The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 21, 1897, Page 22

HICO, the metropolis of Butte ‘ County, with a population of 7000 —4 inhabitants, tuzted on the Cali- fornia and Oregon i, 195 miles north of Ban Francisco and six miles from the Ea o River. The *'Rose-bow- erea Ci it is sometimes catled, has a supe ion, being situated im- media between ,Lwo clear mountain streams, Arroyo Chico and Little Chico. These two streams form the northern and outhern boundary ol the corporute limits of the city. Chico was 1 ay early as 1850, but | the town ¥ not surveyed until 1560, wi J. # Hennings, at that time Gounty Burveyor, performed the work the . on whose land the site stood. Hince the laying out of the site many industries introduced, and ere nas | zrowth ol build~ y i trade facilities uniil wo-day Coico one of liveliest us well as one of the prettiest cities in the northern part of the ate. Lhe elevation of Chico is only 200 feet direction of General John Bid- | | Jbove Udewaler, yer the climale is ex- ceedingly moderate the year around, 100 | exrees Fabrenheit beiugabout as highas the thermometer resches in midsummer ind 30 degrees above zero as low as it falls in winter. On the warmest summer day | there 1s always 2 cool breeze astir, and as soon as the sun the mountain air the heated valley, making the nights comfortable, quickly ‘cools Some idea can be gained of the mildness of the climate | from the fact that roses of all kinds and many other den flowers bloom lere the | year through in the open air. In the heart of alurge agricultural dis- | trict Chico enjoys a substantial trade, and r‘ e t also receives a large business patronage | | m across the mountains. From the Ist | | o Septemb unt the snow closes the »ads across the summit merchants load team after team with ovisions and hard- are, for the small villages and towns o T'he vicinity of Chieo is rich 1n orchards, farms, mines and lumber. Stock-raising nd dairying are also carried on 1o a great extent A new ¢ ry has just been completed and is now in running order. | The City Governme: Chico is incorporated as a city of the filth class, governed by a Council elected fro h d s. The mem bers of 1tk ncil are: Dr. J Eilis Rodley (chalrman), E. E. Canfield O. L. Clark, H. W. Bartlett and A Warren. H. C. Mansfield isthe City Mar- al, and bLe has two assistant guardians of the peace. Gu Kennedy is City Attornsy, 1. C. Woods Cle:k and J. H. wtell Treasurer, Ty anitary conditions are looked after ie Board of Health, of which the fo lowing gentlemen wre members: Dr Wasle C. Broyles S. Sawyers, 1l H. Ha 3’ 1 Bradiey and Geor Hamlin, Mr. Hambin is the Health Of- cer of the cily and is also appointed by the visc Super to look aiter theu porated limits of ( 0. Board of Trade., The mer ne definite late tr ¢ Orga hants, seeing ud dy ized a loc the necessity of co-ope tive otect their which every business man in Cuu mem! A. H. Crew, cashier of the B of Chi president, and V. Dy secretary. Fite Department, Ch rotec )y & volun- | eer epartr Mich the most active and influer The tment is o several com panies—Deluge, b 1, Engine No. aud We also one hook-a ladder con 1 t Euterprises. The Chico Gas and Water Comupany is the oldest corroration 1 Chie Ihis company was organiz the early '70 nd has prospered eve wce. The com ¥ upplies the city with water, gas and electcicity. lerra Lu plan shi er Comy mi ny has one of The from the it hico. lumber to the mil moun shaped flume, tains in a ais THE BIRDS hore is always the other side to a ques a recent morni I encountered a nine who is engaged in the dis task of ormi e world at arge and diverting om its ways. | t emerged new! from them s, and was in the sere state of mind which naturally follows ent of freshly fashioned h which none but a woman c d. When, therefore, my ¢ and myself with clammy dis- wy heart (ook & header into my ike the dropping of ihe Telegraph Hull, patent le time ball at meridian on & “What is the matter?” I faltered. “Isn’t it becomi & How can vou be so crue he said answering iy question by asking another. *Surely you do not realize that in o'der to grauly your vanity a harmless, hapny little creature had to be sacrificed? In adorning your hat with a bird, you have not considered the nest that was robbea. You have not cared that the most joyous of God's creatures was slain while twitter- ing in the suniignt in which it had s 1ivine right 10 live unmolested; that per- its tiny throat was stilled in the very act of po forth a flood of melody to muke glad the hearts of those who listened. Think of it, and ask yourself if you have any right t st in the whole- ale butchery of these featherea cents.”” 1did think of it, and the more I thought the more criminal did the wearing of a bird upon a hat seem, for [ am not wholly devoid of conscience, ana 1 do uot relish the idea of blood being spilled in the cause if personal vanity. 1 thought so hard indeed, that I went home by & side street, bearing my ill-gotten prey aloft shame- facedly, a sort ot tuneral procession of ove, 1 cottived the offending hat in a bandbox, but t e voice of consclence diuned itseif 110 my ears all day, and in wy dreams, when ght came, that birdlet hopped paintully out ofits bandbox grave, perched itself upon the toot of my bed aud turned n inno | tance of forty miles. Manv men are em- | vloyed in these mills ail the year. The Sperry Fiour Company now own the Chico mill, having purchased it from General Bidwell. This mill does a rush- ing business in all mill products and is under the management of W. k. Sperry. | The city kas reason to be proud of the | Chico Canning Company, which is purely aloca This company sends out »m §35,000 1o §65 000 worth of goods per year. The cannery is under the manage- ment of J. B. Siewart and employs from 200 to 300 men, women and chilaren dur- 1kt e busy season. This plant is a great elp to Chico, many children earning ON MY LADY’S HAT its glassy eyes upon me with a reproach- ful and immovable stare that entered like ron into my soul. Iiyou have never been haunted by a bird ghost, of course you cannot fully appreciate my feelings, next morning I started out to hely yrm the world by diverting those heartless fiends in feathered crime, the wholesale dealers, from the gory sinful- of their ways. I walked down a veritable avenue of feathers on the second tloor of an establishment that spread over | thie half of a block in length, the proprieter who dared Early ness make a 10 nelarious Living by seiling dead birds and their bodily equipments. I pounced upon | a love a littue fowl with radiant mage, entombed in a box near by witn & shroud of tissue paper, and held 1t up accusingly. “Do you think,” said I, *‘that it is right to kill thess beauiiful credtures in order tha® you may make mboney ?"’ and I eyed him even us my friend had eyed me, with a cold, reformatory stare. “Do you think,” he answersd, “that it | is right to kill a chicken in order that you may make a meal?” “What has that to do with it?”" T askea. ‘Everything. When it comes to a ques- | tion of cruelty you must go to the mar- kels, then to the people who buy quail, doves, chicken and turkey for their tables. LI it were not for their apvetites, we deal- ers in feathers would be forced to go out | ot g of business, Why?' rcause it s the markets of a city that | practically supply the millinery trade— | the markets, and the farmers who protect | their crops by slaughtering pests such as | the English sparrow, the starling, and | parrois in the southern countries, all of | them destructive that millions of | busbels of corn and other products of the | field are destroved unnually in spite of the endeavors of the growe to keep the | devouring hordes away. Shall these birds eatand man starve? Which is better, to | Kill them or let the larmers go hungry? s0 | so much per pound. enough through the summer to vuy books and clothe to lake advaniage of wii- ter schooling. The officers of the com- pany are: M. J. O'Connor, president; J. B. s rt, vice-president; J. H. More- cretary and treasurer. The Bank of Coicos and Bank of Butte | County, do & general banking business, | and enjoy an equal amount of the | patronage. | Three largs and prosperous hardware nd artisans with | hardly necessary to mention names of A. L. Nicnols, Hubbard, Earl & Co., and L. L. Hubbell, as they are hardware menol long stand- | store all rdware. Iti the | There are these parrots, for instance. They are frightfully destructive and must be fouzht constanily. Like the sparrows and starlings, they are uiilized by count- less thousands for the millinery trade, their bodies being cleansed at the fac- tor their skins and feathers steamed, then dried and colored in the prevailing | shades and stuffed, ! *No, it is a great mistake to suppose that every bird worn upon a hat repre- sents a lile sacrificed :or mere vanity's sake. About 1 percentof the birds seen | are really slaughtered for that purpose, | and they are not singers, for it is well- Known fact that birds of brilliant piumage hiave no singing voice. Like the peacock, they are tor show, not 1o make melody. | teal birds of paradise are very expensive, | end we supply the bulk of trade with cheap articles in the bird an+ feather line, manufactured out of common waste ma- terial thrown aside in the markets, gath- ered up in bags and sold to the factories at | What wou'd you re- | ormers who have so much to say about | crueity do with the thousands of women, men and girlsin the Untied States, to say nothing of thos: in other countries, who would be thrown out of employnent if women were 1o cease the wearing of teath- ers and birds upon their hats? In New York City alone there are 50 000 wowen engaged in the feather industry. Willtne people who cry down the feather trade provide for them in some other way 2" 1 irankly confessed my inability to cope with this view of the question, dut tried to | get even by bringing up the subj ct of | egrels, those uniortunate mother birds of the heron family who bave, when in | breeding dress, long dorsal plumes, the beauty ot which dooms them when they should be most kinaly protected, and | whose sacrifice 18 shameiul and deplor- able. “Itistrue that the egret is killed wan- tonly,” admitfed the man who feathers s business nest, “but a large proportion of the so-called egrets are not egrets at all, but peacock feathers with the ‘eyes' re- ~CITY HALL 23 ing, each having established a good trade. The Chico Foundry, M. L. Mery pro- prietor, furnishes farming and mining machinery to supply the growing de- | mand. Mr. Mery has lately patenteda | zasoline engine, t:e succes of which is| exceedingly flattering. These engines \ve won for themseives a name of being first class, ana are now extensively used. The Chico Soda and Botiling Works is | one of the best-paying industries in the | city. A. G. Eames, the proprieior, de- votes a manufacture of syrups and aifferent E METROPOLIS OF BUTTE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | cently fitted Gp an ice mschine, which he | | ble works, is a man of much experience in | | furnishes marble and granite for many | | near-by towns, establishment, does a general business. M. Popp, the owner, brewing has re- will run in conjunction with his other | business. | Wiiliam Robbie, vroprietor of the mar- his line and sends out gond work. He | Chico is well represented in thedry goods bus'ness, the three principal stores | teing M. Oser & Co. on Main street, Nen- barth Bros. and Fred J. Hauck on Broad- way. Tne grocerymen come in for no small consideration in summing up the business of Chico. Prominent among them are: F. W. Miller & Co., J. H. Bawtell, San Francisco Produce Store, H. T. Epperson & Co., Chico Cash Store, Hiembach, M, Gorthaffner and Sol Pettit. Stats Normal School. | | The State Normal School building, large | J. D. Sproul, Dr. A. J. Landis, H. A. San- | and spacious, stands on First street, facing | Normal avenue. With Professor Ritteras ‘ eat deal of his time to the | president and a corps of able teachers, the | and Sulem-street. school is in a flourishing condition, rank- COUNTY, The Churches of Chico. There are eight churches in Chico, alf of which have a good attendance—the Pres- byterian, Rev. E. Graham pastor; Epis- copal, Rev. A. George; Main-street M. E, Rev. Seneca Jonmes; Catholic, Fatber Gualco; Main-street M. E., Rev. L. Green; Christian, Rev. Mr. Pann; B, sist, Rev. Mr. Stephens, and the A, E., Rev. Mr. Anderson. + Fine Buildings. The Presbyterian church is one of the principal buildines of the city and greatly to Chico’s architectural beauty. The 0dd Fellows’ Temple, a four-sic brick building, is an ornament to C It is occupied on the ground floors by stores, while the upper portion isletto the different lodees and as offices. The Park Hotel is another sample of Chico's large buildings. It was con- siructed in 1889 by the Park Hotel Com- pany, and is leased by Mrs. M. McMillan, who runs one of the best first-ciass hotels in Northern California. The City Park, comprising one block, between Main street and Broadway, is very attractive spot. This block w2 deeded 1o the city by General Bidwell, & is now kept up by tue city ana madea place of beauty. Leading Societies. With fraternal and social societies Chico is well supplied, having the Masons, Odd Fellows, Foresters (F. of A. and I. O. F.), Chosen Friends, Red Men, K. of H. K. of P.,O. E.8, N.8 G.W,,N. D.G W.,.A. 0. U. W.,, W. of W, ana the G. AR Company A of the Second Regiment is stationed at Chico. J. J. Cahil is the cap- tain, L. A. Jackson first lieutenant and G. T. Jackson second licutenant. The Theater. The Armory Hall, owned by Victor David and leased by Philip Phoenic, is the place of general amusement, being a first- class opera-house, with a seating capacity of 700 chairs. M. Newspapers. Two live and newsy papers are pub- lished in Chico daily—the Enterprise, an evening paper, edited and owned by Wat- son Chalmers, a veteran editor of Butte Countv, and the Record, owned by Rich- ards & Dewel, a morning paper. These two papers are alive to the interests of Chico in general and enjoy a liberal patronage. \ T M i1 u‘(‘ 1l This school, with an average attendance of 300 students, adds greatly to the im- portance of Chico, as from one-balf to two- thirds of the students come from distant places. Common Schools. Tne City Board of Eiucation is com- posed of the following-named citizens: There are the Oikdale bourn and H. J. McFerson. two public sshool buildings Professor drinks, for which he finds a good market. | ing as one of the best State Normal schools | G. W. Harvey is principal and there are Tue Chico Brewery, an old and reliable | in California. twelve assistant teachers. The present enroll- | | ment is a littie over 500 pupils. ! New Electric Power Project. A new stock company is just formed, the Butte County Electric Light and Power Company. Thiscompany has been | granted a franchise to erect poles and string wires within the-corporate limits of Cnico. The waters of Big Chico, seven miles from town, will be harnessed and the power transmitted to Chico for light- ing purposes. A new incandescent sys- | tem is soon to be putin at such alow | figure that the light will be utilized not moved, or other feathers altered to simu- Ilats the egret. Feathers can be made pliable by m and vsrious treatments at the factory and bent or curved into any shape. The fzct is almost any kind of [0} can be manufactured nowadays so skillfully that you would have to tear it to pi ces to discover the deception. In short, the millinery bird fs an important part of industrial life, giving the means of subsistence to a small army of wage- earners.” 1 looked thoughtfully at the love of a| | bird that I had possessad myself of in the beginning of the interview, as an object lesson. Ilonged to perform an autopsy upon it, and the feather man read my thoughts. “See for yourself,” said he, “whother any cruelty was practiced in preparing that bird for the irade.” I poked the small bocy and spread the stiff winge, and priod apart the beak that never more could open in song—nay, never had opened In song, and for the best reason imaginable, since it was made of shiny strips of leather stamped into shape. ['s wings had never soared, for believe me, those pinions tbat I cou'd have sworn once cleavea the air were fic- | tions in wire, tisine paper and paste. Nor had a wishbone ever found place within the cotton interior of this imitation bird, faise from beak to tail. “‘How about the plumage?” I asked, when the post mortem farce was over. “Chicken feathers dyed. As a rule the beaks are genuine, beine picked upin the markets along with the feathers. And by the way, do you know that turkey feathers are very largely used in hat garniture? Here are some fine specimens, beautifally dyed and painted by hand—another brawch of the industry that gives employ- ment to artists. For quills there is noth- ing so desirable as turkey feathers. Just | remember that, when you are eating your Thanksgiving dinner. Remember, too, that there are at least half a hundred girls in San Francisco making a living by work- ing in feathers. Go and watch them, and vou will find 1hat every bird in stock at | sailing for America. the factory has peen made by hand.” And marveling at the affinity 'twixt chicken coop and millinery shop, 'twixt, inch wide, | | | were filling some large orders for Califor- ficed to pinder to my contemptible vanity. It had never twittered in the sun- | light, 1t wasn’t God’s little bird at all. at, T went. * 1 chicken soup and winter ha + % w Monsieur, the proprietor of the place | where cotton birds are hatched, oblig. ingly let me in, and madawe, his w.fe, | rounds these disks and the compass, and | kindly piloted ms downstairs to the in- | cubator. The room was filled with rosy-cheeked | girls and gaudy feathers, the fingers of | the pretty work+rs sitting around two long tables deftly manipulating feathers of every conceivable shade and size, some curling them over a short, blunt knife, some steaming them, others bending tnem into shape and wiring them, and others packing them into boxes. From filty to abundred, madame explained, were steadily employed. Just now they nia ostrich feathers, but certainly I should see a bird made if 1 wished. As the wire, cotton and feathers flay, as it were, into shape beneath nimble fingers, the bird seems oddly familiar to me. Then [ knew that its twin was at home in my bandbox. The happy con- viction was b roe in upon me—my bird too, was a fake. It had not been sacri. I was not accessary to a crime, In the fuliness of my joy I went out and bought an icecream soda. Dorotuy QuILL. Marvelous Watch - Ring. One of the most curious and valuabie of the relics of General Lafayctte, the great Frenchmau, wuo cast his fortunes | with Americs when the battle for inde- | pendence was at its height, is now in the | possession of the family of W. G. Griffin | of Los Angeles. | When Lafayette came to this conmry£ he was enterlained by a Colonel Griffin | and was so touched by the atteation | shown him that he presented his host with a rare and besutitul ring which had | been placed on his finger by Louis XIV, ‘ to whom he admitted allegiance before | | | | | | The ringisa marquis with a setting about an inch long and fully a half of an | In the center of the ring is acomplete watch made up of three faces, one disk for the minutes, another for the hours, and in the center is a compass. Gold sur- whis isintricately arranged. Surrounding {%*he middle of the ring are & number of | pearls. In the back of the ring is a slide which can be pulled down, and thus enable a person to wind the watch by means of an ivory key. Oan the back are the directions for winding in old French. The watch par: of the ring is notin working order, and to have it fixed it would have to be sent to Europe, and the cost for repairing would be so consider- able a sum that repairs will hardly be undertaken. Many curio-seekers have a tempted to purchase the ring, but the owners regard it as invaluable and treas- ure it as an heirloom. It is now in the possession of the Griffin family at Los An- geles. NI S S U e The New Paper. The average journalist who has not at some lime in his caree. © started a pape Lin the winter. only for public use, but many of the would be too patriotic to publish his e centricity. residences will be lighted by electrici E. B. CoLn Why, @ reporter without this in!emiorj of running bis own paper woult be like salt-rising bread without salt; likea drug- store without a city directory. It is the all-essential prerequisite of his existence, the mother-lode of his journalistic pros- pecting. The last paper I started stitl lingers in my memory. Its creditors still linger in my front yard, and although it has long since been laid to rest in the journalistic graveyard its ghost siill lingers under the nom de plume oi defendant. Owing to the fact that I had a great deal of choice manuscripts which I bad re- ceived from the leading editors of the United States “with thanks,”’ I decided to start a publication through which these thoughts might be given to the world, and thus become ep demic. After deep study of the ciassics, I decided to christen the new paper the Yellow Dog, and thus deprive my esteemed contemporaries of the pleasure of proving the fact. Ten- | derly I watchea over the buff-colored ca- nine. With each issue the bharmonious tones of its melodious bay sounded clearer and clearer above the yeips of its rivals iu the journalistic dog pcund. But shen on an evil day the plaintiff came and carried off the printing press, leaving burning editorials lying in state on the cold gray stone, the voice of the Yellow | Dog became silent; the political corrup- tionist and public enemy began to breathe essier; virtue again trembled for ~afety, Canine mortis ick Bowpex. e . Nature’s Salt Mill. In the sink of the Salton Sea, feek | below the level of the ocean, i« tho mos | eurious salt mill in the world. Thae oper. ) tor of the mill is Dame Nature. Uniy a i plow and some shovels are needed to reap | the product. A spur line of railway runs 1 out into the zreat salt marsh, the crust of | which is strong enough to bear such a | burden. Steum plows do the work of | breaking the crust and steam shovels load | the pure saline deposit on the ca The | sink covers 640 acres. Itis supplied from | numerous adjacent salt springs that carry Summer and 4 per cent | | 7 per cent of salt in