs. Crocker, Boyd and Warwick, for
pro rata distribution, the balances in the two banking houses, to wit:
In D. O. Mills & Co.'s $4,975.98
In B. F. Hastings & Co.'s .... 4,380.81
__________
In all $9,356.79
The scrapers, shovels, wheelbarrows, stone and lumber remaining in the
Committee's hands will be disposed of as soon as possible, and the
proceeds deposited with the City Treasurer, to the credit of the
Special Levee Fund.
Respectfully submitted.
CHAS. H. SWIFT, Chairman.
C. W. LIGHTNER, Secretary.
It will be seen that the aggregate amouut of money received by the
Committee was $22,017.85, and that the entire expenditures were
$13,533.27; leaving a balance of $9,356.79, which has been returned
to the hands of Crocker, Boyd and Warwick. The sum named as having been
received by the Committee was not, of course, the entire amount collected.
Crocker, Boyd and Warwick collected in cash, checks and notes, about
$60,000. They are not yet prepared to make a detailed report of their
operations, but will be at an early day. We are authorized to state that
they will be ready in a few days, to return to the subscribers to the
fund seventy-five per cent. of the amount originaily subscribed, and
furnish certificates for the remaining twenty-five per cent. -- the
amount expended by the Committee of Safety. These certificates will,
under the new Levee Law, be receivable for taxes. They will follow the
above rule with all subscriptions amounting to one hundred dollars or
upward. For all under that sum, they will give certificates for the whole
amount. Printed certificates have been ordered for the above purposes,
and as soon as they can be prepared and filled up, public notice will
be given. Among those who subscribed, whose names were down for fifty
or one hundred dollars, several have since failed, and will, of course,
be unable to pay. Others, who are able, have not yet paid, but are
expected to to-day. If there shall remain any balance in the hands of
Crocker and Boyd, after settling on the basis above set forth, it will
be transferred to the hands of the Levee Commissioners. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . . .
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, April 16th
President pro tem., Mr. SHAFTER, called the Senate to order at the usual hour, . . .
Senate Bill No. 346 -- An Act supplemental to an Act concerning
lawful fences -- was considered in Committee of the Whole.
Mr. PARKS asked whether the gentleman from San Joaquin (Mr. Chamberlain,
the author of the bill) was going to compel people who had cattle to fence
other people's land? It amounted to that, for cattle would feed upon
uninclosed pastures, and the bill would compel the owners to pay the
cost of fencing. He called it a ridiculous proposition.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN said there were a large number of land holders in his county
who desired snch a bill passed, because cattle owners reaped the advantage
of other people's fences and frequently a portion of their lands. If the
representatives of that class in the Senate were going to defeat the bill,
he would let them do so, and take the chances of something worse.
Mr. BURNELL said there seemed to be a desire to curtail the raising of
stock, under the plea that the large cattle owners were preying upon the
lands of other people. There were no large cattle owners in his portion
of the State. He thought he had some cattle last year, but did not think
he had now. Some few honest neighbors of his had cattle left that were
not swept away, and he wished to protect them by preventing, if he could,
the passage of such an unjust law as this. The Fence Law was a sheer
humbug. He moved to strike out the last section of the bill, because
he believed it would work a hardship. The true policy was to build up
the country, and encourage the increase of wealth in cattle as well as
everything else.
Mr. VAN DYKE said if this was a general law he would oppose it. The effect
would be to drive cattle out of the State.
The last section was stricken out. and the bill ordered engrossed. . . .
Senate Bill -- No. 85 -- An Act concerning domestic animals running
at large in certain places [districts devastated by the flood] -- was
indefinitely postponed. , , ,
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3450, 19 April 1862 p. 1
. . .
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
RELIGION IN OREGON. -- Letters from the preachers give sad accounts of
the ravages of the floods and hard times generally. . . .
p. 2
THE RIGHTMIRE BILL. -- Assemblyman Barton was not favorable to the bill
authorizing a special tax for the payment of the Rightmire claim. His
colleague (Ferguson) declared to the House that the Sacramento delegation
was unanimously in favor of the passage of the bill, but Barton declares
that he always opposed the bill, and that had he been present when it
came up he would then have opposed it. He was in this city on the day
that it was reported back and defeated. An effort was made on a subsequent
day to bring the matter up again, on the ground that no quorum voted when
it was killed, but objection being made by Barton, the Assembly refused
to resuscitate it. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
ANOTHER NOTICE. -- We mentioned yesterday that W. Hendrie and
A. T. Renwick had received notice from G. W. Colby to desist from
erecting a free bridge on K street across Burns' Slough, near the
Fort, on the ground that the same would infringe upon his right to
collect toll on the J street bridge. The same parties were yesterday
served with the following notice, signed by "W. Shattuck, President
of Board of Supervisors and Superintendent of Streets:" "To W. Hendrie
and A. T. Renwick: You are hereby required to take notice, that on the
9th day of January, A. D. 1862, the Supervisors of the city and county
of Sacramento entered into a contract with G. W. Colby for the erection
of a bridge across Sutter or Burns' Slough, on J street; that in
consideration of the erection of said bridge the Board of Supervisors
secured to said Colby the exclusive franchise, with authority to collect
tolls, until the 1st of August, A. D. 1862, and a guarantee to prohibit
all competition. You, and each of you, are hereby warned to abstain and
desist from the erection of any bridge across said Sutter or Burns' Slough
which may in any manner interfere with the full enjoyment of the said
franchise by the said G. W. Colby." We understand that the parties thus
notified by Colby propose nevertheless "to advance immediately upon his
works" and put up the free bridge. . . .
BODY FOUND.-- The dead body of a man, at the time unknown, was found
floating in the Sacramento river yesterday morning, two miles above
Washington, on the Yolo side. An inquest was held over the body by
Justice J. W. Willard, acting as Coroner, when the jury not being able
to find any specific evidence as to who the man was or concerning him,
other than that he was about forty-five years of age. and came to his
death by drowning, rendered a verdict accordingly. Subsequently some
friends of the deceased arrived and recognized the body as that of Manuel,
a Portuguese, formerly a deck hand on the steamer Visalia, who was knocked
overboard in a gale of wind about four months ago, near Mike Bryte's ranch.
THE LEVEE FUND. -- Arrangements have been so far completed by the Levee
Fund Collecting Committee, C. Crocker and A. Boyd, that the seventy-five
per cent, of the amount subscribed, with certificates for the remaining
twenty-five per cent., will be returned to the subscribing parties on
Monday next. Printed certificates have been prepared and are already
signed by C. Crocker, and only await the signature of Alexander Boyd.
which will be affixed to-day, when notice will be given to those concerned
as to when and where to call for settlement. . . .
FALLING. -- The water in the Sacramento river had fallen last evening to
seventeen feet five inches above low water mark. . . .
CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS. -- A correspondent writing from Gold Hill.
Nevada Territory, April 13th, to a friend in this city, says:
I arrived here yesterday, three days from Sacramento, and had good
weather the entire distance. The day I left I went to Sportsman's Hall,
twelve miles this side of Placerville. Next day I made Lake Valley,
stayed at Mac's over night, and came to Gold Hill yesterday. Snow on the
first summit is eighteen feet deep; there is not much in Lake Valley,
and none in Carson. In coming over I rode horseback 110 miles in two days.
This may be called good traveling over the mountains by the much abused
Placerrille route. . . .
p. 4
. . .
LATE FROM PANAMA. -- We have files of the Panama `Star and Herald
to March 29th We compile the annexed intelligence: . . .
For several days past, the equinoctials have been felt very severely
in the Bay of Aspinwall. This year, however, the Railroad Company have
been so well provided against the heavy northers that no damage worth
mentioning has been sustained. The center wharf suffered slightly, and
one or two small vessels have sustained trifling injury . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3451, 21 April 1862 p. 3
. . .
A HARD COUNTRY. -- An extract from a late letter received in San
Francisco from the Salmon River mines, says:
The weather is intensely cold, and the snow is now six feet deep and more
is falling. Great suffering has been caused by cold, and over one hundred
persons have frozen to death in this city [Florence?]. There are no
provisions of any kind here except a very little bacon, and some flour.
For a month I have subsisted upon bread alone, and many are worse off
than myself. If provisions are not speedily obtained, cold and famine
will leave but few inhabitants to welcome the adventurers of the Spring.
I long ago wished myself at home, and if you can purchase a small tract
of land you had better stay at home and be certain of a living. The
diggings here are rich, but not of great extent, and should many miners
come here the district would be overrun. . . .
p. 4
. . .
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH.
[SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 19th.
. . .
Hurricane at St. Joseph.
ST. JOSEPH (Mo.), April 16th.
A violent hurricane passed over this place tonight, in a southeasterly
direction, demolishing buildings, damaging steamers, and injuring several
houses. No lives were lost. . . .
THE HENNESS PASS ROUTE. -- The San Juan Press has the following:
The UNION of the 15th instant contains an item copied from the Nevada
Democrat, in which the editor of the latter paper says he is
informed that the snow between the Maple and Jackson ranches, on the
Henness Pass route, is from eighteen to twenty feet deep, and between
Jackson's and Eureka fifteen feet deep. Now we are informed by T. G. Smith,
who has just crossed the mountains from Carson City, on this route, that
the snow is only from three to five feet deep, generally -- and in the most
exposed situations not to exceed seven feet, During the entire month of
March the passenger train of Langton & Co. made their regular semi-weekly
trips across the mountains; and notwithstanding the severest snow storm of
the season (about the first of April), it was only delayed one day on
the route. . . .
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
A BLOODLESS BATTLE. -- An exciting and amusing scene occurred in the
vicinity of Sutter's Fort at about noon on Saturday, which might have
been a battle had there been any enemy in the field to fight. The
difficulty originated in the following manner: G. W. Colby obtained
from the Board of Supervisors during the Winter a franchise to build
a bridge and collect toll across Burns' slough at J street, the franchise
to expire on the 1st of August. Recently the traders, stable keepers,
etc., on K street, collected about $300 to purchase lumber to build a
free bridge across the slough at K street. The lumber was purchased. A
notice was served upon Hendrie, Rennick and others by Colby, and another
by President Shattuck of the Board of Supervisors, forbidding them to
proceed with the work, on the ground that it was an infringement of
Colby's rights. On Friday morning the work of constructing the bridge
was commenced, and by evening finished. On Saturday morning it seemed
to be decidedly the favorite of the traveling community. At about eleven
o'clock on Saturday forenoon, President Shattuck and Police officer
Taylor arrived on the spot in a buggy, and the President instructed
Taylor to tear up the bridge, or so much of it at least as to render
it impassable. The President then returned to the city, and Taylor went
to work. He hired two men in the vicinity, and soon had a portion of the
planking at each end taken up, so that teams could not pass. Soon after
commencing the work he observed a man in the vicinity mount a horse and
start rapidly down K street. At about twelve o'clock the announcement
was made at Tenth and K streets by the messenger above referred to, that
the new bridge was being torn up. At once one or two horsemen started
down K street as far as Sixth, proclaiming the information, and the street
was at once lined with an excited throng. About one hundred and fifty men
went out to the bridge on horseback, on foot, in buggies, and in wagons.
When the advanced guard of cavalry arrived, Taylor had about twenty feet
of each end of the bridge torn up -- the entire length being about a
hundred feet -- and the plank piled across the road to form a barricade,
to prevent teams from driving into the slough by mistake. On being
interrogated, Taylor informed them as to the authority on which, he was
acting. They directed him to desist. On taking a casual glance at the
"large and respectable assemblage" present, he concluded to: comply.
As there was no President of the Board on hand, or "any other man "with
whom a fight could be gotten up, the crowd contented themselves with
taking off their coats and rebuilding the bridge. "Many hands make
light work," and in a few minutes the bridge was again in good traveling
condition. A picket guard was kept on the bridge during Saturday night,
but no enemy appeared. At about two o'clock P. M., yesterday, G. W. Colby
and District Attorney Upton were seen to ride out in the direction of the
seat of war, and the alarm was again given that a second attempt was to
be made to tear up the bridge. Another rush occurred, less extensive as
to numbers, but more formidable as to armament. Rifles, shot guns and
revolvers are said to have been prominent accompaniments of those who
repaired to the spot, but when they got there there was no enemy in
sight -- the bridge was unmolested, and during the afternoon all remained
quiet on Burns' Slough. As there is a great deal of feeling on the
subject it will evidently be the parrt of wisdom for Colby to apply to
the Courts to determine his legal rights in the premises. . . .
THE LEVEE FUND. -- The Collecting Committee of the Levee Fund,
C. Crocker and A. Boyd, will be prepared to return this morning,
between ten and eleven o'clock, at Crocker's store, the seventy-five
per cent, of the amount subscribed in the early part of the Winter,
in cash, together with certificates for the twenty-five per cent. expended
in levee repairs. For all subscriptions of less amount than one hundred
dollars, certificates will be given for the entire sum. All concerned
are requested to call at once, in order that the Committee may make
a final report as early as possible. . . .
THE RIVER. -- The Sacramento river continues to fall, though very slowly.
At sunset last evening it stood 17 feet 2 inches above low water mark.
The water in the lower part of the city is also receding steadily.
ALTERATION AND REPAIRS. -- Edward Fell is engaged in the work of raising
and leveling the new brick building of A. Johnson, on Second street,
between J and K streets. Having been newly built, at the time of the
first flood the southern foundation settled considerably. It will be
raised by means of jack screws. The old Lady Adams building has had a
new floor put in, some two and a half feet above the old one, by
Fogus & Coghill, who expect to reoccupy it in a short time. A new fire
wall and cornice are being added to Hiller & Andrews building at Third
and J street, less ponderous and better proportioned than that which was
torn off to decrease the weight of the walls during the Winter. . . .
WEATHER IN SAN FRANCISCO. -- On Friday. April 18th, the thermometer stood
in San Francisco, at three o'clock P. M., at 74 in the shade. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3452, 22 April 1862 p. 2
. . .
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
The Continental Telegraph is in working order through to Chicago, so that
we are enabled to present to-day the Eastern news of yesterday. . . .
Heavy freshets have occurred in the Eastern rivers. The Mississippi is
very high at Cairo, and in New England the rivers were higher than was
ever known before. Governor Harney, of Wisconsin, was drowned in the
Tennessee, at Savannah, whither he had gone to look after the wounded
soldiers of his State. . . .
At a meeting of the Sacramento Supervisors held yesterday afternoon,
the dispute concerning the K street bridge over the Sutter Slough, was
considered, but action was posponed until the opinion of the District
Attorney could be obtained as to the power of the Board to prevent the
erection of free bridges within the limits of the city. . . .
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH.
[SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 19th.
. . . .
The Mississippi High at Cairo.
CAIRO, April 19th.
The river at this point is rising rapidly. It is now forty feet above low
water mark, and as high as when the levee was swept away some years since. . . .
LATER AND IMPORTANT.
. . .
Dates to April 21st.
. . .
Freshets in the East.
MONTREAL, April 19th.
The ice in Richelieu river broke up yesterday, doing great damage to steamers.
The loss is estimated at two hundred thousand dollars.
HARTFORD, (Conn.,) April 21st.
The Connecticut river at this point has risen twenty-eight feet above low
water mark, rising at the rate of an inch per hour.
CONCORD, (N. H.,) April 21st.
The freshet on the Merrimac is the highest known since 1851.
At Brattleboro, Vermont, the river is three and a half feet higher than
was ever known before. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
THE BRIDGE QUESTION. -- An ordinance was introduced at a meeting of
the Board of Supervisors yesterday, and laid over until to-day, declaring
the K street bridge nt Burns' Slough to be a nuisance, with a view of
haviug it removed. The opinion of District Attorney Upton as to the
legality of the ordinance is asked for by the Board. It is said that
if an affirmative opinion is received the ordinance will pass the Board
by a majority of one. Some two years ago an excellent bridge was built
at this point by the county. It was carried away by the first flood,
last December, (the 9th,) and with little or no injury floated down,
and was caught a short distance below Sutterville. We are informed
by W. Hendrie that Supervisor Russell, one of the Committee on Roads
and Bridges, was informed that the bridge had been saved, and could
again be had at slight cost, before the franchise was granted to
Colby, and that President Shattuck was subsequently informed of the
fact, but that no action was taken by the Board to restore the bridge,
because there was no money at their disposal to pay for bringing it
back. Afterwards, when residents on K street desired permission to bring
the bridge back and replace it at their own expense, President Shattuck
said such authority could not be conceded, because the J street
franchise had then been granted to Colby, and the restoration of the
K street bridge would infringe upon his rights. As Colby has built
the bridge, and has as yet derived but little advantage from it, and
as its construction was necessary to the interests of both city and
county, the best plan which can be adopted would be to purchase it at
a fair price, and make it free to all. . . .
THE AUTHORITY. -- Chief of Police Watson has been censured by some of
the free-bridge men for sending officer Taylor out to Burns' Slough,
on Saturday morning, to tear up the bridge which they had constructed
on K street. The facts of the case are that he was not applied to or
even informed of what was going on until after the bridge was torn up
and the plank again laid down. The work was done solely on the authority
of the President of the Board of Supervisors. . . .
LEVEE COMMISSIONERS. -- A meeting of the Levee Commissioners was held
last evening at the usual place, but as several members were absent,
and as the Engineer's report is not ready, the meeting adjourned without
the transaction of any business of importance. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
MONDAY, April 21, 1862
The Board met to-day, at three P. M..
. . .
Supervisor HALL offered the following :
Ordinance concerning Ferries and Bridges across the Slough in the City
of Sacramento, generally known as Sutter Fort Slough.
The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of Sacramento do order
and ordain as follows:
Section 1. It is hereby determined and declared to be unlawful and a
public nuisance for any person not authorized by this Board to erect
or maintain any bridge or ferry, either toll or free, across Sutter
Fort Slough (within the city) for public travel.
Sec. 2. Whereas this Board having heretofore, under and by virtue of
the powers and authority given to it by the Act of April 28, 1855,
entitled "An Act governing public ferries and toll bridges,' and the
Act of April 24, 1858, generally known as the Sacramento Consolidation
Bill, licensed one G. W. Colby to keep a toll bridge on J street, in
the city of Sacramento, and having entered into a contract with him in
regard thereto, whereby the bridge erected at said Colby's expense, (and
costing with the improvement to the streets about $4,000), will become
public property at the expiration of said license, which contract has
been faithfully performed upon the part of said Colby, therefore it is
further ordered and ordained, that the Board will as faithfully perform
the terms and conditions of said contract on its part, and the District
Attorney is hereby directed to prevent, either by criminal information
or otherwise, any violation of this ordinance or of the law concerning
public ferries and toll bridges, whenever any person or party shall
infringe upon or interfere with the rights guaranteed to said Colby.
Sec 3. Any violation of the provisions of the foregoing ordinance shall
subject the offender to the same penalties as prescribed in section four
of Ordinance 45, concerning nuisances in this city.
Sec. 4. The President of the Board of Supervisors is hereby authorized
to cause to be removed immediately the present structure across Sutter
Fort Slough.
Supervisor HITE moved to suspend the rules to consider the ordinance.
Supervisor DICKINSON was opposed to the measure, and hoped no action
would be taken of a character to interfere with travel into the city.
Supervisor Russell doubted the power of the Board to pass such an
ordinance, or to prevent the construction of such bridges as the one
at K street. He would like to have the opinion of the District Attorney.
Supervisor HITE withdrew his motion.
Supervisor RUSSELL moved that the Committee on Roads, Ferries and
Bridges be instructed to obtain a written opinion from the District
Attorney as to the power of the Board in this case. Agreed to. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3453, 23 April 1862 p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .
At a meeting of the Sacramento Supervisors held yesterday, an ordinance
was adopted declaring the free bridge over Sutter slough at K street to
be a nuisance, directing the removal of the same, and the prosecution of
parties who may attempt to interfere with the franchise for a toll bridge
at J street granted to G. W. Colby. The District Attorney gave a written
opinion to the effect that the Board had control of the streets of the
city and the power to pass such an ordinance. A more pertinent question
is, has the Board of Supervisors a right to keep one of the principal
streets of Sacramento in an impassable condition for the benefit of the
proprietor of a toll bridge located on another street? . . .
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH.
[SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 22d.
. . .
Riot at East St. Louis.
ST. LOUIS, April 21st.
The riot at East St. Louis Saturday night was caused by an attempt
on the part of employes on the Ohio and Missouri Railroad to remove
obstructions from the culvert, placed there by the inhabitants to
prevent the town being overflowed. A Provost Marshal's guard, sent to
quiet the disturbance, was fired on by the inhabitants. No damage was
done. The guard then charged bayonets on the crowd, wounding three. . . .
The Rebels Cutting Levees on the Mississippi.
CAIRO, April 22d.
The news from Fort Wright is unimportant. The bombardment continues.
The rebels have cut the levee on the Arkansas shore opposite the fort.
A number of fine farms are now covered with water for miles around. The
residents are greatly exasperated at the outrage. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
FLOWER SALES. -- Several flower sales have taken place in the city,
at which a great variety of roses and other species of flowers have been
offered, and freely purchased by those who are again fitting up and
decorating their homes, to restore them to their original condition
before the destructive visitation of the flood.
THE WAR OF THE BRIDGES. -- The Board of Supervisors yesterday passed
the ordinance declaring the K street bridge to be a nuisance. No
provision has yet been made for its removal and it is generally believed
that an attempt at its accomplishment will result in serious difficulty. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
TUESDAY, April 22, 1862.
The Board met at 2 P. M. . . .
The following opinion from District Attorney Upton as to the power of
the Board in regard to the K street bridge dispute, was received and filed:
Gentlemen: In reply to your resolution of yesterday requiring my opinion
in regard to the power of the Board on the subject of nuisances, it may be
proper to consider what are nuisances. The law defines a nuisance to be
"that which worketh hurt, inconvenience or damage." If that hurt,
inconvenience or damage be "to the annoyance of the whole community in
general and not merely to some persons in particular," it is a public
nuisance; but if it be to some particular person or to a limited part
of the community, it is a private nuisance.
It is difficult to define by a general rule the degree of annoyance
necessary to constitute a nuisance, and each particular case must in
a great degree depend upon surrounding circumstances, and must be
determined on its own merits.
Section fourth of the Consolidation Act clothes the Board with full
power over the subject of defining and removing nuisances within the
city limits. The language is clear and explicit, and it seems to have
been the intention of the Legislature, in these particulars and within
the city limits, to confer upon your Board full and complete legislative
control of the subject. The thirty-seventh section of article fourth of
the State Constitution seems to authorize the Legislature to transfer
such legislative power to the Board.
Very repsectfully [sic], your obedient servant,
W. W. UPTON, District Attorney. . . .
Supervisor HITE called up the ordinance in regard to the K street bridge
over Sutter Slough. [The ordinance appeared in the UNION of yesterday.]
Supervisor DICKENSON said he was opposed to the ordinance, and was in
favor of some arrangement to protect Mr. Colby. He should vote against
the measure.
Supervisor RUSSELL said he would not be warranted in voting for this
ordinance. He was not certaln that the Board had the right to interfere
to prevent citizens from improving our streets and increasing the
facilities for travel. He did not know that the Board had the power
to declare that free bridge a nuisance, when it was for the convenience
of the public. At the same time, he desired that justice should be done
to Mr. Colby. He felt a sympathy for the people who wanted to get in and
out of the city as cheaply as possible.
Supervisor HITE was in favor of the ordinance. In the first place, the
bridges were washed away, and the roads rendered impassable by the flood.
The Supervisors were condemned for not building bridges and improving the
roads. The credit of the city was prostrated. There was no money in the
treasury. Application was made to the Committee of Safety for momey to
build a bridge, but without success. A bridge built for city scrip would
have cost from $16,000 to $20,000. We were forced to have recourse to
toll bridges, In order to restore communication, and nothing was said
against it. The toll bridges were found very convenient. Now, certain
individuals come up with patriotic contributions, and construct a free
bridge. Are we to protect Mr. Colby or not? The Consolidation Act gives
the Board the control of the city streets, and it can determine what
is a nuisance. That bridge over the slough at K street is unsafe for
heavy teams. Beneath it we find eleven feet of water and when that falls,
the bridge will go in. He trusted that the Board would exercise its proper
authority to remove the nuisance and protect Mr. Colby.
Supervisor DICKERSON moved that the ordinance be laid over, in order to
see if some compromise could not be effected.
Supervisor HITE earnestly protested against such a policy. He wanted no
dodging or chicanery. The question was understood; ample legal advice had
been taken. What arrangement did the motion contemplate? The Board could
raise no money.
Supervisor DICKERSON -- Yon can raise the money quicker than you can
raise that brfdge.
Supervisor GRANGER spoke at length in favor of the passage of the
ordinance. He contended that the Board should not again put itself in
the attitude of repudiating its action, When the contract was entered
into with Mr. Colby the city was without funds, and there was no other
means for restoring easy communication between the city and country.
Colby had faithfully performed his part of the contract, and it was for
the Board to see that his rights under that contract were not infringed.
The District Attorney had given an opinion as to the power of the Board,
and that should be conclusive upon the main point at issue.
Supervisor WOODS was of opinion that it was not lawful to erect a toll
bridge on the streets of Sacramento, and he could not say that the free
bridge at K street was a nuisance.
Supervisor DICKERSON withdrew his motion to postpone, and the ordinance
was then passed; ayes -- Granger, Hite, Waterman and Hall -- 4;
noes -- Russell, Dickerson and Woods -- 3. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3454, 24 April 1862 p. 1
. . .
THE STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
ADJOURNED MEETING.
Agreeably to adjournment, the members of the State Agricultural Society
met in the Senate room of the State Capitol at Sacramento on Wednesday,
April 23d, at two o'clock P. M. . . .
Report of Board of Managers.
To the California State Agricultural Society: Your Board of Managers for
the year 1861 beg leave to submit the following report:
The year which opened and continued through some ten months in a state
of unprecedented prosperity in every department of industrial pursuit
fostered by this Society, has closed under the influence of a disaster
extensive as our territory, varied as the pursuits of our people, and
destructive beyond comparison. This disaster has not been without its
embarrassing influence upon your Society.
On the morning of the 9th of December last (the levee on the north of the
city having given way on the previous evening), the water reached the rooms
of the Society. Your Secretary, finding it impossible to obtain help, wrought
alone until he had placed all the archives and valuable property of the
Society some two feet above the highest water previously known in that
locality. But the water continued to rise until the desks and tables and
shelves, containing most of the books and papers of the Society, were
flooded; overturned and submerged.
When the water receded it left a deposit of slimy, adheslve mud about
one inch thick. Help was at once obtained, and about four weeks spent
in efforts to clean and dry and save the books and property. The most
of the records and manuscripts were so far recovered as to be legible
to one acquainted with them, and the work of transcribing commenced.
In the meantime two fires were kept burning day and night, and the work
of drying and cleaning pushed incessantly; but the color of the mud and
water had nearly ruined everything they had touched. The loss of bound
volumes includes several hundreds of the Society's Transactions for 1858
and 1859, together with nearly all the sets of reports and transactions
of kindred societies, public documents from the General Government, and
also the files and volumes of papers and periodicals.
When the Secretary had nearly completed the reproduction of the manuscript
for the volume of transactions of 1861, the water again rose suddenly,
filling the rooms nearly three feet higher than before, and with some quite
inconsiderable exceptions completed the ruin. The doors of the oflice and
rooms having been swollen by the first flood could not be closed. The
interior floors and surrounding sidewalks were broken and torn up, so
that in the eddies and currents many articles were carried out and
irrecoverably lost before the water receded sufficiently to allow any
one to enter the office. Among the articles which could not be found was
the transactions of the year, in manuscript, and many of the data and
documents from which they had been compiled, so that many imperfections
must appear in the volume, which has been reproduced from the remaining
limited sources.
Your Board deem this statement of facts necessary, both as an explanation
of defects which must appear, and also as a permanent record of the greatest
calamity in the Society's history. . . .
STOCK GROUNDS.
At the last annual meeting, a proffer of about twenty acres of ground
within the city of Sacramento was made by certain citizens of this town
for the perpetual use and occupancy of this Society. . . .
The recent floods have also injured some portion of the improvements,
rendering repairs, to some extent, necessary, before another fair can be
held.
CABINET.
The contributions to the cabinet during the year (though less than they
might have been, had a traveling Committee continued the work of
exploration pursued in previous years) have shown a deep interest in
the illustration of our natural history. But this department has also
suffered by the flood. Most of the fine models in mechanism, and the
specimens in art are ruined, while the geological and mineralogical
specimens are much injured by the muddy water. The task of cleaning and
rearranging them after the first flood was nearly complete when the
second came and again threw the whole into confusion. To again clear
and arrange what is left, will require time and labor at the hands of
our successors. . . .
Statement of Financial Transactions ln Detail. . . . .
STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURES
Paid by orders drawn upon the Treasurer from
January 30, 1861, to March 8. 1862
[selected items]
Dec.
26 -- J. W. Jennings, labor after flood. ... 5.00
1862.
Mar.
7 -- J. W. Jennings, cleaning after flood. 30.00
8 -- McKim & Blair, repairing engine
after flood 20.00
. . . .
Election of Officers.
The PRESIDENT said . . . The dues were required now because the election
could not take place last January on account of the general flood throughout
the State. . . .
The PRESIDENT introduced Colonel Haraszthy to the meeting, who spoke
as follows:
. . . I can promise but little, but I will try to do what in me lies in
view of the great calamity which has swept over the State. The condition
of affairs is not an enviable one. . . .
The election of a Treasurer . . .
R. H. MCDONALD -- I do not wish to say that I would decline serving,
but the late flood has left mv affairs in such a condition that they
absolutely require all my attention. I hope my friends will withdraw
my name.
The names of R. H. McDonald and G. R. Moore were then withdrawn. . . .
HUMPHREY GRIFFITH presented the annexed resolution, and advocated its
adoption, on account of the embarrassed condition of the finances of
the Society:
Resolved, That the salary of the Corresponding Secretary be and
is hereby fixed at one hundred dollars per month for the ensuing year.
After an extended discussion, and it appearing that the labors of the
Corresponding Secretary would be much increased during the ensuing year
on account of injuries to the cabinet and other property of the Society,
the resolution was negatived. . . .
p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .
In the State Senate, yesterday, . . . also, a bill for reducing the pay
of the officers acting under the Sacramento Levee bill. . . .
THE BRIDGE QUESTION. -- At the time all communication with the city was
cut off by water, we advocated the granting of a license for a toll bridge
to such parties as would build one and put the street to it in a traveling
condition, as the Board of Supervisors had neither money nor credit to
accomplish the work. It seems a contract was made with G. W. Colby to
build the bridge, and in consideration to have the right to collect tolls
until August. He erected his bridge, and it would seem that he should be
protected at least until the money advanced is returned to him and enough
received to compensate him handsomely for his trouble. The bridge has been
a decided benefit to the city, notwithstanding the collection of tolls,
and in common fairness Colby should be so far protected as not only to
secure him from loss, but also compensate him for the use of his money
and labor. Of course it was not intended that he should make a fortune
by the tolls. If the contract is a legal one he can prevent the erection
of another bridge, though he cannot prevent people from crossing the
slough where the water can be forded. At all hazards a violent collision
between parties interested should be prevented either by compromise,
purchase or legal authority. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . . .
Legislative Proceedings.
. . . .
A bill passed reducing the pay of officers, under the Sacramento Levee
Bill, one-half. . . .
THE AUBURN RAILROAD. -- The work on the Sacramento, Placer and Nevada
Railroad is progressing rapidly. The Auburn Harald says that Myers,
the contractor, has completed the deep cut at the mouth of Big Gulch, and,
with the exception of a few days work to repair damages occasioned by
the Winter rains, seven miles of the road is ready for track laying. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
AN UNPLEASANT PREDICAMENT. -- Between twelve and one o'clock yesterday
morning the residents of the lower part of the city -- or that portion
at least not wrapt in profound slumber -- were aroused by loud cries for
help, emanating from the vicinity of the railroad and Sixth street. The
voice was that of a man, and evidently came from some one in distress and
greatly terrified. The calls were repeated again and again, and many who
heard them paid no further attention than to wonder and surmise as to
their origin. Others, however, started out in boats to ascertain the cause
and nature of the difficulty. David Kendall, E. A. Ham and James Burns
started in separate boats and from different localities, and reached the
railroad at nearly the same time. Kendall being ahead, discovered Phillip
Callaghan, a brick maker, who lives on Eighth near R street, in the water
under the railroad track, clinging to one of the piles. He was rescued by
Kendall as speedily as possible and taken home. He had started up the
railroad on his way home about midnight, and in attempting to cross the
trestle work missed his footing and fell into the water. It was too deep
to wade, and he was unable to swim. He clung to the pile and called for
help to the extent of the capacity of his lungs. He is confident that he
remained in the water two hours, and those who heard him calling for aid
think he may have been there as much as one hour.
CITY DRAINAGE. -- We referred yesterday to the presence in the city of
Captain Harrison, United States Pilot, from Mare Island, whose business
is to examine and determine upon the chances of pumping the water out of
the city. It will be remembered that about a year ago a Committee of the
Board of Supervisors made arrangements for the use of a Holly pump, by
means of which the lower portion of the city was freed from water. As
soon as the water can be stopped from coming into the city it will be
highly desirable, if the cost is not too great, to have that which remains
pumped out. Until that is done and the low part of the city is drained,
there will be but little chance to pump out cellars in the business
streets to advantage. Harrison uses Stetson's pump -- a Sacramento
invention which discharges about fifteen hundred gallons per minnte,
and which has been found by experiment to work to great advantage. He
is satisfied that if the Levee Committee will close up the channels
through which ihe water is now coming into the city, it will be quite
easy to dispose of that which remains inside. . . .
RENOVATED. -- County Courtroom was yesterday whitewashed and otherwise
renovated. The Winter rains had so affected the walls and ceiling as to
render this process highly desirable, . . .
THE BRIDGE QUESTION. -- The K street bridge question remains in
statu quo. The latest intelligence from the seat of war is that
"all is quiet at Burns' Slough." . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3455, 25 April 1862 p. 2
NEWS OF THE MORNING.
. . .
In the State Senate, yesterday, . . . The Senate bill reducing the fees
of officers acting under the Sacramento Levee Bill was passed. . . .
BILLS RELATING TO THE CAPITOL. -- We publish to-day the bill releasing
the present contractors -- Blake & Connor -- and authorizing the
Commissioners to expend the balance of the appropriation upon the
walls of the Capitol. It provides for paying Blake & Connor ten thousand
dollars for damages sustained by floods, etc., but continues the work.
The sum named is probably more than ought to have been paid, though the
compromise was believed by the friends of Sacramento to be as favorable
as they could ask, with the assurance of success. The advocates of a
permanent removal of the Capital contended vigorously for a bill to
suspend the work until it was demonstrated that Sacramento could be
protected from floods, and bitterly opposed the substitute reported from
the Committee on Claims; it was, notwithstanding, passed by a handsome
majority, and finally signed by the Governor, though it was rumored that
be would withhold his approval. His veto of such a bill would have been
a severe blow to this city, for it was conceded to be the most favorable
that could be passed under the circumstances. In San Francisco, the
credit of having been more influential in securing the success of the
bill than any one Senator, is awarded to Heacock. The main opposition
to the approval of the bill appears to have come from members of the
Commission. The Act deprives them of the one thousand dollars annual
salary which they have heretofore been allowed for their services. This
fact may or may not have influenced those gentlemen; we simply state the
case, and our readers can draw their own conclusions. As a matter of
policy as well as justice to the State, the Commissioners originally
appointed ought never to have been paid a salary. Citizens of Sacramento
could have been found, who would have cheerfully and faithfully discharged
the duties of Commissioners without fear, favor, or salary. State officers,
in particular, ought not to have been paid an extra salary for such
services.
WORK ON THE LEVEE. -- The chain-gang, under tbe direction of officer
Dreman, has been at work repairing the levee this side of the Tannery
for some three days past, and has really performed, for the time, a
great deal of work. They have built a levee which will protect the city
against a rise of six feet in the river. It is the intention to line the
outside of the levee thoroughly with brush, and raise it higher if time
permits. It is now sufficiently high to turn all Spring freshets caused
by the melting of the snow. Last year about the twentieth of this month
we had quite a heavy rain, and twelve months since the water in the
American river was fully as high as at any time durirg the Winter of
1861. But unless we experience a heavy rain we are not likely to be
visited by any more high water this year.
It was stated that the brickmakers had united in an effort to close
Burns' Slough, and asked the assistance of the chain-gang. It was
promised as soon as the present job is completed. That slough could
now be closed with but little difficulty if the undertaking were
entered upon with energy. By the way, it seems that the money collected
by voluntary subscription to shut out the water at Rabel's might now
be used there to such an advantage in a few days as to insure the city
against the further encroachments of water from that quarter. A portion
of it too, might have been appropriated to aid in closing the slough.
It appears the money has been distributed among the subscribers to the
loan, but we do not see upon what authority that which was voluntarily
subscribed was so distributed. . . .
THE SURVEY AND ESTIMATES. -- When the Swamp Land Board of Commissioners
ordered a survey from Sutterville to Burns' slough for levee purposes,
it was understood that a report, with estimates of cost, would be made
in a very short time. The engineer of the district -- Leet -- in order to
expedite the business, was furnished with several engineers to aid him,
who took the field to assist in completing the work. Some four parties
were engaged in making the survey, who soon completed the field work.
This was months ago, and still the report of engineer Leet is not
forthcoming. What is the cause of the delay? It surely ought not to
have taken him two to three months to perform the necessary office work.
There is a very general impression outside that this long delay has been
caused by Leet himself, and that too without any particular necessity.
This procrastination has shaken confidence in the engineer to such an
extent as to cause his report, when made, to be received with suspicion.
All levee matters are at a stand still for the want of said report. His
is the circumlocution office of the levee enterprise. The report should
be forthcoming, and reasons given in justification for withholding it
so long.
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH.
[SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 23d.
. . . .
Eastern Freshets Subsiding.
BOSTON, April 22d.
Advices from the interior represent that the freshet had reached its hight.
The waters are now receding. Railroad travel had been resumed.
Operations about Pittsburg -- General Halleck Reinforced.
CAIRO, April 23d.
Advices from the army at Pittsburg to Sunday evening state: The weather
has been exceedingly unfavorable for movements of the army. For three
days previously, it rained incessantly. It is now utterly impossible for
the army to move, on account of the great depth of mud. Preparations,
however, are going on steadily, so that when the roads improve, we will
be in readiness for battle. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . .
Legislative Proceedings.
. . .
In the Assembly, . . .
The Senate bill reducing fees of officers under the Levee bill fifty per cent,
passed. . . .
THE LEVEE BILL. -- As this bill passed it provided that for any services
rendered, officers should receive for their own use such compensation as
is allowed by law for similar services. As this was not the intention of
those who framed the bill, and as it would cause the expense of assessing
and collecting the levee tax to reach some four thousand dollars a
supplemental bill has been introduced and passed through the Senate to
reduce the compensation for services under the Levee Bill one-half. It
was understood distinctly, when the Levee Bill was agreed upon, that no
per cent, should be paid for collecting, except upon the delinquent taxes,
and the wonder is how the provision to pay officers full fees for their own
use ever got into the bill before its passage. It was not noticed by the
delegation until after it had become a law. To carry out the original
understanding the supplemental bill should provide that no per cent. shall
be paid for collecting, except on delinquent taxes. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
COMPROMISE COMMITTEE. -- The Board of Supervisors, yesterday, appointed
a Committee, composed of Supervisors Dickerson, Hite and Russell, to take
the bridge question under consideration, confer with G. W. Colby and citizens
interested, and devise the ways and means of settling the dilficulty. It
is presumed that they will ascertain from Colby the lowest amount of cash .
which will make him whole, and make an effort to collect the amount and
purchase the bridge for the county. In addition to the bridge over the
slough, Colby built eight or nine on J street, the lumber of which is nearly
new, and can soon be taken up and used for bridge porposes wherever it is
needed. When the franchise was first granted -- before the flood of January
10th -- it was presumed that the tolls would pay the cost of its construction
before the 1st of May, but subsequent floods not only delayed its construction
but prevented any travel of consequence in and out of the city for about
two months. While everybody is in favor of free bridges, there will probably
be a general disposition to pay a fair price for the property. . . .
TO BE PUMPED OUT. -- M. R. Rose will this morning commence the work of
pumping out, by means of a steam engine, the cellar of the Metropolitan
Theater, on K street near Fifth. Rose has been successfully engaged
recently in pumping out cellars in the eastern portion of the city.
AT WORK. -- The brickmakers of the city have commenced the work of
leveeing the water out of Burns' slough, at the American river. If
successful, the results will be beneficial not only to themselves but
to the entire city. They ask for the assistance of the chain gang, which
is promised. . . .
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
THURSDAY, April 24, 1862.
The Board met this morning at 10 o'clock. . . .
. . .
Supervisor HITE said that Messrs. Callahan, Ryan, Foughton.and Tansman,
brickmakers, whose property had been injured, and whose work had been
stopped by the flood in the lower portion of the city, were now engaged
in an effort to check the flow of water at the head of Burns' slough. He
suggested that the Board should give some assistance to these men, who
were worthy citizens and fully deserving of aid.
Supervisor GRANGER thought the Board could do nothing in this case.
The whole matter of constructing levees had been taken out of the hands
of the Supervisors. The President of the Board might give the services
of the chain gang.
Supervisor HITE said that this was what he desired, and all he sought
to obtain. These brick makers were engaged in a work which would serve
as a partial protection to the city in one direction until all danger of
further overflow this season had passed, and which would relieve private
property of the water now there.
President SHATTUCK said the services of the chain gang could be
obtained after the completion of a job now in hand. . . .
Supervisor DICKERSON moved that a Committee be appointed to confer with
G. W. Colby and citizens generally, to ascertain what arrangement could
be made in regard to the J and K street bridges over Sutter slough.
Agreed to.
Supervisors Dickerson, Hite and Russell were appointed to act as the
Committee. . . . .
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION..]
SENATE.
SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, April 23, 1862.
Lieutenant Governor CHELLIS called the Senate to order at the usual hour. . . .
Mr. HEACOCK desired to introduce a bill proposing to take from certain
officers in Sacramento, created by the Levee Act, certain fees arising
under the Act, and put them into the Levee Fund, lt had been agreed on
by the delegation.
Leave being granted unanimously, the Secretary read the title of an Act
amendatory of and supplemental to an Act concerning the construction and
repair of levees in the county of Sacramento, and the mode of raising
revenue therefor.
It was put through its several readings and passed. . . .
THE STATE CAPITOL LAW.
AN ACT in relation to the construction of the State Capitol Building,
and to annul contracts heretofore entered into.
The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly
do enact as follows:
Section 1. The Board of Commissioners appointed under the provisions of
an Act entitled "An Act to provide for the construction of the State
Capitol in the city of Sacramento," approved March 29, 1860 are hereby
authorized and required to cancel and annul a certain contract entered
into on the 29th day of July, 1861, between the said Board of Commissioners,
party of the first part, and George W. Blake and P. Edward Connor,
parties of the second part, and to release the parties of the second part
and their sureties from all liability upon said contract upon the terms
and conditions in this Act, provided that within ten days after the
pasaage of this Act the said Blake & Connor shall file with the said
Board of Commissioners: first, their written consent to the cancellation
of said contract; second, a bill of sale of all materials and buildings
furnished, delivered or erected upon the Capitol grounds for the prosecution
of the said work, free from all liens and incumbrances; and third, their
written release of all claims for damages against the State of every
nature and kind whatsoever, growing out of, or in any way connected with
the said contract, which said papers shall be filed by the Board of
Commissioners in the office of the Secretary of State.
Sec. 2. Upon compliance by the said Blake & Connor with all the requirements
contained in section one of this Act, the said Commissioners are authorized
and required to certify to the Controller of State, and the said Controller
is required to deliver to said Blake & Connor his warrants, drawn upon the
State Treasurer, payable to the order of the said Blake & Connor, in the
sum of $45,570.26, less the amount of the warrants drawn in favor of, or
for the benefit of said Blake & Connor, and the amount of the outstanding
audited accounts delivered said Blake & Connor on said contract.
Sec. 3. The Controller of State is hereby directed to draw his warrants
in favor of said Blake & Connor, and deliver the same to said
Blake & Connor as aforesaid, in the further sum of ten thousand ($10,000,)
dollars, for materials furnished and work done by them on the Capitol
building since the 1st day of January, 1862, and for the damages sustained
by them by reason of the flood, and all other claim growing out of the
said contract, and the annulling thereof.
Sec. 4. The Treasurer of State is hereby directed to pay all the
warrants drawn in pursuance of this Act and the Act to provide for
the construction of the State Capitol in the city of Sacramento, passed
March 29, 1860, and of the Acts amendatory thereof, and supplementary
thereto, out of the appropriations made by said Acts.
Sec. 5. Within thirty days after the passage of this Act, the
Superintendent and Architect shall so modify the plans, estimates and
specifications for the construction of the State Capitol building that
the total cost for the construction of said building shall not, when
added to the amount already expended, and that to be expended in payment
of the amount awarded Blake & Connor as provided in this Act, exceed the
amount of five hundred thousand dollars. Said plans, specifications and
estimates shall be made under oath by the Superintendent and Architect,
and shall be subject to approval by the Board of State Capitol Commissioners.
Sec. 6. Said Board of Capitol Commissioners are hereby authorized, after
examination and report from the Superintendent and Architect, to advertise
and sell at public auction all damaged material and all material now on
hand not applicable to the construction of the building under the plans
and specifications hereafter to be adopted; and the money to be received
from said sale shall be paid into the State treasury and be added to the
appropriation heretofore made.
Sec. 7. For all the. material to be used under the plans and specifications
hereafter to be adopted, the Board of Capitol Commissioners, having regard
to the total amount of the present unexpended appropriation, so as to
apportion material to labor, shall advertise for all supplies of material,
and they shall accept the lowest bid, provided they may reject any and all
bids, unless the material to be furnished shall be approved by the
Superintendent and Architect.
Sec. 8. The Superintendent and Architect are hereby authorized under the
direction of the Board of Capitol Commissioners, to employ mechanics and
laborers by the day, for the construction of the work, and the placing of
the material now on hand, and herein authorized to be contracted for, into
the building, in accordance with the modified plans herein required;
provided, always that the Superintendent and Architect and Board of
Commissioners shall have no power until further appropriations are made
to contract for or expend any amount towards the construction of the
building under the modified plans herein required, which shall exceed
the amount of the present unexpended appropriation.
Sec. 9. From and after the passage of this Act, the State Capital
Commissioners and their Secretary shall receive no compensation for
their services.
Sec. 10. All such parts of Acts as may conflict with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 11. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
passage.
Approved April 21, 1862 . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3456, 26 April 1862 p. 2
. . . .
MOUNTAIN ROAD. -- A Placerville correspondent, in speaking of the old route from Brockliss' bridge up, says:
The road between this city and Strawberry is once more open and in excellent order. We noticed several teams heavily loaded, this morning, for Virginia City; and were gratified to learn from the teamsters that no trouble is anticipated in making the round trip, by the old road.
The inference from the above is that teamsters with heavily loaded wagons can cross the mountains, which is not the fact. It is difficult for pack trains .to cross. It will be some time before wagons will be able to go over. Of the road from Placerville to the Junction the writer adds:
We have a force of fifty men engaged between here and the Junction of the Union House, putting the road in shape for the rush; though at this time it is, beyond a doubt, in the best condition of any road that goes into the mountains, while but little over one-half of the four thousand dollar subscription has been expended thus far in repairs.
. . .
INDIANS AND TROOPS ON THE MAIL ROUTE.
. . . . But the advance of the white man has caused the disappearance of
the buffalo from regions where they could once be counted by hundreds of
thousands. So with the game generally upon which the Indians relied for
food. It is either destroyed or driven away by the white man's rifle.
Ought we, therefore, to be surprised when we hear that whole tribes of
Indians are on the point of starvation? They have been deprived of the
means of sustenance in their own territory by a superior race; the
neighboring tribes will not permit them to hunt upon their ground, and
the alternative to steal or starve is presented. They choose the former,
as every white man would under similar circumstances . . .
It has recently been announced that the Indians have stolen the stock
of the Overlmd Mail Company east of Salt Like, and killed several men.
It is also stated that the Winter in the Rocky Mountains has been one
of the most severe ever known. Show has fallen in quantities unusual
even for that alitude [sic] and latitude, and the Indians have suffered
accordingly for food. This is probably the real reason why the mules and
horses of the Stsge Company have been stolen; the Indians seized and
slaughtered tbem to preserve the lives of the women and children of the
tribe. Under such circumstances a show of force may, to a limited extent,
produce a favorable influence, but all thes oldiers [sic] ordered to the
route will not prevent half famished Indians from stealing meat and
flour wherever they can find it. . . .
THE VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTION. -- The money subscribed by citizens to make
the second attempt to keep the water out of the city this side of the
tannery, we learn was all expended on the work, and with it some six
hundred dollars of the money previously in the hands of the Citizens'
Committee. In the report of the Committee the aggregate cost of all the
work at the tannery was given, which led some to conclude that the eight
hundred dollars raised by a few individuals had not all been expended.
The expenditures on the last job were paid with the eight hundred dollars
as far as it went, and the remainder by the Citizens' Committee from the
Voluntary Loan Fund in their hands. . . .
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH
[SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 25th.
. . .
Cavalry Skirmish at Pittsburg Landing.
Cairo, April 24th.
. . . .
The river at this point is still rising.
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
THE K STREET BRIDGE. -- During the past three days a strict account of
the travel of all descriptions across the K street bridge has been kept,
The aggregate amount is of course somewhat greater than would have been
over a toll bridge. The following is the result: Wednesday -- Loose
stock, 406; horsemen, 111; buggies or one horse wagons, 129; two horse
wagons, 144; four horse wagons, 48; six horse wagons, 8; eight horse
wagons, 2. Thursday -- Loose stock, 424: horsemen, 91; one horse
wagons. 87; two horse wagons, 142; four horse wagons, 48 ; six horse
wagons, 11; eight horse wagons, 2. Friday -- Loose stock, 249; horsemen,
107; buggies, 113; two horse wagons, 152; four horse wagons, 24; six
horse wagons, 4. . . .
AT WORK. -- The steam engine of W. C. Rose was busily engaged yesterday
in pumping out the water from the cellar of the Metropolitan Theater.
RISING. -- Within the past two days, the American river has risen some
eighteen inches, on account of the melting of the snow in the mountains. . . .
p. 4
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
THIRTEENTH SESSION.
REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, April 24, 1862.
The Speaker called the House to order at 11 o'clock.
. . .
BILLS FROM THE SENATE.
The House took up the order of Senate messages :
Senate Bill No. 459 -- An Act amendatory of and supplementary to an Act
concerning the construction and repairs of levees in the county of
Sacramento, and the mode of raising revenues therefor -- was considered
under suspension of the rules, and passed. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3457, 28 April 1862 p. 1
. . . .
LETTER FROM SALT LAKE.
[From our special correspondent.]
Great Salt Lake City, April 16, 1862
. . . .
Important Telegrams about Mail Route and Indians.
. . . Poor red skins, they are children; they have not the duplicity of
their whiter brethren; when they are hungry they must eat, if they can
find anything to masticate, and as they have no storehouses, a severe
Winter like the present forces them to acts of desperation. Bring it
home to your cities and see how much better white folks would act if
in the same destitution.
The fault is in Government agents not doing their duties. . . .
LIBERAL.
. . .
p. 2
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE.
[REPORTED SPECIALLY FOR THE UNION.]
. . . .
ASSEMBLY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, April 24, 1862.
[The following is the conclusion of our report of Thursday's proceedings
after 3:45 o'clock, when the report closed for the Sacramento boat :]
FURTHER REPORTS.
Mr. BARTON, from the Committee on Ways and Means, reported back without
recommendation Assembly Bill No. 434 -- An Act to appropriate money to pay
the cost of removing the State Printing Office to and from San
Francisco; . . .
. . .
p. 4
PLACERVILLE WAGON ROAD. -- According to the Mountain Demoocrat this
wagon road is in good condition between Placerville and Strawberry
Valley. Teams are now daily passing over it and if we have no more
storms in a few weeks it will be open to Carson Valley. Beyond Strawberry
Valley, for a short distance, the road is still covered with snow, and
while in that condition it cannot be worked to advantage. Goss has
removed many obstructions, repaired bridges, filled up gullies, and
otherwise much improved the worst parts of the road, and, in a few
days at farthest, it will be in much better condition than it was last
Summer. There is an immense amount of freight awaiting transportation
at Placerville, which will be forwarded as soon as teams can pass over
the entire route. . . .
CITY AND COUNTY LEGISLATION. --
. . . .
The various levee bills have been published in full; it is considered that
their provisions will insure the objects in view. . . .
BY OVERLAND TELEGRAPH.
[SPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE UNION.]
Dates to April 26th.
. . . .
A Flood at New Madrid.
From New Madrid, we learn that half that town was overflowed, the water
reaching to and surrounding the Court House, half a mile from the river.
The lower fort was entirely surrounded with boats. The Government property
was secured from destruction. . . .
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE UNION.
. . . .
The Douglas and Yale routes to the Cariboo region are said to be open. The
trail between the Dalles and Salmon and Powder rivers is still closed. . . .
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
RESISTING AN OFFICER. -- The trial of Barney Mulligan took place in the
Court of Sessions on Saturday, on a charge of resisting an officer, and
resulted in a verdict of acquittal. A man named John Fachler, who resided
in Sutter township, died in November last, previously making out a deed
of trust to Joseph Hull and J. A. haufhutter [sic], who were instructed
as to the distribution of his property. Soon after the flood of December,
certain parties moved into the house and took possession of the premises
without the consent of the trustees. Legal steps were taken by them, and
Constable King, of Sutter township, proceeded to the premises accompanied
by one or two others to give the Trustees possession. Barney Mulligan
made his appearance and by intimidation and the exhibition of a knife
made the Constable leave the premises without accomplishing his object.
On the trial the defendant did not deny the act of interference with the
Constable, but set up the theory of defense that as it was raining and
as the flood prevailed at the time, and as there was a woman and child
in the house, it was but an act of humanity to prevent them from being
turned out of doors. The theory of the prosecution was that the prevalence
of rain and flood rendered it the more obligatory upon the Trustees to
obtain possession and control of the property -- for the safe keeping of
which they had given bonds -- which was already going to destruction, and
that they did not insist upon the woman and child leaving but only upon
the possession and preservation of the property. The case was argued by
I. S. Brown for the prosecution, and J. W. Coffroth for the defense. The
jury, on retiring, stood at first three for conviction and nine for
acquittal, but subsequently agreed upon a verdict of "not guilty." Soon
after the above named difficulty, the Trustees were placed in possession
of the property by Deputy Sheriff Lansing. . . .
THE LEVEE REPAIRS. -- The work of building a levee at Rabel's Tannery
by the chain gang and the volunteers of the neighborhood is progressing
actively. The expenses of the work, save the labor of the chain gang,
are paid by Hooker, Hopping, Shattuck, and one or two others. The levee
is lined substantially with willow brush, which is fasted down by stakes
driven into the bank. This work will be effective in keeping the water
out of the city at that point, unless the American shall rise two feet
higher than at present. In that case a portion of the new levee will
be inefficient in its present condition. . . .
THE RIVERS. -- The Sacramento river, which had fallen on Friday last
to sixteen feet eleven inches above low water mark, has risen again
about four inches, standing last evening seventeen feet three inches
above the point referred to. The water in the lower portion of the
city has also risen several inches, being supplied through Burns' Slough
by the American river. The American is about two and a half feet higher
than it was a week ago. . . .
IN CIRCULATION. -- Petitions have been circulated and numerously signed,
for several days past, asking the Board of Supervisors to purchase
Colby's bridge, on J street, of the proprietor, and make it free to
the traveling public. . . .
NOT READY. -- B. F. Leet will not be ready to make a report of his levee
survey, made some three months ago, to the meeting of the Swamp Land
Commissioners to be held this evening. . . .
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
SAN FRANCISCO, April 26, 1862.
The Sacramento street bill is in the hands of the Governor, and its
author -- Senator Nixon -- is not very anxious, I believe, that it should
receive the approval of the Executive. The reason for this is that the
bill was framed before a high grade was determined on. The idea of giving
one-third of the property owners on the line of a street, or of a portion
of a street, the power to compel the two other thirds to raise the street
eight or ten feet, is thought to be a little extravagant. Whether or not
the Governor will consider this sufficient ground for a veto remains to
be seen. If he should approve it, Senator Nixon will be responsible to his
constituents for the passage of a bill considered by himself oppressive,
or he will have to get leave, if possible, to introduce another bill for
its repeal The latter remedy will, I fear, be difficult of application,
for the Legislature is actually beginning to look coldly upon new
business. . . .
The following is a copy of a bill passed both houses, and now in the hands
of the Governor:
An Act amendatory of and supplementary to an Act entitled an Act concerning
the Construction and Repair of Levees in the County of Sacramento, and the
Mode of Raising Revenue therefor, approved April 9, 1862.
Section 1. Section thirteen of said Act is hereby amended so as to read
as follows: Section 13. The directions in this Act given in
regard to the manner of assessing, equalizing and levying the taxes shall
be deemed directory only, and the assessments, valuations, assessment roll
and delinquent list in this Act provided for are hereby made valid and
binding, both in law and equity, against the persons and property assessed,
and the taxes levied shall become a lien upon the property assessed upon
the determination of the rate of taxation as herein provided, which lien
shall not in any manner whatever be discharged until said taxes and costs,
if any accrue, are paid; and all the officers who are required to render
any service under the provisions of this Act, shall have and receive for
their own use fifty per cent. of such compensation as is now allowed by
law for similar services; provided that the limitation of fifty per cent.
shall not apply to the collection of delinquent taxes; and provided
further, that the Treasurer shall receive no compensation whatever for
the performance of any services required to be performed by him under any
of the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
I cannot attempt to unravel the many changes of tactics by all sides
which have resulted in the foregoing; nor can I understand why the
Treasurer is so unceremoniously excluded from his share of the spoils,
unless on patriotic grounds he directed or requested such action. . . .
LETTER FROM ESMERALDA.
[CORRESPONDENCE OF THE UNION.]
ESMERALDA, April 21st.
. . ..
The weather is most beautiful now, and old Sol is dissipating the snow
that lies on the summits very rapidly, and soon we will be able to go
out from our pent-up village in any direction we please, except for the
fear of the Indian scalping knife . . .
VOX POPULI. . . .
MINING IN AMADOR. -- The Ledger, published at Jackson, says the
miners in this section of country are now doing very well. The heavy rains
of the past Winter have, in many instances, been of great benefit in
washing away immense quantities of "top dirt." . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3458, 29 April 1862 p. 1
. . . .
LETTER FROM THE HUMBOLDT MINES.
[CORRESONDENCE OF THE UNION.]
Humboldt County, N. T., April 20, 1862.
The Weather.
We have just passed through the closing scene of the severest Winter
known in this region within the memory of that ancient, often quoted
and authoritative individual, the "oldest inhabitant," and the winding
up thereof may safely be predicted. A true calendar for February and
March would have designated every day either snowy or blowy. But I am
not in a mood to complain, and rather disposed to forget the prolonged
rigors of the past Winter, while enjoying the balmy, vernal atmosphere,
and partaking of the revivifying effects of the season. The snow has
almost entirely disappeared from the mountain sides, and Nature has
fully donned her mantle of green.
The Humboldt.
All other rivers having overflowed and inundated what had heretofore
been regarded as dry land and above high water mark, the Humboldt, not
to be outdone, has asserted its majesty and right to be dignified with
the rivers of the continent by a mighty and terrific display of its
aquatic resources. In some places it inundated the bottom lands to a
mile in width, washing down a number of sod and adobe houses, the
primitive abodes of Humboldt ranchmen, but no lives were lost, and
the mighty waters are now gradually subsiding. . . .
. . .
p. 2
THE FIRE AT LEWISTON. -- Referring to the late fire at Lewiston, in
Trinity county, of which we had a brief mention by telegraph, the Trinity
Journal of April 26th says:
The fire origiuated from a defective stove pipe, passing through the
ceiling of the Phillips Hotel. The persons sleeping in the
building -- several ladies included -- had a narrow escape with
their lives, losing nearly all their clothing. John Daniel jumped
from the second story window, spraining an ankle, and getting some
severe bruises.
The principal losses are : O. Phillips, hotel and furniture, $8,000;
Charles Rantzau, store and merchandise, $5,500; Loomis & McCausland,
market, $1,200. None of the hotel furniture could be saved, so rapidly
did the flames spread ; Rantzau saved some $300 worth of merchandise.
The loss falls particularly heavy on Phillips. Last Winter his bridge
and other property was carried away by flood; now the flames have
destroyed what was left. . . .
THE OVERLAND MAIL DIFFICULTIES. -- . . . We suspect, too, that an attempt
is to be made to break down the Overland Mail, under the pretense that the
service cannot be performed because of hostile Indians, and because of other
interruptions. It would certainly prove an act of stupid folly for the
Government to give up that line, after having once established it -- because
the contractors have failed a portion of the time the first Winter. It was
predicted early in the Fall that the Overland Company would fail to perform
their contract in the Winter, as they were not properly prepared for the
Winter work. It was all they could do to perform the service in the Fall,
with the teams and force they had employed. As a matter of course, when
the storms of the severest Winter experienced on the plains, since they
were occupied by white men, came, the Company was found unprepared. The
law allowed it to contract with the Steamship Company for the carrying of
printed matter, but the Overland Company made no such arrangement. Its
managers undertook to deliver the huudreds of tons of mail matter printed
and written during the Winter, with pretty much the same means they employed
in the Fall, and utterly failed in performance. The mails ought to have been
transferred to the overland line gradually, instead of being delivered at
once, as was done. The overland experiment has not yet been fairly tried. . . .
p. 5
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
PROJECT FOR DRAINAGE. -- We understand that a meeting will soon be held,
composed of ranchmen who reside south of the city, at some point yet to
be designated, to consult upon the practicability of draining the water
from lands now inundated and rendered useless for farming purposes. A
large quantity of land between the city and Sutterville, amd between
Sutterville and Gosling's ranch, four miles south, is still submerged.
Many of the most valuable vegetable gardens and fruit orchards along the
river, including the lands known as the pocket is in this condition. The
entire space from the city to Gosling's constitutes a lake with merely
fall enough to carry off the water as fast as it runs in in the vicinity
of the city. If the supply of water to this lake from Burns' slough and
the openings in the Sacramento levee below K street were cut off, the
water would fall but little below its present level until a canal is
dug to drain it off. The practicability of constructing such a canal
will be the question for consideration at the proposed meeting. It is
thought by many that the water may be lowered from three to five feet
by digging such a canal a mile or mile and a half in length, to empty
into Beach's Lake. If this can be done, and the water can be lowered
three, four or five feet, thousands of acres will be drained and rendered
available for late crops. Nor will the benefit be experienced by ranchmen
alone, as the effect of the project would be to almost entirely free the
city from water. When the time and place of meeting are agreed upon, due
notice will be given. The enterprise, if found to be practicable, should
be carried out with energy. . . .
COLBY'S BRIDGE. -- We have received the following communication from
"A Tax Payer," on the subject of Colby's bridge: "Messrs. Editors: As
Mr. Colby has in circulation for signers a petition to the Board of
Supervisors to buy his bridge, without stating any amount, I would
suggest the propriety of his letting the people know how much more he
wants. Let him state the cost of his work, and the receipts from
subscription and tolls, and then the people will know what they are
doing. I, for one, am satisfied he has nearly or quite got his money,
and I do hope the people will not recommend the paying Mr. Colby his
claim of $3,000 or $4,000 for nothing. By referring to Saturday's UNION
you will see that his receipts would have been four hundred dollars for
three days." . . .
RUNNING AGAIN. -- Stages arrived in this city yesterday from Stockton for
the first time in several months. The roads were rendered impassable by
the floods early in the season. They yesterday furnished us with the Stockton
morning papers. . . .
Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 23, Number 3459, 30 April 1862 p. 2
. . . .
THE PLACERVILLE ROAD. -- The road from Placerville to Strawberry is now
reported to be in good traveling condition. The stage makes the trip in
one day without any serious difficulty. . . .
SALMON RIVER MINES. -- Accounts from Salmon river, April 12th, state that
the snow in the mines was then seven feet deep. . . .
p. 3
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
. . .
BURNS' SLOUGH. -- It has been estimated that it wili cost sorne five or
six hundred dellars to fill in Burns' Slough so as to stop off the water
from the American river. Overseer Long stated yesterday, that if he could
be furnished with two teams and the members of the chain gang, with a
suit of clothing each, he would do the work in less than a week without
any additional expense. The members of this corps have worked at Rabel's
tannery cheerfully, energetically and effectually. Probably the
expenditure of a little money for their benefit, as indicated, would be
wise policy. . . .
STILL RISING. -- The Sacramento river, last evening, stood at seventeen
feet six inches above low water mark, having risen three inches within
the past twenty-four hours. The water in the flooded portion of the city
rose during yesterday abcut four inches. These results are produced, of
course, chiefly by the American river. . . .
NEARLY THROUGH. -- The chain gang has nearly completed the job in hand
of building the line of levee commenced by them at Rabel's tannery. . . .
[flooding matters go on for months, plus follow-up articles for years to come]
--Mike Barkley, 167 N. Sheridan Ave., Manteca, CA 95336 (H) 209/823-4817
mjbarkl@inreach.com
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