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THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 4 About four miles balow Pigeon Point on the seacoast of San Mateo County there ojects into the Pacific Ocean a point of land known to geographersand a small portion of the general public as Point Ano Nuevo. On the map it presents much the appearance of a cape, but in reality the western end of the point is an island which has been christened Ano Nuevo Island, Whether the pointor the island first received the name is not a matter of record. Certain it is that the name of one had something to do with the name of the other; but that need not be considered at the present time. Around the island mentioned is a group of rocks that are about as interesting to the scientist and the naturalist as any part of Califor and about as litile known to the averag Tortugas. Nor have scientists ever made any study of tLe island, as the records of the Govern- z signal located at that point will No matter how cousidered Ano ) Island and the closely adjacent Ilof interest, and the more i amined the more unusual features icome to light. To write a history of Point Ano Nuevo t would be necessary to go back to the I | Thes H. BUTWELS KEEPER of Fos | l g R Q— N time when the world was young. When inents were being formed from sedi- entary deposits and the ocean rolled over what are now mountain tops, erup- on aiter eruption shook the world and there was a general upheaval. What was low became high and what was high in many instances sank from sight. What | had been the ocean’s bottum became the top of lofty mountains. Then other erup- tions came and the mountain sunk and what had been a lofty peak became only a puint of land projecting into a.tempestu- ous body of water. In the present instance this was what is now known as Point Ano Nuevo. Just how the spot locked at the time is, of course, only a matter of conjecture; but thie supposition is that there was no chan- nel between what is now the isiand and he mainland. Rocks and sand washed by the waves were all that could be seen. | | In other respects the conditions were | much the same as exist at the present day. The first human beings to walk over the | =and and rocks of Ano Nuevo Island were | undoubtedly the original nomadic tribes | of the Pacific Coast that have since by called Indians by students of American archwmology. That this is a correct infer- | ence is shown by the number of Indian | relics that have bLeen found in the vicinity. In the sandhills just to the east of Ano | Nuevo Island numbers of Indian skulls | have been found within the last twenty | years. By care-work one ambitious stu- | | dent succeeded in finding all the parts of | | a human keleton, though of course few | | of the parts belonged to the same indi- | | vidual. No perfect bodies have been | | found, so it is impossible to state with | | any degree of accuracy whetler or not the | | and fish. | exists at this point th | used for hunting and |ishing. Indians who once lived near Ano Nuevo were of the same tribe that once inhab- ited the islands of the Santa Barbara Channel. As has already been stated no promi- nent scientist has ever visited the region about Ano Nuevo, but such explorations as have been made by interested relic- hunters tend to show that the Indians did not really have thefr homes near Ano Nuevo, but simply The unfayprable climate that | greater part of the vear would in itself be almest enough to convince of this, bjt in addition the relics that have beel found are mostly instruments of the [kind th: Few jars or cooking utensils havd ever been discov- ered, but arrow and sjjear heads have been found by the dozen. | Fish-hooks made of bone have also beeh found as well as knives made of storfe and clubs of raw- bide loaded with piecps of flint. On Ano Nuevo Islhnd itself there bas | on'y been ope find of fny importance. It was that of & skull ahd a portion of the thorax of a human be|ng. This portion of anatomy was buried ih a few feet of sand and the position of thp bones was such as to indicate that they had been moved since they were buridd. It is not likely that they were ever njoved by the people who buried them, but| there is good reason to believe that they| were exhumed by wild beasts after the Indians had leit the vicinity, and then wjen the Indians re- turned the following Jear the bones were buried again. Another indicatiof that the Indians came to the vicinity [to hunt and fish is the fact that game |is so plentiful there. ‘The sweep of the Japfan current keeps the waters full of the bes} of fish, and the an- nual visit of the sealdto the point were in themselves enough tp attract the Indians to the vicinity whene|ver the weather per- mitted. Consider th¢ fact that the moun- tains just to the eastlare full of deer, and there is all the reasol necessary to show that the Indians cajne to Ano Nuevo to hunt and fish. Some of the arrowlleads that have been found close to this injeresting part of the world are of the finest workmanship. Each is carefully chipped and compares favorably with the work of those tribes that have become fgmous for this sort of weapon. At least P00 of these arrow- heads bave been found on Point Ano Nuevo. The first record of the visit of white men to Point Ano Nuevo dates from the days of the missionary fathers. The story coes that a party of priests under the di- | rection of Father Junipero Serra set out ¢me there to hunt | would be | on a voyage of disgovery a few weeksy before Christmas aboyit 1776, but did not meet with much success. 1n endeavoring ! get food of { island will be called for all time. 1897. 19 to return they were caught in a fog and could only steer by the compass. ! Of course, that was not a satisfactory | manner of navigation in those days any | more than it is at the present time, so the | good padres aid not attempt to do much sailing. They simply tried to keep as near one spot as possible, intending to land at a point near where Santa Cruz now stands as soon as the fog lifted. But alas for human calculations, when | the padres did at last see land it turned | out to be another place than what they | were looking for. But there was no help | for it. They must land and at least try to some kind. The vessel was | about empty of stores and the men were hungry. The spot looked barrea to say | the least, but the padres made a landing | and very likely secured in some way a | supply of something to eat, for history | records that they offered up blessings and considered that their landing on the isl- | and bad been providential, for they must soon have perished bad they not had the opportunity to land. | History or tradition says that before the | padres left Ano Nuevo Island they de- cided to name it in honor of the day on which they landed there. As this hap- pened to be the first day of the year they called it “Ano Nuevo,” or New Year's Island. And so it iscalled to this day. A few efforts have been made to do away with the pretty Spanish cognom-n and substitute entirely that of New Year's 1sland, but all have resulted in failure. “The Spanish name does not mean any- thing,’”” some people say, so why not use one that people will understand ? But the United States Government has seen fit to preserve the old name in referring to the fog station there and all of the charts used by seamen are labeled with the original | name, so it is likely that that is what the | The first time that Ano Nuevo Island figured on the records of the country was in 1872, the year in which tne Government built the fog station on the island. As is | well known, all 1slands are supposed to belong to the Gevernment, and the engi- neers, when it was decided to erect a sta- tion at that point, went at their work with the idea that the point of rocks and sand was an island. But it seems that a man named Coburn, who had bought a portion of land along the coast in with some old Spanish grant, laid claim to the | point on the ground that it was not an island. He brought up witnessesto swear that they had walked irom the mainland to the point of rocks, and that therefore it was not an island. In the end the Government lost the suit and had to pay $5000 for the rock, which was not really worth 25 cents for any other purpose ex- cept some sort of a station. Point Ano Nueve has long been con- ceded to be the roughest point on the Pacific Coast. Its peculiar Jocation and the direction of the ocean’s currents keep the water in the vicinity in a constant boil. Fogs are aiso plentiful and many are the ships that have been lost in the near vicinity. To reach the island at the present time it is necessary to cross a channel at least half a mile wide, which is at all hours a dangerous undertaking. The breakers roll in on both sides, and if the water is at all rough the passage can only be made at great risk of life. Eight of the fog-signal keepers have been drowned while crossing this bit of treacherous water. At the big low tide the shallowest place is about six- teen feet deep and about 200 feet wide. To wade across is an impossibility. The location of the island allows the seas to sweep in from both sides and the breakers meet in the center. In calm | weather there is a smooth strip of water | about fifty feet wide, througb which the boat can be rowed, but at any moment | this is likely to be turned intoa whirlpool so whoever crosses takes his life in his hands. In bad weather to cross this chan- nel is impossible. The breakers are a whirl of foam and the stanchest boat would soon beswamped. On certain occa- sions the keepers of -the fog-signal have had to remain on the island for weeks ata time. The lighthouse tender Madrona, which makes periodical trips along the coast, often finds it impossible to make a landing and has to leave without deposit- ing the usual supplies. The fog-signal station on Ano Nuevo Island is one of the most important of the Government stations on the Pacific Coast. It is right in the path of the heaviest ship- ping and a moment’s neglect of the signal might result in the loss of a ship. Since the signal was erected in 1872 there have scarcely been any changes in its mactner of working or in the buildings. ‘The signal-house is on the western tip of the island and contains a donble set of engines and boilers so as to be able to guard against accidents. The signal is a whistle that gives a blastof fifteen seconds every minute. It can be heard for two miles at sea with the greatest distinctness and a much greater distance with audi- bility enough to let any skipper know where he i3 going. In addition to the fog-signal there is & light of the fourth order on the island, which, however, is not intended to he used as a range light of any kind. The idea in putting it there is to let a skipper know where he is in case he should get in too close ona dark night. This light, however, can be seen for at least ten miles at sea. & Everything about Ano Nuevo Island is in the best of working order and as clean as care and work can make it. There are a number of difficulties to be contended with tbat are unknown at other stations. The keeper’s residence is a large roomy house fitted for two fam- ilies and about as comfortable assuch & house in such a location could be. Thomas H. Butwell is the keeper at present in charge of the station, and he has every reason to be proud of the work ne has done. He has only one assistant, and together they do all tbe work, on many cccasions keep the fog whistle going day and night. The world little knows what is gone through with by the men who keep the signals going for mariners that ships may go safely over the sea. It is long hours and hard work and very lit- tle possibility of a vacation. It is seldom that they get more than amile or two away from the station more than once a year—when they report to the main office in this City. There is no danger of abalones ever be- coming extinct on the Pacific Coast it those on Ano Nuevo Island are taken care of. There are hundreds of thousands of them there, and many of them are as large as the largest that have ever been caught. Just below low-water mark on the western shore of the 1sland they can be seen in all their glory clinging to rocks. Some of them are as large as the top of a water-bucket. These are the large red ones that have been declared to be al- most extinct. Nobody has ever been per- mitted to take any of them since Mr. But~ well has been in charge of the island. Cherished Treasutesof Those Who Go Before. A woman came in—a withered body with a face which I think has always been keptin the shadows of the deepest dark- | ness of God’s world. And she bent ciose to the body on thestone slab—for her eyes were hnalf bereft of their seeing and “IT IS NOT SO VERY MUCH AFTER ALL,” HE SAID. | started back as recognitioz and the chill | | of the dead came to her. | I watched her furtively. It was my | first introduction to this chapter in the | | life of a great city. A curious desire to | witness the final act in the dramaof those | their own way had le | on one of the fingers. who play out their liyes and end them in me wonderingiy to this farewell stage of the unidenti- fied dead—to this last halting-place this side of thesuicide’s grave. The woman pulled back the covering and took up the hand of the silent form lying beneath it. There was a seal ring She tried to take it off. ,A man pushed her to one side. “You cannot bave it now,” he said. “We will see you later.” And he covered up the body again. She looked at the man and her lips moved, but she did not speak. If she had spoken—if she had shrieked—it would have been 2 relief. As she moved toward the door the mun spoke to ner again. “How can I get it?” she asked, trem- blingly—“the ring, it is mine.” “He hasn’t been identified yet, madam,"” the man reminded her. *‘Of course not,”’ she said feverishly— “‘of course.” And then there wasa commotion on the other side of the room. “He b'longg to some un,” whispered a rageed individual next to me. And 1 the shuffling and amid the nerv- ousnessand the suppressed whisperings the woman disappeared. P R N e The Coroner was very busy. He solved all sorts of things with that business-like air of solemnity which belongs to his office. And he had that peculiar frown which is the most important requisite for the successful managerof final departures. ‘‘How do you dispose of valuables found on the person of the dead ?"’ I ventured to ask. He paused to eye me sharply and to announce, somewhat fearfully, that ‘“the Public Administrator gets them.” ““There isi’t so much, after all,”’ he ex- plained; ‘‘usually a watch, or a ring, or a | are bundled up and sent away from here.” | He can tell you what be- I oniy know they | wortnless pin. comes of the things. So 1 hurried away, still determined, out | into the street and past the crowds of liv- ing, scurrying mortals; away from the presence of the end of life. And I got into a car and sat opposite a young woman and watched her as she fondled the little one in her lap. Out from the flatness of death into the fullness of liie. 1t is a strange, strange scheme, indeed. Tt SR e S el There were a few people goipg my way, some with mourning faces, and some with the mourning only in their clothes. As we stepped out of the elevator two men were examining a watch. “‘Pretty good watch for a quarter, eh?” one of them said, Jaughingly. ‘*‘Noname on it, either—I call that Juck.” The other one shrugged his shoulders. *I wouldn’t carry it,” he declared. *I’d be wondering, who had it before. I wouldn’t have anything bought at sui- cides’ auction.” The other laughed agsin. “You're superstitious, like a woman,”” he replied scornfully. I am quite positive that I shared the superstition, and on looking at the pack- ages of unreclaimed articles which the worthy Administrator had in his posses- sion, I feit it becoming stronger. ‘“The law prescribes a certain length of time that we must keep these things,"” said he as he opened the smaliest package. “Ihis is a ring taken from a poor fellow who shot himseli. No one ever came to claim it, and no one wants to buy it be- canse—"' and he held it up to the light so that I could see plainly the engraving on the inside—*From Mother, June, 1888.” *Now, you see, that’s of no value and we never could dispose of itin any way. So it'll lie around here probably until it gets lost.” “Why couldn’t you bury such things with the owners?’ I suegested. ‘‘After all, they really belong to them.” “Nothing belongs to a dead man. When * he cnooses death—or death chooses him— be has to give up his possessions in this world to those more able to enjoy them than he is. Besides,” he said in a busi- ness-like way, ‘‘he’d have an awful time keeping the poor fellows in their graves. Fiends would rob them.” “But you auction things off, don’t you?’ I asked, anxious toget his thouzhts away from fanciful notions least I should have to admitthat [ had a few about some things myself. “Well, not exactly a public auction— just asale of a few things, youknow. The place would become unpleasantly fuil of dead men’s relics if we didn’t dispose of them. Then we might be liable to be- come haunted—have the different spints bunting for their former possessions and prowling about at unreasonable hours.” He locked at me quizzically. “So we just have a little sale—a few fel- lows come up here and I just sell for al- most nothing a few things that will never be called for. That keeps the spirits quiet. They don’t mindif people are hav- ing good use out of things.” * &2 ® ® o ® ® w a “Anything more I can do for you?” he asked as I rose to go. There was nothing else—notbing in the whole world—but I wanted to get out into the sunshine where there was life. MurierL BarLy. P s Hawaiian Intelligence. A pleasing example of Hawaiian intel- ligence was noted by T. Daniel Fraw- ley and his theatrical company on their tour of the islands a year ago. The writer chanced to dine with several mem- bers of the troups a few days after their return and the impression which he gleaned from their most enthusiastic de- scriptions of the natives’ appreciation of the drama has left him ever since with most favorable opinions concerning Ha- waiian Island culture, Mr. Frawley ex- hibited not merely the enthusiasm of the successful theatrical manager in speaking of an audience’s cordial response to his efforts, but spoke with the keen admira-| tion of a student of human nature who had witnessed a particularly bright dis- play of intelligence. Atsuch playsas “The | Senator,”” “The Great Unknown” and SCENE ' FROM “THE One of the delicate society skits which the natives of Hawaii appreciated as keen- ly as did their American companions, a circumstance which is urged as evidence of Hawaiian refinement and fitness to become citizens of civilized America. Before this and other finely polsed satires, which the Frawley Company presented in Honolnlu last year, the natives displayed comprehension. “The Two Escutcheons,” the natives in the audience exhibited even more ap- preciation of the exquisite flashes of rep artee and persifiage than did the Englishe or Americans who sal beside them. TWO ESCUTCHEONS.” the keenest appreciation and the alertest