Volume 041-1 - January 1987 (10 pages)

SPORTS Joseph Lee of Grass Valley challenged James Rodda of Nevada City to a hard gloves fight in January. Rodda didn’t show up, as he was trying to give up fighting. He complained that people were always challenging him, and claimed that Lee was really a pro from San Francisco. When the two fighters finally met in February, it soon became obvious that Lee was outclassed and he deliberately committed fouls that the referee ignored. The underdog peeled off his gloves and refused to return to the ring for the fourth round. In March Lee and an accomplice left town owing board and other bills. They were later arrested in Sacramento for trying to swindle the sports of that city. Rodda was drunk in a Broad Street saloon in October. When asked to leave, he broke a bottle over the head of the owner’s son. He was arrested and charged with intent to do great bodily harm. A cricketeer’s convention was held at Glenbrook Park in May to select the best players from Nevada City and Grass Valley teams for a county team. The Union Cricket Club gave entertainments to earn money to send the combined team to San Francisco for the Queen's Jubilee in June. Cornish wrestlers were also competing there. The Nevada County Cricket team was roundly defeated, but Cornish wrestlers Richard Dunstan and Jack Carkeek took first and second places in their competition. With their usual enthusiasm, the Wild Cats of Nevada City, the Intrepids of Marysville, the Blue Caps of Auburn, the Sierra City Red Stockings, the Pets of Truckee and the True Blues, Boss of the Road, Mining Engineers and Business Men, all of Grass Valley, played baseball throughout the season. The Grass Valley Sportsman’s Club was credited with giving much input to the new California Fish and Game laws. The club held a field shoot and camp stew in June at Van Slyke’s Ranch. Their October quail hunt and stew was held at Indian Springs. Some men hunted before and after breakfast, while others stayed in camp to play cards, target shoot or just chat. Both stews were enjoyed by 60 men. REAL ESTATE In 1887 Chicago Park Colony was laid out on the line of the NCNGRR at Storms Ranch. The Nevada County Land Improvement Association ran two full columns of listings from all over the western part of the county in January. For $8,250 one could buy 500 fenced acres with a nine-room house, barns and 120 tons of hay. 6 Southern California was in the midst of a real estate boom and land agents there were reported to be as ‘‘thick as blackberries.” Easterners were pouring into the state by the trainloads and Nevada County wanted a piece of the profits. In May the Nevada County Land and Improvement Association held its first annual meeting. Through its efforts 7,000 acres of unimproved land had been sold to people who would cultivate them, 125,000 fruit trees had been planted and 12,000 promotional pamphlets distributed to easterners. The Sutton Ranch near Glenbrook Park was being subdivided in June. Owner Philander Sutton had been an early pioneer. He planned to sell his farm and move to Canada. His wife had already gone north when he died here on September 27. A committee was working on exhibits of fruit and minerals for the state fair at Sacramento and the Mechanics fair at San Francisco, By the end of the year the Land Association had offices in Grass Valley, Nevada City, Auburn, Sacramento, San Francisco and was planning one in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Colfax real estate speculators Morris Lobner and William B. Hayford had recognized the potential of land along the NCNG in the present Chicago Park area. By June a large part of a tract they had purchased had been transferred to a party of Chicago speculators. One of the buyers, Charles Stafford, arrived in Colfax in September, using an assumed name so he could check out the situation. He later apologized for his deception because he was delighted with the property and the climate. Chicago Park was proclaimed to be the first real colony in northern California, as it was being settled by easterners. In November the name of the local NCNG depot was changed from Storms Station to Chicago Park Station. Arthur B. Tebbets, a young Chicago newspaperman, was preparing to publish the Chicago Park Times in a temporary office in Colfax. By December 3,000 acres of Chicago Park property had been sold to “‘well-fixed” people. The townsite had been cleared and surveyed and other lands were being divided into five, 10 and 20 acre parcels. MINING Brunswick Mine shares were being snapped up in New York in April. Work on reopening it began on the 22nd. The Crown Point Mine had been purchased by a Philadelphia syndicate and the Allison Ranch mining property was on the London Market. There was a short-lived strike at the Empire Mine in February. Of nineteen carmen, five received higher wages than the others. When several slighted carmen decided to stay off the job one night in protest, they were quickly replaced. Day shift workers went to work as usual. In May the Transcript announced that Judge Sawyer was quite feeble. “‘Well, who cares?”’ the writer asked and listed all of the misery Sawyer’s 1884 decision caused in the county. Litigation against hydraulic mines had cost Yuba County $43,680 in the past five years. This did not include expenditures of the AntiDebris association or private individuals. A two and a half foot vein was encountered at the 235-foot level in the Brunswick Mine. Its new hoisting works, employing an eightfoot Pelton Wheel cast at Allen’s Foundry in Nevada City, started in regular operation in late November. GLENBROOK PARK Edwin Tilley began a suit in Superior Court in January to foreclose the mortgage on the Glenbrook fairgrounds. In October of 1885 he had loaned the 17th Agricultural District $6,000 and payment was long overdue. When it was thought everything was straightened out, he withdrew the suit, but in November he again filed for foreclosure. Sheriff Lord auctioned off Glenbrook Park to satisfy judgements and costs. Tilley bid the proper-ty at the sum due, as there were no other offers. He hoped that some way could be found to keep it for fair purposes. In 1887 a spur track to the entrance of Glenbrook Park had been completed by the NCNGRR. Members of the Young Women’s Christian Temperance Union wanted to line Glenbrook Avenue between Grass Valley and Nevada City, a distance of four miles, with shade trees. Attempts to get the supervisors to give financial help failed. The young women made a canvass to collect funds and the Native Sons of the Golden West volunteered to help in the project. The trees were finally planted in March, but by August, most of them had died from lack of water. POLICE ACTIVITY Police and sheriff's blotters were crammed in Nevada County in 1887. In February San Quon Ti’s cellar in Grass Valley was robbed. The loot was found in a tunnel on Slate Creek, near Ah Teck’s home. Ah Sing was believed to be a confederate. The two suspects demanded separate trials. Ah Teck was eventually convicted of burglary and sentenced to three years in Folsom.

SPORTS Joseph Lee of Grass Valley challenged James Rodda of Nevada City to a hard gloves fight in January. Rodda didn’t show up, as he was trying to give up fighting. He complained that people were always challenging him, and claimed that Lee was really a pro from San Francisco. When the two fighters finally met in February, it soon became obvious that Lee was outclassed and he deliberately committed fouls that the referee ignored. The underdog peeled off his gloves and refused to return to the ring for the fourth round. In March Lee and an accomplice left town owing board and other bills. They were later arrested in Sacramento for trying to swindle the sports of that city. Rodda was drunk in a Broad Street saloon in October. When asked to leave, he broke a bottle over the head of the owner’s son. He was arrested and charged with intent to do great bodily harm. A cricketeer’s convention was held at Glenbrook Park in May to select the best players from Nevada City and Grass Valley teams for a county team. The Union Cricket Club gave entertainments to earn money to send the combined team to San Francisco for the Queen's Jubilee in June. Cornish wrestlers were also competing there. The Nevada County Cricket team was roundly defeated, but Cornish wrestlers Richard Dunstan and Jack Carkeek took first and second places in their competition. With their usual enthusiasm, the Wild Cats of Nevada City, the Intrepids of Marysville, the Blue Caps of Auburn, the Sierra City Red Stockings, the Pets of Truckee and the True Blues, Boss of the Road, Mining Engineers and Business Men, all of Grass Valley, played baseball throughout the season. The Grass Valley Sportsman’s Club was credited with giving much input to the new California Fish and Game laws. The club held a field shoot and camp stew in June at Van Slyke’s Ranch. Their October quail hunt and stew was held at Indian Springs. Some men hunted before and after breakfast, while others stayed in camp to play cards, target shoot or just chat. Both stews were enjoyed by 60 men. REAL ESTATE In 1887 Chicago Park Colony was laid out on the line of the NCNGRR at Storms Ranch. The Nevada County Land Improvement Association ran two full columns of listings from all over the western part of the county in January. For $8,250 one could buy 500 fenced acres with a nine-room house, barns and 120 tons of hay. 6 Southern California was in the midst of a real estate boom and land agents there were reported to be as ‘‘thick as blackberries.” Easterners were pouring into the state by the trainloads and Nevada County wanted a piece of the profits. In May the Nevada County Land and Improvement Association held its first annual meeting. Through its efforts 7,000 acres of unimproved land had been sold to people who would cultivate them, 125,000 fruit trees had been planted and 12,000 promotional pamphlets distributed to easterners. The Sutton Ranch near Glenbrook Park was being subdivided in June. Owner Philander Sutton had been an early pioneer. He planned to sell his farm and move to Canada. His wife had already gone north when he died here on September 27. A committee was working on exhibits of fruit and minerals for the state fair at Sacramento and the Mechanics fair at San Francisco, By the end of the year the Land Association had offices in Grass Valley, Nevada City, Auburn, Sacramento, San Francisco and was planning one in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Colfax real estate speculators Morris Lobner and William B. Hayford had recognized the potential of land along the NCNG in the present Chicago Park area. By June a large part of a tract they had purchased had been transferred to a party of Chicago speculators. One of the buyers, Charles Stafford, arrived in Colfax in September, using an assumed name so he could check out the situation. He later apologized for his deception because he was delighted with the property and the climate. Chicago Park was proclaimed to be the first real colony in northern California, as it was being settled by easterners. In November the name of the local NCNG depot was changed from Storms Station to Chicago Park Station. Arthur B. Tebbets, a young Chicago newspaperman, was preparing to publish the Chicago Park Times in a temporary office in Colfax. By December 3,000 acres of Chicago Park property had been sold to “‘well-fixed” people. The townsite had been cleared and surveyed and other lands were being divided into five, 10 and 20 acre parcels. MINING Brunswick Mine shares were being snapped up in New York in April. Work on reopening it began on the 22nd. The Crown Point Mine had been purchased by a Philadelphia syndicate and the Allison Ranch mining property was on the London Market. There was a short-lived strike at the Empire Mine in February. Of nineteen carmen, five received higher wages than the others. When several slighted carmen decided to stay off the job one night in protest, they were quickly replaced. Day shift workers went to work as usual. In May the Transcript announced that Judge Sawyer was quite feeble. “‘Well, who cares?”’ the writer asked and listed all of the misery Sawyer’s 1884 decision caused in the county. Litigation against hydraulic mines had cost Yuba County $43,680 in the past five years. This did not include expenditures of the AntiDebris association or private individuals. A two and a half foot vein was encountered at the 235-foot level in the Brunswick Mine. Its new hoisting works, employing an eightfoot Pelton Wheel cast at Allen’s Foundry in Nevada City, started in regular operation in late November. GLENBROOK PARK Edwin Tilley began a suit in Superior Court in January to foreclose the mortgage on the Glenbrook fairgrounds. In October of 1885 he had loaned the 17th Agricultural District $6,000 and payment was long overdue. When it was thought everything was straightened out, he withdrew the suit, but in November he again filed for foreclosure. Sheriff Lord auctioned off Glenbrook Park to satisfy judgements and costs. Tilley bid the proper-ty at the sum due, as there were no other offers. He hoped that some way could be found to keep it for fair purposes. In 1887 a spur track to the entrance of Glenbrook Park had been completed by the NCNGRR. Members of the Young Women’s Christian Temperance Union wanted to line Glenbrook Avenue between Grass Valley and Nevada City, a distance of four miles, with shade trees. Attempts to get the supervisors to give financial help failed. The young women made a canvass to collect funds and the Native Sons of the Golden West volunteered to help in the project. The trees were finally planted in March, but by August, most of them had died from lack of water. POLICE ACTIVITY Police and sheriff's blotters were crammed in Nevada County in 1887. In February San Quon Ti’s cellar in Grass Valley was robbed. The loot was found in a tunnel on Slate Creek, near Ah Teck’s home. Ah Sing was believed to be a confederate. The two suspects demanded separate trials. Ah Teck was eventually convicted of burglary and sentenced to three years in Folsom.