CHAPTER XIX.
THE FIREMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO—“WE STRIVE TO SAVEâ€�—A BARBER’S SALOON—OYSTERS—PLACES OF AMUSEMENT—A PICKLED HEAD—SHOOTING ON SIGHT.
Christmas, 1851.
The machinery was at length in its place, and we got the steam up for a trial; our engineer was one of the same school as he of the Stockton boat, and considered that engines were “bound to go,� whether on sea or land; and when I remarked to him that ninety pounds of steam was about double the pressure the boiler ought to bear, he asked very naturally “of what use was an eight horse power engine if you couldn’t make her work up to a twelve?�
Having started the machinery, we awaited in a great state of excitement the result; this came soon enough, for in a few minutes the crusher broke down irremediably, and like some unfortunate two-year-old horse, ran its first and last race at the same time.
I returned, therefore, to San Francisco, meditatingly as before, and on my arrival there, I gave my mind to the preparation of machinery that should grind and scrunch with a vigour that nothing could resist, and which should give ample employment to the four extra horses which my engineer managed to extract from the steam engine. The city presented a much improved appearance, the small sand-hills had now nearly all disappeared, and having been thrown into the bay, a level site was being rapidly extended on either side, where before was a shelving sandy beach, the least adapted in the world for building a large and substantial city. It is worthy of remark, that sand thrown into mud has not proved a bad foundation even in a country subject to heavy rains. The first brick building erected on this artificial foundation was the American theatre, this, on the first night it was opened, settled bodily two or three inches, but afterwards remained steady.
I found the people of San Francisco still very nervous about fire; and though the dreadful experience of the past had caused extraordinary precautions to be taken for preventing the recurrence of another general conflagration, still night after night as the warning bell hurriedly announced some fire in the suburbs, the whole population would turn out, and follow the engines “en masse� to the scene of conflagration. Not a night passed but one or more alarms were pealed forth by that dreadful bell, of which the tone was so familiar, and so associated with misfortune, and a shanty or two would generally be consumed in the wooden portion of the city. Sometimes an hotel or hospital would blaze and furnish a famous night’s work for the firemen, but these were so active and vigilant, that the flames were always confined to a small space, and it was evident that the days of general conflagrations were over. The highest praise that I can accord to the San Francisco firemen, is to record the simple truth of them, and say that they are zealous and intrepid, and that their services are gratuitous. The fire department of San Francisco now numbers about fifteen hundred members and twenty engines. It is divided into companies, each of which is formed on a military principle, chooses its own name and uniform, and bears all its own expenses.
The companies are distinguished by such names as the “Monumental,� the “Empire,� the “Washington,� and to see them in their smart dresses, as they tarn out in procession on a gala day, one would not suppose that there was so much real work concealed beneath so much show.
There are also two or three “hook and ladder� companies, who do ample service in blowing up and tearing down buildings when necessary. Many of these young firemen occupy the best positions in San Francisco; and it strikes a stranger as somewhat novel, if when the fire-bell is sounded in the day time, he sees the junior partner in the house of Mivins and Co. rush out of his office with a helmet on his head, and proceed at full speed to his engine house.
Sometimes some poor fellow loses his life in his exertions to perform his self-imposed duty, and then his brother firemen, in unassumed grief, pay him the last tribute of respect by following his body to the cemetery.