Volume 041-1 - January 1987 (10 pages)

How It Was In 1887 As 1887 began, President Grover Cleveland was in the White House, and the US Treasury showed a surplus of $100,000,000. In January the Grass Valley Union enthused over the newest craze in adult party games in Milwaukee. It was Pin the Tail on the Donkey. The 23-year-old son of mining magnate George Hearst became sole owner and proprietor of the San Francisco Evening Examiner in March. Thus, William Randolph Hearst got his start toward his future publishing empire the old-fashioned way — his daddy gave him that first newspaper. The Haymarket Square Riots! continued to attract national attention in 1887. The Union editor railed against the Anarchists. Seven had been sentenced to death and the eighth given only IS years in prison. In November four of them were hanged, one had committed suicide and three had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. When news of the hangings was posted at the Holbrooke Hotel, the general expression of the crowd that gathered was that the Anarchists met a deserved fate. The few weak attempts to regulate working hours and wages in Nevada County that year had little to do with the Anarchists. Workmen at the Boca Brewery struck in March for a reduction of hours from 12 or 14 to 10. They won. Two miners from Amador County went to work at the Providence Mine in Nevada City Mining District for $2.50 a day in November. That was 50 cents less than the going rate that had been in effect since 1859 when wages had been reduced from $3.50. Local miners warned them not to work for the lower rate, as it was feared other mines would be affected. Providence owners claimed they could not make a profit paying $3 and threatened to close the mine. Forty miners went to the Union Hotel to chat with the Amador miners, but the pair refused to face them. A meeting held in December to organize a miner’s union was attended by 11] miners who wanted to maintain the $3 wage. When the pipe that conducted the water to Providence Mine mill was blown up, it was believed to be related to the recent reduction of wages. POLITICS Republicans had swept most Nevada County and state offices in November of 1886, 2 by Pat Jones however, Democrat Washington Bartlett was elected governor. He was inaugurated two days late because returns from San Benito and San Mateo counties were slow in reaching the legislature for the canvass. In April Bartlett appointed Niles Searls of Nevada City to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy created by the death of Robert F. Morrison. The governor died Sept. 12 and Republican Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Waterman was sworn in the following day. Waterman discovered that a prison director had not taken his oath of office within 10 days of his appointment and declared that the director did not legally hold his position. A search of Secretary of State records revealed that many other unpaid officials were in the same boat. It was announced that Waterman would make new appointments. Among the officials declared to hold positions illegally were two directors of the 17th Agricultural District. Waterman denied that his actions were political and reappointed nearly all existing officers. Two former Nevada County residents were elected to the US Senate in January. William Morris Stewart was to represent the state of Nevada and George Hearst California. Pioneer Joseph Perrin, a former sheriff and supervisor, died on his farm on Wolf Creek in June. County treasurer Henry McNulty died at Nevada City in July. He had been an early resident of Moore’s Flat and had been in poor health since assuming office in January. Byron N. Shoecraft was appointed to replace him. Well-known county pioneer, Aaron A. Sargent, died in San Francisco in midAugust. He had served as a US Congressman and Senator, also US Minister to Germany. He had arrived in California in 1849 and was connected with the Nevada Journal at Nevada City before starting his law practice. Judge Oliver P. Stidger, the fire-eating proprietor of the North San Juan Times, amused himself throughout the year by trying to get various officials, including a judge, the sheriff and assorted supervisors, thrown out of office. His charges were trite and all attempts were unsuccessful. Republican postmasters were being turned out of office as fast as their terms expired by Cleveland’s Democratic administration. Michael Byrne Jr. had succeeded Republican Grass Valley postmaster $.D. Bosworth in March. Byrne, a druggist. died Dec. 7 from o-~ an accidental overdose of morphine. Nearly all of the businessmen of Grass Valley, regardless of party, signed a petition asking that his daughter, Mary Florence Byrne, be appointed to the office. She got the position. Democrat Cal R. Clarke, ex-sheriff of Nevada County, was appointed postmaster of Nevada City in December to replace Republican Wallace J. Williams. RECURRING DREAMS There are always dreams that refuse to die, pet schemes that pop up in the news year after year. Now that the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad was a reality, there were other railroad dreams. In March a line planned for Nevada City to Nicolaus via Sheridan or Lincoln was being kicked around by the press. The next month it was an extension of the NCNG to North San Juan. Missionary work for a grander railroad scheme was initiated by James O’Brien of Smartsville in September. He envisioned a broad gauge line from Marysville throug/"\ Smartsville to Grass Valley. Eventually the NCNG was to be joined to it and reconverted to broad guage. Top priority among the recurring dreams of 1887, after Judge Lorenzo Sawyer’s 1884 decision banning the escape of mining debris into rivers and streams, was the return to glory of the hydraulic mining industry. Foothill miners continued to battle valley farmers over the issue in courts, newspapers and in the state and federal legislatures. In January the people of Truckee were once more striving to sever ties with western Nevada County. This time the Truckee Republican was advocating the annexation of California, east of the Sierra, to the state of Nevada. Henry W. Hartley was hanging on at Meadow Lake, still dreaming that a process would be found to profitably extract the gold from that area’s rebellious ores. In 1887 the town that had once flourished there was deserted and some of the buildings had been flattened by deep snows. A quartz mill had been built that summer on the old Excelsior Company ground near Meadow Lake, but before it got a chance to prove itself, it had to be shut down for wintefam, In October of 1887 a new dream bega when the Nevada County Land and Improvement Association was granted a franchise by

How It Was In 1887 As 1887 began, President Grover Cleveland was in the White House, and the US Treasury showed a surplus of $100,000,000. In January the Grass Valley Union enthused over the newest craze in adult party games in Milwaukee. It was Pin the Tail on the Donkey. The 23-year-old son of mining magnate George Hearst became sole owner and proprietor of the San Francisco Evening Examiner in March. Thus, William Randolph Hearst got his start toward his future publishing empire the old-fashioned way — his daddy gave him that first newspaper. The Haymarket Square Riots! continued to attract national attention in 1887. The Union editor railed against the Anarchists. Seven had been sentenced to death and the eighth given only IS years in prison. In November four of them were hanged, one had committed suicide and three had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. When news of the hangings was posted at the Holbrooke Hotel, the general expression of the crowd that gathered was that the Anarchists met a deserved fate. The few weak attempts to regulate working hours and wages in Nevada County that year had little to do with the Anarchists. Workmen at the Boca Brewery struck in March for a reduction of hours from 12 or 14 to 10. They won. Two miners from Amador County went to work at the Providence Mine in Nevada City Mining District for $2.50 a day in November. That was 50 cents less than the going rate that had been in effect since 1859 when wages had been reduced from $3.50. Local miners warned them not to work for the lower rate, as it was feared other mines would be affected. Providence owners claimed they could not make a profit paying $3 and threatened to close the mine. Forty miners went to the Union Hotel to chat with the Amador miners, but the pair refused to face them. A meeting held in December to organize a miner’s union was attended by 11] miners who wanted to maintain the $3 wage. When the pipe that conducted the water to Providence Mine mill was blown up, it was believed to be related to the recent reduction of wages. POLITICS Republicans had swept most Nevada County and state offices in November of 1886, 2 by Pat Jones however, Democrat Washington Bartlett was elected governor. He was inaugurated two days late because returns from San Benito and San Mateo counties were slow in reaching the legislature for the canvass. In April Bartlett appointed Niles Searls of Nevada City to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy created by the death of Robert F. Morrison. The governor died Sept. 12 and Republican Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Waterman was sworn in the following day. Waterman discovered that a prison director had not taken his oath of office within 10 days of his appointment and declared that the director did not legally hold his position. A search of Secretary of State records revealed that many other unpaid officials were in the same boat. It was announced that Waterman would make new appointments. Among the officials declared to hold positions illegally were two directors of the 17th Agricultural District. Waterman denied that his actions were political and reappointed nearly all existing officers. Two former Nevada County residents were elected to the US Senate in January. William Morris Stewart was to represent the state of Nevada and George Hearst California. Pioneer Joseph Perrin, a former sheriff and supervisor, died on his farm on Wolf Creek

in June. County treasurer Henry McNulty died at Nevada City in July. He had been an early resident of Moore’s Flat and had been in poor health since assuming office in January. Byron N. Shoecraft was appointed to replace him. Well-known county pioneer, Aaron A. Sargent, died in San Francisco in midAugust. He had served as a US Congressman and Senator, also US Minister to Germany. He had arrived in California in 1849 and was connected with the Nevada Journal at Nevada City before starting his law practice. Judge Oliver P. Stidger, the fire-eating proprietor of the North San Juan Times, amused himself throughout the year by trying to get various officials, including a judge, the sheriff and assorted supervisors, thrown out of office. His charges were trite and all attempts were unsuccessful. Republican postmasters were being turned out of office as fast as their terms expired by Cleveland’s Democratic administration. Michael Byrne Jr. had succeeded Republican Grass Valley postmaster $.D. Bosworth in March. Byrne, a druggist. died Dec. 7 from o-~ an accidental overdose of morphine. Nearly all of the businessmen of Grass Valley, regardless of party, signed a petition asking that his daughter, Mary Florence Byrne, be appointed to the office. She got the position. Democrat Cal R. Clarke, ex-sheriff of Nevada County, was appointed postmaster of Nevada City in December to replace Republican Wallace J. Williams. RECURRING DREAMS There are always dreams that refuse to die, pet schemes that pop up in the news year after year. Now that the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad was a reality, there were other railroad dreams. In March a line planned for Nevada City to Nicolaus via Sheridan or Lincoln was being kicked around by the press. The next month it was an extension of the NCNG to North San Juan. Missionary work for a grander railroad scheme was initiated by James O’Brien of Smartsville in September. He envisioned a broad gauge line from Marysville throug/"\ Smartsville to Grass Valley. Eventually the NCNG was to be joined to it and reconverted to broad guage. Top priority among the recurring dreams of 1887, after Judge Lorenzo Sawyer’s 1884 decision banning the escape of mining debris into rivers and streams, was the return to glory of the hydraulic mining industry. Foothill miners continued to battle valley farmers over the issue in courts, newspapers and in the state and federal legislatures. In January the people of Truckee were once more striving to sever ties with western Nevada County. This time the Truckee Republican was advocating the annexation of California, east of the Sierra, to the state of Nevada. Henry W. Hartley was hanging on at Meadow Lake, still dreaming that a process would be found to profitably extract the gold from that area’s rebellious ores. In 1887 the town that had once flourished there was deserted and some of the buildings had been flattened by deep snows. A quartz mill had been built that summer on the old Excelsior Company ground near Meadow Lake, but before it got a chance to prove itself, it had to be shut down for wintefam, In October of 1887 a new dream bega when the Nevada County Land and Improvement Association was granted a franchise by