The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 15, 1897, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 1897. 19 THE WONDERS AND BEAUTIES OF A CALIFORNIA DEER PARK 1f vou will take a map of Marin County | and look at that portion Iving west of the | San ancisco and North Pacific Coast Railroad and north of Point Bonita as far as P Reyes, you will see the ontline of | a vast stretch of country almost unmarked | by settlements.. With the exceplion of | Bolinas, all the other places designated camps or postoffices during The records of Marin County will show this vast stretch of country. to be the Throckmorton ranch, jeeper search of the records will re- nat it has been leased by yuntry Club for a game preserve. | reans that in reality it 13 nothing | Jore nor less than a deer park, and it ust be conceded to be the largest in the rld. The famous deer parks of Eng- pared to it. It is some years since the Country Club took possession of this stretch of territory, and to that is due the fact toat deer are i fade into insignificance when com- | seasons come and go and the vast domain | of nature is stiil the same. Just at present there is more life in this grand deer park than there has been for ten months or will be for almost as many more, for this is the deer-shooting season. There are only six weeks of each year | when this is permitted by State law—from July 15 to September 1. The season may now bs said to be at its height, and the appearance of the deer park is at its best. All parts of it are more accessible now than at any other time of the year. In fact, during the winter many parts are absolutely impossible to penetrate by human baings, or any other beings ex- cept those with wings. The portion of this grand deer park that is the most beautiful and also the most interesting is that which lies nearest to San Francisco. Up the grand canyons that empty into the Pacific just uorth of Point Bonita are some of the most beauti- | | ful spots to be found on the earth’s sur- till to be found there. Of course, only members are allowed to hunt over these sserves, but along the public roads that 1 through it such restrictions do not i, and a number of deer are killed by members of the club each year. Country Club bas been to an s expense to care for this land perly protect it from vandals of kinds. There are dozens wardens employed and a number of pr erent sides, but any part of the domain is open no wish to visit it provided they o do not prote t tha it most of the fine redwood forests would shoot game nor build fires. t the land from fire alone has ¢ ds of dollars and it is safe to say e Country Club had not guarded | housan it long ago bave been burned away. If peo- | ple are permitted they w jild fires. | This is not bad ner harmful in itself, but they go away and leave the smoldering embers, which are likely to be blown to me patch of dried vegetable matter and cruse a forest fire. | As the vast deer park is now it is in an | almost absolutely wild condition and there are many parts of it into which no man ventures from October to the May of the following year. Thousands and thou- is of acres are in exactly the same yndition they were y years ago, or perhaps a cen ago. Miles and miles of rolling cof where the grass grows | s of oak forest, deep | ible, giant red- | {IN REDW00D CANYON woods, beautiful waterfalls and magnif-, tercourses filled with many kinds | ame fish are all in a primeval state— as wild as they were centuries before | e man came. ns, awakening echoes among giant s that were old long before \hc‘ Bunker Hill was fount. The | redwaoc battle of of | face, and also some of the strangest and { most interesting things to be found any- | 1t is a paradise for the naturalist | where. | and the artist. Climb over the hill back of Sausalito and down through a valley on the other side. Then over another hill and then down again, all the time traveling in a northeasterly direction, This will bring you to a point about a mile below Red- wood Canyon, which is well worth an hour’s exploration. A quarter of a mile within this canyon there is a level spot several acres in ex- tent, and almost giant redwoods. Many of these beautiful trees are thirty feet in circumference, and the space between them is coverea with a soft carpet of the fallen evergreen leaves that deaden every footfall. A silence like that of some old cathedral seems to fill all space. Here and there are broad pools with startling distinctness. Occasionally aray of sunlight will filter through the still air and striking the water aslant literally covered with | cause the trout to jump. Little splashes | here and there and the twitter of hirds { among the lofty leafage are the ouly sounds that can be heard. Itis all har- monious, though, and not a sound comes | that disturbs. | Redwood Canyon extends up toward | the sides of Mount Tamalpais for about {two miles, and every step of the way is | full of interest. -Magnificent waterfalls, beautiful grottos, trees and flowers are on all sides. Exit from this canyon at the | the side toward Mill Valley, and that of course leads one out of the deer park. At the mouth of Redwood Canyon there is a small side canyon most difficult of ascent, but extremely interesting. The slope of the center is almost at an angle of forty-five degrees, but its surface is cov- ered with redwood trees of giant size. In pecullar sensation is experienced. To look up the canyou from the bottom it looks to be only a couple of hundred feet &) >Ny At S s to the top and seems as if the ascent could be made in a few minutes. But after the | ascent is beyun all sight of the top is lost | and the climber goes onward and upward Rivers roll on in | of clear water that reflect the surrounding | without seeming to get nearer the goal. ame old beds and tumble down |banks, and ths beautiful trees overhead | The road is exceedingly rough and can | only be traveled by tie most hardy. Over | logs and fallen trzes along rocks of mon- l strous size and through smail guliies the | upper end is almost impossible, except on | ascending this canyon for the first time a | way leads. 1t seems 28 if the top must be just beyond, but nearly an hour is con- sumed by a good climber before tha t point is reached. This is the eastern end of Bolinas Ridge, one of the backbones of Tamalpai-. From here to Browns Camp is about | | two miles, but the trailis a good one and through the most interesting country? Rolling and open, edged by forests witn canyons sloning down on 1l sides, it is an | interesting bit of country. The hills are | a little bare at present but thev giow with | tuat rich beauty that can only be found in California. At a point near the head of Redwood Canyon is the beginning of what is know,, CAPT ™! as the Bootjack Trail. This really leads across the upper end of what some call West Canyon. The trail leads up and down among the hills and through forests of aspen and pine. Itis here that the deer bide. To see the soft-eyed creaturesis a most difficult maiter, although by sitting still you are likely to see several come out from their hiding places and look around. At the least sound they are gone and to catch a glimpse of them again is a most difficult matter. Browns Camp is really a hunting lodge. Itis right on the Bootjack Trail just on top of the hill. Several members of the Country Clubown this place and keep & couple of guides there all the year round. These men are supposed to study the habits of deer, so when the hunters come the guide knows where to direct them. At the head of a band of men, dogs and hotses he leads the chase, usually along tbe Bootjack Trail, in one direction or another, so that the deer are scared from cover, when the hunters can get a shot at WATERFALL IN STEEP RAVINE | them. redwood, but it is growing on a mountain side over a mile from any of its fellows. | It rises considera | and is a splendid specimen of its kind. At first it seems strange that such a large ree should grow in such a bare and barren “Lone Pine.” In reality this tree is a spot, but investigation will show a small spring high on the hiliside which un- doubtedly furnishes water to irrigate the | big tree. Just to the north of the Bootjack Trail is Steep Ravine, one of the grandest can- yons in all California and the wildest spot in all the deer park. All kinds of game are here in plenty and only a few months ago a bear was seen. Far north, beyond Steep Ravine up toward Tomales Bay, the deer park stretches in solitary grandeur. There are canyons and rivers and moun- tains, all of the most sublime nature. But here in the solitude the deer hide. Posed for the Queen. About two ago years a handsome old lady, Miss Blanche Sully of Philadelphia, visited Washington. She was the guest of her sister, the late Mrs. John H. Wheeler, 28 Grant place. In 1837 thislady was a peautiful girl, and had an experience no other American girl ever enjoyed. Her father, Thomas Sully, America’s greatest portrait painter, had been en- gaged by the Society of St. George and St. Andrew- of Philadelphia to paint the por- trait of the young Queen of England. Blanche Sully, his daughter, accom panied her father on this interesting mission: Both were quartered at Windsor Castle, and Queen Victoria consented to pose for the portrait until the face was finished. After that the royal robes were placed on the shoulders of Blanche Sully, and she stocd ior hours in the position as indicated in the steel en- graving now in the possession of Colonel Sully Wheeler of Washingion, the grand- son of Thomas Sully. This steel engray- A FAVORITE DRINKING , PLACE. ing was the original executed in London Not far from Browns Camp stands the | under the supervision of Sully himself, and | wasowned by that artist until he gave it to his daughter, Mrs. Etlen Sully Wheeler, ' for many years an _honored resident of the bly over a hundred feet | Nation’s capital. Mrs. Wheeler had two sons, who now *live here, Colonel Sully Wheeler and Major Woodbury Wheeler. These gentlemen recall many Incidents connected with the painting of this por- trait, especially in connection with the Queen’s juoilee. Miss Blanche Sully was then a charm- ing girl, and the head of her, painted by her father, gives evidence of rare beauty and refinement. She found the coronation robes of the young Queen a burden, weigh- ing forty pounds, and probably became very tired of her gorgeous borrowed plumage, but when the task was done and her father's portrait was hung in the Royal Academy a similar por- trait was ordered Buckingham Palace, and Queen Victoria gave Blanche Sully a splendid diamond signet ring and an autograph letter thanking her for the trouble she had taken. Sully re- ceived §40,000 for the vortrait he painted for the Society of St. George and Br. An- drew and was munificently paid for those he painted for his Eaglish patrons. After his retarn to this country he spent much time with his daughter, Mrs. Ellen Sully Wheeler, and during one of his visits painted a charming group, which repre- sents Mrs. Wheeler with her two babies, now stalwart citizens of the district. When the war'began Sully Wheeler was in the United States ‘navy, and gallanily served his country throughout that memorable struggle. The other joined tne Confederates and fought as bravely for a lost cause. They were again ree united afer peace resumed her propitious sway. General Alfred Sully, the son of the artist, was a brigadier-general in the Federal army, and was frequently quar- tered in Washington. He was a graduate of West Point, and a participant in the Indian wars, ‘the Mexican war, and dis- tinguished himself in several enzage- for ments in the late war, rising from the rank of captain to brigadier-general. Colonel Sully Wheeler ana Major Woodbury Wheeler own many splendid s<pecimens ot thesr distinguished grand- father’s art. There isno finer coliection of portraits in any one family connection in the District'ot Columbia. The flesh tints in Sully’s portraits retain to a wonderful degree their original coloring. As the years go by his fame increases and he is easily first among the American artists. The romantic episode in his life ana in that of his beautifal daughter, Blanche, when they spent two months in Windsor Castle, is revived by the jubiles celebration in which the world takes part this week.—Washington Post. - In India there are 100,000 boys and 627,000 girls under the age of 14 who are legally married, while 8600 boys and 24,- 000 girls who have not attained the age of four are under marriage bonds as ar- ranged by their parents. e were three men in a boat, to say he woman, who happened to my . Unlike Jerome K. Jerome's folk, we were not in for an outing, but were rather out for an nning. We were | floating peacefuliy along under the busiest | treets of Oakland in the main sewer, bich begins at Lake Merritt with an utomatic gate leiting in the waters of the lake, that carries the sewage of the city to the bay. No better description of the sewer of Ozkland could be given than what Victor | Hugo had to say of the sewers of Par “At present the sewer is neat, cold, | straight, correct. It almost realizes the ideal of what is understood in England by tue word respectable. 1t 18 comely and sober, drawn by the line—we might almost sh from theibandbox. It is like a contractor become a counncilor of state. The filth comports itself decently. At the first glance we should readily take it for one of those underground passages ormerly so common and so useful for the g of cood old time when people loved their 1 bave explained that Oak- land’s sewer is a remarkably nice one, and have given the great writer's word for just how clean and ‘“respectable” a sewer may be,I am willing to tell all about the voyage under a city, I was accompanied by (or, rather, I accompanied no less a personage than) Mr. Miller, Superintendent of Streets. Once a vear Oakland’s great sewer has a housecleaning. Flatooats, that loock like the lids of big boxes, are sent through in charge of men in rubber boots, coats and hats to pick up in buckets the sand and filth that may have accumulated during the year. There is scidom anything un- clean in the accumulation; itis mostly sand which is carried in and deposited by the waters from lake and bay. When dried it appearsclean and white. 1 was not fascinated by the ideaof a trip through a sewer, though I knew that this was a model one. Memories cf times when whiffs of fetidness bad almost upset my equilibrium as 1 had hurried past places where San Francisco’s sewers were being repaired came to me. I thought of fierce microbes tbat mieht be lurking within to cling to one's vitals, to slowly sation, a malaria sort of a feeling, thatI made up my mind to go. This year thecleaning up of the sewer has been going on for some time. Last week the Superintendant made his regu- lar tour of inspection, and that is how I happened to have such good comp any. Mr. Miller, the workmen and myself met at the manhole nearest the gate at Lake Merritt. The boat was placed directly under the manhole. A narrow, frail-looking ladder was put through the manhole, leaning against the side aud resting in the boat. It was in a perfectly perpendicular posi- tion. I looked av itand thought falling in wou!d be the easiest way of descending, especially as I was burdened with rubber boots and a long rubber coat, both of which bad been made for a big man. Surely one would require the agility of a cat to climb down this ladder. I thought, | too, that I would stick in the manhole, for it looked too small for a big woman and a lot of ciothine. Ishutmy eyesand puta great rubber foot on top of the lad- der and then slid the rest of the way. When I opened my eyes I found myself firmly held in the boat by the two men whom Superintendent Miller had sent aheud to receive me. They were very po- lite and gentle, and soon had me seated, while they piled old sacks about me to gather up any foul water that might fall my way. One of the men, a jolly, good feliow, called *‘Ted,” sat at the head of the boat, with a lantern beside him. Mr. Miller was right behind him, while I occupied the other seatin the middle of the boat. and surely encompass one’s death, so it was with fear and trembling, a chilly sen- A delicate-looking man, with a bad cold, walked in the water behind the boat and pushied it along. When I objected he said: “Iv’s a good thing.” This man was interesting. Was he a | philosopher, or did he just want to be po- lite? The transition was marvelous. twinkling of an eye, almost, we had passed from broad day to obscurity; from noon to midnight; from the noise of the city to the stagnation of the tomb. The pale, fl ckering flame in the lantern inten- sified the darkness and cast a vague light only a oot or two around us. The forms of Mr. Miller and “Ted” were between me &nd the light. Tney were indistinct, unearthly, visionary—not balf so real as the shadows of themselves, which like black ghosts glided before. They were disembodied spirits and I was dead, too, and cold. The man behind the boat had been swallowed up in the dark- ness that was so intense that one could reach out in it and grasp handfuls of it, soit and moist. In the | through the water and that of waterfalls from sub-main sewers as they emptied into this one in the dark, like the falls in the caverns of Luray and the Mammoth cave, Here and there draperies, like spider- webs covered with sparkiing gems, which were drops of water, hung from the arch I had asked them not to talk, and ihere was only the noise of this man’s splashing of the sewer. I put up my hand to touch one and found that it wasa foul shiny substance. It was food for reflection, however, that the water of the sewer re- flecting the light of a candle will parkle as brightly and look as pure as the dew- drop fresh from heaven, smiling at the sun. % How good it seemed to come to an opening overhead, to breathe the fresh air and to see the red-beaided face of the man who was to keep up with us on the outside of the sewer and to close the man- holes as we passed, to hear his hearty laugh, his trite jokes and his sometimes fervent “God bless you.” Then we would hear the sound of the great iron lid shut- ting us in, and it would vibrate on a some- thing within us—it might have been a fiber of fear. It was solemn, awful. The manholes had been left open all day in order to ventilate the sewer as much as possible. Our bearded friend did not always keep up with us, and then we were left to the tender mercy of the irre- pressidle, ana always with us, small boy, who thought it bad all been done for his exclusive delectation, and with gleeful shouts gathered up sticks and stones and tore up cobbles to splash in the sewer be- neath, sending sprays of dirty water upon us, while we ducked our heads in every directiou to escape being stoned to death. The concrete sewer, which is abouta mile and a haif long, is not enly utterly dark, but, even though the electric cars run over it and parallel with it, not a sound penetratas its denths. It is buried thirty feet below the surface of the streets in 1ts deepest parts. Superintendent Miller seemed to be able to see by the little light which cast its trembling rays ahead, shining like *‘a good deed in a naughty world,” for every once in 2 while he would call a halt, and, taking .a spade, would chop ata shiny black excrescence that clung like a tumor to the side of the sewer. He cautioned the men to go through again and be very careful to cut it all away. He said it was an animalcular growth that might in time obstruct the sewer. When we were about a mile from the outlet, and had just turned & curve, we saw a bright light ahead of us. Mr. Miller and I both thought it was a lantern and wondered how it got there, but “Ted” as- sured us it was the reflection of the sink- ing sun upon the water of the sewer. A mere star it was, The little star had gone away and day- light poured through the sewer’s mouth when we reached the last half mite. The sewer is composed of rotting wnod. There are such big cracks in the top of it that I don’t see what prevents the water from oozing out when the high tide fills it. The sun came through it in long, diagonal linés that burst upon the water like sky- rockets in the air in thousands of. spark- ling gems. The wooden sewer least has the advantage of being a more cheer- ful sewer than the newet and more sub- stantial one. Right out through the gaping mouth of the sewer into the bay our little craft was carried. The pure ozone cominz in directly from the ocean was very welcome, and I quickly threw aside my rubber gar- ments while I took great, deep breaths. I meant no disrespect to this model sewer. It is marvelously clean for a sewer, and certainly the Superintendent of Streets, whose charge it is, deserves credit for its excellent condition. Lucy Birn. While the Pastor Slept. The participants in a wedding celebra- tion recently were placed in a very embar- rassing position on account of the absence of the preacher who was to perform the cereraony. The affair occurred in one of Birmingham’s most thickly populated suburbs. The preacher had been notified of the approaching event and had the church brilliantly illuminated. The organist was there and the happy young couple drove up in their carriage. The deep tones of Mendelssohn’s beautiful wedding march filled the sacred edifice and the briaal party proceeded slowly to the altar. Upon arriving there they were somewhat sur- prised to find that the preacher was not present. Naturally supposing that the reverend gentleman was in one of the anterooms the couple glanced anxiously toward the side entrance, but still the preacher failed to appear. Several minutes elapsed and the many friends of the conmtracting parties who crowded the church began to whisper to each other about the minister’s continued absence. Still that gentleman failed to appear, and the expectant couple were placed in a very embarrassing position. Finally some one went to the pastor's residence, and there they found the reverend gentleman in the arms of Mor- pheus. He was awakened and reminded of the waiting couple. 5 He hastily arrayed himself and went to the church, where he performed the cere- mony that made the young couple hus- band and wife. The young couple stood at the altar twenty minutes waiting for the knot to be tied. After the ceremony the preacher stated that he had only recently returned from the Epworth League convention and was entirely worn out. He had lain down to rest while awaiting the arrival of the party and had fallen asleep. He regretted the occurrence very much,—Selma Jour- i nals