California copy. By George F. Weeks California Copy By George F. Weeks Published by WASHINGTON COLLEGE PRESS WASHINGTON, D. C. 1928 COPYRIGHT, 1928, BY GEORGE F. WEEKS WASHINGTON, D. C. All Right Reserved Printed in U. S. A. DEDICATION TO MY FRIEND, CHARLES P. STEWART, TO WHOSE KINDLY SUGGESTION THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME IS DUE AS TO TITLES FOLLOWING the example of the author who, bewildered by the differences of opinion as to the proper punctuation of his MS., showered upon him by friends, issued a volume from which everything of the kind was omitted, but gave at the close two pages devoted entirely to the various “points,” from commas to “astonishers” ( vide printers' slang), the following list of possible titles is given. In the effort to choose one which would attract book readers, and incidentally book buyers, many experts in such matters were consulted, for the greater part newspaper workers, as well as book sellers, As a result, the following list of suggestions was received among many others, from which the reader will be allowed to make his own selection: “THE ONE-LUNGER.” “CALIFORNIA COLUMNS.” “HUSTLING AND RUSTLING.” “BITS OF CALIFORNIA LIFE.” “ROUGHING IT IN CALIFORNIA.” “A CALIFORNIA EDITOR'S California copy. By George F. Weeks http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.003 NOTES.” “HUSTLING FOR HEALTH AND LIVELIHOOD IN CALIFORNIA.” “LEAVES FROM A CALIFORNIA EDITOR'S NOTEBOOKS.” If a satisfactory title cannot be chosen from this embarrassment of riches, then indeed must the reader be difficult to please. FOREWORD THIS is a true narrative of personal experience in combating the insidious inroads of tubercular trouble, as also the not at all insidious approaches of the wolf which lies at the door of every man who may have given hostages to fortune while dependent solely upon the efforts of his own hands and brains to wage that battle, and especially while suffering from bodily ailment of the most deceptive type. If it shall prove an example and an encouragement to like sufferers from disease; if it shall lead others to follow, as he did, the Biblical injunction “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;” if it shall induce any to adopt the philosophy of life long since arrived at by the author, “Do what you think is right, or what you are forced to do, then look the whole world in the face and tell it to ‘Go to!’ (with variations) ;” if it shall encourage any to maintain a cheerful outlook on life through the long years--some of them long indeed--no matter how the slings and arrows of Fortune may assail him, it will have accomplished its purpose. It may be of interest, too, in affording some idea of the experiences, not to say difficulties and tragedies, which were encountered by the newspaper men of half a century ago in the front ranks of civilization and under the somewhat crude social and business conditions then prevailing. Just as an omelet cannot be made without breaking eggs, so autobiographical sketches cannot be written without frequent use of the pronoun “I.” But it is hoped that the reader of these personal reminiscences will be kind enough not to accuse the author of “blowing his own horn” in the recital, which is an unvarnished narrative of unvarnished fact. California copy. By George F. Weeks http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.003 G. F. W. NOTICE TO INTENDING READERS IF YOU fancy that this is an account of the reward of “success” ( i. e., wealth), inevitably and invariably reaped after years of ill health, hard work, and hustling ( vide the usual popular storybook), you are very much mistaken. So cast it aside. This volume is truth, not fiction. For at seventy-six the author is just as dependent upon his own exertions for a livelihood, and just as glad to be able to do so, as he was at fourteen when he ran away from home and began “paddling his own canoe” as a mule driver on the old Erie Canal, “accepting” what seemed to him a “lucrative position,” at the unheard-of salary of sixteen dollars a month--the first earnings of his young life. THE AUTHOR 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Joining the One-Lunged Brigade--Sentenced to California, and the Nightmare Journey Thither Over Half a Century Ago 13 II. Staging Over Mountains and Desert, with Silver Bars Stacked Up by the Roadside 22 III. The “Kindly” Reception Given the One-Lunger by Mormon and Other Voters at His First Election Experience 35 IV. The “Shockingly Indecent” Spectacle presented by Aboriginal Infants Rolling in the Sand in a State of Nature and Perfect Happiness 42 V. The Timely Rainstorm Which Resulted in the One-Lunger Becoming a Herder of Bees and of Cattle 48 VI. Accidentally Meets a Friendly “Dog,” Which Turns Out To Be a Fierce Mountain Lion 53 VII. Indian Ideas of This Life and of the Next--How the World Was Made--The Mystery of Tahquitz 62 VIII. Hot Air (from the Desert) and Honey as Aids in the Cure of Tubercular Troubles -- Nature's Own Cough Remedy 72 IX. The One-Lunger Earns from “Six Bits” to One Dollar a Day by the Hardest Kind of Labor--“Stealing” Wood and Water 80 X. Copies, Sets Up, and Prints an Octavo Volume of Five Hundred Pages for an Average Wage of Two Dollars a Day 90 XI. “Goes Broke” on His Homestead Claim, While Mormon Water-Hogs California copy. By George F. Weeks http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.003 Threaten His Life if He Touches the Stream That Runs Past His Door 99 XII. A Friend in Need Helps Him to Reach San Francisco by Freight Train--Obtains Employment at Once on a Morning Paper 107 XIII. His Knowledge of Firearms Proves Valuable When a Mob Threatens the Office in Its Desire to Lynch the Editor 115 XIV. The Murderer of His Chief Is Acquitted, While the Principal Witness in His Behalf Goes to State Prison for a Long Term for Perjury 126 10 XV. The One-Lunger Goes on an Editorial Desk--Warm Welcome Extended to Him After Midnight by the Famous but Irascible Judge Terry 133 XVI. Sent Out as a Special Correspondent and Is Mistaken for a Preacher by a Mountain Hotel Keeper 146 XVII. Becomes Editor of the “Sunday Magazine,” and Puts in Three Years of Agreeable and Instructive Effort 164 XVIII. Acquires His Own Daily Newspaper in a Frontier Town--Thrashes an Impudent British Lord, and Prepares to Entertain Swamp Angels 169 IX. Buys a Paper in a Less Lively Community, but Still Has Many Interesting Experiences--The Double Tragedy That Sent Him to Mexico for Recuperation and Rest 182 XX. When the Possession and Use of a Gun by a Fellow Passenger Saved an Entire Stagecoach Load of Passengers from Death 195 XXI. The Man Who Went to the Gallows Rather Than Betray a Woman--An Editor Who Declared He Was God Almighty 201 XXII. True Story of an Indian Mother Who Was Marooned for Fourteen Years on an Island off the Coast of California 211 XXIII. The Stubborn Tenderfoot Who Found a Rich Mine Because of His Stubbornness--A Silver Mine Which the Discoverer Did Not Recognize, and Which Made Another a Millionaire and Governor of the State 219 XXIV. The Indian Murderer Who Wanted to be Tried and Hanged Like a White Man, and Was Accommodated--He Was an Enjoying Participant 231 XXV. The One-Lunger's First Earthquake--He Did Not Have to Wait to be Told What the Phenomenon Really Was! 239 XXVI. The European “Wine Expert” Who Got Mixed Up and Praised the Wrong Vintage, While Decrying His Own 243 XXVII. Prompt and Decisive Manner in Which General Shafter Broke the Railroad Strike at Bakersfield in 1893 in the One-Lunger's Presence 249 XXVIII. A Dissertation upon the Subject of Fishing, Presenting the Victim's (Possible) Side of the Question 255 11 XXIX. The Deepest Snow and Coldest Weather Experienced in a Life of Seventy-Six Years Were in California 263 XXX. The “Ghostly Vision” of a Person Two Thousand Miles Distant Seen in an Isolated Desert Oasis--Recognized by a Photograph 272 XXXI. The Undoubtedly Correct Account of the Fate of Ambrose Bierce, as Learned by the Author--Discovery of a Missing French Nobleman California copy. By George F. Weeks http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.003 283 XXXII. A Thieving Gambler and Intending Murderer Who Met Sudden Death in the Most Unexpected Manner Because of a Freak of Nature 297 XXXIII. A Daily Paper with a Salary Roll of Two Dollars Weekly--Visiting Editors Entertained in Arizona by & Well-Merited Slaying 305 XXXIV. Parents Who Traded Their Baby Girl for a Team of mules--They Did Not Need the One, but Did Need the Other 319 XXXV. The Part That Fate Undoubtedly Played in the One Lunger's Life--The Conclusion of the Whole Matter 332 12 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE I. Correspondent with the Mexican Revolutionists--1913-1917 FRONTISPIECE II. Silver Bullion by the Roadside on the Mojave Desert--1876 16 III. Spring Street, Los Angeles--1928 and 1898 32 IV. San Bernardino and Grayback Peaks--The One-Lunger's Claim was on Extreme Lower Right Hand. No Other Buildings Were Then in Sight 44 V. San Bernardino Range--Arrowhead or “Finger of the Lord,” on Right 56 VI. Above--Site of the One-Lunger's Cabin on Mesa in Middle Distance. Below--Stream that Mormons Claimed to “Own” 96 VII. San Nicolas Island, Eighty Miles off the California Coast.